Hello everyone, after about a two week hiatus I’m back to tell you something that I have been waiting to hear about for a long time. Not only has Microsoft announce a successor to the original 30GB model they also announced a smaller flash based model. The successor to the original will be named the zune 80, which of course has 80GB of space. It will start selling at $250 and will only be available in the color black at first. The size of the new zune will be about 1/3 the size of the original coming in at 2.4 x 4.25 x 0.5 inches. Upgraded extras from the original are that it will come with “premium” headphones which was actually rumored a while back. The screen size is bumped up from 3.0 to 3.2 inches and still believe it is QVGA. The best feature of them all is the new zune pad (aka squircle) which is a touch sensitive directional pad.
The flash based zune will be called the Zune 8 and the Zune 4 that comes in sizes 8 and 4GB. They will be priced at $200 and $150 respectively and will be available in colors of green, black, pink and red. The device will be sized at 1.6 x 3.6 x 0.33 inches and the screen size will be 1.8″ This little device will also feature the touch sensitive zune pad.
Now that I briefed you on the hardware spec now I’m going to brief you on the software spec that I think is the best part. First off, there will be two more native video codec that it supports, h.264 and mpeg-4, now zune users don’t have to wait on converting these files to wmv to synch. It now has Podcast (“Zunecast”) support. The reason this is true is probably due to the software being re-written and not just a rebadged version of Windows Media Player 10. It will have a new interface and feature parity. Also the Zunes are able to synch via WIFI, WOW have I been waiting for this. Users will Windows Media Center will be happy because they will be able to synch now. The best news is still up, the original zune now being badged as the Zune will get all the same software features via a firmware update, AWESOME! This is something that I feel that Microsoft really did right. Giving all the early adopters the same software features, will definitely keep the Zune customers coming back for more. You can pre-order your new Zune at Amazon.com and they will be availabe November 13th. I have already pre-ordered by black Zune 8! Leave some feedback on wht you think.
[Via Engadget.]
I really think that this was a good move by Microsoft to upgrade the older Zunes. I really like these players, but I don’t know if I want to lay down the money for one yet.
Brandon: I thought you already had a Zune? If you do, why are you ordering another one?
Well I have the Zune 30 and I’m very excited to get the firmware upgrade, but I’m looking to get a smaller sized one for working out and such.
I bought a Zune last year and loved the functionality and appearance; though only a 30gb hard drive and it’s size were the 2 drawbacks. It looks like Zune addressed both aspects while addressing the other software and compatibility issues. It looks like I’ll be ordering an 80gb, which was the number I was hoping for when I noticed iPods larger size. Just wish they had the 80 in red….
I’m really annoyed that these things don’t work on Macs. I like the new Zunes better than the iPods but I need it to work with my Mac. I’m getting ready to make a purchase and Zune is out of the picture now.