Red Union Zune up for auction

Looks like there's a new -- albeit limited edition -- color Zune on the (auction) block: red. It comes by way of Union, one of the three La Brea Massive stores (including Undftd and Stussy -- not to be confused with the West Staines Massive) auctioning custom Zunes with "staff picked playlists," packed with Shure E5cs, JBL OnTour speakers, and a ZeroHalliburton 5-inch black aluminum attaché. Only two reds and six packages will be made available in total, so if you're feeling a little itchy to get all Bono up in this piece with your Microsoft player, hold out a while longer, something tells us more Zune shades are due eventually.

[Via HypeBeast, thanks Eric]

[pbase @ Oct 29th 2006 11:17PM]

Microsoft can color this thing interdimensional holographic ultraviolet. It's still gonna tank.

[James @ Oct 29th 2006 11:25PM]

Personally, I hope they stay with these earthy tones. It's giving the device a really nice organic feel - which I think will appeal to a lot of music aficionados.

[Curtis Estridge @ Oct 29th 2006 11:27PM]

i think they look awsome, these especialy, i want one

[ScooterJP @ Oct 29th 2006 11:34PM]

hope the red does something for charity, as it is with the iPod.

When is all this pre-launch publicity gonna give way to an actual launch of this product? I'm getting sick of all the teasing.

[Matt @ Oct 30th 2006 12:30AM]

"hope the red does something for charity, as it is with the iPod."

Bill Gates and MS have been giving to charity for decades. Steve Jobs tried once and said it was 'too hard' - now 'cause Apple gives a measly 10 bucks to charity, they're the milk of human kindness? gimme a break... MS can put out a non-charity product if it's been doing charity all these years

[Blakamin @ Oct 30th 2006 12:23AM]

What a complete wank

[kevin @ Oct 30th 2006 12:35AM]

No thanks. I'll stick with something a little more useful, like my almost dead Rio Karma.

[Rohit @ Oct 30th 2006 12:37AM]

I am getting one for sure. Finally some alternative to iPod. I really don't like to discuss if a product is going to be a sucess or not. No one knows that. But today if I have to bet I will bet on Zune having over 35% marketshare by 2012. That is going to hurt Apple.
Rohit

[crescentdavid @ Oct 30th 2006 12:43AM]

I think it's interesting that the doohickey responsible for all this hype is almost invisible, in poor lighting and totally overshadowed by extraneous accessories. It's like marketing as a metaphor.

[Ypoknons @ Oct 30th 2006 12:50AM]

Nice photography.

But ugh, e5c's! In a premium statement such as this, it seems to lack a little class to give the buyer the "second-best" Shure (though I'd argue it's the third best Shure IEM) ...

[naz @ Oct 30th 2006 1:57AM]

great ali g reference...cant wait for the borat movie....

[Russell @ Oct 30th 2006 2:11AM]

I don't know if Zune is going to be the next big music player however what I do know is that Apple's large marketshare is still at risk... How many people have a 1st or 2nd gen iPod anymore? They replaced them already because they broke, batteries worn down or wanted the new features, capacities etc...

In 5 years almost no one will have the 5G ipods, so the question is whether or not apple can hold on to all that marketshare when people buy their next music player.

[Wyatt_Z @ Oct 30th 2006 2:15AM]

If the major hurdle for M$ was to make something prettier than the iPod then they've won by my book.

[MrWhite @ Oct 30th 2006 2:28AM]

Someone mentioned earth tones... ??? HUH??? They have three colors white, black, and "brown" and the brown looks like someone wiped their butt with it, its uglier than sin. Without a good music store this thing will tank, and WMA DRM is lousy compared to iTunes DRM. We shall see, but this is just M$ hopping on the bandwagon late in the game and putting all their cash into to like they do everything else.

[Michael @ Oct 30th 2006 8:22AM]

The concept of them "hopping on the bandwagon late in the game" is kinda silly MrWhite. I mean it's not like there is a finish line. There can be and probably will be portable media players for the next 100 years or more in some form or another. If you look at it from that point of view then they are getting in on it early. But it's all relative.

[Xavier Gill @ Oct 30th 2006 4:51AM]

"hope the red does something for charity, as it is with the iPod."

How about giving a few extra bucks to the poor kids in iPod and Zune City who have to make these damn things

[Graham @ Oct 30th 2006 4:57AM]

Personally I like the zune colours, this one in particular is really, really nice.
Apple have always had nice designs, but there is a point where minimalism becomes barren and stark.
Zune is still a very simple design, yet the colours sortof make up for that.
Look at home decor and things like, and you will see a similar trend I think.

[Jamie @ Oct 30th 2006 5:38AM]

"If the major hurdle for M$ was to make something prettier than the iPod then they've won by my book."

Based on well financed photoshoped publicity shots? Wow, fanboyism, gotta love it. Hope you do not pick a wife the same way, that could end up really realy badly. Word of advice; go in the stores and actually see, feel, and test it out.

[[e-mail] @ Oct 30th 2006 6:35AM]

Nice color! If they update this device to work with every vista product by next summer (auto-firmware updates) they will have one killer system. I can guess they will have about 4 more sizes or versions of Zune by next christmas. They should also fit the Zune marketplace into all the windows mobile cell phones. I've heard great things about their point system, so we'll see what happens...

[Joe @ Oct 30th 2006 6:41AM]

Nice color! If they update this to work with every vista product by next summer (auto-firmware) they will have one killer system. I can see them releasing 4 or 5 different sized Zunes next year. They should also incorporate the Zune Marketplace in the windows mobile phones to have millions more zuners. It will be interesting to see what happens...

[Joppe @ Oct 30th 2006 7:02AM]

@Jamie

Funny you say so because almost everyone I have heard who have seen the Zune in person have said they look awesome, especially the brown one which is not a plain brown, but shifting colors according to angle and light.

I once had a Nokia 7110 with similar apperance and it looked really cool, shifting from green to blue, purple and brown/gold depending on angle.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 30th 2006 9:02AM]

You'll excuse me if I don't rush out to get ANYTHING with "-Halliburton" screened on it.

[furiousnerd @ Oct 30th 2006 9:15AM]

Man, this is tragic. Microsoft needs to stick with engineers in space for its cool points and stay away from attempting poor entries into Apple's domain. They are inept at marketing (Zune? WTF is that?), cumbersome at innovation and drowning in process and buzz-words. Now they think collaborating with pretentious, faux graffiti artists is going to help sell it? The fan-boys at places like Union are doing this for the free Zune[s], which they will then sell on eBay. The fact that MS has to try to make the Zune hip is the first indication that they have already lost.

[Cody S. @ Oct 30th 2006 9:54AM]

If you think that Microsoft's marketing for the Zune hasn't reached anyone, you're wrong. There are plenty of kids at my school talking about the Zune, and they aren't all nerds. If you hate this before you try it, you should go outside and get some air. This is something you need to try before you buy or hate.

[Jean @ Oct 30th 2006 10:10AM]

Iz Here wit non other dan me main mans Engadget. Big Up's to yourselves. Booyakasha!

Im all for more colors. at least they are trying to please more people this way. Its the first step in other spectrums.