Zune HD to drop September 8th, 16GB and 32GB sizes?
Perhaps the current crop of personal media players on the market just isn’t doing anything for you. It’s perfectly understandable of course, what with modern mobile phones catching up to dedicated players more and more each day. This very fact is the reason that Microsoft’s upcoming Zune HD continues to pique our interest. 3.3-inch 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (requires an optional dock), Wi-Fi, integrated web browser, multitouch support and Xbox LIVE integration… And of course we recently learned this little spitfire will pack NVIDIA’s Tegra processor at its core. According to a Gizmodo tipster, it looks like Microsoft plans to offer this peppy PMP in 16GB and 32GB varieties — fair enough — and it may be shooting for a September 8th launch. It’s as good a date as any we suppose, and leaves plenty of time to get early adopters on board before a nice little price drop/sale in time for the holidays. Why not?
wish it was a phone. OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE!?!
Heroes… Bleah!!
… to be slaughtered by an update to the iPod Touch with a mike, camera and video editing.
@rattyuk,
A “mike” you say?! Well, if the ipod comes with some dude then i’ll definitely go zune.
Apple going OLED sounds like a given
Apple going OLED for the Touch seems unlikely to me, as they won’t want to give it any features the 3GS lacks. Makes me wonder if Microsoft actually caught Apple off-guard with this one.
No Apple type price drops please.Early adopters need to be rewarded not “apologized” to.
Microsoft catching Apple off guard? Please! There is plenty of time between now and September for Apple to continue to dominate the digital player industry. Microsoft may have a good product here but they will probably ruin it with the interface.
They need to change their format from a subscription base and just copy iTunes. Who wants to borrow music? That is just a slap in the face. Microsoft might as well just continue to copy everything Apple does from now on (both computer, phone and player) because they have been for years. When was the last time you saw someone with a Zune? Microsoft is about six years late to the game.
@AJ
When was the last time you saw someone with a Zune?
Yo brother….check it out man….IB has one on the dock as we speak (or is it type?)….and its cranking out some mean arse Pink Floyd….now take that and stuff it up your apple core…
The staff at BGR aren’t the only ones who have their interest up for this. I think this could be a nice alternative to the iPod, which is not to be mistaken with saying that it will “kill” or “dethrone” anything. Having said that, there will always be those of us who prefer to be off the beaten path, so to speak, and it’s nice to see a viable alternative.
@AJ
Right…Microsoft with roughly 90% of OS market share and 12% mobile OS market share needs to copy off of Apple with their 9% and 10% market share respectfully =|
Obviously something is right if Microsoft is still leading…so think before you type
But on to the topic…the player is beautiful. I normally don’t do American hardware…bnut this has me tempted.
Apple will always dominate microsoft when it really come down to it.
@anthony or is it ant-nee?
Apple will always dominate microsoft when it really come down to it.
What’s this? Bad grammar dude….like iDavey says, thinks before you types….now how’s that for some grammar?
I heart my Zune 80……
@Anthony
As I stated before…How is Apple REALLY dominating with less devices out there (excluding the ever so important MP3 market =|)
As stated…I don’t even LIKE American hardware (everything I own is either Japanese, Taiwanese, or Korean made), but this is actually a good device. More FEATURE packed than iPod sans App Store. And that could all change depending on what they do with this XLA stuff. So I’m actually excited to see if an American hardware can catch my attention again.
What you cult-like fanatics of ANY brand forget is that MS is a business giant. If it’s one thing they have above others…its $$$. And they can throw unlimited amounts out there til they get it right. All this stuff right here is just a side endeavor. They really don’t need this, but they’re going to go and try to get it. And if this doesnt work…hell, they have money to try again. So it’s not a big deal to MS, shouldn’t be to you either…
The Apple fanboys never cease to amaze me. The company barely survives during Steve Jobs absence and then upon his return manage to develop only 2 devices that hold a significant lead in marketshare and suddenly they will always dominate? While the iPod and the iPhone are indeed some killer devices, that hardly constitutes “Apple always dominating Microsoft” when it really comes down to it.
O another note, I am looking to get rid of the Zune 30 and my iPod for this beast.
it’s idiots like anthony that make me embarrassed to have Apple products. I love my iPhone 3GS and my MacBook Pro, but the only thing Apple dominates Microsoft at is, like iDavey said, the all so important MP3 market.
As much as I love my Mac and prefer it to a PC, Apple will never, ever control the OS market. There will never be more MacBooks/iMacs out there than PC’s. There will never be more OS X based servers out there than Windows, period. Most likely there will not be more iPhones out worldwide than Windows Mobile phones.
@Aggie,
I agree with you there. I love my iPhone 3G but also realise that not everyone else does. I may not be too fond of Miscrosoft’s products, but something they have done right with the Zune is the subscription service. It’s what $14.99/month for unlimited streaming and then 5 you can keep? While I do like Apple, you have to admit that the main reason they have such a large foothold in the MP3 player market is marketing.
I’m a tech whore like everyone else, and enjoy seeing what these companies keep bringing to the table. Competition leads to better choices and products for us the end users.
jeez, calm down apple fanboys. Apple needs competition, and this is the best they have ever had. Have u even used a zune and its software? ive used both ipods and zunes, and the zune gets higher marks to me. Remember Apple is just as evil as Microsoft, so when there is competition we as the consumer win.
@Cliff
Well stated. I loved the subscription service and in general loved the Zune 80 when I had it, I just didn’t see any reason to keep it when I had an iPhone. You said it yourself, competition makes things better for us, the consumers. Annoys the hell out of me when the Apple fanboys trash anything not Apple like it shouldn’t exist. Heck it takes prodding Apple with a searing hot branding iron just to get them to add basic features to their products. Without competition there would be no motivation there for Apple to improve.
If iTunes had a subscription service o would be all over it. At 35 there is way top much music to buy and keep
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: New York United States
iDavey, at one time, Apple owned the PC market. Windows was a bit player. And yes, the Mac is a PC as in personal computer. The term “PC’ did not mean just a Windows based product when Apple dominated the landscape.
Don’t equate, more for ‘better’. Apple produces a “better’ product. OSX is better and more stable and more advanced than any flavor of Windows.
Microsoft “stole’ yes “stole’ the modern day OS off of Apple as Apple “stole’ the modern GUI off or xerox.
Here educate yourself. Apple has always been better than Microsoft when designed software. Microsoft has always been better at taking someones else’s achievement and market it better. Not this time with the ipod and the iphone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_PARC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_v._Microsoft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Macintosh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X
@AJ… Subscription only? What the hell are you talking about? Are you spreading such false information purposefully?
Zune Pass (subscription) is an OPTION if you don’t want to buy music outright from the Marketplace. Otherwise, individual tracks are 99 cents.
Hello Apple fan-nuts… can we not do math?
MICROSOFT = Xbox Live = Zune.
In other words, all that video that is available on Xbox Live is the same thats up for sale/rent on Zune marketplace, its essentially the same marketplace.
Look, no one ever argues that Apple and Ipod dominate the PMP market. Whats offensive is the idea that everything else must be crap if it’s not iPod. If you compared the current 120GB Zune to the iPod Classic, the Zune walks away with better features and better build quality. I can’t say it enough: iPod quality has degradged over the years, I’m not speaking about the touch/iphone, but the “Classic” form factor is in serious need of updating (I can never go back to that tiny ass screen again) and better build. iPod videos have soldering flaws and cheap internals that crap out from normal use. I understand that if someone were to choose between an Ipod Classic Vs Zune 120, they’ll probably pick the Classic due to popularity and name recognition, but if they were to really base their decision on features, the Zune tops it. I’ve had 2 iPods (60GB photo, then 80GB video) and a Zune and I’ll never go back to Apple. I’ve repaired a handful of broken ipods myself, so I do know about these “non-defects” and not talking assumptions like most fanboys.
Then looking towards the Touch… it sure is a cool device. I still don’t want it because I need a player with a minimum of 60GB. So I would say the same about the Zune HD… but wait, MS threw one curve in there: Connectivity with Xbox Live? Oh, ok, wait… that changes everything for me because I am a gamer and I love my Xbox 360.
The Zune is a great PMP… MS had a folly w/ generation 1 Zune by making it ugly as sin. That was a bad move and it’s just hard to defeat the iPod’s popularity juggernaut, but that in no way makes the Zune bad. Talk crap about WinMo. Talk crap about MS Explorer. Talk crap about BSODs or RRODs… but that doesn’t mean every single thing MS does is horrible or of bad quality. The Zune is highly undderrated.
Oh, jcrow,
“Microsoft has always been better at taking someones else’s achievement and market it better”
Come one man, for real? Did you not think about that before writing it? What do you think iPod and iPhone are? Or are you actually disillusioned into believing Apple must have invented the MP3 player and cellular phone… no, no… I know what Apple fanboys say: Apple invented the TOUCH SCREEN phone. Suuuure.
Heck, you got a fellow fanboy a few posts up who even brags that the Zune HD is in September and gives Apple plenty of time to update the Touch… in other words, for them to look over the fence at the competitors and try to one-up them on features. Just like Apple and MS have been doing to each other for years.
Both companies have their good and bad… it’s just that Apple fanboys don’t like to admit the bad.
@jcrow
Thanks for the “lesson” but trust me, you need it more than I do. Such as reading comprehension.
My statement was not into “whose is better”
It was in reference to someone stating Apple is “dominating.” Dominating refers to control of a sector; market if you will.
And when Apple was “dominating” Windows was barely even started. I know the history of Apple and Microsoft very well. You might also want to add this to your “lesson”
Apple received the “vision” of their first UI from Xerox…yes, Xerox. From there…they signed an AGREEMENT with Mr. Gates and company to use the same UI within the Windows incarnation. Apple wasn’t smart enough to limit use of said UI to that one and only Windows, so it carried. From then on…it was history. Mr. Gates even tried to help Apple by wanting to make the OS widespread…but Apple turned them down. And look where that got them. It was only due to MS “donation” and Apple’s board getting their brains back and bringing Jobs back on board (which he is a BRILLIANT man if I may say so myself) that brought Apple to the spot they are now.
So yeah…your lesson was a little bit “biased”. Making it seem like Apple innovated everything from their minds only. Give me a break.
As Oscar Wilde said…
“Talent Borrows, Genius Steals”
Even the iPod wasn’t a “Jobs only” idea. It actually came from the mind of someone else.
So end the “Microsoft are unoriginal” bit. In the world of business…it’s normal to “borrow and steal” Everyone is guilty of it in this day and age. Get over it.
You know, all this talk about competition and Apple Vs MS does make me wish Apple would get into the console gaming business. Not those Ipod games, I mean full fledged console. I would buy it before I ever consider a PS3!