I am hearing very clear statements that, despite the concerning reports of Zune player sales, and some visible layoffs in the Zune team, Microsoft is unquestionably committed to Zune player hardware. In fact, we can expect to see a significant new generation of Zune players before the year is out.

Other sources are reporting similarly unequivocal statements from Microsoft.

While I don’t know details on the new hardware, and would be under NDA if I was told anything officially by Microsoft, my perception is that we’re looking at some considerable advances in the next line of Zune players.

Microsoft’s focus on player innovation seems to be undiminished, even while work is afoot to extend the Zune experience to additional devices – among them, according to many hints, devices from Microsoft’s Windows Mobile cell phone partners.

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