We always suspected the iPhone 3GS was capable of 1080p HD video playback, and now we've got proof. Although Apple lists the iPhone 3Gs's max video playback res at just 640x480,
iLounge linked to Chinese forum post claiming that the 3GS could do 30Mbps 1080p playback earlier today -- and when we saw that the only thing we needed to do to test it out was download the free FileAid app, well, you know how we've just spent the last 20 minutes. We tested out a bunch of HD trailers from Apple's QuickTime trailer site, some videos we shot with a Lumix DMC-GH1 and some other random videos with general success, but there were some major hiccups: high bitrate 720p video off the GH1 stuttered during playback, and loading the
Avatar trailer consistently crashed the phone's audio driver until we restarted. We tried the same thing on an iPhone 3G and just got error messages at almost every resolution, so it seems like it's a combination of the 3GS's extra horsepower and different built-in software at work here -- software that's clearly not ready for prime-time, as evidenced by the bugs. We're hoping Apple is polishing that up and getting ready to unlock this functionality, since it'd be sweet to just plug into an HDTV and play video -- anyone listening out there in Cupertino? Video after the break.
Read - Apple iPhone specs
Read - Chinese forum posts claiming 30Mbps 1080p playback
posted Aug 20th 2009 6:59PM
Boo Zune HD.
what's a zune??
Ya... it's not like the Zune HD has already been shown to handle 720p playback flawlessly, without stuttering or any problems...
Wow meatjuice, you have major anger/jealousy problems. You might wanna see someone about that.
bu bu Tegra! Wah! D:
Zune HD doesnt need an app to play HD video -.-
its right out the box, engadget you over did the tittle
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much"
Or in other words, if zune wasn't any good, a meh mp3/video player there wouldn't be these outburst.
The more flames the more intresting it is becoming... I'll have to check it when it comes to shops.
Umm...Zune has games already, the HD will be able to do those, and will have new ones as well.
Who want's to watch stuttery HD video on a smudged up, 3.5 inch screen?
Not to mention the battery needed...
@brr404
I don't think they overdid the tittle in the i of iPhone. It seems fine to me. Now that I look it, it might be too big.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tittle
@ iJames White
"Wow, I'm not surprised that I'm being downranked by all of these Micro$hit followers. LAWL!! You guys are freaking MicroTards. Following a corrupt company with a stupid company logo, a nerdy leader who has no taste in style of clothing, has stupid glasses, who's partner is a bald idiot who sweats a lot, and is a coward and gets all emotional when the other company is making fun of them."
You're talking about Apple, right? Because they also have a lame logo, they're also corrupt, maybe more than Microsoft, they have a nerdy leader who wears an unfashionable black turtleneck with some jeans, glasses are pretty much the same as Bill, Steve Ballmer is balding but he does sweat a lot, and Appledid get emotioanl and requested Microsoft to take down the PC hunters ads.
@iJames
I have an iPhone 3G & an iMac and I downranked your comment, what am I?
@iJames
Honestly with a vocabulary like that people would think that you are 9.
You make the rest of us that can use both Apple and Microsoft products look bad. Thanks for once again making Apple users look like a bunch of idiots. We appreciate it.
Ugh....Why do I get the feeling that Engadget is enjoying this load of flame wars and trolls lurking? Anyways, I'm done with this iTroll. Let him have his fun being stupid. Some one should put a sign up.
"No Feeding The iTrolls"
@iJames
Actually 17 thank you (:
But you know if im younger than you it's pretty bad that I can manage to be more mature on a comment bored than you.
@iJames: Alright, just so I can prove to you how much of an idiot you really are:
"Haha, and who said that the iPhone/iPod Touch couldn't handle 1080!! I smell jealously from ZuneTards."
-I'm guessing you mean 1080p? If so, they still can't. What this video shows the iPhone 3GS can do is do a very poor job at downconverting a 1920x1080 video to 480x272(yeah, that's right, I'll get to that in a bit) and then play it at that resolution.
"The iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch 3rd Gen will/ already have better proccessors(th CPU in the 3GS is faster than Tegra, check for yourself)"
-You're missing the point. Yes, the basic processor is faster, but this isn't 1999. The Zune HD has 8 separate processors, 2 of which are basic ones. The rest handle audio, HD encoding and decoding, etc. The graphics processor on the Zune HD is far superior to that of the iPhone 3GS. In a device like this, that's all that really matters since it doesn't have a lot of really CPU-intensive operations.
"ACTUAL HD"
-No, it doesn't. The Zune HD does, though.
"More Apps/Games(The ZuneHD doesn't even have games yet)"
-The Zune HD isn't out yet. Besides that point, Microsoft has yet to announce how apps/games will be implemented(though it's pretty well confirmed that they will be).
"a bigger screen and better res.(WTF is 480x 272? That res. is gayness)"
-Here we go. You wanted to know? It's a 16:9 aspect ratio, you know, the same one used for widescreen movies. It's not a worse resolution, it's a different aspect ratio. Movies(the only thing you'll need resolution for) will show up at 480x272 on the 3GS as well.
"sleeker looks, and more people know what iPods are and only Micro$oft geeks know Zunes. Face it and stop whining and just get an iPod like the rest of us."
-Subjective, you think the 3GS looks better, most others think the Zune HD looks better. How does your second statement here show anything about the relative quality? Oh, right, it doesn't.
@iJameswhite
"Hell, if Apple entered the Console business, they would easily make it to the top because they have thousands of developers and many people recognize the Apple logo as being hip and coolio."
I totally agree. And when they did, they failed. Yeah...awkward turtle just reared its ugly head.
@iJameswhite
"Hell, if Apple entered the Console business, they would easily make it to the top because they have thousands of developers and many people recognize the Apple logo as being hip and coolio."
I totally agree. And when they did, back in the early 1990s, they failed. Yeah...awkward turtle just reared its ugly head to say hi.
Apple is way too closed minded to enter the console industry. They would lock it down so tight real game developers probably wouldn't want to spend the money writing games to meet their standards.
Regarding games on the iPhone and Zune HD. Like others said, games do exist on the Zune and the Zune HD will be capable of playing graphic intense games way better than the iPhone 3G S. Not only that, Microsoft already has huge connections with professional game developers and XBox Arcade games (which the Zune HD can theoretically handle) blow any game you can find on in the iTunes App Store all they have to do is port them and I bet if they did Microsoft would automatically make the games you already purchased on the console available on the Zune.
Pippen :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippen
Now, who cares? The Xbox360 is a better console from the hardware specs than the Wii, but the Wii does sell like crazy.
There is room for more than one 'brand' of media player.
It was all going spammingly until someone suggested Apple would be too locked down in a console world.
Ahhh, one would tend to look at the publishing process and restrictions on what devs can do as more locked down by Sony, Nintendo and MS than even the AppStore. Even the channel of publishing is restricted to being through the console manufacturer.
It would rather appear Apple read the console playbook when working out the AppStore.
So on the spurious notion that Apple might make a console. We could rather expect more of the same, in line with the big gaming 3
Obvious trolls are obvious.
To everybody re iJames:
DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!! You're just giving him the negative attention he craves because that's all mommy and daddy gave him, and negative attention is better than no attention.
Just do what I do, report and move on.
True dat, but this troll is enough of an idiot to use the same name here as he does on his flickr account, where he's trying to show off his "talent" (which involves putting gay rainbows on everything). So the more that we get him to post another idiotic thing, the better chance someone looking for info on him finds out what a total douche he is.
HD capable iPod touch on the 9th of september anyone?
But haven't I seen that the 3GS is the same processing power as the 2G Touch that came out last September?
@TVGenius
Nope, the 2nd gen iPod Touch has a faster CPU than the original iPod Touch, iPhone and iPhone 3G, but it's still slower than the 3GS. It also only has 128 MB RAM, where the 3GS has 256 MB.
No. The iPod Touch was a clocked-up version of the original iPhone/iPod CPU. The 3GS uses an entirely different processor, which is much, much faster.
Probably, but it wouldn't be the product's main feature. TV Out was never a killer feature, and increasing the output resolution doesn't suddenly make it so.
That OLED screen on the other hand, is a killer feature.
Will Apple release new iPods/iPhones with HDMI connector? Because who cares if the device can do 720p if you have to run it through composite analog to the TV.
Putting HDMI on the Zune HD, or any digicam, is easy. Adding it to the iPhone/iPod *changes the docking connector* which means they have to start over on the ecosystem of accessories. While Apple really has no choice but to do it eventually, it's a very big deal for them. They'll need to line up a bunch of cool accessories from third-party vendors before they drop the announcement.
Doesn't this just prove that it can down-convert 1080p video, not that it can actually display it on a TV? And the fact that it frequently stuttered on 720p would pretty well prove that it isn't capable of displaying it reliably...
I guess the right term would be to say it can 'decode' some 720p and 1080p videos. Whether it will ever be able to output 720/1080 video through the dock to an external screen remains to be seen...
I guess by "totally" they meant "sorta".
Yes, that's what I was going to say. It's NOT capable of displaying 1080p.
So it can decode 1080p... big deal. You wrote a whole article on that? Must be a slow news day. What's next, a list of the resolutions and file formats that the PSP can decode? Riveting!
Mark, you have it all wrong. I just fired up Win7 and recorded live TV in 1080p. I then stepped through the video frame by frame taking a screen shot of every frame. I then synced these screen shots to my 1st gen iPhone. Finally, I opened the photo app, and quickly swipped my finger across the screen. Sure there was some stutter and there was no audio, but this was a video in 1080p glory on a 1st gen iPhone. I no longer need to get a Zune HD, I have real HD video playback in a 3 year old device. Plus I am getting a workout, my index finger will be buff in no time.
Yeah its downconverted at most to VGA. When he double taps to zoom in, its not zooming anymore than 50-100% of the HVGA screen. This is not the same as the Zune HD outputting 720p video to a TV.. not even close.
Mark-
First of all, your a big time MS booster. Do you work for them?
Seriously. If you do you should come clean.
The zune HD and the ipod both are using arm processors. Its the same core. Obviously both have accelerated chip hardware to play back video, and that differs. They imbed cores into the Nvidia processor the Zune uses (for a software guy, I spend way too much time with EE (Electrical Engineers))
Plus the ZUNE HD isn't even out yet vs a fairly established existing product, so why don't we wait to the reviews come out to see how it works.
The other thing is what is this software? Most software that plays back video is optimized, likely this software isn't, this is a hack, and it seems to work alright. Playing back HD video on portable devices is kinda well... dumb, the screens aren't even HD. Having to plug the devices into a cradle to watch while interesting in concept isn't really all that practical.
@ a
How is plugging a device in a dock not practical? Docking is part of just about every iPod accessory and I think it's been proven pretty practical for some time now. The only difference here is you are going to watch a video. Also, unlike every home theater docking system i've seen for the iPod, with the Zune you get the same interface on the television as the device making it hell of a lot easier to navigate.
@a: Clearly, your supposed EE friends are worthless, since they didn't tell you that ARM doesn't even make CPUs, they make a ton of different designs and then sell them to other companies that make them. If you even thought for a second you would notice that hey, there are a ton of Intel chips and they aren't all the same. There are a metric ton of ARM designs and they are NOT all equal, far from it. Maybe you should take an introductory course on computer architecture. You should also learn to spell.
Zunes are actually one of the most TV friendly MP3 players out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvp96mEl7MQ
Really nice TV interface for a PMP. Exactly like the PMP's, but still just as functional. I actually wish the Xbox 360 had the Zune interface for media playback. Much more visually pleasing.
aha, 1080p video = yes, audio = no. should have noticed your post title..
I don't see how this would be useful at all. The higher bitrate is just wasted on such a low resolution screen and waste of space on the iPhone to store the bigger file. You can't even output 720p to a TV so this is totally useless.
This is like trying to watch a blu-ray on a old 20in tube TV, no different than watching a DVD on the same TV.
even if you could output.....
Wouldn't a phone call REALLY interrupt your show now instead of jsut being a small annoyance you ignore if you don't want to pause?
@ Ordeith
that is where the magic of bluetooth come in
or Google Voice, just pick up the house phone.
I will be stunned if Apple releases 720p playback and video out as a free update.
So what you're saying is that the Zune's HD function works flawlessly whilst the 3GS might work a bit if you're lucky?
OK.
Do you honestly believe that if Apple wanted it to play 1080p smoothly, that they wouldn't be able to do it? Seriously? It's like you're one of those morons who said that because the iPhone didn't have copy and paste, that Apple wasn't capable of doing it at all. Aren't you smarter than that?
@Zak
I certainly believe that Apple could not do smooth 1080p playback, yes. Because unlike Copy+Paste, the processor just ISN'T capable of handling it. No amount of software magic can save incapable hardware. Tegra needs a processor specifically designated JUST to video decoding in order to play 720p video. If anything, I would say this demonstration of the iPhone's "ability" to play 1080p is really a demonstration of its INability-- try as you may, but it will stutter, freeze up, or crash.
Do you honestly believe that if Apple wanted the iPhone to be able to teleport people to Mars, that they wouldn't be able to do it? Seriously?
Was going to nerd-rage-post about why people would bother having high-definition content on their portable devices while the devices themselves still commonly measure their storage capacity in terms of two digits and gigabytes, but meh, I don't care enough to bother.
So... it stuttered and crashed like hell = it plays 1080p playback?
sure, thats a known fact.. whatever ifone does is awsome, even if its a crash.
I would expect crashing if its a little hacked together app. Avatar must have a different audio stream that's outside the playback parameters/capability in the software. The ZuneHD has its limited video/audio codec support as well. Also, it stuttered on a 20mbit video. Look at the ZuneHD specs:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/08/13/zune-hd-specs-fill-in-the-blanks-on-video-format-support-batter/
14mbit is the max bitrate for the ZuneHD for a reason. It would probably stutter as well at 20+ mbit. This is more likely a read bandwidth limitation and not a processor limitation. 1080p videos like you see on apple trailers are below 10mbit so there is no reason to go so high, even for 1080p.
This is simply a proof in concept to show the iPhone clearly has hardware capable of 1080p. I'm sure they are waiting to do this on the iPod Touch gen3 with an external HD output.
Who knows, maybe the iPhone can already output HD with some new dock connector.
Yeah...I'm pretty sure people buying the Zune HD aren't buying it solely because it does HD output.
Still, that's great for y'all iPhone 3GS owners out there that can watch HD movies...until Steve Holt calls asking for your math homework.
Zune HD who?
I wonder how much will this "upgrade" cost if Apple releases an update that enables HD playback.
Free for iPhone Users...
$50 for iTuch users because they are the leechers... they dont pay $$$ every month...
ya hear that! Apple does not like you.
Typically, nothing for iPhones, and $10 - $20 for iPod Touch, although this probably wouldn't be possible on current gen iPod Touches (different processors). Assumably, when Apple releases new iPod Touches in a couple weeks that have iPhone 3GS hardware, they'll also release a free software upgrade for iPhones to output HD.
Simple:
$99 for the 32GB version and $199 for the 64GB version + an expensive 2 year subscription with your local operator (and only not a shitty one if you're lucky).
Of course it will only play apple approved content downloaded from itunes and strong words will be bleeped out, sexual and violent scenes will be cencored or simply cutt out. Only 50% of the players functionality will be implemented on release, the other 50% will arrive with an update 1 year after the release.
The name of the device: Apple iPhone 3GS HD.
Are you really that uninformed of an engadget poster that you dont know that ALL iphone updates are free and frequent?
Yeah yeah, I already read about it in Big Whoop magazine.
I think someone is missing something major here. The screen resolution is 480x320 which happens to be a far cry from any HD resolution, making it pointless to even consider playing 1080p video. You won't be able to see the resolution.
No different than watching 1080p on a set that only does 720p. Sure it may scale it but we all know thats not the same.
Yeah totally pointless considering 1080p requires a resolution of 1920x1080 to be considered 1080p,,,,
I assumed that the phone could play 1080p on a TV through some kind of proprietary Apple dock. Are you saying it can't? Because if it can't show it on the screen or play it out a TV, this whole article is a joke.
@ dezoris00: I'm glad someone on this post knows what they are talking about. Watching HD content at 480x320 = Fail. My old iPaq 2755 (from back in 2004) could run full DVD rips (720x480) without stuttering. Did that help me? No! Because the screen resolution was QVGA (320x240). Since the 3GS has no HD video out, this doesn't mean anything other then the CPU can handle the load pretty well. Thumbs up for that. Thumbs down to anyone who thinks they can watch HD video on their iPhone now ::rollseyes::
Comparing this to a Zune HD is pointless.
1) The Zune isn't a phone.
2) The Zune HD has "HD" in the name because the video can be ported to a 720p HDTV.
yet more conformation that Engadget are a bunch of iPhone nutswingers... so the device stutters and has issues with audio, but headlines: iPhone 3GS "totally" capable of 1080p video playback...lol
I think "totally" here means "definitely" rather than "fully". Then, again, I am no English language expert.
This article really just proves that the iPhone 3Gs can't playback full HD, if it stutters with high bit 720p then it isn't going to manage 1080p.
I love how this is obviously "just software bugs" why is that exactly ?
"30Mbps" surely you meant 30Fps ?
Actually video streams are often described by their bitrate. We're used to numbers like 500kbps ~ 2000kbps for everyday video. As HD video consumes more bandwidth, the bitrate goes up, typically around 20,000kbps = 20Mbps for 1080 video, and usually peaking around 30Mbps.
The term 'totally' is obviously a way to jokingly say it's a tall claim.
As in "I'm totally not going to call her/him"
@jaceface its been proven time and again the mark has no freaking idea what he is talking about and is just here to make the comments almost completely unbearable and probably have 15 engadget accounts for down ranking. Its just amazing.
I'm not sure why I feel compelled to comment whenever somebody on the internet is wrong, but I do.
All of you negative commenters are missing a few main points:
1- If nothing else, this shows that the iPhone is powerful enough to do something other than what the specs say it will. This is neat to some people, and worth a post alone.
2- Yes, the iPhone's screen is small. But it also has video out, doesn't it. So if it can play 1080p video, then (with more polishing) you could use it as a portable HD media player.
3- Some of you are confused about 1080p/720p and which is better. As the video CLEARLY POINTS OUT, bit rate is where the limitation is. The video post also clearly states that the 1080p G.I.Joe trailer is about 10Mb/s. What's more, is that it's the exact trailer from Apple. While this certainly won't look as good as a 35Mb/s BluRay disk, it it more than adequate for most considering the increased convenience of the ultra portable player.
So whahoo. I corrected somebody on the internet. Again. I'm lame.
"2- Yes, the iPhone's screen is small. But it also has video out, doesn't it. So if it can play 1080p video, then (with more polishing) you could use it as a portable HD media player."
The video out isn't capable of carrying a 1080P signal. Not with the default Apple accessories, at least.
i think what put most people off about this article was the idiotic way in which the author claimed the iPhone is "totally" capable of 1080p playback when, in reality, the video proved nothing of the sort. Part of being able to play videos is the ability to actually display the video in a watchable form, something you cannot be sure the iPhone is capable of. Sure, it may just be that the feature is unpolished and that a bit of coding can make the iPhone capable of outputting 1080p consistently, but another possibility is that the videos that stuttered were actually stretching the limits of the device. However, Nilay Patel refuses to acknowledge that maybe the iPhone isn't capable of this.
But you're missing 1 major point: It's not playing 1080p video. It's converting 1080p video to HVGA and then playing that. And even with that it's having major problems with audio and stuttering. Also, because it's not really playing 1080p video, this says nothing about what the iPhone has the power to do, other than that it can downconvert video and play it at HVGA.
well Backgrounder adds multitasking, but I never saw an article for that.
I think this was just for ad revenue, to tell you the truth.
@Aaron. You are absolutely correct :) Though line from the article about Apple needing to unlock this capability obviously addresses this requirement. Again, though, the purpose of the article/video seems to just be proof of concept.
@ifalldownstairs. I'm confused by this. The article is obviously just showing something that is somewhat unknown to most iPhone users. Having a single 1080p video file play well, as the GIJoe clip does, is plenty enough proof to me that the iPhone is capable of playing it. I don't think the article was saying that we can all transfer our BluRay rips to the device and throw away our PS3s. Just that, even though the specs say it maxes out at VGA resolution, the guts of the phone are capable of much more. But you're probably correct. Nilay is obviously a zealot, secretly on the payroll of the boys in Cupertino. Tinfoil at and all.
@Mark. I don't think I'm the one missing the point. The point of the article isn't that the phone can display 1080 horizontal lines of resolution. The point of the article is that the processing power of the iPhone is enough to decode a video file encoded in 1080p within certain bit-rate constraints.
@Brian. What?!
Yes, I realize that, however, the fact that it doesn't actually have to push those pixels through the graphics chip pretty much nullifies the entire article. The fact that it can decode such a file is pretty much meaningless. What matters is whether the graphics chip can handle that signal. Since it had such a hard time even decoding the videos, let alone actually displaying them in their full resolution, it doesn't exactly lend confidence in its ability to do so.
@mark. So the truth comes out. You just don't know what you're talking about. Do you think the iPhone does something magical to the video file before it displays on the screen to make it smaller or something? Because it does not. The phone processes the video exactly the same as your computer would then scales it to match its native resolution.
Being able to decode and play the file smoothly on its screen = being able to stream that video out if the correct tools were unlocked by Apple. It's no more difficult to display externally than it is internally.
Should an iPod Touch be released in Sept. with 1080p output that would definitely take a feature point from the ZuneHD's 720p output...I love competition.
Oh sure why not ? Carry 5 1080p/30FPS movies in your iPod touch 64GB ! What a feature to have !! /s
@shraven: Really? are you joking? If Apple in this completely hypothetical situation had a feature that was better than the ZuneHD you would still bash it? Wow, talk about fanboy.
1080p playback on the new iPod would be pretty cool but not really something I would use on an iPhone...mainly because I would use it as a phone so if somebody called during a movie everyone would have to wait on me to put the movie back on...But in the case of ZuneHD and iPod Touch it would be a cool feature to have.
@shravan yeah cool carry 5 720p videos on your 32g zuneHD........ WTF is wrong with the logic in this place.
All you have proven is that the iPhone is capable of playing 1080p video in the same way that my old 14" CRT TV from 1990 is capable of playing back Blu-Ray via the composite input. I.e., just playing it isn't "totally" playing it. It's just downconverting it. Pull this article, it's embarrassing.
It take a substantial amount of processing power to "downconvert" a video -- do you think your analog TV is doing that, or your Blu-ray deck?
@Screw Harry: Not really, not nearly as much processing power it takes to actually push those pixels through a GPU.
I dont think GPU means what you think it means, you have already been completely wrong at least 5 times in just THIS comment string. GTFO.
do not forget the obvious.
1. overheating may be an issue when trying to play an actual movie instead of a trailer.
2 there is no way the 3gS will ever play an entire movie on one charge.
Its worthless to be able to push 1080p if you do not have a DVI or HDMI connector. It would be nice if Apple would make that adaptor for the iPhone. In that case, the iPhone would be a perfect device to carry your HD content and watch it anywhere.
There is no video resolution difference between HDMI, DVI or component. There is for Composite (RCA).
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MB128LL/B
I hate this pay per post deal they are on. Its like no story for 6-7pm hour, let put up a BS apple story from engadget chinese. Its same as Crunchgear's apple sucking. Maybe MG Seigler is moonlighting at engadget chinese.
Next story, Iphone can cook for food in high definition!! and Nilay...not a good rep of patels worldwide..thats from another patel.
Thanks.
Props bro ! Props !
Once again, Nilay proves he is a diehard Apple fanboy.
Like everyone said, it's showing that the iphone CAN'T output 1080p.
Is the feature even all that useful? You'd need a dock connector-hdmi cable in order to plug it into an HDTV, which we don't even know is possible with the specs of the dock connector. (And if you wanted to plug in "anywhere" you'd need to carry the damn thing with you) Plus you'd have HD videos taking up tons of space on your tiny SSD, and whenever you played them back without being plugged in I'm sure decoding 30mb/s video is going to absolutely ruin your battery life.
So it would be a really cool feature, but I'm not convinced it would see very much use.
Isn't down converting 1080p video to a lower resolution take more processor power than actually playing 1080p directly?
The three examples I tried played flawlessly - sound and picture. Maybe Apple were keeping this low profile for a reason to announce a new dock in the future to take advantage?!?
oookay...playing 1080p on a non 1080 screen. Makes sense I guess?
The audio driver crashed with Avatar because the AAC in the trailer is 5.1. It also has problems with the PS3 for example. If you pick another 1080p trailer that uses STEREO AAC, it should work fine. (you can use quicktime to tell you which one is stereo and which one is 5.1)
Dude, he totally played "The Big Fight" by Stars. That's one of my favorite albums, band, and song. He gets a cookie for this. (::)
Its no Zune HD, but the fact that it can "almost" do it, is certainly commendable. I still can't see why microsoft won't just put a 3g chipset in the damn thing. I mean, I have a 3GS, but I can definitely see why the Zune HD is the clear winner in this round. Matter of fact, they shouldn't even be in the same category, when you consider what sort of (video) content the Zune can play out-the-box. Still, though, I will definitely be watching some "1080p" on my iphone when I get home, so sue me....
You do know the Zune cant play 720p video natively on the Zune right? ITS ONLY FOR DOCK OUTPUT.