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When the Zune was first introduced there was plenty of skepticism about its adoption into the consumer electronics world. Market research groups such as HitWise indicated that during the holiday season there was a large jump of visitors to Zune.net. Then Zune users speculated over whether Microsoft would be producing a Zune Phone, which was quickly squelched early on by Bill Gates during the CES 2008.

Zune has been toted as the “iPod Killer” and is slowly climbing up the ladder. So what else is Microsoft trying to kill?

The OnStar Killer: I found that Microsoft might be working on an OnStar (safety and recovery system installed on GM vehicles) style device that will monitor and communicate a vehicle’s diagnostics data. Which will be quite difficult to conquer, since I have spoken to a local radio personality that has visited the OnStar facility. Sworn to secrecy by a non-disclosure agreement, told me that they take their call center very seriously, which

“[it] resembles a NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) facility, with large displays monitoring all of their customers simultaneously, just like in the spy movies.”

The Vague Wireless Chain: How about linking all of your devices together to access the internet, including your MP3 player? Maybe even a wireless Zune MarketPlace connection or a kiosk system (possibly a Surface PC feature)?

The Blackberry Killer: The draft patents submitted to the US Patent Office were just updated on January 17^th, which describes a handset with semi-translucent finish. This looks to be much of a Blackberry killer than an iPhone killer but, none the less, they are continuing to work on this. But what is it really? Let me know your thoughts.