There is a lot of talk about the fact that Microsoft is not talking a lot about Zune these days. Rumors that Microsoft will be phasing out the brand started a while back and off late have been  strengthened by more rumors that Zune will be merged with Xbox LIVE and Windows Live. Microsoft has, on more than one  occasion, said that Windows Phone 7 is their new Zune. The company has not introduced a new iteration to the Zune HD even though ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft was internally working on a Zune HD2.

Going through some patent documents, I came across a design patent for what looks like Microsoft’s competitor to the iPod Nano:

Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be seeing another Zune player.