Microsoft unviels ZUNE - Official

[Sheppard]

Woo h.264 video playback, im having one of these.

[jackwanders]

This is exactly what the iPod should be. Vertical 16x9 screen with the clickwheel at the bottom of the unit. That'll give you a bigger screen and let you get away without having to implement some kind of 'virtual clickwheel' like a lot of the iPod mockups had.

I think MS has got the design down right. I guess it's just a matter of how user friendly the software is and how many audio and video formats are supported.

[djesteban]

the design is blatently copied from the Ipod. With that said I like it better than its apple counterpart

it looks alright, but i dont think its style is 'sleek' enough. i think it looks a lil too bulky. i dont like how you gotta turn the thing sidways to watch movies.

are you joking? You like old, retarded 4:3 screen instead of widescreen images... ooookkkk I guess :rolleyes:

but hey... if I have to cash out money for a music/video player, there's only one choice for me and it's the

OQO check it out it's freakin hotness... it's big though

[Express]

I had never see this OQO before.

Looks neat indeed.

[Randolph]

I had never see this OQO before.

Looks neat indeed.

hm it seems pretty neat

lol.

I want that OQO. But I really would want the Zune more. :) (Y) I just don't like the 12/13 hour battery life. (N)

[Veedems Veteran]

The OQO isn't designed to be a portable media player. It's an older device designed at being a compact PC.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Xvid Support?

[Express]

Xvid Support?

The reports does say that Zune will support MPEG4. Thought which MPEG4 profiles are supported is not clear.

Xvid is a MPEG4 ASP implementation.

[Vomer]

Zune Packaging spotted in the wild ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/techquipped/244161439/

[Express]

Zune Packaging spotted in the wild ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/techquipped/244161439/

not in the wild.

That seems to be a shot taken at a Microsoft office.

See channel9 Microsoft interview videos to see what I mean.

.

Edited September 16, 2006 by Express

[»X«]

I really really like this. Ive wanted a reason to leave my old ipod behind and I think this could be the answer. I love how it works and looks.

[Elliot B.]

What is known:

Microsoft has filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with the Serial Number 78953571 on the term Zune. Trademark Number US 021 023 026 036 038 is for use in a variety of Goods and Services including "multimedia player, entertainment and communications devices; peripherals and accessories for use with multimedia player entertainment and communications device" amongst other things.

On September 14, 2006 Microsoft held a press conference to release offical details about the Zune player. The player will have a 30GB hard drive, built-in FM tuner with RBDS, 3.0-inch screen, and 802.11 wireless. Supported codecs include H.264, MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4, JPG and AAC .

It will also come in three colors, black, brown and white. The wireless networking connects your Zune to other Zunes, letting you share "full-length sample tracks of select songs", your recordings, your playlists and your pictures with others. You can listen to a track from another person for up to three days or three plays, whichever comes first, after which you'll have to buy it from the Zune Marketplace store?their official name for the store.

The Zune will be able to connect to the Xbox 360, which will allow the user to stream music, videos, and pictures via USB. Whether or not you will be able to connect your Zune to an Xbox 360 via WiFi is not known, however, the points acrued via Xbox Live will be able to transfer to the Zune, supposedly to buy music via the Zune Marketplace.

The Zune Marketplace can be used as a per-song purchase plan?like iTunes?or you can subscribe to a Zune Pass subscription to download as many songs as you want for a flat fee?like Napster.

There's also pre-loaded music on your Zune from several smaller record labels, not to mention music videos.

Some accessories for the Zune are the Zune Car Pack, which is an FM-transmitter with AutoSeek and Zune Car Charger, the Zune Home A/V pack, which lets you connect your Zune to your TV or home stereo system, and the Zune Travel Pack, which gives you headphones, a remote, a bag, a sync cable and an AC adapter. Microsoft is working with other manufacturers like Altec Lansing, Belkin, Griffin, harman Kardon, JBL and more to make additional accessories.

Chris Stephenson, the general manager of the Zune project has also said in an interview with Engadget that some phone functionality is in store for the Zune at a later date.

No pricing or availability was released; but it is expected to be available before this holiday season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Zune

[ScottKin]

the design is blatently copied from the Ipod. With that said I like it better than its apple counterpart

are you joking? You like old, retarded 4:3 screen instead of widescreen images... ooookkkk I guess :rolleyes:

but hey... if I have to cash out money for a music/video player, there's only one choice for me and it's the

OQO check it out it's freakin hotness... it's big though

Amazing. With that logic, the first designer & auto manufacturer who ever used a circular wheel to steer cars with should sue everyone going as far back as the original Dalmier-Benz company!

Just because it has a circular-shaped control pad that barely looks like an iPod? It doesn't even function like the iPod's control! How frickin' ignorant of people to claim that just because there's a circular controller (forget the fact that it operates more like a joystick than a circular track to run your finger around) that Microsoft is copying Apple.

Utterly Amazing!

--ScottKin

[Digitalx]

look if ipod can have podzilla linux running on it im sure there will be some way of doing it on a zune and ustilizing the wifi feature of somesort i bet someone will make a browser for them or somthing... time will tell

[Bawx]

There are only so many designs for an MP3 player with a screen.

Exactly. Just 'cause it's square and has a screen doesn't mean it's an iPod rip-off. And for the round wheel? Would you prefer a big square box in the middle? 5 seperate buttons like an old CD player?

I like the brown, nice change from the plain old black and white of iPod. The GUI looks awesome, but nicer looking than Apples. Also, I'm digging that tall vertical screen.

Tilting it sideways?! OMG That takes atleast 0.3 seconds to do. I don't have time for that!

I'm wondering what the headphones it comes with will sound like, and the 3rd party hardware people will make for it.

Overall, I'll buy one if it ain't $300.

(Also, wtf is a "full-length sample" track? makes no sense at all..)

[Bamsebjørn]

Screen res believe it or not is 600x800, copying from the newer PocketPC's using basically the same screen

Is this true? I though I read that it's 320x240, but I can't seem to find any official source on the screen res now. If it's 600x800 then I'll buy one once they get 60/80gig versions. :yes:

[Berserk87]

@anti-zuners

remember when macs came out, and it looked like there was no hope at first....

key word being 'at first' .... :yes:

if the price is decent, or mabye they come out with bigger sizes, they'll do good. wi-fi and music sharing is pretty nice, 3 inch screen :)

[PiracyX]

This looks so much better than the crappy ipod. Who ever says the Microsoft Zune is crap and copying from apple is Obviously a ipod fanboy. I wont be gettin it tho.

[wutang01]

Damn ... I love that White/Gold Zune ...

So tempted in getting one lol

It'll cost crap loads here down under though :pinch:

[Orange]

Say this in your head, zunes, zunes, zunes, zunes :laugh:

Damm! why would you want to watch on a small screen :rolleyes:

[DanManIt]

Is it still going to have the built-in fm transmitter?

[John S. Veteran]

Is The Microsoft Zune Just A Re-Skinned Toshiba Gigabeat?

Is the Zune just the Toshiba player with some re-arranged buttons? An insider at Microsoft gives us some food for thought. Stay with us on this.

First, Microsoft spun off a good portion of the Xbox 360 team to work on the Zune, including J Allard. They formed a new team called "Pyxis", which is working on the Zune. Since they only had about a year, from the launch of the Xbox 360 to this upcoming Thanksgiving, they were on a very tight, very aggressive schedule. No real time to design a completely new product from scratch.

Given Toshiba's ties with Microsoft, plus the Gigabeat's already tight integration with Windows Media Center?and the Zune's apparent Media Center-like UI?it seems likely that the Gigabeat would be the one Microsoft picked to baseline the Zune.

Although the button placement is similar, the screen size of the Zune seems to be a little bigger than the Gigabeat. So what do readers think?

This is the last Zune piece we'll do this week. Promise! ? Jason Chen

[Agnes Leroy]

I Love this looks good, Microsoft now knows how to do things without losing simplicity

[Brandon Live Veteran]

It's pretty sweet in person too =)

[fascist]

Do they plan on releasing something a little thinner anytime soon, and is there any news on it working with a mac? I had 3 ipods break all at the same time so I dont plan on buying another one but there are no other options out there. Everything else is either bulky, too complicated for something on the go, or is just a piece of ****.