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120 GB Microsoft Zune Passes Through FCC

Ahh, the good old FCC. It has been quite a resource lately, throwing previews of upcoming products at us left and right. Electronics manufacturers must absolutely adore this archaic government body.  Regardless, behold the new Zune that will soon be making its way to the shelves. You might be thinking to yourself, “hey, this looks just like the old zune!” You’re right, it does. The only revision this model will get is a hefty 50% increase in storage capacity. From the looks of it, everything else is untouched including the firmware version. The new model maintains the same dimensions as the existing 80 GB model thanks to the inclusion of the slender 1.8-inch hard drive Samsung announced last year. This, along with some decent pricing, may help the new model compete with the iPod Classic which is already available with a 160 GB well. Of course there’s always Zune Pass, a great little all-you-can-eat subscription service we’re sure you’re familiar with. Apple has yet to come up with a competitive offering, presumably to avoid cannibalizing iTunes sales. Considering how well iTunes is doing these days we suppose it’s understandable that it would avoid such a service. The new meatier Zune model will almost surely be available in time for the holidays and an unconfirmed educated guess puts the price tag around $300.

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22 comment(s) for this post.

  1. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 8:59 am, dand Said:

    Weak. Does anyone even own a Zune?

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  2. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 9:07 am, Carter Said:

    *proudly raises his hand*

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  3. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 9:13 am, Dtest54 Said:

    only the anti-apple fanboys. probably Galvatron.

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  4. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 9:13 am, keymaker Said:

    120GB and that’s it????? last time i check Apple had a 160GB model last year, I guess Zune guy might be right when he said microsoft doesn’t care about this product. Come on microsoft i wanna see something surprising from you guys something that people can’t wait until is release, call me a apple fanboy if you like but microsoft is making me be, not Apple

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  5. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 9:14 am, Shawn J. Roberts Said:

    I didn’t know the Zune was still being made.

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  6. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 9:39 am, D-Minus Said:

    I have one :(….. biggest mistake EVER.

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  7. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 10:01 am, bob Said:

    wtf are you all smoking-the zune is more user friendly, sync’s faster, the zune software is 1000x better than itunes, and you can sync of wifi.

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  8. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 10:15 am, 216 Said:

    I have a Zune 30 and the best large-sized mp3 player i’ve ever seen (next to the Creative Zen Vision M).

    I’ll admit, before the Zune 2.0 update, the Zune equation wasn’t there (great player, but crappy software). But now that they got everything together, MS has the best PMP on the market today.
    I’ve had my Zune 30 for over a year and a half now, and it still works fine, and has always been hassle free. (that’s the downside of creative players though, none of them ever last me over a year).
    Until the iPod Touch/iPhone, iPods have always been more of a fashion statement than the actual PMP to beat function-wise.

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  9. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 10:38 am, Gary Said:

    I have a Zune, it is great. Having owned an ipod, that was the worst mp3 player i have ever had, i decided to try the Zune. It blows away the always broken ipod, that i finally got fustrated with and smashed on the ground. It is easier to use and sync, and best of all no itunes or quicktime!

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  10. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 10:42 am, laio Said:

    you gotta love that squircle, AND NOT NEEDING TO USE iTUNES

    fucking crap, apple guys can barely write a computer program. That’s probably why they didn’t wrote a OS from the scratch, they can’t.
    and still makes crappy stuff.

    dear lord, apple is like NY FASHION WEEK, get a friggin life.

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  11. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 11:09 am, Jack Said:

    Zune is 100 times better than iPod. I don’t know why ignorant misinformed people always hate microsoft products. I used to own iPod classic. Besides being a fashion statement, its worth nothing - crapy iTunes, no wireless sync, fragile weak make, lack of wma support, etc. I’m loving my Zune now. iPod was cool years back. I think Apple needs to seriosuly get out of Fashion magazines and think of some out of the box innovative features!

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  12. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 11:20 am, Steve Said:

    The Zune has to be the crappiest gadget I have ever owned. Nothing worked the way it was supposed to from the software to the Zune itself. I ended up letting my kid use it chew toy.

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  13. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 11:21 am, kenji138 Said:

    The reason why the majority of people bought iPods are because they want to fit in with the popular people. iPod owners are so afraid of the realization that they bought a crappy mp3 player. They will bash anything not made by apple.

    I wish Microsoft (or an independent party) would run a test environment similar to the Mojave experiment. Create a case for the Zune to look like an iPod. Tell everyone it’s an unreleased model of the iPod. Let the Apple fanboys rejoyce at the innovation, only to find out that it was a Zune the whole time.

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  14. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 11:29 am, cobald75 Said:

    @Jack
    I understand your point and to a certain degree I do agree with you.
    But look at the money Apple is making. Look also at the stock chart over the last 5 years.
    Other than with their O/S and Office Applications, Microsoft hasn’t been really successful in the media player market.
    When you buy a Car these Days they always refer to a MP 3 Jack and in the same line you read IPOD as well. It is all about branding not too much about the qualty.

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  15. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 12:02 pm, keymaker Said:

    Dude, your bragging how you can sync your Zune to your computer just from outside a room!!!! your funny you know, the last time i check, i was able to stream and listen to my entire music catalog on my home computer in the US from my iPod touch in Japan, throw a free app on the app store called Simplify, all throw Wifi

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  16. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 12:23 pm, jackgotpwned Said:

    Yes? Yes? Yes.

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  17. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 12:27 pm, jvijil Said:

    i got a mac AND a zune hehe

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  18. On Aug 19, 2008 @ 1:11 pm, Colin Said:

    Zunes ROCK!

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  19. On Aug 21, 2008 @ 4:36 pm, doomdude Said:

    @cobald75
    If you look at the market shares zune has skyrocketed in the mp3 market. Microsofts tactic(not counting windows) has been to break into a market and do their best. You have to remember that zune is number two(they might be three i cannot remember) and the ipods have been out for 7 years now they have the market dominated. In my opinion it is just a matter of years before we wake up and zune is on top
    —-
    btw
    I am a Microsoft Fanboy

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  20. On Aug 23, 2008 @ 7:25 pm, quietknight Said:

    @doomdude

    i totally agree. zune has only been out for 2.5 years, and compared to ipod when IT’s at 2.5 year of the making, zune is, no question, ahead of ipod. i got a zune 80G and nothing has gone wrong yet, no problems with the software or hardware whatsoever, and zune is not those tiny delicate things that break every other year!

    btw,
    ZUNE ROCKS!!! :D :D :D

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  21. On Sep 4, 2008 @ 1:01 am, sam Said:

    HAHAHAHAHA!!! you Zune people must be microsoft employees!! I have NEVER seen a zune out in the wild. Never! The iPod is the most popular because it is the BEST!! Apple makes the best computers, OS’s and media players! Best by far.

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  22. On Sep 5, 2008 @ 11:36 am, Matt Said:

    Crap, i just bought an 80 Gig version. Didnt even know there was a 120 coming out..and its the same price. I want an exchange (or some money back)! This is why I hate technology..

    Anyway, I was skeptical of the Zune. And after trying to set up the software on my computer, I was THIS close to bringing it back. I can understand why Apple is crushing MS in that regard..what an horrible process that was, I wont even get into. As far as the player goes (and this coming from someone who owned an iPod), I could not be happier. Its an outstanding MP3 player which costs LESS than equivalent ipods (and offers more featuers/specs to boot). Its a real pleasure to use. The fact that Apple sells more means diddly squat…Apple has a brilliant marketing dept and a lot of people are dumb enough to buy into it.

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