Microsoft: Zune HD is real

Looks cool on the surface. I hope the UI and functionality is as good as the current models. In all reality, I doubt that it will make a dent in the iPod dominance, though...but like all of the fans of OS X know(even if its only in their own minds), it does not need to be the number 1 seller to be the best. Best is what works for a given person...it is usually something different for each person. --tayme

"The Zune is dead... " ...Long live the Zune. You're right, robertsjoe. It does look pretty good.

Seems that I am wrong. Here is an explanation of HD Radio - http://www.hdradio.com/what_is_hd_digital_radio.php --tayme PS - See how easy it is to admit when you are wrong, mikegalos???

"Update: The Guardian reports that Microsoft told it to expect movie, TV and music downloads via the Zune marketplace on 360. In addition, a subscription service like (or one and the same to) Zune Pass will likely be offered to Live users, allowing them unlimited song playback and 10 song downloads a month for a set fee." They're finally integrating different services - something MS should have done a couple of years ago, I think. Maybe they should think about making the subscription plan (without the ten free downloads, perhaps) free with an XBox Live Gold membership.

"...based on WindowsCE... doesn't seem like a selling point to me. Other than that, seems like a good product. Note: I'm the Apple guy (since 1977) who now has a Dell desktop running Win 7RC, and a (flash-based) Zune (I don't want a portable spinning disk iPod/Zune-like device). I also like the Zune store better (for music) than the iTunes store, and the Zune (recent version) at least as well as iPod nano. I might be the only entity who listens to Leo's MacBreak Weekly on a Zune or using the Zune software on his desktop.

BTW I don't like the metal's color. I hope there'll be some choice colors, like white or graphite.

Oh yea, I'm in Australia.

Remind me again why this /isn't/ a phone?

"considering Sony just released its X series Walkman" "Sony"? "Walkman"? What is this, 1986? As far as looks go, this thing isn't bad; better than I expected from Microsoft anyway. Still angular and harsh, but that's better than the Gawd-awful Zunes we've seen so far. Looks like they got some mileage out of a few actual designers before the recent personnel purge. Still don't see anything particularly compelling here, but I'm sure it will appeal to a certain niche market, and certainly the "Anything That Comes From Microsoft Is Better Than The Alternative" WinJihadist crowd. "no retraining nessacary [sic] for development" Yeah, 'cuz, you know, that's been a HUGE problem for developers on the iPhone OS platform "HD Radio" is nice, I suppose, if you're into listening to terrestrial radio. The business model of putting up an antenna and broadcasting to anyone who wants to "dial in" is over, though. They just haven't buried the body. With the advent of Internet radio, I barely (and rarely) listen to broadcast stations. My Palm Centro (insert "Waethorn" snarky comment here) does a great job of pulling in all the Internet radio I need with virtually no commercials. Between that, podcasts and music, who needs radio? Seriously. I just don't see this as a killer feature, but whatever. For those that want it, I guess it's cool that they tossed it in there. "I might be the only entity who listens to Leo's MacBreak Weekly on a Zune or using the Zune software on his desktop." Well...you and "Mikegalos".

She is purty. Radio is for out of town rental cars that have no aux jack that the company rented me. It wont make a difference, it wont hurt the Zune market share, but it wont help it.

US only? oh for chrissakes. WHY?

Robertsjoe: get a life. joisey: that's actually a pretty good idea! It would make my choice of getting a Zune much easier. Why have double the accesories sitting around. John, yes you are the Apple guy. What I like about you and actual "Apple" guys and not "Mac" guys is that your comments are logical, and fair and open minded. I like Macs, have supported them. And once again, I just don't understand why the childish Mac morons come here and just troll in the comments day after day. Go to your appleinsider.com or somewhere. Get a life! Back on topic. I'm curious as to what file formats this Zune can play, like avi, mpeg? To be fair I dont' know what all formats the iPhone can play either. Can you the iPhone play an mp4? avi? mpeg?

"I dont' know what all formats the iPhone can play either. Can you the iPhone play an mp4? avi? mpeg?" 10 seconds of research (there's this thing called "Google" on the "Internet"): iPod Touch specifications: TV and video * Support for 480p and 576p component TV out * H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Hey Lotsa, Do NOT lecture me or reply like that to me again. My question was kinda rhetorical.

@DavidR OLEDs aren't really a problem. Sony have been using them for some time on their Walkman series (- they call all their portable players by the walkman name, because, hey, they invented this niche years ago.) I've had a sony device for some time, and whilst their software was inexcusably bad, the device was magnificent, and very reliable. I've crashed a mountain bike several times with the player in my pocket, and it's survived fine. it's also been subjected to rain, mud, dust, shock and humidity, and it's fine - so I don't thin OLEDs will be a problem. Of course, that's assuming that their quality control is going to be a bit more stringent that it was for the Xbox :-p

This will be exactly like the last Zune. DOA except among windows geeks that are desparate for anything/something that's not from apple. Why: - no App store or nothing remotely like the App store (in terms of breadth and number of apps) on launch, or even in the forseeable future. This limits usefulness even as a music player. E.g, no Pandora, no internet radio apps, etc. Bet there won't be a Youtube or Hulu app either. Or sports video apps. - Lack of communication/social networking apps. Other key apps will be missing - twitter, social networking, ebay, news apps (like NY times, AP). Email? I wouldn't be surprised if it's missing. - there may be some x-box related gaming tie-ins, but nothing like the vast number of cheap games available on the Touch (at launch or in the forseeable future). - no camera. Indications are that apple is going to start adding cameras to iPod touches or even possibly the nano. If the new iPod touch has a flash and video capability, which are likely, seriously, why would anyone buy a Zune HD? - likely no GPS or turn by turn directions. The next iPod touch is rumored to have gps. and turn by turn is coming to the platform. Even if no GPS is in the Touch, the new bluetooth APIs will allow communication to an external device. - interface will probably not live up to the iPod/iPhone touch interface, or at a minimum, be much less capable. This is going to be a 1.0 release of presumably an entirely new interface. Either it's going to aim for a mark or goal far below the iPhone/iPod touch interface, and thus "succeed" but be inferior, or try to be as good and capable and intuitive as the iPhone/iPod touch, and simply not get there as a 1.0 product. - limited accessory support. Why go with the slim pickings for an alternative device? Also, accessory support on the iPod/iTouch platform is about to expand in usefullness and capability, with th enew hardware interface and bluetooth APIs. - calendar/PIM - somehow I think they will leave these out for now. Not everyone uses this stuff, but many do or at least think they might. PDAs were popular for a while. - radio - llikely won't be a selling point as the new iphone and touch will probably have fm radio reception (apple is using a new chip that has it built in) - stigma - last zune failed. MS has a poor reputation with most consumers, largely based on windows. So, it's good MS is getting into the game, I guess. Competition is good. But the very real problem MS faces is that they are far, far behind and apple keeps moving forward, leaving most consumers with little (if any) reason to go with MS's work-in-progress.

There we go again - iCabalists are back to labeling anyone that would be interested in this. It's also fascinating to see how much time they spend talking about a "DOA" device.

Paul, thanks for the Zune HD article. It almost had me thinking I should "accidentally" break my current Zune 8Gig sometime around September. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will the bloggers treat it they way they do Vista (not noticing that Vista works and has for quite a while), or will they give this Zune a chance? As to my snarky comment earlier about WindowsCE: does CE actually work now? (My reflexive avoidance goes back to its early days.)

Nothing new, really, to add to since the announcement of the Zune HD , except that Windows guru Paul

Cesjr, wow, I didn't know you were psychic. Or so pessimistic.

Does look good, but I wonder if MS will lose interest before it can reach it's full potential.

Microsoft is playing checkers while Apple plays Chess. cesjr summed it all up well. This device is, at best, a catch up to ipod touch 1.0, but Apple has moved on. I won't repeat cesjr's comments, but the biggest issue is no app store. The HDMI to TV is nice, but these mobile things are really for mobile use. I'm more interested in hooking it up to a projector via VGA for presentations, except you probably don't have the software to use it that way, and that is again the difference. The comment "WTF is HD radio?" kind of makes it clear how important THAT feature is. Anyway, doesn't everyone use Pandora these days? Or other streaming approaches? This isn't "bad", although we still need to hear pricing, it is just another Zune copying what Apple did 2 iterations back.

Considering that not all features are known, I wonder where "cesjr" and "chuckb84" got all these details from. From the ZuneInsider blog: "There is more goodness to come, but we wanted to take a moment to announce what we are working on both on the hardware, and software services front. Stay tuned to here for more info." "Anyway, doesn't everyone use Pandora these days? " No.

"Oh, so you've actually held one?" I have held my Zune 80GB, which has hard edges and surfaces which are far-less smooth than an iPod touch, yes. The Zune HD looks to be extremely similar, or do you claim somehow that the hard edges are somehow different between devices, and unlike the rounded-back mirror-surface iPod touch, or are you just stupid? "That's because you're such a greaseball, "Waethorn"." Sorry you're wrong - I'm not the one in marketing, advocating Mac usage, while flamebaiting someone during downtime on a persistant basis. Ultimately losta, you are the result of your own imaginary personification of others.

Sigh. Most of this can wait until the thing, actually----what is the phrase---oh, yah, "ships". While it is entertaining to speculate on partial specifications of an unreleased device, it will probably be more fun to talk about the real one, when it finally ships. Based on what we know -now-, this doesn't seem that interesting or important, just another catch-up device to get where Apple has already been. But, who knows? Maybe there are "secret features" yet to come.