Engadget reveals that Wal-Mart has seemingly leaked Microsoft Zune pricing at $284. That isn’t a bad price for Microsoft’s highly hyped mp3 player. You never know until the whole thing is released. We’ll see if the price is around the supposed $284 when it comes out, but I hope it is, because that is very reasonable, especially from Microsoft. I gotta say now I am torn. I like the idea of Zune, its larger screen and nice simple design, but I don’t know how the whole “sharing” idea and possible legal trouble sits with me. I also like the Sansa e280 as well and I can play all my music on it without so much trouble since the Sansa is a proven device. It is really a toss up right now. Sansa it seems is going after Real’s wide-eyed delusions of grandeur. The Sansa of course doesn’t have a 30GB drive behind it, but an 8GB. What do you think, is Zune worth it at the price?
thanks for the reply SZC-i was wondering ???
have a good one my friend 8)
Garfield must be getting tired on that avatar-think i should fed him??
This really shouldn’t be in hear, but I would just like to thank everyone for cheering me up; yesterday I went to work and was so mad and depressed that I nearly said I wanted time off for stress; anyway, that’s in the past . Sorry I took it the wrong way.
I will stay hear and lock myself away when my Dad really upsets me and that’s why I use Skype to talk to people and web forums. Anyone interested in my Skype name could PM me.
the same day Microsoft details its Zune Product Line, Creative decides to launch its widescreen version of the Zen player in North America. The widescreen is at a 16:9 ratio and gives the player the W in its name. The Zen Vision:W was launched in Korea two weeks ago but North America will get it now. Transfer of media can take place via USB 2.0 cable or via the W’s built-in Compact Flash memory reader.
Other than MP3 songs and JPEG images, the widescreen will be put to use primarily for videos. They are to be encoded using MPEG-4 Simple Profile (SP) at 500 Kbps throughput. This is supposed to be sufficient for a low-resolution display. The W will support multiple codecs: MPEG-1, -2, and -4 SP, along with DivX 4 and 5, XviD, as well as TiVoToGo. There is no DRM limitation in place. Creative made sure the new Zen is fully compatible with Amazon’s Unbox video download service which currently provides content from Paramount, 20th Century-Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros.
I like the creative player. Still Apple is cutting their throat with its latest iPod price drop. If Apple does not get a widesceen screen in the iPod I will have to go elsewhere to buy and this new Zen looks good
Microsoft has confirmed pricing and delivery details for its upcoming Zune MP3 music player. The software giant on Thursday revealed its 30 GB Zune digital media player will cost US$249.99. The so-called iPod killer will be available to U.S. customers on Nov. 14, just in time for the holidays. Microsoft will launch the Zune Marketplace, which competes head to head with Apple’s iTunes, on the same day. Zuners can buy a monthly subscription for $14.99 that will give them access to millions of songs. Taking a page from the iTunes pricing model, individual tracks will sell for 99 cents each.
The Zune and the iPod share similarities but they differ in important ways. Both players offer a dedicated media hub. Both offer high-quality LCD video screens. Both offer 30 GB models for $250 (Zune offers the 30 GB model only). Both offer big brand names consumers can trust. That’s about where the comparisons, end, though. Microsoft is offering value-added functions and features it hopes will sway users to invest in its player this holiday shopping season. The Zune offers wireless functionality for Zune-to-Zune sharing of music, pictures and home recordings and a built-in FM transmitter. It will also come preloaded with content, including songs, music videos and film shorts.
Zune’s physical characteristics are also unique. It’s about the same size as the original iPod, but much larger than Apple’s most popular nano model. By comparison, the Zune is slightly larger than the Motorola Q phone. The large size could be a blessing or a curse for Microsoft: a curse for adults who want a compact player to take to the gym; a blessing for parents who want something more durable than a shuffle for their pre-teen children. “The Zune is robust. If you are a parent buying something for your kid and you are worried about it lasting longer than two weeks, then the Zune is good. The nanos have not held up well at all. They are very fragile,” according to Enderle Group Principal Analyst Rob Enderle. “The Zune appears hardened.” States Enderle.
The Zune is coming and what better way to celebrate it than painting a bus in jet black and slapping the company (Microsoft) and the product (Zune) logo on the side.
What with the Zune hypometer going up as each day pases its only right that Microsoft start marketing the little thing.
So what did they do, release some posters maybe, put some fact sheets on the internet, sponsor a chocolate bar. Well they didn’t do any of that, instead they took their Zune marketing budget and bought a giant bus and fully kitted it out.
We’ve all heard rumors and news about Microsoft’s coming website and music store to accompany the Zune when it arrives, and have no fear, Zune.net is here! The site up and offers info on the Zune device, and will be the place you can download the Zune software (the actual music store) come November 14th, a mere 10 days from now. The software app looks like it will be a stand-alone download and not be integrated with Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, but will function more like iTunes does today. This is not confirmed, but is just what it looks like from the Zune.net site. Engadget has a nice run down of the actual player and some details on the Zune store software you might want to check out if haven’t already. It seems that with all the many little things Microsoft has done and is doing to these new Devices and the store, they really are going after the iPod, big time. All the Microsofties will love the Zune, and I think even a few iPod die-hards will secretly like the Zune as well. Just a thought, we shall see when the Zune hits the fan, right? November 14th is coming.
The only problem for Apple with that is that M$ has a lot more money that they can afford to loose.
The good thing in a price war is that the consumer comes out a winner.
A lot of people say that but can Microsoft actually afford to lose money in every industry? Think about it, they’re losing tons of money in XBox and now the Zune (most likely). So if they continue with this strategy how long can they actually hold out, money for no company is infinite. I’m waiting for google to release its rumoured office suite
Add-on. SZC: I’ve seen many websites outlying how to install MacOS on Intel/AMD machines, actually it seems pretty easy Have you done a triple boot yet with Vista/MacOS/XP, I’ve heard its possible too but I haven’t seen it.
Microsoft’s go to market strategy for its Zune music player has been subjected to some harsh criticism in a note targeting content providers and mobile carriers. Gartner has criticised Microsoft’s strategy of song sharing between Zune players and points to weaknesses in content provision because of an absence of deals between Microsoft and music or video studios.
According to Gartner, Microsoft’s strategy of of differentiating Zune through its ability to share songs over Wi-Fi is not particularly compelling, pointing to the fact that users can’t buy songs through their player.
Gartner says: “Microsoft’s claimed differentiation for Zune is based on applying Web 2.0 community concepts to the music experience. With the inclusion of an integrated Wi-Fi/antenna, Zune users can exchange or share songs by transferring them to each other. Whilst Gartner believes this is a good, high level strategy that is potentially market leading, it is not clear that the scenario Microsoft describes is all that compelling. Consumers will not be able to buy songs or videos from the Zune Marketplace direct from the device. Instead users “share” songs and shared songs do not remain on the receiving device permanently; rather they can be played three times in three days.”
Gartner also unfavourably contrasts Microsoft’s access to content with that of Apple’s.
Referring to Microsoft, Gartner says: “Most notably absent are any deals with studios for content, whether audio or video. The lack of video in particular is surprising given Microsoft’s early lead in video support with its portable media centre (PMC). The company has some content on MSN Video, which is not being leveraged by Zune.”
Gartner says that a better model would employ a web-based community that extends to Microsoft’s online communities such as Spaces and Xbox Live and contrasts the company’s position to that of Apple.
That survey really holds no basis, I mean Zune hasn’t been released yet and Ipod has been on the market for years - did the surveyed teens even know what it was or were they shown a picture, given the full details about it, etc?
Also do not forget you have NO SUPPORT with your illegal copy of OS X >:(