Stupid...now they're just openly admitting all they're going to do is blatantly rip off Apple.

I was expecting it to be able to play Xbox Live Arcade games or something along those lines. I would have been interested in that, and I don't even have an Xbox, but there are some good games on there. Figures MS would drop the ball and not do anything original, even with what they've already got going for them...

The Zune HD sounds like a semi serious attempt from MS to bring something up against the iPod Touch but as mentioned in the article it lacks a few certain key points :

- 3D Games and mention of an SDK for third party devs to take advantage of the hardware
- App store which is BY FAR the biggest feature on the iPod touch

The way i see it, this device will have a lot of catching up to do especially with iPod Touch/iPhone 3.0 software. The new Apple SDK has opened the possibility for developers to take advantage of Bluetooth, Bonjour, Wifi and the Dock connector allowing them to come up not only with super cool software (p2p gaming on the spot !) but also with new crazy hardware that attaches to the iPhone/iTouch. On these 2 points, the new Zune HD has nothing announced yet.

Who know, maybe by the time it actually comes out, MS will actually surprise us and not just play catch up with iPhone 2.0...

Adi

Cowon S9 > zune
Cowon S9 > ipoop

i haev a zune and im really dissapointed with it. it plays music just fine, but thats all it really does. you cant even use it as a portable hard drive w/o having to bend over backwards.

if microsoft didnt nerf the utility of the zune, id be far more inclined to buy another. right now, all i have is an expensive mp3 player witha nice screen that displays the album covers of the current song. i feel like i got suckered.

if microsoft wants another purchase of mine, theyll give me somethign i can use. my friend just uses his iphone as his mp3 player... if i werent so in love with my phone id probably switch teams and buy an iphone and *try* to sell my zune. for now, my busted motorola slvr thats 3 years old will have to do. it has a sweet race car game that i beat last year, now i can drive any in the game!

What I don't understand is the screen size and resolution. I don't see why they didn't gun the 4" market, at least.

Right now it's only asking for a flood of "Haha! Your Zune is .7" smaller and has lower res!"

any zune fans here?

is it too much to ask for a real USB interface in the device this time? (they'll probably stick to the proprietary interface... =\ )
USBhost and SD cards would be nice too, but the minimum requirement would be a standard USB interface...

So.... I wonder. What are the chances that the HD Radio tuner offers iTunes tagging? LOL

You know, uh, I *really* like the Zune subscription model. A lot. I like it so much that I wish I could justify getting this product. But I can't.

Now if they could only include a TV tuner with it.

480x272 awkward widescreen res display? Oh boy, PSP touch! Better for video than the downright bizarre aspect ratio of the iPhone/iTouch though.

I miss the 3.3" WVGA (848x480) screen on my Sharp phone, tbh.

I'm not sold on pure touchscreen interfaces for DAPs, or even for other portable electronics. A lot of it is the cool factor and marketing hype and at least a few tactile controls are best. There is a place at the bottom of the unit on the front where some tactile controls would have fit nicely. Having used a Zune 80 the squircle is a really nice controller.

Maybe they will EOL the Zune v2 and I can get a 120GB for cheap :)

Ohh, purdy. I guess this is my excuse to give my brother the Zune 80 I have and buy the Zune HD.

Glad that this Zune doesn't look like it came out of a dirty diaper.

MS should make this a phone ASAP.

The HD radio sounds interesting.
Can it record?

Can you use it as a skype phone?

I have too many iPod apps to just switch over. Looks like Apple got me chained. GJ.

The XNA framework is currently compatible with the Zunes in the wild. I would assume they would continue to offer that kind of support.

Any mention of capacities? I rather like the 120GB I currently have, and wouldn't want to trade down in capacity, even though I barely have it half full.

So did they mention anything about an App Store like Apple since that is really a feature more critical than the HD moniker?

And any idea what OS it'll be running. I thought it was mentioned somewhere that it might be a Windows CE variant. Hopefully it'll be much improved.

In any case, Zune HD will be competing against 3rd gen iPod Touch and iPhone OS 3.0, so things might get interesting. The next iPod Touch seems to be focused more on video with an integrated camera and video editing features rather than "HD"-ness.

I was reading this news post, but then I just sorta zuned out.