J Allard, a former Microsoft executive, the idea behind Zune is leading a new team at Amazon CNBC Report. Allard is officially vice president of Amazon's Zeroone, based on at least one Amazon job list, which is “a special project team dedicated to inventing breakthrough consumer product categories.”
The job Zero is actually doing is still somewhat mysterious, but CNBC Being able to find another list of “Senior Applied Scientist” roles suggests that the team will “conceive, design and launch computer vision technology for new smart home products.” Computer vision is an umbrella term that allows computer systems to “understand” images and videos, for example, the ability of ring video doorbell to identify when packaging is determined on your door.
Depending on your taste in MP3 player, Allard's role in Microsoft Zune creation can reasonably get you to stop. Microsoft's failed MP3 player looks obvious, but it doesn't match the popularity of the iPod. Zune is one of several interesting, namely unsuccessful projects that Allard led at Microsoft, including Microsoft Kin and Courier, a book-style tablet that was later reimagined as the Surface Neo. Allard also co-created the original Xbox, arguably his biggest claim in the company’s reputation.
Zero dollars will exist within Amazon's larger device and service division, led by another Microsoft Expat's Panos Panay. Panay joined Amazon in 2023 to lead the division after overseeing the development of Microsoft's Surface Hardware and Windows 11. Since Panay joined the company, Amazon has launched a new Kindles lineup and launched Alexa+ to integrate generated AI into the famous voice assistant. Hiring Allard and Panay both recommend Amazon plans to work harder into product development.
