Once its wrapped up in a rubber sleeve like my touch is (gotta protect the scratch magnet), it will look nearly identical...
if they had made the back rounded and smooth, people would have complained that it was identical to the ipod, and wonked on. They picked a different style - "industrial" - and they get pinged for having screws...
I wonder if that means the user can easily replace the battery
I can't see it. Most people don't care about, nor know, the difference between OLED vs LCD.
Unless it actually makes a significant difference in battery life or visual clarity it's not a selling point.
Radio? I don't get this either. It's not a bad feature, but with Pandora and Podcasts traditional radio just seems? antiquated.
I think OLED is becoming the new marketing techno-jargon for displays. I couldn?t care less about it, too, unless it actually provides some worthwhile benefit to the device.
As for a radio, this didn?t help other players compete against against the original iPod and it?s even less likely to work now. Sure, there are few that want a radio but that demand is small and seems to be getting smaller, regardless of HD radio.
Ah, derivative Microsoft. Decent looks (except for those screws that will surely gather crud) notwithstanding, they don't seem to understand that it's primarily about the software.
One thing Microsoft is very good at doing is hitting the "start" button on all their copy machines. It's really quite sad that the powers-at-be just don't get it.
Even if the product is made well to be worthy hardware-specs wise to an iPod Touch, Microsoft time and again has proven to be quite inept at providing a all-encompassing user experience. They will most likely continue their draconian DRM implementations and buggy software.
That being said, at the minimum it will keep Apple to continue innovation. It's pathetic that a company the size of Microsoft can put those billions of dollars in the bank to use and develop something that is actually original and unique.
Good luck M$. History has shown that you are consistently failing. Perhaps you will surprise us. Prove us wrong!
The fact that it can't play HD movies and tv shows on the actual device is deffinitely a turn off for me. I have purchased a lot of HD content from itunes for my iPhone and there is a significant difference between SD and HD. I think my iPhone picture looks amazing. What's the point of calling it a Zune HD if it can't even play HD content on the device itself?
You mean beaten Apple to announcing it. The Zune HD isn't shipping yet.
Exactly! We're comparing to a product that has no solid ship date (sometime in fall). Apple is intro'ing new iPhones next month and maybe new iPod Touches so we'll see how it all shakes out with the latest from Apple and this new Zune when it finally ships.
MS can never keep a secret and often they float these annoucements to create FUD so people on the fence between MS and Apple products will wait a bit longer rather than make a quick buy on a Apple product. I don't know who those people are but MS seems to think there's enough to require this release of info.
I hope they do well. We need the competition to keep the innovation flowing.
.... and often they float these annoucements to create FUD so people on the fence between MS and Apple products will wait a bit longer rather than make a quick buy on a Apple product.......
Yup, "freezing the market" as it is sometimes called. Used to happen in the telecom industry a lot in the early 2000s (Lucent Technologies used to be Exhibit A with this tactic). It used to work somewhat well when the do-er was big and do-ee was small. It's not going to work for Microsoft: Apple's way beyond this now.
Even though (I think) the US Department of Justice should really be looking at behavior like this, there is no law against it.
The OLED display almost seems like a must now for the new iPhone. It's a key feature a lot of people want and Microsoft has beaten apple to.
Go ask 10 people on the street if they want OLED in their PMPs... after u explain that a PMP is a fancy geek term for iPod, then after you explain what OLED is, you'll quickly realize nobody is truly clamoring for it.
Apple better get rid of those awful screens they been using on the iPhone and the Touch quick, remember even though you only pay $199 for a iphone AT&T pays Apple the other $300. Black on the current screens look more like dark gray, OLED solves that problem, deeper black and brighter whites.
When will the iPhone wannabees ever learn???? 40,000 Apps, 1 Billion downloads, Robust SDK....if you do not have a rich SDK and developers who are drooling to port their already developed iPhone apps to the new iPhone wannabee...you are DEAD IN THE WATER. The new Palm Pre comes out June 6th....Big Deal, I have no ambition as an iPhone developer to port my apps....where is the attractive SDK??? If you do not have an SDK, an app store and a 70/30 split or something similar....I'm not interested; I'll write more iPhone apps!! Palm should compare their Pre to the Storm in the market place, not the iPhone. Come on guys (mobile device makers) get a clue!
When will the iPhone wannabees ever learn???? 40,000 Apps, 1 Billion downloads, Robust SDK....if you do not have a rich SDK and developers who are drooling to port their already developed iPhone apps to the new iPhone wannabee...you are DEAD IN THE WATER. The new Palm Pre comes out June 6th....Big Deal, I have no ambition as an iPhone developer to port my apps....where is the attractive SDK??? If you do not have an SDK, an app store and a 70/30 split or something similar....I'm not interested; I'll write more iPhone apps!! Palm should compare their Pre to the Storm in the market place, not the iPhone. Come on guys (mobile device makers) get a clue!
. . . Black on the current screens look more like dark gray, OLED solves that problem, deeper black and brighter whites.
Doesn't change my mind . . . I would rather have something that just works (iPhone/iTouch) than something that has a slightly better black or white image.
In all fairness, it does have a smaller screen which technically does give it a slightly higher pixel-per-inch that the iPod Touch which has a 163ppi compared to this Zune?s whopping 167ppi.
Isn't the point in being capable of playing HD video (without converting it to lower bit-rates) and radio - rather than screen resolution itself..?
Comments
if they had made the back rounded and smooth, people would have complained that it was identical to the ipod, and wonked on. They picked a different style - "industrial" - and they get pinged for having screws...
I wonder if that means the user can easily replace the battery
I wonder if that means the user can easily replace the battery
I think screws?especially what look like four custom or hex screws?pretty much take "easily replaceable" out of the picture.
Unless it actually makes a significant difference in battery life or visual clarity it's not a selling point.
Radio? I don't get this either. It's not a bad feature, but with Pandora and Podcasts traditional radio just seems... antiquated.
MS is going to have to way than simply copying the iPod Touch if it wants to make any headway.
yawn.
sorry, but you lost me at microsoft says...
: lol good one dude
I can't see it. Most people don't care about, nor know, the difference between OLED vs LCD.
Unless it actually makes a significant difference in battery life or visual clarity it's not a selling point.
Radio? I don't get this either. It's not a bad feature, but with Pandora and Podcasts traditional radio just seems? antiquated.
I think OLED is becoming the new marketing techno-jargon for displays. I couldn?t care less about it, too, unless it actually provides some worthwhile benefit to the device.
As for a radio, this didn?t help other players compete against against the original iPod and it?s even less likely to work now. Sure, there are few that want a radio but that demand is small and seems to be getting smaller, regardless of HD radio.
i am remembering something from the first apple keynote i ever saw, "redmond, start your copiers"
When's their phone coming out?
Even if the product is made well to be worthy hardware-specs wise to an iPod Touch, Microsoft time and again has proven to be quite inept at providing a all-encompassing user experience. They will most likely continue their draconian DRM implementations and buggy software.
That being said, at the minimum it will keep Apple to continue innovation. It's pathetic that a company the size of Microsoft can put those billions of dollars in the bank to use and develop something that is actually original and unique.
Good luck M$. History has shown that you are consistently failing. Perhaps you will surprise us. Prove us wrong!
You mean beaten Apple to announcing it. The Zune HD isn't shipping yet.
Exactly! We're comparing to a product that has no solid ship date (sometime in fall). Apple is intro'ing new iPhones next month and maybe new iPod Touches so we'll see how it all shakes out with the latest from Apple and this new Zune when it finally ships.
MS can never keep a secret and often they float these annoucements to create FUD so people on the fence between MS and Apple products will wait a bit longer rather than make a quick buy on a Apple product. I don't know who those people are but MS seems to think there's enough to require this release of info.
I hope they do well. We need the competition to keep the innovation flowing.
they don't seem to understand that it's primarily about the software.
Rather ironic since MS is supposedly a software shop.
.... and often they float these annoucements to create FUD so people on the fence between MS and Apple products will wait a bit longer rather than make a quick buy on a Apple product.......
Yup, "freezing the market" as it is sometimes called. Used to happen in the telecom industry a lot in the early 2000s (Lucent Technologies used to be Exhibit A with this tactic). It used to work somewhat well when the do-er was big and do-ee was small. It's not going to work for Microsoft: Apple's way beyond this now.
Even though (I think) the US Department of Justice should really be looking at behavior like this, there is no law against it.
Rather ironic since MS is supposedly a software shop.
Excellent point.
The OLED display almost seems like a must now for the new iPhone. It's a key feature a lot of people want and Microsoft has beaten apple to.
Go ask 10 people on the street if they want OLED in their PMPs... after u explain that a PMP is a fancy geek term for iPod, then after you explain what OLED is, you'll quickly realize nobody is truly clamoring for it.
. . . Black on the current screens look more like dark gray, OLED solves that problem, deeper black and brighter whites.
Doesn't change my mind . . . I would rather have something that just works (iPhone/iTouch) than something that has a slightly better black or white image.
In all fairness, it does have a smaller screen which technically does give it a slightly higher pixel-per-inch that the iPod Touch which has a 163ppi compared to this Zune?s whopping 167ppi.
Isn't the point in being capable of playing HD video (without converting it to lower bit-rates) and radio - rather than screen resolution itself..?