This is it! Neowin shared the specs of ZuneHD courtesy of their source inside Microsoft.
[via Neowin]
Another ZuneHD photo showing a very slick looking interface. The body also seems to be made out of brushed metal. I like! I only hope that this is not a shopped’ photo. From the looks of this poorly taken/saved photo, it looks like the zune word (above click button) is not aligned correctly and looks pasted. The Marketplace menu is also missing.
The ZuneHD will have a capacitive, multi-touch OLED screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and TV out, from what looks to be a HDMI port on the side. The radio will now be HD and the device will support HD media playback, which will be available from the updated Zune Marketplace.
The ZuneHD will also support 3D Xbox games, but it is unclear what form this will take.
The device will come in 16 and 32 GB versions, and will support wireless sync. It will also finally come with a browser that supports multi-touch.
The device is set to launch in Fall, around September, and will also finally be available outside US, in Canada, UK and France, and possibly other European countries.
[via WMPowerUser.com]
After nearly 3 years, the Zune will be available outside the USA and Canada this year. This is still an unconfirmed news (nothing official from Microsoft yet) but ever since it’s launch on November 2006, there has been clamor from many consumers outside North America and their eagerness to get their hands on a Zune device, even if there is no support whatsoever in their own country.
In the Philippines, basing on our Zune User Group (ZUG), we have 61 live users of Zune, and obviously there are more zune users not listed, just look at how many Filipinos are on Zune Social (though some may have downloaded the software without buying a zune device).
I also noticed that some of the well-known zune sites/blogs are not even based on the USA! meaning there are zune followers around the globe, even without support! that is how good the device is! I have read of people having to replace their iPods twice in just a year of use, imagine if Apple does not have warranty/support in the Philippines.
This is good news for us zune owners and zune owners to-be. With the introduction of the Zune brand internationally will enable us to access the marketplace easier (it’s possible right now), find and buy accessories and get local support.
“After doing some digging, we can confirm that the release this fall will be international . While we were not able to get a list of countries that the Zune will ship to, we can confirm that it will be shipping to: Australia, China, and Europe. A company representative told me that there will be far more countries that the Zune will be shipping to.”
[via Neowin.net]
Engadget has some photos of of the supposedly 3rd-gen (or 4th Gen) Zune to be called – Zune HD. They also have some graphics for the new marketing campaign. Head to Engadget for more pics [Read Article]
“What we do know is this: the size of the device is set to come in smaller than the iPod touch (although we believe in size, not in thickness). Capacities should be competitive with that of the iPod touch, and like the touch, it would sport a touchscreen interface. The old click wheel would be replaced with a single-button as the pictures show.” [via Technologizer]
Coincidentally, I made a mock up on this blog on the next-gen zunes nearly 2 years ago. I named the “Zune Touch” as ZuneHD, never really thought it would be considered at all, I might’ve gotten lucky, but it looks way too different than my mockup :)
Here is a very interesting read from Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies. It’s a whitepaper (sponsored by Microsoft) that explains and analyzes the so called “Apple-Tax” or what I would call the “Paying-for-cool bandwagon”
Here’s an excerpt from the the report:
For example, a low-end MacBook costs $1,000, while a similarly spec’ed Dell Inspiron 15 costs $700 and an HP dv4 in the same class also costs $700. The $300 premium gets you, ah, what was that again? Oh, less memory, smaller hard drive, smaller screen, no keyboard or mouse, and no card reader. Way cool
Brian Seitz of the Zune Team twittered this 2 hours ago:
@tmccurren new zune hardware this year.
Well, hoping it’s a touch-screen zune! :)
In case you haven’t seen these Microsoft ads, here they are. Both ads take on Apple’s Mac laptops price and power. Hits the nail in the head.
The makers didn’t know one thing for sure, the cheesy soundtrack they used made the video less appealing and made it look like a conspiracy video from Youtube (a.k.a the Matrix theme song)
Microsoft and Sony have teamed up to produce the next-generation zune player codenamed Zonic. Both companies, having their own mp3 player lines (Zune & Walkman), have joined forces to build the successor to Microsoft’s Zune mp3 device and Sony’s portable gaming device, the PSP.
It’s kinda ironic don’t you think considering Sony and Microsoft are both in the gaming console business with XBox competing directly against Sony’s PS3. How will they keep technology secrets from each other? That I don’t know. But large tech companies tend to do that these days, take the case of Google’s Eric Schmidt having a seat on Apple’s board. Google’s Android OS is directly competing with Apple’s iPhone OS while Google’s Chrome is taking a bite out of Safari’s share. So I think it’s normal for MS and Sony to team up.
Maybe a Zune + Xbox + PS3 + PSP integration is in the works? that would be cool.
What do you think of this Zonic next-gen music and gaming device?
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