New Zune support documents leaked, only obsessed need apply
By Ryan Block 
posted Oct 20th 2007 4:48AM
posted Oct 20th 2007 4:48AM
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How much of a fanboy do you need to be in order to actually read through all of that? :)
The new Zune ( both software and hardware ) is exquisitely put together. I see iPod classic sales suffering and quite frankly the beginning of the end for the iPod empire, perhaps even Apple. Jobs won't be happy with this.
They see me trollin'...
The new Zune, nobody has seen it (same goes for the old...). Bill will be happy with your comment. How much does he pay you?
hahahaha :) bob you're kidding right?
"and quite frankly the beginning of the end for the iPod empire, perhaps even Apple."
Not if Microsoft don't make the Zune available worldwide.
The Zune really needs to hit the teenage audience IMO (in order to surpass the iPod), and I really think its done it with the new Zunes.
shamrock539: Just like the iPhone was only sold in the US to begin with the Zune will be marketed in Europe and other continents next year if it turns out to be a success this coming holiday.
Meet the iPod Touch. "The Empire Strikes Back." Who the heck is going to give up their iPod just to use a Zune. Talk about moving to the "Dark Side of the Force."
The uninformed will walk up to the salesperson and ask if they sell the "iPod Zune." In most of the civilized world, the term iPod is generic for any media player.
"The new Zune ( both software and hardware ) is exquisitely put together. I see iPod classic sales suffering and quite frankly the beginning of the end for the iPod empire, perhaps even Apple. Jobs won't be happy with this."
This comment brought to you by Microsoft.
Did anyone not notice what seems to be a 60 GB Zune 30? Hmmmm.
Yess... very interesting... It looked like a Zune 30. I heard my friend's sister actually bought a stock Zune 60, but I thought he was lying. Maybe it detects the storage of modified Zunes with 60g hard drives?
I was wondering that to...
There is really no reason to be stuck with iPod any longer.
Since you're obviously here to advertise you could at least try to do it in a more discreet fashion.
I mean, if I was paying you for your comments, I'd be very disappointed...
"There is really no reason to be stuck with iPod any longer."
I will agree with that once the Zune can store purchased video off of the X-Box 360. Hell, even if the Zune Marketplace sold video it would be a dead heat IMO, but allow synchronization of music and video from the X-box and I will put my iPod in the desk drawer.
Yes there is...Its called iTunes and IMHO still kicks the shit out of Windows Media Player. Oh and iTunes supports both Windows and OS X. Can't say the same with the latest version of WMP.
Hey LC, you know what's really funny...just a short while after an Xbox successor was announced, one of the hot rumors going around was that it would have a companion media player (or that the hard drive was actually a dockable portable media player).
...And the prophecy is fulfilled hehehe
Sure there is still a need to own an iPod. You want to become the odd man out with a Zune when all of your friends and family are using iPods?
I'm just suprised to see them using the word "podcast" in their documantation. I would think that MS would invent some new term like "dynamic interweb broadcast (now with more Vistatasticity)" and pretend that they invented it.
You know, Microsoft has changed for the better since the early 2000's you know. They still make mistakes every so often, but at least they usually make it up by putting something cool or interesting.
Even they would understand that podcasts are really just podcasts, so they're meant to be called podcasts.
I think they realize by now their naming convention was rather complicated, so some of their latest new things, aren't dragged with complicated names.
michael, UNTRUE>>
vista has replaced all the standard web fonts with new f'd up named ones.
eg
Candara, Consolas, Calibri, Cambria, Constantia and Corbel.
speak not of what you do not understand.
microsoft will always be microsoft.
they can't just leave well enough alone.
I'm surprissed they didn't repalce podcasts all together with an ms designed version of the same thing. hell, they've tried to make their own version of flash, silverlight or whatever.... come on. the original posters comment is dead on.
I prefer the term webcast myself
@dj-kenpo:
Those are completely new different fonts.
And in my mind, much better. They use ClearType technology, and it's much more easier on the eyes to read. They also look more aesthetically pleasing.
They were not some original fonts that had a name change. They're completely NEW. Shows what you know.
Hey "Michael" (cough Steve Balmer cough cough) tone it down a little, man.
What do you mean "leak"? The site has 100% accurate "rumors" and the "alleged shots of the new Zunes" where 100% real, as well as every-single-spec. I don't think *anything* in that site is a leak, but rather a result of the standard "viral/paid blogs" efforts back at Seattle's headquarters.
You know, rumors from Apple Rumors, and other fan sites hits Engadget as well, so I don't really see a difference.
And the posts Engadget picks up from ZuneScene or wherever, have been pretty true. I don't really remember when it wasn't true. I mean, there's even a screenshot of this. That's pretty more convincing than just a bunch of text.
"a result of the standard "viral/paid blogs" efforts back at Seattle's headquarters."
Yeah, anybody who has any like at all to Microsoft, or any of their products/services has to be paid. I mean, really, there's NOTHING that Microsoft makes worthwhile to people. And in case you don't notice, that's sarcasm.
I mean, I would expect Apple to pay Mac lovers rather than Microsoft paying people. Considering their low marketshare in the market, and the so-called many Apple fan-sites, I wouldn't be surprised if something fishy were going on. I mean, it's just weird the number of, "Oh, you should buy a Mac" answers come up, and all. Really, I would expect something going on.
"And the posts Engadget picks up from ZuneScene or wherever, have been pretty true. I don't really remember when it wasn't true. I mean, there's even a screenshot of this. That's pretty more convincing than just a bunch of text. "
That's exactly my point ;-)
anyone who doens't think this stuff is leaked on purpose or thta people are not getting paid has never worked for a large company, or the film industry. that's how this stuff works. I know, I've been hired to do this stuff.
michael,
You actually may be on something.
My English teacher, for example, always says "get a Mac" whenever a student talks about a computer problem they've had. No joke. But that's granted that he just acts weird all around.
It may just be that Mac fanboys have inflated egos, but they are almost religious about it.
Nice Office Space reference! "Way, way down"
I love the engadget tone of this post. I bet if this were an iPhone related document they would wet their pants with excitement. Because its a Zune it demands about 2 sentences of sarcastic commentary.
Enapple
fyi-- I have never seen a Zune and have an ipod and an iphone (but im not a fanboi, imagine that). So, keep your Microsoft accusations that I am a paid employee to yourself. And have a another drink of Steve Jobs Mug of Gruhl.
Keep doing what you are doing. It drives Apple fanbois insane to see people who actually own Apple hardware support Microsoft. I think there is a logic error in their brain that they can't compute and it causes them to blow a fuse.
Hey here's my question. Let's say "hypothetically" that I was willing to sell my integrity in order to be a blog commenting schill. Where exactly would one sign up for such a gig?
fred, you have too know someone is the short of it. My old roommate got hired to do comment stuff for a recent film. he got paid alot, had multiple user accounts, and made alot of comments.
assume there's atleast 15+ paid comments on this article alone though.
in other news, I agree with john m.
The new iPod ( both software and hardware ) is exquisitely put together. I see Zune sales suffering and quite frankly the beginning of the end for the Microsoft empire. Jobs will be happy with this.
(love copypasta)
Right, but the difference is that they aren't. iTunes is a system hog and is its own computer megalomania is one of the least pleasant experiences I've had with computers in a long time. And the new iPods are good? Check out all the posts (on Engadget alone) about how crappy the new hardware/firmware are.
Competition is good, no matter how you look at it. Hubris is bad, but fun to watch (if for nothing else than Schadenfreude)
Adam, he was snarking a troll from earlier.
I'm sorry, but until Apple realizes that there are people who don't invest into online downloads and, as such, rip music from CDs which aren't available on iTunes, therefore screwing up album art or CD info (therefore making my life harder when Apple arrogantly claims the opposite) I want to distance myself from the iPod as far as I can and continue to use WMP, which, conveniently, works as I expect it to.
@ MattyG
I *know* you didn't do that on your (hypothetical?) iPhone.
But yes, that guy was being an uber-troll.
Yeh, what's with these people? Even the average Windows user prefer using iPods. It's only Kiss Bill Windows fanboys that want to walk around with some Zune. I'm sure the Zune is an adequate media player, but I'd like to get a chance to use one to see for myself. It's just I've never seen anyone using one to ask if I could test it. I doubt if 2% of the population in New York City would have one. It's called the BIG APPLE, so we use Apple products.
That new large screen Zune 2 would have been nice a year ago, but compared to a Touch, they gotta be kidding.
ZUNE NEEDS TO COME TO CANADA NOW.. but seeing as the canadian dollar is now higher than the US one (Live rates at 2007.10.20 15:34:17 UTC
1.00 CAD = 1.03536 USD -xe.com), I think I'll just buy one in the US!
Hey! Thanks for twisting the knife, buddy! :) It must really chap you then that a team from California has The Cup. What's that all a-boot?
Speaking of "obsessed", this was posted at 4 AM....
Do you guys have overnight shifts or something?
Or, you know, writers 'round the world/somewhere other than the eastern side of the US.
People exist outside of the Eastern side of the US? Whaa?
I love the negative tone given to the post. The iPod touch manual that was posted before release was gushed over yet this one is bashed in the writeup.
What a beautiful manual it was!
Whoa? M$ came up with a decent interface for a change. The idea of a 3rd pane is very interesting.
I only see two problems. First, for those of us who only keep the last 2 or 3 episodes of a podcast, this UI would seam very bleak and empty. The second is a good number of podcasts don't use album artwork, so organizing the podcasts in such a manner isn't practical just yet.
I'm happy to see them calling them Podcasts, instead of trying to rebel and call them Zune casts.
Buy an iPhone! 300 dollars more for a little style and an easy link to me Mac. It's a good thing!
The Zune seems intriguing on many levels.
Except that I don't do Windows, and it won't talk to my Macs.
I haven't bought an iPod cuz they're too freakin' s'pensive, but if M$ opens up the Zune to work on a Mac, THEN I'm sold...
read through the manual (the first part atleast) because we havent seen much about the zune software... its a very interesting idea. i like the idea behind it but it looks like you will lose real estate on the screen compared to the current ui/wmp11. i really liked being able to get just a huge listing of album art and choose from that (a la vista media center). if its a snappy interface i think i will like it overall but its one of those things thats we wont know until its out and i can play with it some.
im already getting one of the new zunes (because of media center integration) so hopefully the the new software is good.
That WMP skin looks nice and tiddy.
Yeah except the new software is completely rewritten.
The zune may be technically and designedly (is that even a word?) superior to the geeky among us (i.e. Us)
But to the average consumer who doesn't read tech sites, its not as appealing. The iPod is so recognized among everyone, unlike a zune. The iPod is more cool to the average joe. I don't see the Zune EVER competing with it, not because its not as good, but because it doesn't have "the cool factor" among kids. Especially cause of the name...
So, does the new Zune firmware have XviD support or not?
Here's one reason: I have an apple computer. So, for me at least, that does the trick. It's alright though, I like ipods.
I love the new Zune!! iPods and Mac are for homos.