Wow, five pages of posts from a little Apple commercial already... Looks like the geniuses in their PR department are doing their job well (no such thing as bad PR). Are there seriously more posts regarding this commercial than the Winblows 7 release? Or the Winblows store opening?

Amateur Hour?

Looks like back to the drawing board for OLED, just looks terrible in bright light, especially with that extra glossy coating too. Add to that the fact that MS has made the interface mostly dark to conserve battery as it's a known fact that OLED can suck up battery life really fast when displaying brighter and lighter colors.

I don't know about everyone else, but I use my mobile phone and PMP in many different lighting situations. Sure, a dark room requirement works from my home theater setup because I am not mobile, but this is just unacceptable for a mobile device.

It takes MS an entire day and a half to update their site?

When Apple announces new product, the Apple store is down maybe for a couple hours.

The only people who know about this new Zune HD are geeks who hang out on gadget sites (myself included).

The average Joe and Jane Consumer don't care about specs like OLED or Tegra, or even know what they are to begin with.

When they shop for a new "iPod" (as all PMPs are now referred to), we know that 80% of them have had an iPod in the past, have purchased a ton of content from iTunes Store (a lot of it probably still DRMed) that they know "Plays for Sure" with their iPods, also know that 80% of their friends have iPods, have access to over 75,000 applications including multiplayer and sharing apps that will work with their friends ipods/iphones and have a massive selection of accessories that work with the iPod.

Plus Apple knows the high end PMP market is shrinking with smartphones becoming more popular. That is why the nano got all the feature updates. When a large majority (not everyone) are looking for a PMP, they get something like a nano, if they want a high end PMP, they go for the iPhone.

Don't get me wrong, it's good to see new technology pushing the envelope, but the reasons above are why "iPod killers" come and go every six months. Just like the same reasons OS X can't put a dent in the Windows market share.

How is the new iPod touch part of a "weak lineup"? So the fact that the new iPod touch has no camera makes it "weak"? Last time I checked at the Zune HD specs, it doesn't have a camera either.

Based on initial comparisons of the Zune HD and the iPhone 3GS (since the new iPod touch wasn't out yet and the 3GS has the same internals as the new iPod touch), performance and battery life are about the same. iPod touch has always had better battery life than the iPhone as well, so the new iPod touch will have better battery life than the Zune HD.

The only two perceived spec advantages for the Zune HD are the OLED screen and the HD output. First, it's a proven fact that OLED screens are terrible in bright light, so if you want to use your Zune outdoors, good luck. Second, the HD output is great, I do like that feature, but Apple could just kick out an update to enable the 3GS and new iPod touch to do the same (was hoping for it with 3.1), the Cortex-A8 and PowerVR can handle HD.

The biggest advantage Apple is the iPod ecosystem. Massive app and media store, tons of games, music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks and accessories. Go purchase a Zune and try to find decent vehicle integration or clock radio with a dock.

Remember, Joe Consumer doesn't care about OLED or HD output, he wants a device that everyone else has so he can play multiplayer games and share photos and information, have access to over 75,000 applications and a ton of accessories.

So based on initial reviews and specs of the Zune HD, the "new technologies" in the Zune HD just aren't that compelling.

1. OLED versus the reflective LCD technology in the 3GS/Touch. Good luck using the OLED screen outdoors, it's a proven fact that current OLED technology washes out easily in bright light. I'd rather sacrifice a little quality for versatility, especially on a little 3" screen.

2. Tegra versus the 3GS/3G Touch latest ARM. Based on initial reviews and specs, they are actually about equivalent in terms of performance and battery life. If anything, the 3GS has been boasting a little better numbers than the Zune HD. And the Touch has even better numbers than the 3GS.

3. HD radio? Who cares, "there's an app for that" in the app store if you want radio.

4. HD output via HDMI. Ok, I'd like to see that on the 3GS/Touch. It's a known fact the new ARM can handle HD output, so it's just a simple OS update. But not a deciding factor.


Sure, Zune HD is a decent attempt at competing by cramming "specs" into the package, but it can't compete the the iPod ecosystem in terms of content, applications and accessories. When will companies like MS realize it's not all about specs for 90% of the consumers out there who don't spend all day on gadget sites.

You think Joe Consumer cares, or even knows, what an OLED screen is? Who even makes the Tegra processor? He's going to purchase the PMP that has access to 75,000+ applications, simple to use manager application (iTunes), a massive media content store (iTunes store) and get what all his buddies already have so they can play multiplayer games and share content.

I hope they are displaying them in darker rooms as OLED sucks in bright light situations (like direct sunlight), it gets washed out really easily, one of the main reasons Apple decided to stick with the current reflective LCD screens.

Where is this improved battery life they've promised with OLED and Tegra? The specs match the current iPod touch, which is ancient technology.

Can't wait to see all that 720p glory... Oh wait, the iPhone 3GS can already handle 1080p. Apparently Microsoft is always a step behind.

So "HD" in "Zune HD" is really for HD radio, not HD video?

"Battery Life: Music: up to 33 hours (wireless off); video: up to 8.5 hours[3] Charge Time: Approximately 3 hours when connected to your PC, approximately 2 hours with AC adapter"

That's pretty weak for a pmp. The iPhone 3GS can match those numbers, even with all the power hungry antennas. Music: up to 30 hours. Video: Up to 10 hours.

The current generation iPod touch (with the older technology) gets 36 hours of music and 6 hours of video. I imagine the new one will get even better numbers.

Guess the combination of OLED screen (poor visibility outdoors, btw, check out the pictures of OLED nokias in sunlight, can barely see the screen) and the supposedly amazing Tegra processor aren't really saving as much battery life as everyone thought. Oh well, back to the drawing board for MS.