No need to pre-order. . .plenty will be available on launch day. And when Apple announces it's 2009 iTouch lineup at 16/32/64 for $230/300/400, there will be even more, and the Zune HD will become like the other Zunes: something we only hear about when a retailer pulls it off the shelves or MS reports it's earnings. Sad.
Not when the iTouch is stuck being held to the same processor, screen, and specs as the iPhone. We already know what it's going to be, oh hey look a shitty camera and video recording plus a microphone. Yawn.
This sexy thing on the other hand has OLED, something Apple has yet to discover, and a very nice looking interface. Not to mention it's something new and refreshed, not the same re-hacked piece of hardware to guzzle money out of people's wallets. And we all know how Apple likes to price their products. This is either going to drive the price of iPods down, or it's going to spur a lot of Zune sales by being priced much lower.
With all due respect, price is the only thing that the Zune HD really has against the iPod Touch at the moment. By all accounts the Zune HD has some very nice hardware but it is not being used yet and I have some real reservations about the interface (looks pretty but compromises usability). The iPod Touch is backed up with Apple's App Store and that is something that the Zune cannot compete with at the moment so this may well justify the additional price to customers. Microsoft needs to get competitive with the App Store on the Zune before the Zune HD can compete directly with the iPod Touch.
On release I don't see the Zune making much of a dent in Apple's market since it will only really be attractive to the Zune's existing market. How well it does in the long run is going to depend on what Microsoft does with that untapped power and whether Apple cuts the price of the iPod Touch (which I honestly doubt they will do because they currently don't have to).
This isn't Zune-bashing. You just need to remember that this is only the foundation and that the rest of the house hasn't been built yet.
I agree with you on many of these points, however, the point of the zune is not to attract the ipod touch market, but rather to cater toward not only the existing zune market but also the new customer market. When people first go to buy there mp3 players, they will have to make a choice now between the ipod touch and the zuneHD.
Also, on the subject of apps, and this is speaking for myself personally, as long as there is a browser, that's good enough. Any app I would want would be a game, and I have yet to see a game that I want to play on the ipod touch. Heck, I haven't seen a game I've wanted to play on a handheld since I stopped playing on handheld consoles.
@Kelmon: To be fair, it has been confirmed that the Zune HD will have XNA games and will also have apps by the Microsoft representative who did the walkthrough with Engadget. They haven't said how it'll work or anything but it's a bit soon to say that the app store is something that the Zune HD can't compete with. We'll just have to wait and see.
@ jordan - you are sitting there discounting a product with a "shitty camera" and "video recording", which happens to have a substantially larger, more usable screen, simply because this new product has an OLED screen? you people are insane. if apple had added OLED to the ipod you guys would immediately knock it for being the "same old ipod now with an OLED screen". get over it. i swear microsoft pays their employees to troll the forums and blogs talking about their products. I've lived in 3 states since the Zune originally came out, and I have still not seen ONE SINGLE PERSON with a Zune, or even looking at the Zune as a possible purchase. you pro-zune fanboys only exist on the internets.
You sure about that? I don't know what Microsoft's strategy is here but you've got to figure that they must be aiming at more than the non-iPod market. They've done a lot of work on this unit and it'd be shame to not take it to the worldwide PMP market.
@htowngator
I stand by my comment - price is the only important differential at this point in time. The Zune could have a supercomputer inside it but until it has the software that makes use of it then it is pretty useless. I can't say that I'm bothered about OLED and Wifi syncing is pretty useless until such time that wireless charging is also available since I still have to plug the thing in.
@Mark
Absolutely, but I don't think anyone is going to rush out and buy the device until these promised features are delivered. When they are available then this thing will be a real competitor to the iPod Touch, especially if the price differential remains and the Zune is perceived as being a higher quality device.
Not a problem. My primary complaint is that "Home" screen of the Zune HD is only capable of displaying 6 and a bit options - if you want one of the other options then you need to scroll immediately to get to it. The options themselves are very large so I don't expect them to be difficult to select. But I don't see this interface scaling very well once things like 3rd party applications become available. In contrast the iPod Touch allows the display of 20 options, although they are certainly small icons. I just have a feeling that you are going to be spending time scrolling/switching menus more often with the Zune HD than is strictly necessary, assuming that you use more than the basic features of the device.
I also don't "get" the pinned section on the left-side of the screen from Engadget's video but then this may be something that I need to play with (not that this is likely since I currently live in Belgium).
That's valid, though I don't think that 3rd party apps will play as much of a role as they do on the touch, so I don't see the menu growing too much bigger than it is now. Though as far as time spent scrolling vs selecting goes, everyone I know with an iPhone/Touch has at least 3 pages of icons, and most can't remember where they put things.
The pinned section, I think, is a cross between; favorites, history, and newest files. Whether this ends up being useful will depend on how it works.
For those looking for a device strictly for reading, the new Kobo is a nice little option. It's small enough to slip into a pocket, can do more with a PDF than the competition, and at $129, it's $10 cheaper than both the Nook and Kindle WiFi.
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No need to pre-order. . .plenty will be available on launch day. And when Apple announces it's 2009 iTouch lineup at 16/32/64 for $230/300/400, there will be even more, and the Zune HD will become like the other Zunes: something we only hear about when a retailer pulls it off the shelves or MS reports it's earnings. Sad.
Not when the iTouch is stuck being held to the same processor, screen, and specs as the iPhone. We already know what it's going to be, oh hey look a shitty camera and video recording plus a microphone. Yawn.
This sexy thing on the other hand has OLED, something Apple has yet to discover, and a very nice looking interface. Not to mention it's something new and refreshed, not the same re-hacked piece of hardware to guzzle money out of people's wallets. And we all know how Apple likes to price their products. This is either going to drive the price of iPods down, or it's going to spur a lot of Zune sales by being priced much lower.
@Jordan
With all due respect, price is the only thing that the Zune HD really has against the iPod Touch at the moment. By all accounts the Zune HD has some very nice hardware but it is not being used yet and I have some real reservations about the interface (looks pretty but compromises usability). The iPod Touch is backed up with Apple's App Store and that is something that the Zune cannot compete with at the moment so this may well justify the additional price to customers. Microsoft needs to get competitive with the App Store on the Zune before the Zune HD can compete directly with the iPod Touch.
On release I don't see the Zune making much of a dent in Apple's market since it will only really be attractive to the Zune's existing market. How well it does in the long run is going to depend on what Microsoft does with that untapped power and whether Apple cuts the price of the iPod Touch (which I honestly doubt they will do because they currently don't have to).
This isn't Zune-bashing. You just need to remember that this is only the foundation and that the rest of the house hasn't been built yet.
@Kelmon
I agree with you on many of these points, however, the point of the zune is not to attract the ipod touch market, but rather to cater toward not only the existing zune market but also the new customer market. When people first go to buy there mp3 players, they will have to make a choice now between the ipod touch and the zuneHD.
Also, on the subject of apps, and this is speaking for myself personally, as long as there is a browser, that's good enough. Any app I would want would be a game, and I have yet to see a game that I want to play on the ipod touch. Heck, I haven't seen a game I've wanted to play on a handheld since I stopped playing on handheld consoles.
@kelmon
"Price is the only thing the Zune HD has over the iTouch"
Wow... OLED, wifi sync, Tegra processor?
The price difference is also substantial.
@Kelmon: To be fair, it has been confirmed that the Zune HD will have XNA games and will also have apps by the Microsoft representative who did the walkthrough with Engadget. They haven't said how it'll work or anything but it's a bit soon to say that the app store is something that the Zune HD can't compete with. We'll just have to wait and see.
@ jordan - you are sitting there discounting a product with a "shitty camera" and "video recording", which happens to have a substantially larger, more usable screen, simply because this new product has an OLED screen? you people are insane. if apple had added OLED to the ipod you guys would immediately knock it for being the "same old ipod now with an OLED screen". get over it. i swear microsoft pays their employees to troll the forums and blogs talking about their products. I've lived in 3 states since the Zune originally came out, and I have still not seen ONE SINGLE PERSON with a Zune, or even looking at the Zune as a possible purchase. you pro-zune fanboys only exist on the internets.
Apple fanboys are funny. So smug, yet so insecure.
@Kelmon
I've read plenty of your posts, and you seem like a reasonable person.
Can you please explain to me how the HD's UI compromises usability?
I keep seeing this complaint, over and over, but never any details or follow up. It's like watching Fox News.
The HD's UI seems intuitive to me, I just don't get the complaints.
@3rdman
You sure about that? I don't know what Microsoft's strategy is here but you've got to figure that they must be aiming at more than the non-iPod market. They've done a lot of work on this unit and it'd be shame to not take it to the worldwide PMP market.
@htowngator
I stand by my comment - price is the only important differential at this point in time. The Zune could have a supercomputer inside it but until it has the software that makes use of it then it is pretty useless. I can't say that I'm bothered about OLED and Wifi syncing is pretty useless until such time that wireless charging is also available since I still have to plug the thing in.
@Mark
Absolutely, but I don't think anyone is going to rush out and buy the device until these promised features are delivered. When they are available then this thing will be a real competitor to the iPod Touch, especially if the price differential remains and the Zune is perceived as being a higher quality device.
@jon
Not a problem. My primary complaint is that "Home" screen of the Zune HD is only capable of displaying 6 and a bit options - if you want one of the other options then you need to scroll immediately to get to it. The options themselves are very large so I don't expect them to be difficult to select. But I don't see this interface scaling very well once things like 3rd party applications become available. In contrast the iPod Touch allows the display of 20 options, although they are certainly small icons. I just have a feeling that you are going to be spending time scrolling/switching menus more often with the Zune HD than is strictly necessary, assuming that you use more than the basic features of the device.
I also don't "get" the pinned section on the left-side of the screen from Engadget's video but then this may be something that I need to play with (not that this is likely since I currently live in Belgium).
@Kelmon,
That's valid, though I don't think that 3rd party apps will play as much of a role as they do on the touch, so I don't see the menu growing too much bigger than it is now.
Though as far as time spent scrolling vs selecting goes, everyone I know with an iPhone/Touch has at least 3 pages of icons, and most can't remember where they put things.
The pinned section, I think, is a cross between; favorites, history, and newest files.
Whether this ends up being useful will depend on how it works.