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It reminds me of the original iPhone, and I prefer that look over the 3G iPhone.

Hmmm, I was going to say 120 GB leads to 80 useless GB, but with the HD movies and games... it should be this large

A microSD slot works as well if they don't wanna have internal flash storage higher than 32GB (keep costs down).

uh? what hd movie on such a small screen, except if it is sold with magnifier

The Zune HD can output to any HDMI TV.

No 120Gb, this is taking over for the flash devices(no more of them) while the hard drive based ones will continue to be made.


Won't happen....this could lead to things like viruses getting onto the device because it wouldn't necessarily synced using the Zune software.

I dunno. I have an iPhone and the look of this seems much more attractive. If they made this into a phone I'd drop my iPhone in a second.

How you can say that something that look rectangular with screws in the back is attractive? Hellooooo????

omg they both are rectangles, what is the world coming too

There is a very old saying my friend... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... In normal translation, what is attractive to each of us is for us to decide individually.

I would agree with Marshalas. I too have an iPhone 3g, and I think this Zune HD looks MUCH nicer. I too would drop the iPhone and crappy AT&T with their sh*t 3G network if Microsoft made a Zune phone. I have a Zune 30 and a Zune 120, and both of them are way better than the iPod. The only thing the iPod has going for it is the "Touch" feature, but I guess that will no longer matter once this Zune HD is released.

He would say it...the way he said it. You can't really argue taste. It's almost ad hominem by default. Will you criticize someone for liking long hair more than short hair next? Personally I also like the more industrial look of the Zune HD. At least, moreso than the iPod Touch, which screams fingerprint magnet to me.

Mildly amused by following the associations though: Apple products are popular with the Starbucks crowd, which thinks of itself as a tribe of sophisticated kitchenistas, and modern kitchen styling leans more toward industrial theming mixed with naturals (wood, bamboo, etc). Glossy black espresso maker on your kitchen counter? "Yuck."

Are you kidding? I think it looks great! As a matter of fact, it looks like an iPod touch, so I guess they're ugly too?

I think it looks pretty sexy. Do want!

heaven forbid someone's opinion may differ to yours.

Personally, I think it looks good too.

May I add "beauty" isn't solely in how something looks either.

ROFL at the hello, pretty dramatic here

At least i know that its held together well

Am I the only one who is more interested in the front of the device than the back?

I think it looks great; however, I am very dissappointed in the low resolution of the screen - my 2.5" mobile phone screen is 480x600...

The Apple people will never admit that a Microsoft product looks good even when it puts the iProduct to shame.

Screws are absolutely HORNY! Your just not technical enough ^^

Indeed.
I for one, think it looks gorgeous. Always loved the Zune UI a lot as well, I'm curious to see how it changed/evolved.
Damn, I don't need a Zune, I already have an MP3 player and a smartphone. I need an excuse to get a Zune desperately

I'm loving the look. I guess a lot of members here are opposed to anything to 'different'

I think it looks great. I also loved the look of the iPhone when it came out.
I would stick to my iPhone. Zune looks great mainly because its new. Like lot of other devices they all look good. HTC is making some nice looking devices at the minute.

But for people to say they'd switch to zune phone at the drop of a hat instead of the iPhone is stupid, considering no one has even used the Zune HD or even seen a Zune phone!

But then I'm just iPhone fan nothing more. I'm going to say what I always say in these arguments because I'm fed up of fan boys debating what is better and what is not.

It's simple the phone market is like Browser, O/S markets. None are better than the others. You can't say what is better and what is not. You can say what you like the best. It is all based on opinion. I like my iPhone better than any other phone.(I'm using blackberry bold + Blackberry curve at the minute. No iPhone at least not until the new one is released).

It really doesn't matter what I use, Browsers - Firefox, IE, Chrome, - O/S - Windows, OSX, Linux - Mobile OS - Android,win mobile, Iphone OS(what ever that is).

I can use them all and do everything I want to do on any of the above. But I prefer using the iPhone, Firefox and Windows. So it is mixture for me. I'm not saying which are the best. It is all down to personally choice and what you want from the programs/devices you use.

I'm quite happy with screws if it means I can easily replace the battery without risking damage to the case.

oh mabey you could replace battery your self???

Typical apple fan lol. At least Microsoft have been nice enough to make the screws visible so you don't have to potentially damage the device to take it apart. Admittedly the 1G Zune was ugly, but since then they have been more than a match for the iPods in the looks and functionality stakes, and whats more the UI on the Zune devices is far superior to that of the iPods.

May consider buying one of these for myself if the price is right

Everyone's talking about how pretty or ugly it looks!? Who gives a good god d*mn!!! I have the sh*t brown 30gig zune and I LOVE it!!! I don't care how cool or uncool it looks! Does it work? YES! Does it do what it is supposed to? YES! Why would I buy something that looks good but is crap functionality wise?

Oh and by the way, I paid 89 bucks for it. Take that ipod!

No...it's looking much betterrrr thn iPod

only if they're Torx screws

Love it, Apple fanbois are a bit butt hurt, some are saying it's ugly, others are saying looks just like an iPhone/Touch which is it, is it ugly meaning iPhone/Touch are too or is it good looking because it looks similar to an iPhone/Touch?

I wouldn't mind comments like this - except when they come from you. You never say a single, single positive word about Apple ever. Every single Apple related thread has some sarcastic, baseless comment from you in it dismissing the product / service. It's pathetic frankly.

I could see it supporting everything the 360 does, wmv/divx/xvid and h264. As for containers, avi, wmv and mp4 probably. I don't even think the new WMP12 in Win7 supports mkv natively in the library? You might have to edit the registry for it to show up with the rest of your videos and not in the "other" catagory.

It just seems mkv isn't used as much outside of a few specific circles. But that said, who knows? Why not support mkv as well?

Not really...who cares about other music/video format when we have Windows Media Audio (WMA) & Windows Media Video (WMV) ..huh?

This has to be sarcasm.

Or complete cluelessness.

Zune marketplace will basically just merge with XBL Marketplace and go international that way. Finally I might add, can't wait to get a Zune here in the EU.

Anything is better than iTunes on Windows.

^ What does this have to do with the original comment? The guy's talking about the Zune software and you're introducing iTunes here...

You can drag and drop til your mouse breaks with the Zune software. There's a Zune icon, a CD icon, and a playlist icon in the lower left corner waiting.

lol, soo true. I love Zune.

I'm using Zune software at home, an I don't even have a Zune.

+1

You can do this in iTunes too.

Same here, it's faster than both Media Player and iTunes!!!!

Ditto here,
I just like it lol

Agreed. I love the zune; I even love the zune software, but pretty much every mp3 should support adding content without forcing an install of a music service.

I know. I was replying to the guy that asked where drag-and-drop was in the Zune software.

It's done in Zune software minus the spreadsheet....I kid, I kid.

They're being more Apple-like, restricting info to build the suspense so when it comes out it suprises us. If they did their usual release, then everyone would already know what it has and they wouldn't be as impressed.

They're waiting for E3. Seeing how the zune marketplace and xbl marketplace are going to become one, there will be more 360 tie-in coming with the Zune HD in terms of games for sure.

I'm hoping you can move XBLA games over to it and take them on the go, that'd be big. So anyways, we gotta wait for E3.

It doesn't seem to be a phone. Unless you hack it like you can hack the iPod touch.

I wanna install Opera Mini on it. Opera Mini on my Windows phone is faster than my computer! Oh and the iPhone browser sucks compared to the browsers we can get with Windows Mobile. Hopefully those browsers will transfer to Zune.

If you can hack it, it says it's got WinCE bits in there, enough to run the new version of IE which I think is fine. Others are probably thinking of the older version in WinMo5 or 6. The one in WinMo 6.5 looks pretty good atm.

Anyways, with those bits if it gets unlocked I don't see anything stopping you from installing other WinMo apps on it.

Yep I'm gonna install my WinMo apps. But Microsoft should make that a feature, cuz it would be soo powerful if they allowed all WinMo apps. That would be good.

Yes, I'm sure Microsoft's plan was to go and get a competing browser

But if you do get one don't punish yourself with Opera. Yikes.

Making it a feature would be nice, BUT they want to also keep it simple and to the point, and that is that it's a media player still (though it'll get games for sure with the 360 tie-in).

So if people are free to add any WinMo app to it, then it just turns into a smartphone without the phone. heh I don't think MS wants to have it moving in on it's smartphone market.

That said, I'm sure there will be a way for techsavy people to get apps on it if it's got enough of the WinCE/WinMo7 code in there.

if they play their cards right I'd say they would aim to ensure application compatibility between WM 6.5 and WM 7 (when released) with the Zune so that they can push applications for both their mobile platform and the Zune via one store.

Get XBLA games support or make conversion easy and allow for cross device license (buy geometry wars and you can use it on the 360 or the phone or the Zune) and they will have a really killer service on their hands.

Umm, does OS X Mobile have multitasking? NO. Big fail. Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Palm Pre destroy the iPhone because of that.

OLED is also more power efficient, so a device using an OLED display has the potential to have a much longer battery life than a device using a standard LCD.

Personally, I don't see what's so great about OS X mobile. Then again, I don't see what's so great about OS X in the first place. Windows 7 and Ubuntu FTW.

Your talking to one. I know over 8 ppl at my school that have Zunes (8 ppl sounds real meager, but it's better than 0, lol)

It'll go worldwide a bit later, but it will finally happen. Just US first as always.

You're a Zune?

haha

ROFL

True. The chicks can have their ipods, we've got our Zune's now

True!

why does it need bluetooth? it's not a phone. I thought it was going to continue to have wifi that I can understand but bluetooth I don't.

Add Bluetooth and we can sync it wireless, wireless headphones, and transfer stuff between others Zune without WiFi.

There is more to Bluetooth then just hands free talking and MP3 players can get a lot from it.

You can already sync existing Zunes wirelessly, using WiFi.

Why bother with wireless headphones, they are a drain on the battery life of the device.

I don't get why you think Bluetooth is better for transferring files between Zunes, WiFi has greater range anyway.

Not to mention Bluetooth is hellishly slow, even at close range

Exactly, it's not a phone. So you need BT to create an internet connection through a phone when there is no WiFi available. Commute browsing, anyone?

Why?

Most phones allow you to browse the net on them anyway.

I was wondering that as well, I live in the UK and this is a very interesting question.

I too was wondering that, I live in Australia where we are using DAB+ for digital radio.

MS would need to add support for listening to DAB/DAB+ radio in countries that use those systems.

Couldn't that support be added through simple software? You don't need a different audio chip or w/e in the device to support everything right?

not to sound condescending but if they are talking about a worldwide release and specifically mentioning it having a radio feature (which the ipods lack well; when i when to buy one they did!) im sure they will use somesort of software or someother way to enable the radio in all regions.

I cant wait for mine, looks liek it will be released just aroudn the time i get my tax return!!

The problem is, there is no tuner IC that exists that can receive both...as they are totally different: different encoding, frequencies, and features. So they would have to produce 2 different versions of the Zune...which adds to the cost and the complexity of the software.
I have a feeling it will be an FM chip with support for regular FM + the US standard. So HD radio will not be available worldwide even though it is more widely supported outside North America.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Zune already the second best selling PMP?

yes it is

Alright, so in that case... the next target is the iPod. XD

Not sure whether or not they'll be able to take down the iPod, but hey, they took down Sony with the 360.

No need for photoshop :rofl: just kidding.

Why does it need a Camera, it isn't a phone?

Well everything is getting a camera nowdays, the Nintendo DS even has a camera now. Why not the Zune which will probably be a competitive game console.

Yes, but the Zune isn't designed as a games console, it's designed for media.

Why does the DS even have a camera? Do some games use it or something? Or is it just for Nintendos epeen to have it there?

Since when is a camera limited to being on a phone? I say it'd be a nice addition.

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Looks sooooo much better right?

How does it suck? Looks pretty and intuitive to me.

Yes it's true people, it's possible to give a valid judgement about a device's interface based on one screenshot....

That's bull****. I've had my iPod Touch for a pretty long time, and I've dropped it to the floor at least 5 times- on concrete, title, wood, etc. I've tossed it in my pocket every single day, and I take it with me everywhere. How many scratches on it? None. The screen is still in perfect shape, as crystal clear as the day I got it. And the Zune HD is still going to be a fingerprint-magnet, with that screen.

The nuts?

They said it will come out in Europe, just later in the year. US first as always.

Oh sweet, I never had a chance to try the first ones because of it being US only. That's good to hear.

You've probably used an iPod Classic....now get rid of the spinning to go up and down and just go up and down....give it better UI, that is Zune.

Agreed, this is very nice. Black one looks nice.

But there are screws on the back, what is this atrocity!

It will store up to 720p video, plus applications and games (I'm assuming.)

The simple way around the internal 32GB storage limit is to have a microSD or miniSD w/e slot. Then you can add up to whatever the current limit is on those cards to the device. And it'll be cheaper.

Though, price wise, I suppose they could have bigger versions as a limited or special order case. 64GB and 128GB would fit that bill imo. But to keep costs down for the retail versions they probably don't want to go too high with the flash since it adds to the price.

Maybe some people have more tracks than you? Seems pretty simple to me...

That and the inclusion of video will again mean people may want more space. Personally I hate the idea of having to micro manage my music, I want it all there all the time so I don't have to think about it. With over 32 gigs of music that presents somewhat of a dilemma.