Zune HD's "Apps" menu item spotted in the Marketplace, still short on details

At Best Buy's Zune HD preview today a certain Matthew Arkin on Qik was able to shoot footage of the "Apps" item that resides within the "Marketplace" section on the device. It's still incredibly unclear what Microsoft's plans are for that functionality -- they've long admitted its existence, but have waffled on the name and have been reticent to show it off in meetings with us. Microsoft so far has only promised to have applications on par with the games currently available for Zune, but there's obviously a lot of implied competition with Apple's App Store that the word "Apps" on a touchscreen device conjures up. On video (embedded after the break) the rep is asked if there's an SDK, and apparently Matthew got a "yes" offscreen, but we're not really sure of the veracity of that statement, or what it means for developers at the moment -- hopefully good, freedom-ey things.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Mitch Posted Aug 23rd 2009 4:15PM]

@derrik

Yeah it happens the other way around, but I have never seen someone do what FoxKenji is doing right now.... basically posting the same thing about 8 times in one topic.

[Jacob1 Posted Aug 23rd 2009 4:21PM]

low rank 'em all. of course that won't teach them a thing, their moronic pea brains can't comprehend that people don't want to see their drivel and won't anyways when they're low ranked to oblivion.

[Dafrety Posted Aug 23rd 2009 3:57PM]

I saw one at the Best Buy in the John Hancock Center. It was like butter, I couldn't believe it. The screen was nice and bright, the transitions were smooth, rotating from landscape to portrait was instant. They had it hooked up to a TV displaying video and it looked excellent. The girl showcasing it didn't let me hold it, but they had some fake plastic ones that they said weighed the same and they were incredibly light. The HD radio was cool though they let me plug my Shure se210 headphones in. The sound was crystal clear. I'm going to get one on the 15th. I'll probably have to order it from the website though, because I want a black 32 GB.

[fourblades Posted Aug 23rd 2009 6:30PM]

Oh just want to share since I was there that it will have equalizer option unlike the previous gen... well the 1st had it too but they added it back again!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 23rd 2009 8:52PM]

Correction, the Zune HD will transcode h264 when syncing. It does not play h264. It scales down 720p and it is noticeably smaller and poorer quality video compared to the iPod Touch. That is a deal breaker.

Furthermore, nobody wants to dock their portable device to a big monitor.
Nobody wants HD radio.

I want Microsoft to put out a product which will force the makers of my iPod Touch to innovate and lower their prices. My iPod has amazing hardware and software. But I hate the App Store which deletes my software without my authorization. Microsoft needs to have a better applications store than Apple and it needs hardware and software at least as good as iPod's.

Perhaps the next generation of Zune HD will do that. But they must listen, first. OLED will be a failure. You can't see the screen in bright light. MS needs to switch to LCD.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 23rd 2009 10:36PM]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think a fair amount of people want HD radio and the capability to stream 720p video from your pocket...

Also, every report of the OLED screen has been incredibly favorable and has said that it works well in sunlight and lowlight situations, has vibrant color, and deep, true blacks.

But you keep living in your iFantasy world... I'll be over here enjoying my Zune HD.

[WWolf Posted Aug 23rd 2009 10:39PM]

LCD? Only if want to comprise the battery life, besides AMOLED, OLED, LED and LCD all suffer the same fundamental flaw when it comes to working in direct sunlight. They all use backlighting in one form or another and obviously the Sun is way way brighter then them so they get washed out. So until the day that they get e-ink to do color with a fast refresh rate we can all expect to have our handheld devices get their screens washed out when in direct sunlight.

If you really hate Apples controlling nature and think the Zune HD isn't the answer then may I suggest you check out the Cowon S9. Check out it's native codec support list, blows the Zune and iPod out of the water, though it's UI sucks.

[Rapol Posted Aug 23rd 2009 11:09PM]

you are in the wrong place, buddy

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 24th 2009 1:49PM]

GRAVY goodness! oh boy cant wait!

[thebballkid Posted Aug 25th 2009 2:48PM]

I love how this thingy looks. Is no-one concerned that 32 gigs wont be enough though? Do they have a 64 maybe?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 31st 2009 8:06PM]

Does anyone know anything else about the app store?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 9th 2009 12:48AM]

Australian buyers:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BRAND-NEW-SEALED-MICROSOFT-ZUNE-HD-16GB-PRE-ORDER_W0QQitemZ150371692714QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_MP3_Players?hash=item2302d9f0aa&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 12th 2009 7:54PM]

I am praying that MIcrosoft incorporates these apps: Skype, Google Voice, YouTube, Voice Recorder, and educational custom Flash Cards (and let you change to foreign keyboards to make foreign language flash cards).

What I really end up using on my iPod Touch are (1) Skype to make calls, (2) Flash Cards to study my Attic Greek, (3) the Oxford Dictionary app for a dictionary when I can't pick up a WiFi signal, and (4) the voice recorder app to record my lectures. Just as long as the Zune HD has these four apps at least, along with all the other wonderful things the Zune already offers, and I'm sold!

I hope it gives you the option to change the keyboard language to Greek because otherwise a flashcard app would be useless for me. Also, I hope that a microphone or headphones with mic can be plugged in and used with a voice recorder app. I'm waiting until Zune comes out along with its apps to decide between the 3rd gen Touch and the Zune HD.