ALSO AVAILABLE music service Groove from Microsoft has a little more groove about it today, having purchased and presumably swallowed a complementary firm and application called Zikera Groove.
This is a lot of groove to take on without some star-shaped sunglasses and platform shoes, but we will do our best. It is the smaller Groove that takes the announcement honours, despite the fact that Microsoft Groove is no iTunes and that the firm does not appear to be pushing its new property.
The Groove that was formerly not part of Microsoft did not reveal financial terms, but did express a lot of joy and excitement.
"We are thrilled to announce that Groove has been acquired by Microsoft," said the firm, before thanking its users and shutting off its downloads.
"Our journey started back in the days of the iPod. While it was a thing of beauty, we still struggled to choose what to play from our beloved music collection.
"From that instant, we envisioned a music player so intelligent that it learns our tastes and habits in order to play the right music at the right time.
"Then Groove was born, and you made it a success. We are incredibly proud to have delighted you with a rich mobile experience and countless hours of music bliss through the tens of millions of personalised playlists we generated.
"In light of this acquisition, Groove is no longer available for download, but current users may continue to use the app. Please note, however, that we are not submitting any more updates."
In case you missed it, and you might easily have, Groove is the rival to Zune Music that Microsoft hopes people will actually use. The firm began pushing users in the direction of its new Groove late last summer.
