Microsoft's 'ZUNE' coming to the market...

surfwax95 · Sep 14, 2006

The details have been released! Engadget linky.

Looks very, very cool!

Engadget said:
As expected, Microsoft is busting out the Zune today, and we've got the rundown. Not a lot of surprises in the specs department, but they've confirmed the basics we've known for a while, like WiFi, 30GB of HDD, built-in FM, a 3-inch screen and the basic music, pictures and video playback. They also finally let slip the screen res -- an unsurprising QVGA -- and some better news on the codec front: the Zune supports h.264, MP3, AAC and WMA. As for ballyhoo, wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing is where the real action is at, and it works pretty much like we've been hearing: you can share a full-length track with a friend, and they've got three times to listen to it over a three day period, after which they can flag the song for purchase on the Zune Marketplace -- unless they're an unlimited "Zune Pass" subscriber, of course. You can also share playlists and pictures with your buddies, along with what we suppose are "unprotected" homemade recordings. So far Microsoft isn't mentioning Live Anywhere functionality, but they do hint heavily at future software updates to take even better advantage of the wireless capabilities. Of course, it all really comes down to matching your Zune with that snazzy new fall wardrobe of yours, and to that end the Zune comes in black, brown and white. Sadly, Microsoft still won't spill the beans on pricing and availability, so we'll keep an eye out for that just like always.

Mr Bobbins · Sep 14, 2006

Wow how original, it looks like an iPod. The price should be an interesting factor. Also imagine having wireless in-ear buds, you wouldn't have them for long.

SilverEagle5 · Sep 14, 2006

I think it looks pretty cool. Sure I guess you can say it looks like an iPod, but it looks enough not like one to get away with it. Depending on prices, I may look at getting one in the future.

cjay · Sep 14, 2006

It tries to look like an ipod but you can tell the designers just tried to make it look different enough. Looks-wise the ipod still beats it hands down (the brown? yuck). I like the big screen though.

Aslain · Sep 14, 2006

I like the way it looks. It has a wheel control, and that's pretty much all that says 'iPod' to me. I don't care about a plethora of features to be honest; I want to see how well integration/syncing will be managed.

PowerBookG4 · Sep 14, 2006

They even copied the apple "reflection" in the image.

Andy_M · Sep 15, 2006

it looks like an ipod and infact its got a wheel button.. roughly the same size, what a take.

Aptmunich · Sep 15, 2006

Yeah, but the wheel doesn't scroll, it's just a round 4-way directional toggle.

Jem · Sep 15, 2006

I dunno, I think it looks OK, and as to looking like an iPod... kinda tricky to make a practical shaped multimedia player that doesn't look like an iPod... heck my iRiver H-120 looked like an iPod - it had a screen and a kinda joysticky thing in the centre below the screen and was rectangular so it looked like an iPod too.

As Aslain says, it'll be on the syncing / integration front that the Zune will either make an impression or die trying like the zillions of other mp3 players out there. The screen looks nice though

Wonder if it'll play games from the apple store

sursuciofla · Sep 15, 2006

The deciding factor in whether it will succeed is the marketing of it. I have seen none as of yet, well advertisments to any target yet. I like it though. I might consider one if it is Mac compatible. Just like Vista though it's just a rip-off of ipod. I mean ipod is the standard for portable music devices right now so who can blame them for copycatting. That's what Microsoft has to do because they don't have creative minds like Apple.

Ghostshadow · Sep 15, 2006

I like the brown for some reason... but, it wont be replacing my ipod any time soon (never). Look at the play buttons... where have i seen that before?? Oh yeah!! 3rd gen ipod... Wow, lot's of innovative work went into this thing... it's a carbon freaking copy of the button.

slyseeker · Sep 15, 2006

With a screen that's 50% larger than the iPod's I would have expected a higher resolution, but it has the same res as the iPod's 320x240.

sursuciofla · Sep 15, 2006

slyseeker said:
With a screen that's 50% larger than the iPod's I would have expected a higher resolution, but it has the same res as the iPod's 320x240.

Just like 12"ibook and 14" ibook. But at least the strain on the eye is a little less.

dohidied · Sep 15, 2006

I have to say, the Zune does look pretty nice in action. It seems that with their first attempt, Microsoft has leapfrogged all the companies vying for #2 in the market and really put themselves in a good position. While I have no reason to replace my iPod, I'm glad for real competition in the market. Hopefully this will make Apple introduce some real innovations like they have in the past.

Also, I'm very interested in the WiFi and the ability to share songs. I would love to see a battle between the RIAA and Microsoft. It would finally be a fight that the RIAA couldn't win. And I think taking down that racket is important to the future of the music industry.

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMmD6a8N8Q4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpHzQYKDlWU

dan828 · Sep 15, 2006

It does look pretty cool. But I really don't need another mp3 player (I have an iPod Photo 40GB, iPod Shuffle, Aireo). The Aireo was a cool idea that never caught on-- it has wireless sync capabilities through 802.11b and can download audio files directly from Audible.com, and it also has a built in FM transmitter for playing your files over a radio. Battery life is only about four hours though, and the syncing software leaves a lot to be desired and the interface on the unit itself isn't that great. It'd be nice if the Zune (or a future iPod for that matter) could match the wireless syncing and the direct downloads from online content providers.

My understanding about the Zune is that it's made by Toshiba and is pretty much an upgraded Gigabeat S with the wireless functionality.

iWonder · Sep 15, 2006

zomgroxorslollmaobbq!!!oneoneunodoxthres!

if you don't get it, highlight below this line..
just a joke.. i threw it togethere with photoshop in like 2 minutes..

Mattlike · Sep 16, 2006

iWonder said:
zomgroxorslollmaobbq!!!oneoneunodoxthres!

if you don't get it, highlight below this line..
just a joke.. i threw it togethere with photoshop in like 2 minutes..

ahahahaha

taseal · Sep 16, 2006

i'm happy with this product... now maybe ipod will improve their stuff

such as add satellite radio or some cool new feature

Vagrant · Sep 16, 2006

I can also say I'm glad this came to market, because hopefully Apple will innovate the iPod to make the Zune look 5 years behind like xp to osx :headphone

ByzantineRemnant · Sep 16, 2006

If Microsoft released this for $199, they would have something that could effect iPod sales. At any other price, people wont see a reason to switch or try this instead. An iPod is the industry standard, thats a fact. And while the brown seems intriguing, the more I look at it, the less I like it.

Microsoft's 'ZUNE' coming to the market...

surfwax95

Mr Bobbins

SilverEagle5

cjay

Aslain

PowerBookG4

Andy_M

Aptmunich

Jem

sursuciofla

Guest

Ghostshadow

slyseeker

sursuciofla

Guest

dohidied

dan828

iWonder

Mattlike

taseal

Vagrant

ByzantineRemnant

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