Can Microsoft’s latest Zune, the Zune HD, take down the king? It depends on which king you’re talking about. As it stands, the iPod Touch is a whole different beast because of the App Store. What Microsoft has done with the Zune HD is nothing short of spectacular, but who is it really competing with? My BlackBerry can play videos and show me pictures taken on a recent trip. The HTC Hero and/or myTouch 3G can stream music from the likes of last.fm or Slacker. I can download MP3s from my iPhone. Everything the Zune HD does, I’ve been able to do with a slew of different devices that I already own.
You see, the features that the Zune team has been touting don’t interest me much. I don’t really care to see an artist’s bio, their pictures or anything of that nature. Sure, the modified IE browser is nice and works great, but I want to know how deeply integrated the Zune HD is going to be with other Microsoft devices like the Xbox 360. I don’t need to fork over extra cash for an HD dock to stream 720p content onto my TV. I can already do that through my Xbox 360, FiOS and whatever content is stored on my NAS. Tell me what the plans are for the next six months. Tell me when the damn thing is actually going to launch.
With that being said, please enjoy the short video that I took of the Zune HD in action. One thing I failed to capture was the on-screen keyboard. MS has taken a different twist, which may or may not be unique to the Zune HD, but it’s different than most other on-screen keyboards that I’ve seen. Unlike the iPhone (or any other device that lacks a physical keyboard) when you’re tapping away at the Zune HD’s on-screen keyboard; characters don’t pop up by themselves. Tap a character and its neighboring chums to the right and left will create a small arch with the center character popping up just a little more than the rest. It seemed to work well, but the firmware isn’t final so I’m unable to fully comment.
Image courtesy of Ben Patterson
“Intro” by The xx
The only other misstep I noticed was with the home button and Internet browser. When you’re navigating through every other feature of the Zune HD, a single tap of the home button brings you back to the main page, but when tapping the home button from within the browser it chorks hard. It takes two or three taps to get back to the home screen. But, again, the Zune HD I took a look at was definitely not final in any way. Also, the Wi-Fi at our meeting location was spotty.
Things are looking good for Microsoft and the Zune team with the HD, but I’m still waiting to hear what they have in store for the device because everything else is old hat.
People have different tastes, I know, but I think that looks fantastic. I like the info and related material you get from music, e.g. bio, pictures, other albums, similar artists, etc. That’s exactly what I would like to have. And I’m also impressed by how snappy everything is.
Okey, this is ipod touch. But where is competitor to itunes and apps, or at least music management? ipod touch is going one up with a cam, this sept.
wow, the browser looks real fast and smooth, way better than the one on the current wm6.5 build
well! Microsoft entering the sacred domain of Apple… hmmm, how much time until TechCrunch puts Darth Vader picture caring a zune? ;-)
Of course Apple and the iphone/ipod touch are the holy grail of everything, but even the biggest Apple fanboys have to admit that both the Zune and Pre are doing things on the UI level that the iphone is not. These are not words you will hear often, but Apple has some catching up to do.
I think the UI on the Zune HD is great, in fact, I think it blows everything out of the water right now, but I’m not seeing anything that’s going to make me spend $200+. Like Jim said, “people have different tastes.” Regardless, I’m going to install XP on my Mac just so I can use the Zune HD.
What if they link it into an App Store or Xbox Live? Now that would be awesome.
u r an idiot
The irony of your illiterate phrasing is amazing.
Do you practice making yourself look like an arse or is it an inherent gift?
Mark, I know what you mean with the apps, I hope they open the platform up to 3rd party devs. I mean, devs can make games for the zune so there is still an openning for an included marketplace for applications.
also don’t mind Oday…he’s the stupidest on planet idiot in the universe of asshat-ery….
It amazes me how people who are supposedly tech experts all use Mac’s. lol
I agree with Peter – music/video player is not enough. However, what Microsoft is showing is that they can create a UI that doesn’t immediately seem outdated. That’s big. The Zune UI will serve as a basis for the Zune Phone and a gateway for their other MS services: Radio, Search, Mapping.
From a hardware perspective, the Tegra is superior graphics chipset than the 3GS/PowerVR SGX. However, it will be missing the camera/microphone and a robust app store (initially). Microsoft will need to bring the full promise of Windows Media Center/Xbox360 integration and better games sooner than later before the fanboys positions are reinforced.
“[can do] … everything the Zune HD does”
that is a bullshit claim, and a bullshit review. if you cant get your head out of your ass about this thing, then why did you even try to review it?
Who said this was a review? You’re missing the point here, Nathan. The basic features: video playback, image gallery, radio (HD or not), etc. are nothing new.
Nobody said they were new features. But if they weren’t included, you would say the Zune HD was lacking basic features. Either way, you can’t be pleased.
You must understand that it is impossible to satisfy/please any TC writer with a product that is not from Apple or Google.
Ummm…. correction. any product that is from Microsoft.
THAT from someone who work on techcrunch?
how about the REVOLUTION of chrome OS?
and about the REVOLUTION of google sandbox?
of course, Microsoft-Bashing has become the international sport! It should go to olympics soon!
+1 … his head is so far up his ass, he can hear an echo everytime he spouts some bull$hit ..
Gorgeous interface and display, any idea on the internals? Artist/song title of background music? I could listen to it all day.
GG read more…missed the Artist link.
Seriously…that song playing in the video was AWESOME. I tried to shazam it, but no match came up. Peter, can you email us????
OMG I NEED THAT SONG TOO :D
the name of the song is intro by the xx it says it under the video
This is likely the only time most of us will ever see a Zune HD
It looks good although I may be too heavy on the UI animations.
Under all that flashy stuff its just less good looking iPod touch.
Nothing new really, also how many applications are there for it…?
It’s not even released yet, how could there be apps for it.
The iPod touch did not introduce many new features at all, it just already had a huge customer base to support it.
My fanboy senses are tingling.
I heard from a insider this is a beginning of a possible Zune Phone, don’t forget Microsoft owns Danger which makes the Sidekick. They have the capability and also they have the marketing and cash to pull this off, also they are the largest software company in the world. Remember what they did with the Xbox and the gaming industry even if they are late the game they know how to make a impact. We all know they are working on a App Store and with Yahoo Partnership for content, and also Xbox for games, everyone better watch out for them. Someone better watch the empire.
“heard from a insider this is a beginning of a possible Zune Phone” – a lot of people are waiting for this..
If anyone want to put more pressure to MS about this, please vote:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/we_want_zune_phone/
Regardless of whether or not the Zune HD has an app store, it is absolutely competing with the iPod Touch. Does this mean the Zune HD comes out of the gate at a disadvantage? Probably. However, this doesn’t mean the game is lost. Microsoft is focusing on the aspects of the device that truly differentiate itself from the Touch. The Zune focus has always been a focus on the artists, the community, and the total listening experience. For once Microsoft has focused on not diluting the experience.
That’s great I am getting one of these as soon as they are out, I am a big Fan of Zune, and this would be the best music device ever released
Yea, but, does it make phone calls? I already have a brick to lug around.
Hence the persistent ZunePhone rumors.
I wonder if this comes first so that they can see the market with apps before they release the phone?
I am eager to see their business model behind the new Zune. I agree with the author as far as it won’t kick any major ass if it doesn’t have a solid integration with XBox.
However, I also agree that different people have different tastes, there are kids who would want a new MP3 player, and may actually end up walking into the new MSFT store and end up liking it because the UI does look inviting.
Very eager to see how this goes.
As far as XBox integration goes, you don’t put an NVidia chip in your device unless you’re looking to ship some games.
And if you already make the most used (actual usage and not sales statistics as of an article today on Ars) current-gen console, it would be awfully silly to start a new game platform from scratch.
Different Storkes for different folks. It looks nice, but I don’t use my iPod like that when listening to music. I set it in shuffle, or fire up Pandora and just listen. I couldn’t care less about photos, etc.
I like the Zune/Screen/Processor/HD combo – but it’d have to have a better App store than Apple for me to make the switch.
So, I wanted to share some other possibilities that obviously some of you have overlooked.
Zune Software – This is currently only a music store but, works flawlessly and is the most impressive piece of software that I have ever used.
Integrate – the XBOX360 Online Store (XBOXLive) and you have a complete solution for challenging the AppleDynasty.
Additionally, if take into context the chipset, and the development team of Zune being split up and swallowed by two distinct groups inside microsoft (windows mobile 7) and windows media services you suddenly get the feeling that very soon we will be seeing the zune multiport connection (on the bottom) supporting additional devices – microphone etc.
Also, technical specifications for the device at first glance show some rather interesting layouts that allow the first gen HD device to bridge to the next generation via upgrades (patches) via zune Update.
Just food for thought.
Peter LMAO you pretty much already summed up the device without even really truly using one wait till its out and doing its thing wait till it gets its own app store.
Zune HD: This guy aint no muthaf*ckin MC
I know everything he’s got to say against me
I am white
I am a f*ckin bum
I do live in a trailer with my mom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don’t ever try to judge me dude
You don’t know what the f*ck I can do
But i know something about you
You went to Cranbrook that’s a private school
What’s the matter dawg? You embarrassed?
This guy’s a blogger but his real name’s Peter.
LMAO if the zune could talk before you posted this up it would have said all that and then some.
Umm, so what you’re saying is that the final Zune HD is going to have a mode where it reels off a lame ass rap-attack?
yup!
I know people keep bringing up the lack of applications as a sticking point for the Zune HD, but from what I understand its entire UI is built on top of Windows CE (which is what all recent iterations of Winmo, including 6.5, are based on). Im not tech savy enough to know the science behind this stuff, but when looking at it from a basic level it doesnt seem impossible for Winmo 6.5 apps to be easily portable to Zune HD. Im hoping we might hear more about this sort of functionality when they finally start talking themselves and actually announce something before the press gets a hold of it.
Its easy to overlook but we still havent heard much on updates to the zune software so maybe microsoft still has a couple surprises left for this refresh.
Also, as an iphone 3g user even though iphone’s media experience is fantastic, the idea of a device with its main focus on music is extremely appealing, i personally love the little additions (related music, artist bios, etc) that microsoft is taking the trouble of bring to the portable experience, just seems like a more genuine music experience
And i seriously doubt you throw a tegra chip into a device just for 720p video out very few people are gonna be taking advantage of, at the very least we’ll see games on the marketplace eventually, they already showed interest in the space with XNA stuff and the few games they preinstalled on older models, hopefully the games will come along with other applications.
I develop for WinCE / Windows Mobile and I can tell you that while the underlying OS is the same, the UI elements have somewhat different behavior (between CE and WM). Presumably, the UI elements will again be different for a Zune UI. But, I expect they’re all based on .NET, so it would only take me a couple of days to get up to speed after they released an SDK and emulator.
Thanks for the reply Rick, I figured the UI differences would probably be the biggest issue. I guess it comes down to how dedicated microsoft is, I doubt there is enough developer incentive to port every winmo app over to Zune’s flavor of CE so it might fall on microsoft to selectively bring over popular applications.
Im curious about this “Oneapp” story people keep mentioning, id love to see apps easily compatable across different platforms but it seems a little fairytale-ish, thoughts?
XBox also runs on CE, so perhaps the SDK will be similar to that?
Peter,
Have you read about Microsoft’s OneApp? It looks like there will be an App Store for the Zune HD too.
Trademark application 77775625 for the trademark “ONEAPP”, or alternatively pseudo-marked “One Application”, is classified as a trademark for “online retail store services facilitating the download of computer software for use on mobile phones, media players and other portable electronic devices”.
http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090714/microsoft-oneapp-possible-app-store-zune-hd/
Why did you even bother posting this review? There’s absolutely no substantive information. What a waste of energy.
Just so he can spit on the product, and burn some witches to the Apple god.
This is actually a great point. His quick look here adds nothing that I could not get from a slew of different sites already!
And the review doesn’t integrate with the new article listing on Ars Technica, either.
If Microsoft has rockin’ games for the Zune then it’ll be able to compete against the Touch – otherwise it will fail miserably as it has done so in the past.
true. but if the iPod were to get a camera this fall, then i hate to say it, but the HD will fail miserably. i do wish the ipod had a GORGEOUS screen like that.
besides not having Apps available, yet… this is the most solid looking and feeling PMP device soon to be on the market and the UI outclasses and outperforms everything else out there atm…
you have to give props when due, Microsoft sure turned its ship around on this one
You could do just about everything the iphone could do on various devices before it came out, too…
I see you have Mandy Moore on your playlist. Intriguing.
How does a device which doesn’t do anything substantially better than an iPhone or a host of other devices, instantly make them “old Hat”?
Seriously.
Very fair article. Kudos on putting a little heat on Microsoft. I too am more interested in knowing how the Zune HD will integrate into the Microsoft ecosystem … ie Xbox 360, Windows 7, MCE. The new Zune has the innards to really push some awesome graphics. I am wandering how they plan on using the, … right now it doesn’t seem like they are being tapped.
Also, did I read that flash is not supported? What in gods name is Microsft thinking!? Flash is a must have for any browser now adays.
Regarding Flash, Microsoft has a 3 choices in the mobile space:
1. Embrace Flash and push developers to Adobe propriety products and kill any chance of Silverlight catching in the Mobile space.
2. Embrace javascript and HTML 5 w/ video (Apple and Google’s choice). This will not push developers to Adobe ecosystem.
3. Embrace Silverlight and either create or convince big media to use silverlight (considering low initial user base – not likely)
I reckon they will do a mix of 2 and 3. Make Silverlight available and also get on board with HTML 5 video support as a hedge against GoogleOS/Android’s Flash efforts from making Flash even more ubiquitous and locking MS out of the developer/server market.
I’m a self-confessed Apple fanatic, but the aesthetics of the first-generation Zune always secretly impressed me. Even the brown seemed rather grown-up and serious, almost retro.
The UI of the next generation Zune looks pretty awesome and it would be great to see Apple respond more to this.
The biggest barriers-to-entry for me are that (a) Microsoft doesn’t have an ‘ecosystem’ like Apple does, where I know that my Apple devices and content are interoperable; and (b) fancy UI is great, but when you’re dealing with a hand-held device day in, day out, absolute simplicity is key.
Over-animated UI rapidly ages and gets in the way, particular on small screens where fat fingers just want to get on and do. My iPod touch lets me get anywhere really quickly, without distraction.
I understand what Apple wants to achieve by developing its ecosystem. I find Microsoft to be rather overgrown, consisting in many differing brands, few of which ‘talk’ to each other. I find it difficult to relate to Microsoft, which seems rather monolithic compared to Apple, as much as Apple is a corporation with the same fiscal aims as its bigger rival.
I ‘abandoned’ Microsoft a few years ago on the back of the embarrassment of the then-delayed Vista, and what I saw as Microsoft’s lack of commitment to delivering the best possible experience to its customers.
Apple demonstrated much more joined-up thinking. With the Zune, Microsoft has an opportunity to rival the iPod, but it must think of the Zune as part of an interoperable ecosystem that is as open as possible and seamless with Windows 7 and other Microsoft products such as the Xbox.
meh. by the time they have launched this thing and built an ‘app store’, whatever they call it, Touch / will be into its next version and the real app store will have grown even ‘more bigger’…
The blackberry curve 8900 beats hands down the apple and the HTC.
Only downside to the blackberry is that it doesnt offer a FM/AM radio that are standard across many standard phones like nokia, samsung, sony ericson etc.
Why oh Why couldnt they put in a radio .
What?
The UI looks nice– but the browser seems a tiny bit choppy.
They seriously need to stick a phone in this thing.
Also, pinch to zoom in the browser is nice but I hardly use it– does it have the double tap to zoom feature like Safari does? That is key.
Oh man, this looks nice…I’ve been thinking of switching MP3 players, what with Apple and all the DRM issues…right now, the 1000+ songs I got from iTunes are being held hostage on my iPod.
This looks like a good alternative
what DRM issues? every iTunes song sold in the past 8 months has been DRM-free, and you can “upgrade” your old songs to the DRM-free versions if you want…
Does this have a GPS chip inside?
Nice screen, but I play music and videos off my iPhone and I don’t need another device, especially one that won’t play nice with my Apple-centric (and closed, i know) setup.
Congratulations, Apple has you right where they want you. Meet the next-generation “but all my apps run on Windows”!
Perhaps Apple shouldn’t make their devices and software interoperable? Would that make you happy, Will?
Honestly, it’s great that Apple makes products that work well together. It’s certainly better that creating products that *don’t* work together.
But closed systems that work really well together but don’t play well with others = vendor lock-in. That’s why there has long been a movement toward open standards (for all sorts of technologies) for people who care about choice.
Lots of people know they are buying Windows partially because of vendor lock-in, and they roll with it just fine because it gets them the user experience they’re used to and the one they want. If you know what Apple’s doing and you’re fine with it, you’re perfectly entitled to be.
But it seems pretty clear that it is, in fact, the same thing.
if it comes w/ a microphone? if so it could be use as voIP phone.
Very cool. I would love to see a Zune Phone with this UI. That would be very exiting.
that music reminds me of the scientology video with tom cruise..
The UI’s gorgeous, but I can see why some would consider it too flashy. I do think the next iPod Touch with a camera, App Store, etc. will blow this thing out of the water. But the Zune HD is good sign that MS is getting how important UI and user experience is for mobile devices, and I’m sure this will eventually have deep integration with Xbox, Windows Mobile App Store, and other MS properties. So, this is a good sign for future products, but I’ll likely keep my wallet closed for this device.
But how’s the sound quality?
Does it play Flac?
Can I just drag music to it or do I have to use Media Player to synchronize?
No, won’t play FLAC most likely, but it does play WMA Lossless if you need lossless.
You’ve never used Media Player to sync, you use the Zune Software which is better than both WMP and Itunes by a long shot.
If the sound quality is the same as the previous Zunes, then the Zune HD is safe in this area. Sound quality has always been great. Better then the iPods.
As for the App store. The device is not even out as of yet. When Apple started the App store, how many Apps were there? Give it time.
Games? This is one area where MS has a major advantage over Apple.
With the Terga chip inside from Nvidia, having games from the Xbox1 table and XBL and XBL arcade could be done easy.
Castle Crashers oe explosion man on the Zune HD? The possibilities are endless if MS does this right.
Has anyone that has gotten a hands on tried out the HD radio yet? Is it available in the player itself or only through the dock? I’m not even sure if HD radio is worth it over standard radio, but it is a pretty innovative feature none the less.
“Can Microsoft’s latest Zune, the Zune HD, take down the king?”
Heck no! But it doesn’t need to to be successful. (Steve Jobs said something similar of Microsoft back in the day.)
The author makes some good points – many of it’s features can be accessed via other devices. However, the same can be said for any Internet-connected device – that’s the nature of cloud access.
Microsoft has bigger plans though: setting up an ecosystem with the 360, WinMo 7, Zune and Windows 7. And that ecosystem will have an app/music/video etc. store that will at the very least challenge iTunes + App Store (why Apple hasn’t combined everything into one store is beyond me…). So, instead of being overly critical of its current capabilities, think of what it will be able to do when that ecosystem is in place – everything the iPhone/iPod provides + a gaming console. Think of the advantages the Zune’s Tegra chip provides to a game developer who is making a game for the 360. You can bet that MS is gonna make an SDK that supports the co-development (maybe porting?) of games for all devices within the ecosystem.
All next-gen devices are gonna have bad ass hardware. I see the future strength of all devices being a function of the integration and quality of their supporting ecosystems.
I think the Zune UI from the very beginning is the big winner, and with the new updated UI (graphics, details, shortcuts and what not) I´m even more impressed.
I´ve always love the ways you can get from album to album, artists to artist on the zune. It is soooo easy and much more intelligent than on any other device ever seen. Also the “Add to now playing” have always been a massive winnner for me, since it does not exist on anything else either.
I think the Zune HD is a big fat FU finger to all of those who never understood (or cared) how and what it was all about.
This is by far the most amazing thing ive seen done with a portable device UI wise.
Just the Pins menu…………. Wauv………. Far beyond anything i´ve ever seen. I´ve never bought an ipod because it is to simple, slow and generic. Also it is way more for kids and people who don´t know much (or want to know) about discovering music. (no genius doesn´t count, it´s worthless).
Wauv……… I´m so stoked.
The two big differentiators are the subscription music and HD radio. Surprised they weren’t mentioned.
Admittedly, both are niche right now but are things that I would pay for. I am really over “buying” and organizing music. Happy to pay a Netflix-ish fee to just get what I want whenever.
And if they give the radio a Tivo-like function, that would make for a good story.
http://clipperhouse.com/blog/post/Killer-app-for-the-Zune-HD-Tivo-for-radio.aspx
Just a remake of Apple interfaces. Microsoft always changes the icons. Starting from keyboards to menu navigation.
I just thought we keep moving forward. We had all this few years back. Just waiting for Microsoft to come up with something on their own. Something which will amaze us.
Nice demo – thanks!
I agree with you on the need to compete with an app store, but disagree on the artist info. One thing that I do enjoy is the related music to that artist, and the background music used in your video is one such case where I’d like to explore new music related to the one I just heard.
So… what’s the name of the soundtrack you used?
All I have to say is thanks for posting this in YouTube, unlike Engadget. Plan to embed this shortly. :)
Pretty impressive, but from watching the video, it looks rather user-unfriendly. Navigation seems kinda messy and complicated.
I am impressed with the ZUNE HD but when is it coming out? i have been hearing things about it for a while now. It looks awesome and finally something to rival the ipod touch.
We agree with you. We think Zune HD is a great device, but it won’t make much impact in the marketplace. In fact, we just made a post on this topic a couple of days ago.
http://www.skratchboard.com/2009/08/zune-hd-yields-tears-of-joy-will-it-matter/
- SkratchBoard.com
what’s the song called?