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Zune HD Unveiled, Set For Fall Release
Several readers have written to mention that Microsoft has confirmed and unveiled the Zune HD. It has a "3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output," and it makes use of multi-touch input. More details will be forthcoming at E3, including how the device interacts with Xbox Live. Reader johnjaydk notes a PCWorld article that asks whether the Zune HD will be capable of competing with the iPod Touch. Quoting: "... the real competition between the Zune HD and the iPod Touch will come down to software. The new Zune will be based on a custom version of Windows CE, while the iPod Touch runs on the already popular iPhone platform, for which thousands of applications are available."
I first read that title as "Zune HD Unveiled, Set For Fail Release"
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Zunes are also finally coming to Europe as well, which marks the first time Microsoft has announced the US exclusivity on the Zune is being dropped. Understandably, the US press has perhaps overlooked this fact, but if you live here in Europe, it's possibly bigger news than the Zune HD being announced.
Will this be the first mass produced consumer product to use an OLED screen? I know I've been reading about them for some time, but other than one digital camera (i think) I don't know that I've heard of any products that will actually contain one. It will be interesting to see how it looks relative to other small media players.
If nothing else it's great that they're raising the bar.
With specs like that, I'm curious as to what their target demographic is? Apple already tied up the young, hip and ignorant. iRiver owns the cheap and techy. All that's left is the old and confused.
The Zune is like the Go-Bots of digital media players. It's what your grandmother will buy you for your birthday, knowing you like that "music thing"
The hardware is pretty good looking(though the screen resolution is a bit of a WTF? in this day and age). My primary concern would be browser related. Mobile IE is a worthless unforgivable pustule on the ass of mankind. Since it isn't on x86, it doesn't even have the "compatible with every last weirdo activeX control and embedded horror" angle going for it. Unless MS has made extraordinary enhancements, they might as well not bother.
Hopefully it will be compatible with Opera or other third party browsers.
From TFA: "Supported 720p HD video files play on the device, downscaled to fit the screen at 480 x 272 - not HD resolution. Zune HD and AV Dock, and an HDTV (all sold separately) are required to view video at HD resolution" Seems like every single product these times has to have "HD" at the end, just like "2000", "Professional", etc, etc..., even if its missinforming...
why is the iphone/touch not on basic firmware?
-- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
Redmond, start your copiers...again
"The new Zune will be based on a custom version of Windows CE, while the iPod Touch runs on the already popular iPhone platform, for which thousands of applications are available."
This makes it sound like CE is just some new kid on the block. I mean I don't deny the popularity of the iPhone platform and the benefit of their app store, but common, CE is no flash in the pan for applications either. Not to mention Visual Studio makes it a BREEZE to develop for.
Play me online? Well you know that I'll beat you. If I ever meet you I'll "/sbin/shutdown -h now" you. -Weird Al, kinda.
Which means that anyone who can program for Win 2k/xp/vista/7 can program for the Zune. I've done WinMobile programming and it's easy in C#. Many apps can be easily ported from desktop to Mobile and back, with the main issue being the screen size.
The tuner (I assume it does regular FM if it does HD) is a big win here.
I wonder how hard it is to transcode video for it? If it's as easy as for iPhone (using Handbrake, for example)...
Best Slashdot Co
Wake me up when they release the Nokia N-Gage HD.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=15876
The device is sturdy (judging from past Zunes), the screen (while not HD by any means) will still be a decent screen to work with, and the hardware will be solid enough to output 1280x720.
It's a winner in my book, even though I still wish the screen itself was 720p.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
...the title said, "Fail Release"?
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
I bought an HD radio just to check out the technology. The cheapest one I could find was $80--quite a bit for a radio. But the quality is spectacular (HD AM sounds better than the best non-HD FM reception), and you get more stations and metadata.
I am surprised that his hasn't caught on more yet. I believe it is because the chips needed for HD radios are still expensive. I sure hope the Zune drives down implementation costs and helps bring HD radio to the masses. Listening to NPR as if I'm right in the station is a great experience.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
Look at how the Xbox 360 unceremoniously unseated Playstation as the console of choice.
MS is playing for keeps -- if they keep at it, they will do well. I actually think their Zune Pass is one of the best things out there, even though I don't have a Zune. If they got a few 3rd parties to do a car integration kit (ala Dice) I'd be on board and buy one.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
Apple already tied up the young, hip and ignorant.
Glad you're enjoying your iPod.
They also tied up the people interested in the platform with the widest capability...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Zune? They still have those?
It's patently obvious that the Zune is the better and most innovative product ever to come out of Redmond, despite Apple launching the iPod in 2001, a full five years before the Zune. And Apple stealing the 'Zune Marketplace' and rebranding it as the iTunes Store .. :)
Seriously: if they don't tie the Zune to the Windows desktop, and make using the other players a jolting experience, then the 'innovation' magic isn't going to work this time. The constant mud slinging at Apple being a reminder as to who they are a worry to.
'dirty Hobbitses, trying to steal my precious! kill Hosbitses'
davecb5620@gmail.com
Many apps can be easily ported from desktop to Mobile and back, with the main issue being the screen size.
That's the whole reason Windows Mobile has such problems, because in development you are basically targeting a desktop but the user doesn't HAVE a desktop, they have a mobile device with constrained screen and constrained input. It makes the applications developed fundamentally more frustrating than they are on OS's built around a mobile platform - like the Android, iPhone OS or even WebOS from Palm.
Not to mention it can lead to apps that really chow down battery.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If it looks like an iPod Touch and acts like an iPod Touch but comes from Microsoft, it ain't an iPod Touch.
It must suck to be an engineer at Microsoft. Ignoring the phat paycheck, it must really suck to work for a company that has largely given up on any semblance of innovation and is simply following the lead of other companies. I would imagine that many of their best and brightest are begging to explore some very cool ideas but are being held back by Microsoft's corporate culture... I feel for them...
Actually, they get paid magnitudes more than I do so I don't feel too bad for them...
I have Mac at home. I want to buy some music.
I do *not* go to Amazon.com or Walmart to buy my music more cheaply. I buy from ITunes because the whole F'ing process is streamlined. I don't have to think.
Transcoding difficulty shouldn't be higher than for the iPhone. You'd still be using Handbrake. The only difficulty you might have is that Handbrake only comes with profiles for Apple's products. I have a Sony Walkman and use a Zune profile I found on a forum after a few clicks from Google.
I wish I could get my Zune to work in Ubuntu. Microsoft, please open up MTPZ!
480x272 is 'HD Output'? Surely they are joking. Or maybe they've somehow made it so your speakers/headphones work better magically, and they mean HD audio output.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
I can hardly wait.
Not!
meh ... bad analogy. I would say Sony really earns the props for the 360 coming in second place. The fact that MS is not in third place considering the fact it was cause of the largest consumer electronics fuckup in US history showed just how bad Sony screwed the pooch. Especially coming off the runaway success of the playstation 2. If Sony wasn't so incompetent, i would imagine that Microsoft would be probably be in a distant third right now with plans on escaping the market.
... as long as it's brown.
That is all.
Q: What do you call a bunch of Zunes?
A: Overstock
Is that the best you can do? Do you really have the word "More" and its associated icon clipped on your products' main screen as shown on your official home product page? You couldn't at least make it so the home screen isn't clipped in all of your publicity photos?
So I should get one to go with my new South American phone.
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
Smaller screen than an iPod Touch, Windows CE, Microsoft App Store - Lame.
Oh wait too late!
http://www.google.com/search?q=hd+glasses
"During My Service In The United States Congress, I Took The Initiative In Creating The Internet." -Al Gore
No, this will never be as good as the PSP. Though, it might sell a little better.
They are NOT the cool company. Nobody wants the MS logo (what is it actually?) on their fashion accesory MP3 player. For me to pay the premium that both MS and Apple demand, there got to be something in it that makes the premium worth while. Else I can just buy a FAR more capable music player from say iRiver, that can actually play more then just MP3/WMV/AAC.
Furthermore, Apple has already won the war, the retake lost ground, MS would have to do something innovative. They haven't. HD video output can only be done via a docking station. They never heard of mini-hdmi (or whatever the exact name is)?
HD Radio is a nice gimmick, but if want a portable radio, why would I need to buy a 300+ dollar device? There are cheaper options. Is the MP3/FLAC/ETC part of it also better quality? Got my doubts. For that matter, I am actually willing to bet that the HD radio is raped by the internal circuits till it sounds no better. The Apple devices are the same, terrible audio quality especially if you consider the high price. Silly me for expecting a device that costs 3x as much to sound 3x better :P
It uses a customer version of CE. Why? I can't think of any other reason then to limit cross spread of software. That it will have all kinds of build in limits that make building for it hard and impossible to share music. Exactly like MS has done countless times before including the previous Zunes.
MS just doesn't get it, nobody will buy their device simply for the logo and it ain't going to win over anyone that just wants a good portable music player.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
No, if you read the stuff from people like Carmack and others, it was just easier to develop for MS's platform. The fact they released it first is kind of ancillary.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
I just squirted after hearing this!
Apple sits backs until the market settles out, creams the crip for features, throws LOT$ of money into advertising, and sells you something for a premium that you, apparently, must have. It works, so there you go. To me, though, the iPhone/Touch are not worth the hype. I'd put each in the mediocre column, along with the rest of the fixed-function phones/players.
Mod me down for defending Microsoft, but the note
"The new Zune will be based on a custom version of Windows CE, while the iPod Touch runs on the already popular iPhone platform, for which thousands of applications are available."
fails to acknowledge that Windows CE has been around a bit longer than the iPhone OS and has tons of applications available. Just sayin'.
Part of the reason is that Ibiquity, the folks behind the HD radio standard, managed to get the FCC to approve a MANDATORY encryption key as a part of the standard. In other words, ALL HD radio traffic is encrypted with a key that you have to license from Ibiquity - full stop.
No matter if you can make your own decoder chip - you SHALL license the key from Ibiquity or you won't be able to decode ANY traffic.
And as a result, if you want to do something and Ibiquity doesn't want you to - you don't do it.
And Ibiquity doesn't want your spiffy new radio outputting any form of digital stream - no USB, no Firewire, no SPIDF, no Uncle Mikey.
So when Griffin wanted to have the RadioSharkHD stream the HD over USB to your computer - BZZZZT! Wrong answer.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Nintendo may have sold more consoles, but people buy more games for the Xbox 360 anyway.
Sounds like a good failure to me.
Your username is LinuxOverWindows, your UID is 1549895, and you can't use basic grammar and mechanics. You have no credibility. Try again later.
Damn that was funny, cheers. If I had mod points I'd use them.
/legal threats campaign to destroy the competition. The only area they did actually offer a good product comparable with the competition was the XBOX & it's successor the XBOX 360.
While the XBOX and the XBOX 360 are decent, the Sony equivalents are much the same. The Wii spanked BOTH those in terms of sales and popularity. Is the Wii making or losing money for Nintendo? What about the XBOX 360 part of Microsoft, how is that affecting the bottom line? We still have potential lawsuits over faulty hardware to take into account.
Microsoft do have a habit of not seeing a potential money making sector as it grows, until it's big enough to catch their attention and by that time there are other entrenched players to unseat. Usually at that point Microsoft try to do their own thing, vendor locked and half baked, which tends to fail. The next point is to buy someone already successful in that sector, buying the market share they can't get on merit. If they can't buy market share it's the old smear
As the credit crunch continues and people still have to watch their spending Microsoft will continue to have a hard time. They relied on the usual hype with Windows to have Vista being sung from the rooftops as the savior to their IT woes, and it bombed. Perhaps some of the criticism was unjustified but plenty was very much on the mark, and the people rebelled. When you have a multi-billion-doller sure thing you can afford to count on the money rolling in, so when it doesn't you find you've spent a LOT in other areas that you're in even more shit. So you send out the PR drones / proxies / astorturfers to try and brainwash the people and eventually have to give up, give the pig a make over and a new name....and charge more for it to make up the losses.
The Zune is just another example of a boat they missed and have been desperately running alongside it trying to catch up, all the while being ignored by almost everyone except the die hard fanboys. How many projects to Microsoft keep pumping money into without making it back before they get canceled. Sure each part of Microsoft plays into the whole, some are losing money, some are making it while their two cash cows Windows and Office keep many afloat. The Windows cash cow went on a severe diet over the last couple of years, and shows no real signs of putting on the weight it's been accustomed to.
Microsoft's PR may give you the idea that they're playing for keeps but in a market like personal mp3/4 players the iPod is king. PR people ALWAYS talk up their products, it's their jobs. There are plenty of great mp3/4 players but the iPod is still king (as much as I wouldn't be seen dead with one personally). Personal gadgets are often used as street cred, where people use them as trophies to be accepted into a crowd. Microsoft will NEVER be trendy, unless you're attending a corporate Christmas office party where the average age of the party attendees is in their 50's and the common thread is "mid life crisis".
They tried with the Zune before and failed. Even if they have learned some lessons and redesigned the Zune into something reasonably cool, the name Zune has as much cool cred as Windows ME. Microsoft are often keen to rebrand a failed project, apply a new skin and launch it as a new product hoping it will work the second time. It's yet to work for them, this time they didn't waste the money on rebranding, which could be a sign of a budget cut.
Every other week Microsoft are laying people off, or cutting back on budgets for some projects or plans. The Zune will be a drain for Microsoft to pour some money down, while trying in vain to capture some market share and income from an entrenched leader. This time next year the Zune will be one of the growing list of failures that finally got the axe from the accounts department at Microsoft trying to cut away the dead weight.
I had this nightmare, in which we experienced a severe shortage of irrelevant proprietary boxes designed for trivial purposes. THANK MICROSOFT!!!
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
Saw that yesterday on macrumours along with their comments, and when i saw the headline here, at first i thought it read "..set for FAIL release". But i guess that says more about my view of microsoft products, rather than the products themselves... or is it the other way around?
They'll have an HD radio receiver. That's something that iPod doesn't do.
Don't bet on it. Word is there is a lot more hardware capability built into current iPods than is being utilized. Usage thereof may be delayed pending marketing & engineering concerns, but push come to shove methinks Apple can easily release an update that will turn on the radio receiver (among other abilities) and undercut any serious competition in short order.
Part of "insanely great" is "don't go cool too early". Short of any real competition, Apple doesn't want to release functionality until they've got usability nailed. Many companies indeed are "already there" with assorted technologies, yet it fails to catch on precisely because the market isn't ready and engineering hasn't figured out how to do it right yet; Apple lets them make the mistakes first and stir up the market before jumping in with their "insanely great" version.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
If you can see the future that well... can you tell me the lotto numbers too?
I think the Zune is actually a good MP3 player, even compared to the iPod. The iPod is just the standard. I have several, to make that point.
If MS offers everything the iPod does in terms of 3rd party tools like car integration, boomboxes and stereo systems, etc... then I don't see why it can't be a hit also. People don't buy iPods only because they are from Apple, but because they can plug it into their car, or because they can plug it into a stereo dock, or whatever.
Time will tell either way, but I think this Zune is better than the past ones and that's a good thing for the sake of competition. I'm not going to bring Windows into this (since that's where you're headed) since it's kind of irrelevant, but since I've already commented I can't mod you troll.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
No. Really. I prefer my Zune 80 over my all of my iPods. Better sounding, better software, better features. And Microsoft's philosophy on hardware firmware/updates is miles above Apple's if-you-want-the-new-features-you-need-to-buy-the-new-iPod attitude.
The only thing MS need to work on is battery life and 3rd party ability for line-out (LOD) cables to use with DAC/Amps.
Ahem.
Consider yourself fortunate that this is an even-number release from Microsoft.
For the next version, which my calculator says should be odd-numbered, you would be wise to refrain from opening your mouth or flexing your finger-muscles, in any attempt at Microsoft bashing.
That famous potrait of Obama, is him looking forward to the long-awaited Zune odd-version release.
dont you mean haveing 1 zunes as being overstock?
iphone/ipods already have 480 x 320 screen resolution. How is this thing "HD" when it has lower resolution than the 1st generation iphone?
I was hoping for a device with SPDIF output, but could not find one. This is an interesting explanation.
It's hard to believe the FCC would allow them to limit the functionality of devices. I could see them letting this company mandate licensing costs--but letting the company inhibit what you can do with your licensed decoder? I sure hope, if that's true, someone will sue to get that overturned.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
...I'm still asking for an iPhone (32GB) for Christmas this year.
It's hard to believe the FCC would allow them to limit the functionality of devices.
Boy, are you naive.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Can the device be connected to HDTVs, audio system, etc. for the HD stuff? That would be a sweet portable device.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
MORAN
Your argument is entirely ad hominem, while failing to address anything he said. You have no credibility either. As for the topic at hand, I have no opinion.
The current 4/8 gig units cannot hold a candle to the equivalent ipods. However, the 80/120 gig units in screen size and dpi, format handling, DRM issues, fm signal, etc. blows away the ipod "classic." Now, if MS can only do something to improve Zune Marketplace.
ceci n'est pas un sig
Does the custom version of Windows CE allow users to run the apps of their choice? If so, this seems OBVIOUSLY better than any of Apple's products. The 'thousands' of programs in the Apple App Store will be surpassed in six months, if the new Zune is not locked down like an Apple product.
The Zune always had really good hardware. It had some silly restrictions (like on WiFi), and terrible marketing. Compare that to the iPod/iPhone, which is good hardware, silly restrictions, and great marketing...
This makes the device look thiner than it is. It is actually pretty thick. I guess they couldn't get everything into a slim package.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
I have a Zune120. Despite the given fact that it is proprietary as hell, it is a fairly stable device. The firmware is extremely intuitive and runs really smoothly. The audio quality is clear. And I really enjoy the social that is built around it. My only issue is with it being so damn proprietary that I have to either dual boot XP or have it inside my Ubuntu Studio on a VM to even use it. It is the only reason I still even use windows.
I think part of the reason why the Zune fails is that it's one of those devices that a lot of people don't give a chance to. Those of us that use them, really enjoy them. I also happen to think iPods are nice as well and I have really considered Archos devices (though I had enough trouble affording my 120); but the truth is I like my Zune too much. And for players with large storage capabilities the options are limited. If we could only get it working in Linux
sudo apt-get lost
The Apple devices are the same, terrible audio quality especially if you consider the high price.
Actually, the audio quality of the iPod is generally regarded very highly
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Apple-iPod-Classic-120GB/
http://www.t3.com/ipod-and-mp3-players/all-mp3-players/apple-ipod-shuffle-third-generation-review
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1857401,00.asp>
It's the piss poor earphones that have always let the side down. Swap them out for something better, and the sound shines through.
"We live in a global world" - Harvey Pitt, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
MS needs to realise no one likes the Zune and they're happy with their iPods. They may not be perfect but people know MS makes rubbish and will only stick with their OS because they have to but they don't have to buy a Zune.
Anyone else flabbergasted by the cropped "e" on the Marketplace menu item? This is their official promo imagery (captioned with the word "Perfection," no less) on all their press pages! Really? They couldn't have sized that to fit?
(I work in the broadcast industry, so I'm posting AC to cover my ass.)
FM HD Radio, in "MP1 mode", provides 96kbps of bandwidth to receivers. On "good" stations, they'll allocate the full 96kbps of bandwidth to the primary HD audio channel and won't use it for anything else. However, HD radio also lets you divide up this 96kbps into two or more audio streams - you can do 64+32, 64+16+16, 48+16+16+16... not to mention you can dedicate channels for sending data instead of audio.
Audio is compressed with the "HDC" codec, which is a tightly guarded secret of iBiquity Corp and they refuse to release any details about it. It's a constant-bitrate codec, and apparently the compression is a bit better than MP3 but it's not at the same level as current AAC/SBR codecs.
Most people who run a secondary audio stream use 64+32. When you're running a 64kbps main audio channel, I actually prefer the sound of the frequency-limited analog FM since it doesn't have digital compression artifacts. Certain songs can bring out HDC's artifacts in a big way.
"Etimology" of the word moran ;o)
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Does anybody else feel this kind of weird pity when they read posts like this?
I'm about to go on an OT rant here, but the parent is absolutely right. The FCC must be either inept or completely corrupt to accept a proprietary technology as a standard, especially when such outrageous exclusivity rules are applied to it's use. In these cases an open standard will create a vibrant market around the technology, expedite it's adoption, and maximize its public utility. For these reasons I say (sadly), fuck you, HD Radio.
I can't remember the last time I forgot anything.
will it run linux?
Seriously though, if the hardware is nice, i might consider buying it IF i can throw on an OS i actually...like
Was I the only one to read this as "fail release" and not "fall release"? I guess the topic helped to add to my misread confusion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnSoEJ7taio (Oh wait, I have an iPod like the rest of the world)
The primary reason Windows is relevant is that both it and Office are Microsoft's two cash cows. The profits from both these fund a LOT of other projects, many of which lose money and fail to gain any traction. When either one of their cash cows fails to bring home the bacon as it previously has done, it ripples through EVERY other part of Microsoft. There are always blips, but in the case of Windows, Windows 7 is not likely to be the "return to profit making form" that you'd expect from the successor to a failed project. For other departments this means the budget is tighter for a more permanent length of time with the pressure of not losing too much money to buy market share.
I bet they sell dozens of them.
"the real competition between the Zune HD and the iPod Touch will come down to software. The new Zune will be based on a custom version of Windows CE, while the iPod Touch runs on the already popular iPhone platform, for which thousands of applications are available"
So the main weakness of the Microsoft platform is that very little popular software appears to be available for it, whereas the Apple equivalent is where all the apps are ... If anybody fell asleep a few years ago and woke up to this they are going to be very confused!
I'd say this is simultaneously an example of:
a) how if MS produce a platform that many users prefer - like Apple originally did with the iPhone - that the application builders Will Come.
b) just what an incredible job Apple's simultaneous technical and marketing pushes have done for their entry into the phone market.
It'll be interesting to see what trends emerge for MS and Apple in the future.
And the pragmatic people going for MIN(price/GB)
Any real pragmatists is going for MIN(timeSpentFuckingWithDevice). The formula you describe is for techno storage fetishists.
All the wizz-bang wankery is pointless to me since I have to use it with linux
Linux is powerful but not pragmatic either. Macs are the pragmatic choice because you get almost all the power of UNIX/Linux, but with less personal time involved on the workings of the system. I know because I've spent many years working with Linux and other UNIX systems too...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Aw, come on now. There are a few of us young people who actually prefer the Zune to the iPod. I happen to be one of them.
Absolutely, me too, I think everyone should take a second look at the Zune... Aww just kidding, I own an iPod like everyone else in the world.
So the whole reason that Windows Mobile has problems is because application developers are porting their desktop applications?
Exactly right. They suck to use on mobile platforms and so fewer people buy and use them, except for a handful of productivity stuff like Goodmail. But you just don't see the kind of casual exploration of apps on the scale iPhone users engage in.
Some people do tailor the experience more to a mobile user but there's only so much you can do with the frameworks that are there... and the frameworks, they are old.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You're lame for not even reading the summary properly. It outputs in HD. It displays in 480x320.
Amnesty International
The Zune hardware is actually pretty solid, and for a while they were really, really cheap. At one point the 30gb version was getting dumped on various internet sites for $80-$99. That's a terrific value, even now. So good, in fact, that I bought one myself. The hardware is solid; I've dropped mine more than once and it still keeps going. The battery life is good, and the interface, while not perfect, isn't bad.
The atrocious part about the Zune is the windows software. It was an abomination 2 years ago, and is still terrible. For a long period of time it wasn't available on Vista, Windows 64, or any version of Windows Media Center. Various hacks to the installer program proved it could be done- the limitation was an entirely unnecessary OS-check. The software is still a pig, but the hardware is good, and was cheap.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
but it's hard to get excited over this. I had a first gen Zune and I liked it more than any of the iPods available at that time. It had a larger screen, an FM radio and supported codecs that the iPod didn't. Two years later though I have an iPhone and I'm seriously asking myself what possible advantage does this have that would make me want to carry TWO devices around. Then when you tack on the app store and the many applications I use on a daily basis and the Zune seems hopeless to compete. Unless MS can offer the same level of application support and the ability to play XBox Live Arcade games I think the platform needs to be taken out back and shot.
I've never understood this business strategy. I don't see any intrinsic reason why Microsoft should seek to enter every possible technology market and leverage its enormous financial power and resources to do so.
They know Zune is a failed business venture. As a product, the Zune is unable to compete with the iPod on any meaningful level. And Microsoft management knows this. Yet they persist, not out of some altruistic desire to encourage competition, but because the executives (read: Ballmer) have too much hubris to concede that Apple has done something remarkable. They have succeeded in revolutionizing the portable media device. And with the iPhone, Apple has created nothing less than an integrated portable computing/communications/multimedia solution that is as stylish as it is easy to use. Is it perfect? Hardly. Was it the first to use each of its component technologies? No. But it is indisputable that it broke new ground by combining all these features into a single, easy-to-use device. And the only ones who still refuse to admit this are those who are aligned with Ballmer's distorted view of reality.
I have a healthy appreciation for the competition--Google (Android), RIM (Blackberry), Palm (Pre), Nokia (N9x), and yes, even Microsoft (Zune/Windows Mobile). It's important that these guys are around to keep Apple on its toes. But let's not fool ourselves into believing that these are the good guys for fostering that competition. If they were truly good, they would have recognized the importance of innovating beyond what they see in Apple's offerings, rather than simply trying to make a comparable product. Where was their vision before Apple dominated the field? No, they were too busy being complacent. We saw tiny, incremental changes in the mobile device market for years until the iPhone blew everyone away. The same was true of the pre-iPod MP3 market. Apple lit a fire under their collective asses and now hardware manufacturers are going nuts trying to make the next "iPod/iPhone/iWhatever" killer.
The Zune will never be successful as long as it is deprived of a true vision. It isn't enough to mimic another device or its success. That's what Microsoft does not understand. They never have understood what makes a product work. The ubiquity of their bread-and-butter Windows has brought them enormous financial success and market share, but with that it has brought laziness and sloppy management. They can afford to push out half-assed products. Windows will still be there to keep the money coming in. They don't have to be hungry, visionary, or risk-taking, like Apple has had to be for decades. They've made some real blunders (G4 cube, 20th Anniversary Mac, the Lisa, Mac OS licensing, Centris/Quadra/Performa bloated product line,... I could go on but I think you get the point). But they have had enormous successes as well. Microsoft could make Zune amazing. Any company could, given that much money and talent. But that's not what they really want. They don't want to make something better than an iPhone or an iPod. They want to make something just good enough superficially, with as little attention to detail as possible, just so they can say they have some market penetration.
Microsoft has not wanted to make a better 'something' for DECADES. When a company stops caring about providing the best possible user experience, I stop caring about that company's products.
Microsoft need's to aim a little higher. Or include a "FREE MAGNIFYING GLASS."
http://www.mp4nation.net/catalog/
ONDA VX545HD - 5" TFT Screen
Onda VX777LE 8GB Touch Screen - TV Out + FM Transmitter
Onda VX787 16GB Touch Screen + TV Out + FM Transmitter
I am not even saying buy Onda, hell just about any player on the website kicks Zune's ass.
http://mp4nation.net/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
Want BIGGER? The 7" tft
http://thegadgetsite.blogspot.com/2009/04/onda-vx797hd-with-7-inch-screen.html
None of these players have drm, or proprietary connectors, or other such nonsense.
Microsoft doesn't give a fuck about what goes on here. They keep doing whatever the fuck they want.
If all you want to see is +5 Informative "Windoze SUX LOLZZZ" comments then I guess more mods should let the slashdot readership know that the majority of commenters are only interested in immature e-penis measuring contests. It would make it easier for the other idiots who want to read decent interesting/informative/etc comments on a clearly Microsoft specific story.
Tell us you know how idiotic you just made yourself look to everyone?
Right...right...right???
The PS3 just sold 10 million units in 2008 at double the price of the Xbox 360.
The PS3 has kicked the Xbox 360 into last place in both Japan and Europe even with the Xbox 360 being out for a year earlier in Japan and and a year and a half earlier in Europe.
Even more humiliating is the fact that the Xbox 360 almost got outsold by Sony's 9 year old PS2 last month in the one country, the US, that it is still a viable product.
And in the ultimate humiliation for Microsoft and the failed Xbox, the Net has been filled with Xbox fans screaming and hoping for a port of year old PS3 game, Metal Gear Solid 4, thinking that was going to be Microsoft' BIG NEWS at E3 this year. LOL!
You could hear the Xbox fanboys scream out in pain when it was, surprise, the next Metal Gear is a PS3 exclusive and no downgraded 360 port is being made.
Xbox 360
Worst console hardware in history with the RRoD fiasco, disc scratching
Smaller than last gen 7 gigabyte DVD format compared to the next gen standard BluRay 25/50 gigabyte discs
Worst online service with 50 dollar a year online fees, stupid 50 dollar a year fees, Nintendo Mii ripoffs
Worst first party developers, Sony has 20 first part studios, Nintendo has 10, Microsoft only has 3(LOL! Guess that's why Xbox fanboys are constantly begging for PS3 exclusives like MGS4. Losers...)
Dead last in 2/3 major console regions around the world
And now another fucking Zune, the laughing stock of music market, and the Xbox, the laughing stock of the gaming market, are joining forces!
LOL!
FAIL
then I don't see why it can't be a hit also.
Only works with Windows...for starters.
The Xbox is complete and utter failure in Asia.
The Xbox is only alive in the UK and dead across all of mainland Europe.
And in the US, Sony's PS2 and PS3 sold more than 1.5 times as many consoles as Microsoft.
That is before the long awaited PS3 price cut - the PS3 hasn't had a price cut for over a year and a half. Even worse for Microsoft is the fact that massive numbers of Xbox 360 owners are buying their second, third, fourth Xbox 360 due to the RRoD disaster, noise, disc scratching, and and the new E74 hardware failures hoping they will finally get a console that actually works.
Hell, every major publisher is making more money on PS3 sales than Xbox 360 sales. All one needs to know to grasp the extent of Xbox owners buying multiple 360 units.
Even going with generously low estimates for the massive number of duplicate Xbox 360s out there, Microsoft isn't even keeping pace with the first Xbox fiasco.
I'm having a hard time determining who here has really tried the Zune, or who is just bashing for the sake of bashing. I've had 3 iPods and 2 Zunes. The Zunes rock. The Zune pass rocks. It's a solid player that works great, feels great, and hasn't given me any real problems. Yeah, the Zune software is a little bloated, but anyone with a decent system shouldn't notice any problems (I routinely play games with it running with no issues). I've had a Zune30 and a Zune80, and they've both been great. I was really excited to see the news today that there's another one coming out. My only real concern is the loss of the Zune pad. That thing works great (4 directions plus click? Yep, good idea.) Also, I'm one of the ones who hates fingerprints.
Yep, it plays for sure alright.
Yes. I pity the humanity.
Unless monkeys have learnt to wash their hands, keep dodging.
It's not just Windows and Office that make money for MS, but they are definitely some of the most reliable money makers.
And while the public deemed Vista a failure, their sales don't seem too bad considering most of it is from OEMs. They needed to break the enterprise market and they are doing that with Windows 7. We'll see how that turns out, but I am enjoying the RC build.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
ipod pos tbh
read that as "Zune HD Unveiled, Set For Failed Release"?
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
What has Microsoft ever gotten right?
Perhaps its time Slashdot trashed the stained glass window and the Borg icon. We might see fewer of these quick and lazy mod-ups.
The same resolution as a very successful mobile gaming platform.
like Apple TV is Steve Jobs'.
There, FTFY.
Incorrect.
Nothing said it outputs in HD. It says that you can display a HD 720p file on a TV (which has an HDMI port) via a docking station. I'm not saying it doesn't output, just that nothing said it actually outputs. The docking station could be doing all the work.
It says that it can hold a 720p file in the file system but that when it is played back it is played back (downsized) on it's screen at 480x272.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
If MS offers everything the iPod does in terms of 3rd party tools like car integration, boomboxes and stereo systems, etc... then I don't see why it can't be a hit also. People don't buy iPods only because they are from Apple, but because they can plug it into their car, or because they can plug it into a stereo dock, or whatever.
People buy iPods because of all the accessories and adaptors, and the accessories and adaptors are so prolific because people buy iPods.
The starting point in that circle was the success of the iPod on its own merits. Some people love it, some people hate it, but the great majority find it does the job pretty well and the flaws are outweighed by the good stuff.
Microsoft cannot provide the add-ons that exist for the iPod. That ecosystem arises naturally from a relatively open interface and a highly successful or ubiquitous product. Currently the Zune is neither highly successful nor ubiquitous, so few add-on companies will chance a product.
Being a competitor, the Zune has to do more than just catch up. To have any hope of surviving it has to be an amazing product, dragging the weight of opinion towards it. Competition is always a good thing, but the Zune is merely a good product and that's just not enough.
So when Griffin wanted to have the RadioSharkHD stream the HD over USB to your computer - BZZZZT! Wrong answer.
Guess that one is dead in the water, then, huh?
Harold
The funny thing is, that Zune actually was the reason why the xbox 360 was such a quality fuckup. In the middle of designing the console, Ballmer decided that Zune was more important and dragged half the xbox team away. Needless to say that the time schedule for the xbox was not altered because it had to be released one year before Sony and that the console was released with significant hardware flaws upfront.
In the end the console was sold in a shady breaking condition to customers despite internal warnings, the rest is history!
If Sony havent made such a major fuckup in two important areas, first the price, secondly, alienating 100 mio potential customers by dropping ps2 compatibilities, Microsoft would be with the xbox 360 where it was with the original xbox!
It is less the fault of Microsoft they did what they always do, release products with questionable quality and then let marketing fix the situation, but more the fault of Sony alienating almost their entire customerbase with 2-3 endlessly stupid decisions!
I have a Mac, iTunes, iPhone, etc, at home too... and I buy all my music from Amazon.com. Their music downloader makes the process absolutely as easy as buying from iTMS. The process is almost exactly the same.
nomadii -s *.mp3
You:
plug in cable.
type command.
Me:
Plug in cable.
Your way is faster how again? I didn't even have to turn on my display...
God Apple Haters are are just such idiots.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I always laugh when the concept of Windows sales come up as something to shout about. Yes, around 80% is pre-installed on new PCs. Microsoft make sure that in EVERY store, online and offline, that the customer only ever sees Windows. They make sure the media talk about "PCs" when they mean Windows PCs to stake claim on the concept of a PC, that Windows is an essential part of the device, that must always exist. How many times have you heard "PC virus" when it's a Windows virus?
Their choice is Windows, Windows, Windows, Windows, Windows, Windows or Windows. Not even different versions of Windows, Microsoft deny them even that. The choices the customer has is which edition of the current Windows. The price is always hidden in the total cost, leaving the customer to assume it's free when it's added to the price.
People who buy a new PC are NOT choosing Windows, they are choosing a PC which they can't buy without Windows. This is a tax, not sales. Microsoft go out of their way to ensure the customer only knows about Windows.
Microsoft have NEVER sold a single piece of software, nor will they ever start. They don't believe in it. You buy a LICENSE in the form of a generated number to use Microsoft software under terms and conditions THEY set. You never own it. It is NOT a sale. That's not to say it's not a big earner because it certainly is.
I'm not so sure on the idea that Windows 7 will break the enterprise market. It started off nice and slick being apparently "Vista as it should have been" but the more I see about it, the more people are starting to notice it's getting more like Vista by the day as they add in features. This seems to confirm the stories early on that Windows 7 is just Vista released with a make over.
Even assuming it pulls back from that before release I still think it will struggle. XP is good enough for most businesses, when money is tight and you're fighting to survive and keep your staff employed, upgrading your PCs, spending a fortune on new licenses (and in all likelyhood new hardware) just because Microsoft want you to is NOT an option if you're getting no ROI for your business.
Windows 7 won't be cheap. Microsoft will make sure people are punished for refusing Vista, so Windows 7 will be priced to make up that loss of income. Netbooks have happened since XP was released too. Microsoft have seen their markups on laptops and desktops being threatened by people wanting low cost, low spec machines for simple tasks. They've had to mangle together an old OS they have been desperate to drop and offer it for peanuts just to get market share. From what I hear of the way Windows 7 has developed, it has as much chance of fitting on a netbook as Vista does, which means XP lives even longer....another fail.
For a lot of reasons, the IT climate has changed since XP. People never rebelled against a new version of Windows before Vista. Linux wasn't a viable option for the mainstream either. It's now more than viable, it's now better for a lot of things than what Microsoft's billions of R&D can offer. Sure it has some stuff still to do but it's there for most normal users. Now people can compare a $300 OS with a free OS and Microsoft have to convince them that their malware magnet is £300 better than the competition. Times they are a changin'.