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Details of Next Gen Zune Surface
KMG writes "Zune Scene has got a scoop about the next generation Microsoft Zune. There will be two new models; a flash memory based and a hard drive based. Zune with HDD will be thinner and have larger storage capacity while the flash based will feature Wi-fi, video playback. So will we see another try from Microsoft to beat Apple's iPod or it will be another vain attempt from the Redmond guys."
I don't understand why the hard drive is so popular in these devices. SD cards can withstand up to a 1000 Gs and still operate. I don't think you can say that for a hard drive without some sort of catastrophic head crash or something.
If they can get the Wi-fi to do something, you know, useful, then the Zune 2 might be a neat little device.
I, for one, am looking forward to the inevitable
It's about time to replace my ancient (1st gen) iPod, which has given heroic service. What would it take for me to consider another brand, any other brand, beside Apple?
1. must play MP3 and M4A (AAC)
2. must play nice with my Power Mac
3. must sync with iTunes (practically my entire music collection is in iTunes)
4. must work with the iPod dock connector in my car
Zune should have no problem with 1, might possibly be okay with 2, but is locked out of 3 & 4 -- along with every other non-Apple player on the market, thus far, to the best of my knowledge. If anyone knows differently, please correct me!
(And before anyone says anything. . . . No, my 1st gen iPod doesn't have a dock connector. In fact, my car stereo has only an aux input, it doesn't yet have an iPod dock connector either. My next one will. I'm looking to the future here.)
There will never be an iPod killer. What you'll see is the iPod's market share steadily eaten away by a large number of other players. The iPod was a once in a decade phenomena like the Walkman before it. There's was and still is a lot of hype surrounding the iPod and it is a great product but other players have caught up in terms of functionality and are able to compete on price. What currently still gives the iPod the edge is the integration with the iTMS.
Given the recent announcement that EMI will be offering DRM free music and Steve Job's statement that more than half of the music in the iTMS will be DRM free by the end of the year (suggesting that more deals are imminent), I'd argue that it is much more likely that people will begin buying DRM free music that they can use with the player of their choice and that will slowly but surely eat away at the iPod's market share as people chose to replace their iPods with lower cost alternatives without worrying about losing their investment in the music they've already purchased from the iTMS.
That scenario is a lot easier to envision than some company producing the next big thing and having consumers dumping their iPods in droves for it. What is there really left for a portable mp3 player to do? Current iPods let you watch videos, listen to music, play games, store photo's and contact and the list goes on. I think the iPhone may be more popular than some people think but the concept will take a while to catch on and that's if Apple can deliver on it's promises. I'd love to have my phone and iPod in a single device that also gives me easy access to the web and e-mail. The price and the fact that it's currently tied to a single wireless provider are what will hold it back. Although both of those things will probably change in the future.
If i was a betting man I'd say the 2nd or 3rd generation iPhone will be the closest thing that comes to an iPod killer provided Apple can increase the storage space, reduce the price and offer versions of the phone that can work with additional providers.
Does Microsoft really get things right with enough retries? It's a common misconception that Windows 3 'got it right' and took over the world, but I think that was actually down to luck, when Windows 3.1 for Workgroups cashed in on the coincidental boom in office networking. Recent versions Office and Windows don't seem to be any more 'right' than before, they still sell because they are de-facto standards rather than actually 'good'.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
I beg to differ. I have a 1G iPod bought around 5 years ago which still works fine, though it's been dropped innumerable times, the battery doesn't charge so well now as it only lasts an hour or so (after 5 years of use) but it works fine. I could replace the battery (doesn't look hard), but haven't bothered because I got a 4G a couple of years ago (to get more space) and use that mostly now instead. Battery life is as new. Same goes for all the other people I know who have iPods - none have stopped working, save one which took a dip in some water. So much for your 'everyone knows' lifespan of between 6 months and 2 years.
Though we'll have to wait till it comes out, the new Zune sounds very much like they've moved on to copying the Nano, which is great, but doesn't really address the fact they're 2 years behind all their competitors. They need to stop, take stock, and address the faults and short-comings of Zune - both software and player, instead of playing catch-up. Portable video doesn't really it to me, right now it's just another bullet point on the feature list (cost, storage, screen size all need to be addressed). By the time MS produce something worth buying with the Zune, Apple will be selling internet connected devices by the million instead, and even more people will be using iTunes to sync up everything on their computer with those devices, leaving the Zune as a copycat product in a shrinking market.
There are so many things they could have added - address book, camera support for image import, clock, calendar, data entry, internet, real content sharing via wifi (other than music), real ebook support etc etc. This hack for reading text on a Zune sums things up really :
http://lifehacker.com/software/zune/read-a-book-o
Given the platform they already had with Pocket PC, why they even bothered producing something entirely different for the Zune astounds me. The convergence with PocketPC devices is only a few years away, and yet they throw out all the ground-work they have in-house and start again with a device that's so limited it's painful. If Pocket PC (or whatever they call it now) needs improved to handle playing music, improve it! The whole thing stinks of a directive from on-high to combat the iPod, which resulted in a quick buy-in and rebranding of an existing player then a rushed launch. V2 is more of the same.
I'll never understand why we need [such-and-such] killers. An iPod killer? Why? Whether people like it or not, the iPod is a good product, so why does it need to be killed.
You're right, the more the merrier, so let's just leave the iPod in the game, but just hope that other people get in the game too. I'm hesitant to root for Microsoft after the abuse I've taken as one of their customers. I guess it's fine as long as they're sticking with MP3s or AACs, but in every instance where they're trying to force some form of WMA or WMV on the entire digital media market, I'm going to root against them.
A transparent yellow one will be nice too.
There is a spark in every single flame bait point.
Standard on PCs != Standard on Consoles
You said the Microsoft will "Copy the Competition" but PCs and Consoles do not compete, they are very different market segments. The competition (Nintendo and Sony) are still lagging way behind Microsoft in the online arena.
I am a Nintendo fanboy and anti-Microsoft, but this is just true.
Still IMing in the stone age?
Remember, THIS is the year Linux takes over the Desktop.
Really.
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