The chances of a Zune Scene editor running into a Microsoft Zune employee in the wild are pretty slim, but recently the stars were aligned and I got the inside scoop on the Zune 2.0 and also the flash based Zune coming out in 2007. I will attempt to preserve the identity of the Microsoft employee, he had no idea I write for Zune Scene, no idea at all. The whole conversation occurred on a business trip, you see, we Zune Scene editors have day jobs and are hard to spot in the wild also. When I asked the guy where he worked he said Microsoft. That got my attention so I asked what he did, the answer was: "Zune". He gave his name and title which I will withhold. So I gave him a barrage of questions and here's what I found out:
Zune 2.0 and a smaller flash based Zune will be sold this year. He would not tell me the marketing names but referred to them as the big one and little one. The hard drive version looks like the generation 1 Zune, but is thinner. It has a larger hard drive and still uses the doubleshot. The flash based player he said is about "3 by 1 1/4 by 1/4 inches" in size. It is video capable and he said the screen covers about 75% of the front, similar to the hard drive Zune. The flash player has Wi-Fi and also uses a double shot. We discussed colors, he said there were several but did not disclose them. He had some interesting points about the clamshells saying that they can't be opened easily like the current Zune. Both devices have completed the design phase, although some last minute minor tweaks to the hardware will occur. When I asked about memory capacity he said "you have to beat the competition you know" he also said the flash memory fills the smaller device from top to bottom. Surprisingly he gave some hard numbers: 2.4 million next gen Zunes will be fabricated prior the 2007 holiday season. About 2/3 of them are the smaller flash units. "
Link: Forum Discussion (Thanks Rappy)
View: Full Story
News source: Zune Scene
Zune 2.0 and a smaller flash based Zune will be sold this year. He would not tell me the marketing names but referred to them as the big one and little one. The hard drive version looks like the generation 1 Zune, but is thinner. It has a larger hard drive and still uses the doubleshot. The flash based player he said is about "3 by 1 1/4 by 1/4 inches" in size. It is video capable and he said the screen covers about 75% of the front, similar to the hard drive Zune. The flash player has Wi-Fi and also uses a double shot. We discussed colors, he said there were several but did not disclose them. He had some interesting points about the clamshells saying that they can't be opened easily like the current Zune. Both devices have completed the design phase, although some last minute minor tweaks to the hardware will occur. When I asked about memory capacity he said "you have to beat the competition you know" he also said the flash memory fills the smaller device from top to bottom. Surprisingly he gave some hard numbers: 2.4 million next gen Zunes will be fabricated prior the 2007 holiday season. About 2/3 of them are the smaller flash units. "
Link: Forum Discussion (Thanks Rappy) View: Full Story News source: Zune Scene
Although I think it would be funny if the guy who said he worked for Microsoft turned out to be a pathological liar.
Last edited by xploit1030 on 11 Apr 2007 - 19:59
Consider this otherwise zune 2 will flop like zune 1
It took over 5% of the market. so in it's first few months, the Zune grabbed a market share greater than what Apple computers have. yeah... big flop..
And considering their most modest goals were to provide the marketplace what it's "partners" couldn't, and yet they only stole marketshare from their partners with no gain against Apple, that SanDisk and Creative both are performing better than Microsoft, yes, it is a FLOP.
And considering their most modest goals were to provide the marketplace what it's "partners" couldn't, and yet they only stole marketshare from their partners with no gain against Apple, that SanDisk and Creative both are performing better than Microsoft, yes, it is a FLOP.
I know about Creative and a few others, but when did Sandisk make a HDD based mp3 player? And I think you're both wrong on the %, i've heard from a few places and podcasts that the Zune took 10% of the HDD based market. What that translates to for the total MP3 player market when you add in flash based drives also, I don't know.
You cant compare the first gen iPod to the first gen Zune ... the first ipod came out in 2001 ... technology has progressed a lot since then ... the only comparison is between a 2006 iPod and a 2006 Zune ... and well in my opinion, the zune looks like a kids toy and the ipod looks elegant ...
You want and alround player get a Zen Vision:M, flashplayer Zen V Plus, or if you're buying specifically for Video Vision:W
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