New Zune Hardware and Software Announced
Microsoft has announced a rather significant expansion of the Zune product line today, premiering new hardware, features, software, and capabilities that the company hopes will help its iPod challenger fare well in the upcoming holiday season. In a rather unprecedented move, Microsoft chose not to supersede and outdate the original Zune. Rather, it has been re-branded the Zune 30 and will share all the software upgrades and new features the newest Zune hardware will premier.
Two new Zune models announced today will round out the product line when they launch in November. The Zune 80 will, as the naming convention suggests, be rocking an 80-GB hard drive. Though it's rocking more storage space, the hardware is actually 30% smaller (2.4 x 4.25 x 0.5-inches) than the Zune 30 thanks to some miniaturization effort on MS's part, which will hopefully make the device a bit more pocket-friendly. Screen size will get a small (0.2-inch) increase over the Zune 30 to 3.2-inches diagonally. At launch black will be the only color option. Retail price will be $250, and the package will include upgraded headphones compared to other Zunes.
With the 30- and 80-GB spaces covered, Microsoft will also launch the flash-based Zune 4 and Zune 8 which aim to compete against the iPod nano. Priced at $150 and $200 respectively, the 4- and 8-GB capacity players will be available in pink, green, black, and red. 1.8-inch screens on the flash Zunes are slightly smaller than the new nano's 2-inches, but the hardware is a few millimeters larger in most respects. The new Zune 4, 8, and 80 will all be sporting the new "Zune Pad" touch-sensitive input mechanism, a square approach to emulating Apple's patented Click Wheel.
On the software side, the entire Zune family will be getting some nice new capabilities. Chief among them will be WiFi syncing that will transfer music, movies, photos, podcasts, and other content from host computer to Zune without any physical connection. Also exciting is the announcement that Zunes will be able to sync with content recorded on a Windows Media Center PC, which means users who've got a capture card or tuner and are using their WMC-PC as a DVR will be able to transfer recordings of TV content to their Zune for perusal while on the move.
A variety of smaller upgrades will also be added when the new Zune software arrives. Support for h.264 and MPEG-4 video will be added, which frees the Zune from its reliance upon WMV. Podcast-subscription support has also been added to the Zune software. Microsoft softened the 3-plays / 3-days Zune sharing DRM by dropping the 3-day expiration period. Even better is the fact that the Zune-store will be adding DRM-free tracks to its library in an initial burst of 1-million songs and promises of more to come.
Overall the new Zunes and the expanded feature set are certainly forward progress in Microsoft's attempt to establish a competing mp3 player brand. The company's rather surprising decision to keep the original Zune model competitive with this second generation of hardware should do quite a lot to keep early adopters happy, and perhaps give them material for a few snarky comebacks when they're teased by iPod fanboys. The new Zune software should become available to original Zune owners around the same time the new Zune hardware launches.
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Well this sounds a bit disappointing. I would have thought that the Zune's screen resolution was going to change to match the screen size, but it seems to be running the same rez as the iPod still since there is no mention.
I wonder if they fixed the clunky software with the new release.
Microsoft has announced a rather significant expansion of the Zune product line today, premiering new hardware, features, software, and capabilities that the company hopes will help its iPod challenger fare well in the upcoming holiday season. In a rather unprecedented move, Microsoft chose not to supersede and outdate the original Zune. Rather, it has been re-branded the Zune 30 and will share all the software upgrades and new features the newest Zune hardware will premier.
Two new Zune models announced today will round out the product line when they launch in November. The Zune 80 will, as the naming convention suggests, be rocking an 80-GB hard drive. Though it's rocking more storage space, the hardware is actually 30% smaller (2.4 x 4.25 x 0.5-inches) than the Zune 30 thanks to some miniaturization effort on MS's part, which will hopefully make the device a bit more pocket-friendly. Screen size will get a small (0.2-inch) increase over the Zune 30 to 3.2-inches diagonally. At launch black will be the only color option. Retail price will be $250, and the package will include upgraded headphones compared to other Zunes.
With the 30- and 80-GB spaces covered, Microsoft will also launch the flash-based Zune 4 and Zune 8 which aim to compete against the iPod nano. Priced at $150 and $200 respectively, the 4- and 8-GB capacity players will be available in pink, green, black, and red. 1.8-inch screens on the flash Zunes are slightly smaller than the new nano's 2-inches, but the hardware is a few millimeters larger in most respects. The new Zune 4, 8, and 80 will all be sporting the new "Zune Pad" touch-sensitive input mechanism, a square approach to emulating Apple's patented Click Wheel.
On the software side, the entire Zune family will be getting some nice new capabilities. Chief among them will be WiFi syncing that will transfer music, movies, photos, podcasts, and other content from host computer to Zune without any physical connection. Also exciting is the announcement that Zunes will be able to sync with content recorded on a Windows Media Center PC, which means users who've got a capture card or tuner and are using their WMC-PC as a DVR will be able to transfer recordings of TV content to their Zune for perusal while on the move.
A variety of smaller upgrades will also be added when the new Zune software arrives. Support for h.264 and MPEG-4 video will be added, which frees the Zune from its reliance upon WMV. Podcast-subscription support has also been added to the Zune software. Microsoft softened the 3-plays / 3-days Zune sharing DRM by dropping the 3-day expiration period. Even better is the fact that the Zune-store will be adding DRM-free tracks to its library in an initial burst of 1-million songs and promises of more to come.
Overall the new Zunes and the expanded feature set are certainly forward progress in Microsoft's attempt to establish a competing mp3 player brand. The company's rather surprising decision to keep the original Zune model competitive with this second generation of hardware should do quite a lot to keep early adopters happy, and perhaps give them material for a few snarky comebacks when they're teased by iPod fanboys. The new Zune software should become available to original Zune owners around the same time the new Zune hardware launches.
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Well this sounds a bit disappointing. I would have thought that the Zune's screen resolution was going to change to match the screen size, but it seems to be running the same rez as the iPod still since there is no mention.
I wonder if they fixed the clunky software with the new release.
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