Microsoft may clone iPod touch as Zune HD
Based entirely upon a leak of abstract new marketing graphics from Microsoft, bloggers have announced a new generation of music players that will apparently do most of what the iPod touch did when it arrived in 2007.
The product concept is so deep in vaporware territory that Microsoft hasn't even publicly acknowledged any real plans to clone the iPod touch yet. The marketing graphics below, initially published by Engadget, referred to as a "draft" artist's conception, suggest the same minimalist, single home button as the iPod touch along with a wide screen that is smaller than the iPod touch but housed in a significantly thicker overall box.
This would make the rumored Zune HD device a fitting tribute to the original Zune, which targeted the popularity of the original iPod with a lower-density screen but thicker box a year after the video playing, fifth generation iPod shipped, only to be blindsided by Apple's move to flash RAM-based video players with the iPod nano and shuffle.
The second generation Zunes caught up with a flash-based player just in time to be trampled by the stampede of interest in 2007's video playing iPod nano and the web browsing iPod touch. Microsoft had been able to clone the iPod classic and nano fairly easily, as both used largely off the shelf components and simple software; reviewers reported that the Zune was nearly identical internally to the iPod nano. Copying the iPod touch would take significantly more work, however.
Now two years behind
Last year, Microsoft caught up to Apple's 2006 release of iPod games with its own new mobile XNA initiative in its third generation Zune firmware, although poor sales of Zune units have prevented major developers from showing much interest in the platform.
If Microsoft is able to release a touch-based Zune by the end of this year using either the same technology it showed off for Windows Mobile 6.5 or a simultaneously created alternative, it will remain no more than two years behind Apple. A variant based partly on Windows Mobile would require shipping the functional new version of Internet Explorer Mobile the company announced was in the pipeline for new WiMo 6.5 smartphones.
Microsoft's version of the iPod touch has also long been expected to eventually deliver a full-fledged WiFi music store, similar to the one Apple released in 2007; in 2008, the company updated the Zune with a limited ability to find tracks on the Zune Marketplace. If the Zune HD arrives on the one-year anniversary of last year's Zune update, by September, it will deliver a version of most of Apple's features within that two year copy window, with the notable exception of being able to run the same mobile software.
However, Microsoft already has its own software platform in Windows Mobile. The problem is that all of these programs are oriented around stylus tapping or button pushing, not finger-driven touch. As RIM discovered with the BlackBerry Storm, releasing a touch version of an existing brand is not easy nor without its own risks, as key interface choices at least temporarily diminished the Storm's appeal.
Apple's iPod touch shares a platform with the iPhone, with a user base of 30 million devices sold within the last two years. Selling enough Zune HD and Windows Mobile 6.1 phones to give developers a reason to rewrite mobile apps around a touch interface could be a difficult undertaking, particularly given the already lucrative option of developing for the existing iTunes App Store market, paired with its existing library of apps for consumers.
Vaporware advertising?
With such long odds, Microsoft may be smart to keep its plans secret and allow the blogosphere to build anticipation itself. That's what the company did in 2006, which resulted in the Zune originally being touted as a juggernaut that would destroy the iPod by pundits who speculated that Microsoft would deeply discount the new player as cheaply as $99 and give it more features and flexibility than anything else on the market.
The downside was that Microsoft didn't attempt to meet those expectations. It has consistently priced the Zune and its accessories near Apple's pricing and has regularly had enough earlier inventory left over to clear out through significant discounts. Further, most of its imagined features ended up being underwhelming in ability and scope, such as its wireless file sharing, or "squirting," which was eventually supplemented by basic wireless sync and download features in its second and third years on the market.
While not without risk, allowing fan sites to chat up the Zune HD's potential features will still be far more effective than Microsoft's current efforts to advertise Windows by calling Macs "too cool," "so sexy," and "popular" among kids, while implying that lower quality machines with cheaper components deliver more value.
The product concept is so deep in vaporware territory that Microsoft hasn't even publicly acknowledged any real plans to clone the iPod touch yet. The marketing graphics below, initially published by Engadget, referred to as a "draft" artist's conception, suggest the same minimalist, single home button as the iPod touch along with a wide screen that is smaller than the iPod touch but housed in a significantly thicker overall box.
This would make the rumored Zune HD device a fitting tribute to the original Zune, which targeted the popularity of the original iPod with a lower-density screen but thicker box a year after the video playing, fifth generation iPod shipped, only to be blindsided by Apple's move to flash RAM-based video players with the iPod nano and shuffle.
The second generation Zunes caught up with a flash-based player just in time to be trampled by the stampede of interest in 2007's video playing iPod nano and the web browsing iPod touch. Microsoft had been able to clone the iPod classic and nano fairly easily, as both used largely off the shelf components and simple software; reviewers reported that the Zune was nearly identical internally to the iPod nano. Copying the iPod touch would take significantly more work, however.
Now two years behind
Last year, Microsoft caught up to Apple's 2006 release of iPod games with its own new mobile XNA initiative in its third generation Zune firmware, although poor sales of Zune units have prevented major developers from showing much interest in the platform.
If Microsoft is able to release a touch-based Zune by the end of this year using either the same technology it showed off for Windows Mobile 6.5 or a simultaneously created alternative, it will remain no more than two years behind Apple. A variant based partly on Windows Mobile would require shipping the functional new version of Internet Explorer Mobile the company announced was in the pipeline for new WiMo 6.5 smartphones.
Microsoft's version of the iPod touch has also long been expected to eventually deliver a full-fledged WiFi music store, similar to the one Apple released in 2007; in 2008, the company updated the Zune with a limited ability to find tracks on the Zune Marketplace. If the Zune HD arrives on the one-year anniversary of last year's Zune update, by September, it will deliver a version of most of Apple's features within that two year copy window, with the notable exception of being able to run the same mobile software.
However, Microsoft already has its own software platform in Windows Mobile. The problem is that all of these programs are oriented around stylus tapping or button pushing, not finger-driven touch. As RIM discovered with the BlackBerry Storm, releasing a touch version of an existing brand is not easy nor without its own risks, as key interface choices at least temporarily diminished the Storm's appeal.
Apple's iPod touch shares a platform with the iPhone, with a user base of 30 million devices sold within the last two years. Selling enough Zune HD and Windows Mobile 6.1 phones to give developers a reason to rewrite mobile apps around a touch interface could be a difficult undertaking, particularly given the already lucrative option of developing for the existing iTunes App Store market, paired with its existing library of apps for consumers.
Vaporware advertising?
With such long odds, Microsoft may be smart to keep its plans secret and allow the blogosphere to build anticipation itself. That's what the company did in 2006, which resulted in the Zune originally being touted as a juggernaut that would destroy the iPod by pundits who speculated that Microsoft would deeply discount the new player as cheaply as $99 and give it more features and flexibility than anything else on the market.
The downside was that Microsoft didn't attempt to meet those expectations. It has consistently priced the Zune and its accessories near Apple's pricing and has regularly had enough earlier inventory left over to clear out through significant discounts. Further, most of its imagined features ended up being underwhelming in ability and scope, such as its wireless file sharing, or "squirting," which was eventually supplemented by basic wireless sync and download features in its second and third years on the market.
While not without risk, allowing fan sites to chat up the Zune HD's potential features will still be far more effective than Microsoft's current efforts to advertise Windows by calling Macs "too cool," "so sexy," and "popular" among kids, while implying that lower quality machines with cheaper components deliver more value.
Comments
Going on the offensive with better products would be a far better strategy.
Being dismissive never served Apple very well. It's the main reason why Macs are overpriced and never accounted for more than a 4% world market share.
Going on the offensive with better products would be a far better strategy.
There's nothing in the article to suggest that Apple is being dismissive, and the history of the iPod/iPhone thus far has been nothing but "going on the offensive with better products."
Being dismissive never served Apple very well.
Except for the last 5 years.
And Apple sells on margin, not volume.
Apple is not after the share of the majority of the market. Just the premium end. Dell customers need not apply.
As in, too little, too late. As per usual with MS.
the only thing MS/Zune is doing right is the 14.99/month unlimited music or whatever. Now that is based on the commercial advertisement I saw, so if there is fine print in the deal, you can stratch what i said...but with price raises in iTunes, tell me 15 bucks/month unlimited music isnt just kick ass
plus you always have those people who are going to buy a zune "to be different" but they are tools
Apple is an innovator and is always focusing on "The next big thing" as where everyone else is always trying to copy Apple and ride on the coat tails of innovation...
Thanks for reading my two cents for the day...
If Microsoft is able to release a touch-based Zune by the end of this year using either the same technology it showed off for Windows Mobile 6.5 or a simultaneously created alternative, it will remain no more than two years behind Apple
Two years is a long time in the world of technology. What is the point in MS spending their R&D money on dated technology? Do they not think Apple is working on new things in their labs?
I think Apple pretty much has the music player scene cornered. It would be very difficult for a competitor to come up with something significantly better that could steal Apple's market share.
However, there is lots of room in the phone market and MS would be better off investing their efforts there. But of course they won't realize that until two years from now.
it definitely won't be as good as the iPod touch, because of the App Store mainly, but some other reasons too.
the only thing MS/Zune is doing right is the 14.99/month unlimited music or whatever. Now that is based on the commercial advertisement I saw, so if there is fine print in the deal, you can stratch what i said...but with price raises in iTunes, tell me 15 bucks/month unlimited music isnt just kick ass
plus you always have those people who are going to buy a zune "to be different" but they are tools
What's so great about the App Store? Seriously, most of the apps suck. The actual UI is great, but it's hampered by a lack of RAM, a bit of a sluggish OS, and it could stand to have better battery life (I've got a 1g Touch BTW).
And seeing as my 5g iPod died the other (one too many drops), I'm now considering a 120 GB Zune now, as I do not like the Classic iPods at all, and due to Apple's nickel and dime tactics, my perfectly fine FM car adapter does not work with my Touch or the iPod Classics, because of how Apple changed around the dock connector pins. So basically I have to buy a brand new car adapter too.
At least with iTunes Plus, I was able to re-purchase my DRM'd tunes into non-DRM'd tracks.
This is where leveraging your market share comes in, a strategy MS is well aware of. More iPhones/Touches sold mean more incentive to build new devices that can connect with them means more iPhone/Touches sold. And with dock connected functionality, the world of devices driving sales is set to become a lot larger.
It's a really tough cycle to break into, and no matter what MS comes up with, it's still going to feel like an isolated unit compared to the world of peripherals the iPod is swimming in.
Being dismissive never served Apple very well. It's the main reason why Macs are overpriced and never accounted for more than a 4% world market share.
Going on the offensive with better products would be a far better strategy.
Apple has better products already, and the success of their business over the last several quarters reflects that fact. What was your point exactly?
Being dismissive never served Apple very well. It's the main reason why Macs are overpriced and never accounted for more than a 4% world market share.
Going on the offensive with better products would be a far better strategy.
Since this product is about competition with an iPod shouldn't your statement be...
Being dismissive never served Apple very well. It's the main reason why [iPods] are overpriced and never accounted for more than a 4% world market share.
Oh wait, I'd have to change the world market share to something astronomical, which would ruin your argument.
I hope it will be available in brown
Bad colour choice aside, I have to give it to MS for trying something new.
PS: I have reiterate and give credit where it is due, for a non-iPod player the Zune 2.0 software is pretty good PMP.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_tegra_apx_us.html
This means it's going to be pretty good graphically, and have good video playback capability, and good battery life..
- could be a reasonably good product
- of course the next gen iPhone & iTouch will also have better graphics & video capability
- so they should end up fairly close, hardware-wise at least.
Apple will still win on software & coolness though!