But wait, there's more... Zune deets
By Paul Miller 
posted July 17th 2006 1:45PM
posted July 17th 2006 1:45PM
For a product that Microsoft hasn't even officially confirmed, there sure is a whole lot of Zune info to be getting on with. The latest leaks are from Digital Music News, who has been reviewing some of the presentation material that Microsoft shared with top-level execs of partner companies. The biggest detail that they've unveiled is that the Zune will indeed be basing its social networking capabilities on Microsoft's Live Anywhere platform. Not an incredibly huge surprise, given the functions we've already heard described and the Xbox roots of the device, but it should give the Zune a good boost in the direction of its 18-28 year old demographic, which Microsoft claims will skew a bet younger than that of the iPod. The social aspects, including that trusty friends list from Xbox Live, is purportedly taking some cues from MySpace, which seems to go beyond the functions we spied at our E3 demo of Live Anywhere. DMN also reveals that the 30GB Zune will have the "same pricing, look and feel as the 60GB iPod," which was $399 the last time we checked. That, of course, is the same price as an Xbox 360 Platinum, which might put the hurt on the cashflow of their younger target demographic. As rumored, the Zune should come in three colors, and that round button is indeed a scroll wheel to work the menus. WiFi functionality will be able to share music with up to 10 friends in a close-range peer to peer fashion, but to share a protected track your friend will have to "bookmark" the song for purchasing later. The player will be incompatible with other PlaysForSure services, focusing, we suppose, exclusively on their URGE store. There's still no word on non-DRMed MP3 sharing, but the outlook isn't good. Microsoft is aiming for a November release in the US, to be followed by a global launch next year. We would promise you more info as the release looms nearer, but we're not sure what else we could say.
Hafnium, why did you take the time to repeat what you had already said in a more longwinded form. I said it's patently absurd.
Your personal satisfaction does not make a product a success.
Your personal satisfaction does not mean that marketshare will increase by increasing marketing spending.
Refute that if you can but don't repeat the same nonsense.
TF, I was only trying to elaborate, as I felt that you didn't quite catch my point...
Like I stated above, I was only guessing that people felt like I do that the Xbox is a success. Now I got at least *some* proof:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Microsoft_Xbox_360/4852-6464_7-31355096.html?tag=uolst
Thats pretty high ratings, I would say...
The number one question still remains and nobody seems to be able to break the scoop....
Whose chip will be in the Zune?
Microsoft better integrate Bluetooth into this thing or that's going to be a big mistake. People are beginning to use wireless headphones and at this stage in the game - all new portable media players need this functionality, otherwise the manufacturer is just going backwards instead of progressing.
They also should integrate a line out jack and a user swappable battery. Two things the Ipod has never had, but that a player really needs.
They should also include a button lock - something the Ipod does have and is very usful for helping to protect battery life.
They should also include a dock of some sort and an AC adaptor (or USB AC adaptor) IN THE BOX. I don't want to have to pay extra for those things. Apple makes everyone pay extra for those things which should be included in the first place, but they got greedy and decided not to. This is one EASY way that MS could best Apple.
I'd also like to see a compact retractable USB cable included in the box instead of just a regular USB cable like what Apple includes. The retractable ones are so much easier to store and transport. This would be a nice touch.
And they absolutely need to incorporate the ability to store and play MP3's. If Microsoft only allows WMA's and forces people to re-encode all of their MP3 music, as well as DRM-enabled WMA's to force people to buy music from URGE, and doesn't allow for the MP3 format, they'll be making a HUGE mistake and their player will not reach the levels of success that they'll be looking and planing and hoping for. Guaranteed. In addition to WMA and DRM-WMA, they MUST allow for MP3 and WAV at the very least (and perhaps WMA lossless and maybe another format) in order to succeed. Maybe if they allowed for AAC (not DRM-AAC from iTunes, of course), then people with Ipods could just easily transfer their unprotected-AAC-encoded music right over to MS's new player.
I hope MS allows for different wallpaper and font colors (maybe even font styles) to allow for customization on the screen. Apple's white background is getting really boring to look at.
The last thing I'd REALLY like to see, is an integrated stereo mic and maybe small stereo speakers for voice recording capability. I really want to be able to use this player as a digital voice recorder.
The last thing I'd hope for, would be XM satellite radio capability and a bright transflective LCD screen for viewing outdoors in sunlight.
They could make a player that handles all of this, but satellite radio would be the only feature that I'd wonder about. If they do, they better offer one player version that handles XM and one that handles Sirius and not side with one or the other, otherwise MS won't see the kind of success they want. You have to offer both when it comes to satellite radio.
Here's extra credit: a small, thin RF remote control (and RF, not IR - no line of sight issues) that has its own built-in LCD screen that will allow a person to see what they're navigating when the player is across the room docked next to speakers and so on. The RF receiver should be built into the player, not just the dock, that way, we can use the remote with the player even when we're not dragging the dock around with us everywhere.
And the included dock should allow the player to be hooked up to the TV so we can see music info and album art, photos, and videos, and the menu system, all on the TV screen.
I think a lot of s non-Apple fanatics really want some change in the DAP market. We want something different from the iPod.
If MS meets Apple on their price and functionality, I really think they'll be a lot of people jumping Apple's ship. If they keep the functionality, increase features and undercut Apple's price, I really think they'll do well this time around. Even with the mediocre design.
One thing though, I know it's probably a flash-HD, but why does this DAP have more memory than my 360? Come out with a bigger HDD MS! And did anyone ever doubt Live Anywhere wouldn't make it on the Zune?
Just to chime in, I also was excited for the Zune but am getting less and less enthusiastic with every new update.
I think the real question is, does forcing its users through hoops with DRM, incompatibility, and price actually make Microsoft money? How could it?
And I suppose that for left handers like me the screen display swivels 180 degrees so that I can read it with out having to stand on my head or have Xray eyesight to read the screen through my hand.
This player is doomed to failure. It offers too many features at too high a price. If it's supposed to be an all-singing, all-dancing, video, photo and music device then why can't it store virtually any video. With a screen that size it needs to be at least 60-80GB and that's without the music and photos that people will want to load onto this thing.
The wifi sounds like someone's half-assed idea of a joke. Just let people stream music from the players in their vicinity. Don't try and tie it into this social networking rubbish because it becomes over-complicated and difficult to use. Also why can't you share non-drmd music? What effect is this thing and the half dozen other 'useless except to geeks®' features going to have on battary life? Will it be able to complete with the physical dimensions of the ipod - probably not?
I predict 2-5% of market share in a year at the expense of creative and iriver and never climbing beyond that level
Before everyone starts hating this thing why dont we wait for official specs of the actual product first. Also how this got into an xbox conversation between a few users is beyond me. My comment on that is anyone who does not like the xbox 360 does not like gaming. So far its looking alot better than ps3 and wii and the people who own it are very happy so far. I think the xbox 360 has the best chance to win this console war. As for the zune, lets wait because this is all rumor and nothing is finalized.
Sounds like a "budget killer" to me
i get the feeling that the early pics are fake... a kind of spoof of the ipod. as for the higher price... well, keep in mind that x-box and x-box 360 were set at premium pricing, but, because they delivered, they grabbed a large share of the market. the same may be true of zune... if it plays music, video & games... the price won't seem so out of line.
OK, Apple's just announced their new iPod line today, and lowered the top iPod video by $50. It'll be interesting to see how MS will tweak the Zune line from what we think it'll be so far. I don;t see anything impressive so far. Their best bet will be to have some huge beneficial tie into the Xbox.
Me, I got a new iPod nano to buy.