Zune 2 leaks out in three flavors
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 1st 2007 6:53PM
posted Oct 1st 2007 6:53PM
Update: We're also hearing that a Zune 1 firmware update rolled out today -- interesting. We'll dig out our Zunes and let you know what (if anything) got updated ASAP.
Update 2: False alarm on the firmware update -- but we do know that we'll be hearing about one when the new Zunes are announced Wednesday.
[Thanks, Nate]
hmm, still no widescreen. too bad...
LOL! No widescreen? are you blind, man? The thing goes landscape when you want widescreen, unlike the iPod "classic" nonesuch which still doesn't use its screen real estate in a useful manner.
Wrong Nerd. When turned sideways, it's a 4:3 screen.
Yes, too bad you comment when you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
If being 4:3 precludes it from being "widescreen", yes, you are indeed correct. iPod Classic is also 320x240, so big whoop. ::shrug::
I fail to see what's so remarkably awful about Zune's implementation of the same resolution screen. And don't throw "iPod Touch" at me, 16 GB is a paltry laugh right about now with HD densities what they are.
Pfft... haters. If it was shipped in off-white, and black, perhaps it'd matter. ::rolls eyes::
I'm not sure why you felt the need to troll Apple and iPod just because someone made a comment about the Zune not being 16:9 and widescreen. I think you're being a little bit too defensive/crazy.
Actually, in a sense, the Zune *does* have a widescreen. Depends if you want to be technically correct or not, which a lot of people have to be.
The point being -- the Zune has a lot more screen real estate than the iPod.
"Widescreen" doesn't simply mean the screen is wider than it is tall, you idiots. It's about the exact ratio of width to height: 4:3 for standard aspect and 16:9 for widescreen.
lol, I love nerd being used as an insult on a gadget blog - surely we are all nerds
Uh... look at his name.
What's with all the hate?
Widescreen generally means anything wider in aspect ratio than 4:3, it doesn't necessarily mean 16:9. The big hard disc based Zune looks like if you turned it on it's side it would be widescreen, i.e. wider than a 4:3 aspect ratio. Maybe you're just looking at the picture on the little screen, but if you actually click on the pic to check out the zunescene boards you'll see a pic of the larger one by itself showing a much-wider-than-4:3-but-not-necessarily-1:9 screen. Besides, the ones in the pics are cardboard displays and you can upgrade those to any size screen you want.
Why do I have a feeling sales of all 3 combined won't match what the last one did? (owner of brown zune here)
They look like epic fail
I live in Europe, could someone tell me what a Zune is?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune
Do you really expect to have someone actually explain it just for you?
Either you are amazingly sarcastic or high on the irish coffeezzzzz!!!
zune.net - check it out...
Yeah guys, like we don't get the internet over here. Can't believe anyone took me serious. The Zune is not for sale in Europe by the way.
I live in the US, I would like to know too
Its that stupid thing that is despised by all people that blog on websites, is considered a piece of shit, a disaster in terms of its stance against other competitors, has been called shit brown, shit brick, is created by the evil Microsoft, holds nothing to the iPod........
Yet in under a year, has gotten 11.3% of the hard drive based mp3 player market.
Ruben said, "Yet in under a year, has gotten 11.3% of the hard drive based mp3 player market."
I'd love to see some credible sources on that claim.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/06/21/zune.11.percent.in.may/
6/21/07
Microsoft's share of the music player market is continuing to climb, according to preliminary details of a new study published by market researchers NPD. The group notes that the lone 30GB Zune held 11.3 percent of the US market for hard disk-based players in May, a modest but significant increase from the 9.9 percent seen in January. Reasons were not given but the increase in sales is widely believed to be the result of both special edition pink, red, and Halo 3 Zunes as well as store discounts over the course of the spring, which dropped prices to as low as $199 at some large retailers.
Yet another item in a long list of recent Microsoft failures.
@Nimrod
Maybe they included the chinese Zune knock-offs in the statistics. :P
@Galley: haha, a Microsoft failure that, despite being an initial offering from a company new to the particular market space, earned a little more than 11% of market share? I sure as hell hope you were being sarcastic or something.
@Ruben: lol, that was pretty good. Indeed, the Market speaks.
Anyway, the new Zunes actually don't look half bad. I'll hold off buying the new Creative Zen (I was a heartbeat away from clicking the 'buy' button last night) until tomorrow and see if they can swing me to the dark side.
This thing is just going to sell another 99 million short of the iPod.
Yet it's still 99 million times better.
dude 99 million short, yea also 6 years short and every country in the world short... way better device over all, and as i said earlier, dont miss my 6 broken ipods at all.... stop being an apple fan boy... love apple hate the fan boys... well loved apple until Fridays iphone update any ways!
Looks much better form factor wise. Wifi music store, no DRM and no dying song sharing and sign me up.
I want to pet the monkey..mmmmm
Yup, and engadget forgot to mention that a firmware update for the zune 1 is due out the same day the zune 2 is released.
engadget.. can we get a Microsoft free edition of Engadget ?? i mean.. 2 stories about Zunes on the main page.. ?? what's up with that ???? :O:O
bwaaaahahaha.. :P
they look nice actually.. :) i love when big companies compete... we almost always win.
Are you kidding? Two Microsoft post on the main page and someone complains? Wow, I can only guess it’s from a Mac fan boy. Because if you didn’t like Mac, for example, you would never follow any tech blogs.
*Cough* Scarcasm *Cough*
wow... in the word of miss chnandler bong... "coudl you be more dumb ??".. it was so annoyingly obvious i was joking around and poking fun at people... you're a first level kind of humour guy eh ?... football in the groin.. football in the groin... Cheesus !
Its that stupid thing that is despised by all people that blog on websites, is considered a piece of shit, a disaster in terms of its stance against other competitors, has been called shit brown, shit brick, is created by the evil Microsoft, holds nothing to the iPod........
Yet in under a year, has gotten 11.3% of the hard drive based mp3 player market.
11.3% would be more impressive if every other major vendor in the Windows MP3 player space hadn't abandoned using hard drives.
You know, I'm almost excited about the new Zunes. They seem to improved a good bit in aesthetically, the controls look like they might be semi intuitive, the slimmed down hard drive is quite appealing. I am going to feel a great pleasure in running linux on them.
Sarcasm vs. Trollism (if that's a word).
Is there a difference between the two? Really now?
No offense to the OP though. ;)
Hey, If you want only mac news, go to www.tuaw.com
Haha, those guys at CNet are gonna freak about on their shammy NDAs!
I wonder if it has interet explorer...
Considering you'd have to type using the 'squircle'...I'm gonna guess theres no internet explorer.
Eh...I think I'll keep my 5G iPod. I'm gonna wait a year-ish until the iPod touch gets past AT LEAST 30GB.
Hey the aquircle doesnt look half bad!!
squircle*
The read link doesn't work.
Will this thing bake man-cakes too?
Pet the monkey!!!
No more shit brick (I own one!)?
Im ready to see what the crazies decide to childishly pick at now.
Are the logos compatible or with Zune tattoo guy need an upgrade???
hmm, very slim. I like the big, HDD-based one, it looks very nice.
now, Microsoft, please make it Mac OS X compatible.
can't wait to see the official specs
Umm that will never happen. But I would have to say, the iPod is better just by virtue of not being associated with Microsoft.
Signed,
A proud apple fanboy.
broken link please?
Their forums are "temporarily on hold." hopefully the link should work when the forums are back up.
http://www.zunescene.com/forums/
no zune update on my end, ive gotta white zune, just plugged it in doesnt seem to be an update on my end...? by the way love my zune and dont mis my 6 broken ipods at all!
i got my hopes up on a zune firmware update?!:(
im not getting one either
yeah me too. I have a black zune, abotu 4 months old, no update for software or device....hmmmm
No update here either.
Congratulations to Microsoft on making ugly versions of last-generation iPods.
last-generation"s"
i still have no firmware update!
why all the Zune haters? I have a Mac and an iPod--which I both love--and I'll be the first to admit that hardware-wise, the Zune is leaps and bounds ahead of the iPod. the only problem is software. it's beyond me how the world's biggest software developer can make shitty software for their own damn OS, but go figure.
anyway, like I keep saying, I would love to own one, but I can't (technical limitations). I love my 1G iPod nano, but give me an affordable Zune with 30+GB storage, slimmer form factor (check), and better software (that works with mac, too!) and I'll buy one ASAP at my university's computer store.
Wow. Someone who steps back, looks at the hardware, makes a decision based on what the specs are... not the brand-loyalty, and posts a non hate-filled review. Awesome.
(BTW, I'm a "PC-fanboy that has an iPod.. but likes the zune.)
"I have a Mac and an iPod--which I both love--and I'll be the first to admit that hardware-wise, the Zune is leaps and bounds ahead of the iPod."
In what possible sense? And why is this "highly ranked"? No evidence is provided to back up this claim.
I can go around saying a Chevrolet Chevette is leaps and bounds ahead of the Mercedes S-Class too, and I'm sure a bunch of S-Class haters would mod me "highly ranked", but that wouldn't make my claim any more true.
I said hardware-wise. Look at what the Zune offers. It had WiFi before iPod, it has a built-in FM tuner, it has a better screen, and it beat the iPhone and touch out on that whole widescreen video thing. so, from that, I say it has better hardware, just crippled by software.
What's the word on the borkness of wireless? If this thing has unrestricted wireless (i.e. no more stupid squirt, ability to do *real things* with the wifi instead of the "social"), consider me in the "I WANTS" group.
And this is coming from a guy who runs all Macs at home (except the 360, it rocks).
Apple's retardation is becoming more and more evident, if someone comes up with a nice end-to-end solution (music management + player) that works on Macs, consider me SOLD SOLD SOLD.
Samsung has the only good touchscreen MP3 player that i know of. And Creative and Sandisk have/are releasing the only good flash based mp3 players that I know of. Fact is all these players have no strongs attached unlike MS and Apple + more features.
I'd be tempted to get this instead of an ipod upgrade if they'd allow media center interface that would download my recorded shows so I could watch on the go easily. But I've not followed Zune close enough at this point to know how possible that is currently.
But, does it blend?
More importantly, can it play Doom while blending?
microsoft really knows how to build anticipation.
not as well as apple... actually, the apple users do that on their own, Microsoft would love that kind of fanbase.
I think it's better this way, I don't want to see it appearing "all the time".
Looks good. . . (I own a Black Zune now)
Personally I like the squircle.
What I am curious about is if they will announce anything that makes the Zune's wifi useful. Please Microsoft, I'm begging you! I don't want to wirelessly share songs with my friends when we could just as easily goto a computer and share it there. . .
Is the Zune doomed?
http://www.last100.com/2007/09/26/is-the-zune-doomed/
This thing looks like those fake Chinese iPod Nanos that are dime-a-dozen nowadays.
Agreed on the "epic fail" part. I wouldn't buy one.
Still looks like the usual piece of crap that comes out of Microsoft's R & D lab. Personally............Apple all the way!!!
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500
Id even consider the hard drive vesion if you could chose to operate it in landscape or normal mode. I like to mount my pmp players in my car in landscape mode.
Lookz nice
Okay, since I have never heard an ad on TV/radio, is it pronounced:
zoooon (rhymes with 'moon')
zun (rhymes with 'sun')
zoonee (rhymes with 'looney')
zone (rhymes with 'bone')
zun (rhymes with 'bun')
zunee (rhymes with 'bunny')
It's pronounced zuneeeeee, you have to draw the e out like an australian.
its the first one zooon, like soon but with a Z
it's pronounced the first way, rhyming with moon.
It'd better have Bluetooth 2.0 for real(unlike the crippled bt on the iPhone).
If not I ll be gettin one of the new samsung DAPs w/bt
Hopefully these things wont crash every 5 minutes like Zune 1.
Looks like Zune is gonna have some serious problems with those players. In every way the iPod beat the Zune, and I have a black Zune since day one and just recently bought a iPod Touch (I have to return it cause the edges are so sharp they hurt my hand, and the screen is flicking constantly). Even with my most recent ipod messed up purchase I found it much better than the Zune. I loved the durability of the Zune and easy to use controls but I can't stand that Podcasts don't work well and a lot of good features are missing. (for the looks the iPod still beats the Zune, IMO)
Its amazing to me how people say things like "The zune is horrible, apple wins" or vice versa, though it doesn't happen as much when apple releases a new product, but still.
You guys are aware that there are other portable media player companies out there right?
Many of which make very solid products that can easily compete with either Microsoft or Apple products on some level or another, if not most.
hmm i own a zune and its not bad. ive also used a ipod and their not bad either, i prefer my zune, but that is just personal opinion and preference. but even tho i like my zune, it doesnt give me the right to go around trolling, telling everyone that the zune is gods gift to hd based mp3 players. and because in america everyman has the same rights, People who love their Ipods dont have that right either.
Do Zunes work with a similar application like iTunes or just Windows Media Player ?
the Zune software, basically a skinned version of WMP 11 that's completely vertically integrated.
so yeah, basically, it's like iTunes.
I am the guy that sent these to ZuneScene and they are only cardboard cut-outs and do not represent the real "thickness" of the 3 models. So those saying how thin the HDD model is, I hate to break it to you that it's not gonna be that thin.
if these are cheap i might pick one up
What's a Zune?
Only reason I got a Zune was because the screen is larger than the ipod and I really like watching video on the go. I'm glad I did too, its not as bad as some critics would want you to believe.
I don't know why they don't just call it the mPod.
At least that way they'd pick up some sales from the 'confused and stupid' - oh no, sorry, that's who is already buying them...
Seriously though, Microsoft don't deserve any form of credit for this player. If it was made by a small Taiwanese knock off shop - yes - bravo for effort - but Microsoft - NO! Poor Show.
My message to Microsoft : You are a fantastically enormous company with the talent and the resources to create something genuinely innovative and exciting - Instead you make a pale imitation two generations behind the competition. I don't see why anyone would patronise such a weak effort with their hard earned money. Have some courage - step out of the game for 2 years and REALLY make a new product otherwise dump the project and focus on your core business before you lose that too...
Where's the 160Gb version?
Welcome to the Social...
** shrugs **
wow the one on the far right (the hdd one) looks really nice! hope they go 80gb and 160gb
Nothing like a Zune story to bring the A-holes out of the woodwork. Fanboys are bad for both sides.
Indeed.
Wait, which one of these allegedly look like the iPod again?