Exclusive: Steve Ballmer demos the Zune HD for Engadget!
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted May 28th 2009 12:41PM
posted May 28th 2009 12:41PM
Update: Microsoft just pinged to let us know that the Zune HD is still set for a Fall release, not next month.
A few quick impressions we took away:
- The device was a pre-production model, and Steve had to boot it up -- which can be seen in the shots below.
- Hardware was surprisingly thin.
- There's what appears to be a solitary hard button below the screen.
- Interface was basically the same Zune UI with touch navigation, but very colorful and pretty snappy.
- The OLED screen looked great.
- We'll obviously be badgering Microsoft in the coming months for a longer, closer look at the device, but at least it's not just a render anymore.
wooooooooot
shipping in the next month huh Steve? nice...
woooooot yes! i just "accidentally" lost my zubrick
It's either smaller than I thought or Ballmer has HUGE hands!
Looks good, what do you make of the markings around the Zune logo (bottom left), could this be a interface?
@Graham Stevens, that is most likely a development stamp or something so they can keep track. Wouldn't want one of those leaking out this early.
Video or it didn't happen!
Looks hot.
lots of D's around he's neck......mmmmmmmmmmm..... ponders a while
dufus (doofus)
dimwit
dumb-ass
deranged
dubious
daft
dancer ?!?!
... just thinking
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
Ding
Dong
@hangfire: Thanks for letting us know you're a trolling tool. Now go die. kthxbai
Ballmer lost weight...
Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers!
@000000
Yet another feature M$ is stealing from Apple.
Now their CEO is loosing weight too
"This thing sucks! It has no buttons!"
"Dude, this isn't an iPhone or iPod Touch. It's from Microsoft."
"It is??? Oh, well then, I LOVE IT!!!"
- the Microsoft-Slobbering Engadget Commenter Horde
@ Eric
i'm surprised you're not high ranked through the sky already. i guess some people dont remember that, but that was classic balmer. the best was how he seriously chanted that until he ran out of breath, then started back up again.
LOL, Quix, thanks for that. I also remember the Microsoft Fanboys complaining because the iPod doesn't have a removable battery and yet, I didn't hear a peep when the Zune was released and it also didn't have a removable battery.
The ZuneHD probably won't have Flash in it's web browser, according to a source at Microsoft. We'll see how they complain about that.
@Eric
win.
ipod>zunehd
where's his tongue??? he used to stick it out all the time! BLEHHH!!!
so Ballmer's trying to push their Zune HD to be better than Jobs' iPod Touch (me loves the HD now...)
and at the same time,
Ballmer's is trying to be thinner than Jobs?
COMPETITION!!!
looks cool .. me likey.
He is obviously after Jobs. Better touchscreen media player, trying to get skinnier AND playing a Pixar movie!
But if they don't release this world-wide, it won't really have much success.
This is probably a ridiculous question, but I'm going to ask it anyways. Reading through the comments it is amusing seeing how strongly people are on both Apple and MS sides, but are you people serious? Do you really have that strong of product loyalty or is this a joke?
Woot is right, if it has WMP12 support I am buying one. If not... :(
Has anybody noticed what incredibly low ambient light levels it was demonstrated in? You can barely make out Ballmer (not that that's a bad thing!) Well that's because that's the only situation in which an OLED looks better than an LCD.
How come nobody had such a nerdgasm over the previous 200 or so PMPs that have been released with OLEDs?
Here's what an OLED screen looks like in real conditions: a normal room with normal ambient daylight. Hmmm, the blacks don't seem quite so black now, and the whites don't stand out anywhere near as much against them. In fact, it looks like an expensive version of a shitty old passive matrix LCD.
http://bit.ly/uCSOj
The brighter the ambient light, the worse it gets compared to a TFT LCD and, in direct sunlight, it will be unreadable.
@Josh
No, for the most part I don't believe these people are joking. They are serious business about their product loyalties
@eric
Best comment i have seen on Engadget ever.
The Zune will go down in history and join a famous list for the second time. Titanic, Edsel, Hindenburg, Zune, Space Shuttle Challenger.... Zune HD.
Eric is actually as highly-ranked as he can possibly be; it's just that the comment system is just as spekal as it ever was. Click the time and date stamp on comments to see their actual ranking (it took me ages to figure that out, for the record).
@ iphonerulez
Why?
SWEET!
Joshua, I will force my gf to sleep with you if you add a video of Zune HD right now... Oh please.
Grapefruit?
Topolsky please post the video... I know its there, but you guys don't wanna post it cuz, it so drool worthy and you don't want people ebaying their ipod touches to get the Ultimate Zune HD...
Saad will throw in a little extra something something if that video happens to include Ballmer in briefs...
Holy fuck Yeah!
I see that he's playing one of the WMV-HD trailers on it (the plane)!
So. Damn. Beautiful.
Agreed. Too bad he's already scratched it up.
But that screen . . . gorgeous.
Oh, how those black levels seemlessly integrate into the bezel..... ::drool::
If iPhone 3 doesn't have OLED, I seriously don't think I'm going to get it - I'll play the waiting game, and maybe get an Android offering w/ OLED.
That screen looks Effin Amazing!
Everything must now be OLED!
You know, I might just be with you on that one. You know, if Microsoft can do it . . .
@crawdad
The Samsung I7500 Galaxy has an AMOLED display.
Oh, and Engadget, why didn't you make a video? (If it wasn't allowed, I can understand, but if not... *Insert rant here about how you wasted a world exclusive chance, etc.*)
Ya know, I think this is gonna go on my shopping list for sure. Even if the new iPhone has better specs, I still am liking the Zune enough to give one a go. Plus, my iPhone's batteries are forever about to go dead so another media device is needed.
Lando, don't buy it, it's a trap!
id have understood the lack of video more if the account they gave was more detailed. not 3 lines
WOOT!
MONKEY BOY looks skinny
I was thinking the same! Maybe him and Steve Jobs are on the same diet!
I was just thinking that. What's with new skinny Balmer?
No i don't! :(
Classy ... way to stay on topic. But you energized your fanboi boi base ...
He's competing with Jobs -- and as they say, competition is a Good Thing :)
Yay! That's my new iPod right there!
RIP steves
errr....what I meant was that after my fifth iPod, it is now time to move on and try a Zune!!
WOOT!
throw a 3G radio in there already
I wouldn't use the word "throw" anywhere near Steve Ballmer.
Isn't this new zune having a HD radio receiver installed in it? Maybe might make me come back to radio if it's as good as the hdradio website makes it seem like.
i cant trust a zune again sorry but am still hurt :(
It's going to be a MS holiday this year! Zune HD, Windows 7, Halo ODST and HTC Touch Pro 2
Die Bitch!
is he really showing a pixar clip ?!?!
hahaha, that is pretty funny!
Even with something this cool to show, Balmer still has Steve Jobs envy. Sad, really.
Should have shown an exclusive clip from Iron Man 2 or something...
Smells like a DMCA violation to me. Since you can't buy it on the Zune marketplace, someone had to rip it off a DVD to get in onto the Zune.
@mattazuma: But you can buy it in the XBox Live marketplace, and since the Zune HD now has XBox integration including XBox Live.....
Won't make his hair grow back
Looks like Ballmer lost a few pounds.
Ballmer likes to challenge Jobs in many ways.
Jobs wins though.
Paul Dumbass Chapel,
The Zune HD can output video in HD to an HDTV, and WinMo is also based on WinCE. Please, do us all a favor and stop living, you're wasting our air.
Sincerely,
Lando
mr. blurrycam, much?
Well, D7 is held in Cali... perhaps a cheeky quake?
Ok, I guess it doesn't irk anyone else, but use a DAMN DSLR for stuff like showing us how clear an OLED is. Blurry cellphone cams do nothing to present your point. Yeah the ZuneHD looks sweet... when it doesn't have the motion blur of a NASCAR. Either that, or stop having Parkinson's disease.
k, thanks.
I can just imagine how you walk around everywhere you go lugging an DSLR and when somebody is holding something while moving about n a dimly lit room you always get perfect shots I bet.
Do you really think they wouldn't have had a better camera if it were a planned meet up? Clearly they're in a poorly lit hallway and it appears as though it was more of a run in.
Well, not sure how often you use a DSLR, but if you weigh more than 100 lbs, you can live with a DSLR at an event you might expect to see some hardware at. The bag I use for my MBP also has a DSLR pouch that is easily accessible. It just takes a touch of forethought. I sure as hell didn't learn much from the dark blurry pics, and I doubt you did either.
Spider Camera Holster FTW!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/28/video-spider-camera-holster-is-a-little-bit-want-mostly-idioti/
"Ok, I guess it doesn't irk anyone else, but use a DAMN DSLR for stuff like showing us how clear an OLED is. Blurry cellphone cams do nothing to present your point."
And use a fast f1.4 prime lens on a DSLR to get good low-light images.
@Wwhat:
Sure, maybe the average person doesn't carry one around, but a REPORTER really should. >.>
And Paul, when Lando gives you an order, YOU FUCKING DO IT.
Because I often find myself wanting to hook up my iPhone/iPod to a TV to output HD...
Sexy, and cool in concept. Why can't a company come up with a camera, an media player, a web browser, and a phone in one. The thing looks F*ing awesome though. $200 and I'll buy it.
They can, and they do, and sell them in asian regions only, because there's tons of laws and surcharges to prevent such a device from entering the west.
I don't mind Ballmer in these pictures ... SILENT. But the Zune is looking good.
So far Engadget and Gizmodo have said that it will use a modified Internet Explorer, never did they say which version, and I haven't even seen the IE part confirmed officially anywhere.
For the OS, you do realize that WinMo runs on top of WinCE right?
Finally, the resolution isn't really lower than the ipod touch, just more widescreen. They have the same horizontal(or vertical depending how you hold it) resolution, the Zune HD just has a lower Vertical one because it's thinner.
Nope, the HD refers to the ability of the Zune to play HD content, and output it over HDMI.
I'm really anxious to see that OLED screen. Too bad it doesn't sync with iTunes or run any App Store software. Although, I suppose by the time I'm done with my iPod touch Apple will also be using OLED screens.
What exactly makes you think that it doesn't have an app store? Your blind, ignorant hatred of MicroSoft?
It doesn't run the software millions of people have already paid for and downloaded from the App Store. It doesn't run the software that thousands of developers have already written.
Microsoft may release their own Zune "App Zone", but who's going to develop software for a platform that no one uses? Their market share really is miniscule, and that means no developers. That's the problem with being as far behind the curve as the Zune is. As long as Microsoft can do nothing but (slowly) chase the tail lights of Google and Apple then why should anyone (besides Apple and Google haters) be interested?
The Zune will continue to have little impact unless Microsoft finds a way to innovate on their own and create a game-changing device. HD Radio is not a game-changing feature, it's weak, desperate attempt to differentiate from the innovation leaders.
Why would yo want it to sync with iTunes?
You're absolutely right, when I think of cd quality radio... well that just sounds lame doesn't it? It's not like anyone uses satellite radio or anything right?
And you don't know anything about what kind of app store they're planning. As far as you know it plays original xbox games and XBLA games that tens of millions of people already have(as has been rumored).
I had no idea that all those iFart apps were contributing to vendor lock-in.
Seriously though, do you honestly think there's something special about iPhone apps? Also, as the overwhelming majority of apps downloaded from the AppStore are free I don't know how you can claim that people wouldn't be willing to walk away from them. Heck, 99% of developers aren't even making a return on their apps when they charge for them.
The iPhone doesn't run the software millions of people have already paid for and downloaded for Windows Mobile. It doesn't run the software that thousands of developers have already written.
Apple may release an "App Store", but who's going to develop software for a platform that no one uses? Their market share really is miniscule, and that means no developers. That's the problem with being as far behind the curve as the iPhone is. As long as Apple can do nothing but (slowly) chase the tail lights of Microsoft and RIM then why should anyone (besides Apple fanatics) be interested?
Mark,
There is no XBox software designed to work on a mobile device with a touch screen and accelerometer. Microsoft cannot capitalize a back catalog of XBox games. Those games would have to be ported over to the Zune platform, at great expense. What developer would go though the expense if the market share isn't there?
Same goes for any existing WinMO or WinCE software, and any software that's mouse or stylus based. It's going to be very difficult for Microsoft to get developers on board without the market share.
Kazbaeden,
The iPhone was a game changing device, and immensely successful before it was opened to 3rd party development. The Zune is not a game changing device, and it will not attract developers unless it can attract significant market share on its own, and that seems very unlikely, since all they're doing is chasing Apple's tail lights, 2 or 3 years behind, and without the immense 3rd party support that the iPhone and iPod have earned.
That Zune is going to be seriously badass kit. I just hope they get 360 / Zune Marketplace integration done right.
@ Darren -- Thank you, Darren, for making the case for why OS X should shrivel up and die.
"Those games would have to be ported over to the Zune platform, at great expense. What developer would go though the expense if the market share isn't there?"
I don't think OS X should die... I'm just saying you're an imbecile who even fails at being a cheerleader for Apple.
Brian,
You would have a point if OS X was nothing more than a shameless Windows ripoff 3 years behind the state-of-the-art, but of course it's not and therefore you have no point. The fact that you need to resort to name calling only shows you have no idea what you're talking about.
Remember that a year from now when the Zune is in the exact same place it's in now: no users, no developers, no apps.
Looks kinda neat... but why do we have to further bastardize the term HD???
It means Zune Hot Damn! (DAYYYUMMM!)