Five Zune HD features Apple should steal
The more time I spend with my Zune HD, the more I like it. Sound quality aside--and I know opinions differ dramatically here, but I'm stuck with my ears and my preferences--there are a bunch of features that make Apple's products seem like they've fallen behind the curve. Here are five things in particular that I miss when I use my iPhone or one of my iPods:
Zune Pass Apple has long maintained that people want to own rather than rent their music. I counter that a subscription-based music service, combined with a state-of-the-art player, is one of those features that you have to try before you realize how fantastic it is. It reminds me of the first time I beta-tested the Xbox Live gaming service back in 2002--I didn't understand how addictive online console gaming could be until I spent eight hours playing Moto GP without even looking at the clock.
Here are a couple of real-world examples from yesterday. First, a friend came over for brunch and we began talking about Gram Parsons, one of those towering influences whose music is sorely lacking in my collection. In the past, we might have talked for a minute, maybe gone online to hunt down some ancient YouTube videos, and then forgotten about it. But with the Zune Pass, we were able to walk over to the Zune HD (which I have plugged into a first-generation AV dock and connected to a Bose Wave player in my living room), connect to the Marketplace through my home Wi-Fi network, and sample a bunch of Gram Parsons songs while we ate.
A Zune Pass makes the Smart DJ function into a great music-discovery tool.
Later, I ripped the nervously funky Can LP "Ege Bamyasi" to my hard drive. Curious to discover some similar music, I used the Zune software's Smart DJ function, then listened as it drew music from the Marketplace that I don't know very well, like Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Gong, and my favorite discovery, Faust. Trying the same thing with iTunes' Genius function suggested plenty of new music from the iTunes Store but to hear it, I'd have to buy each song as a download. (Note: you can't create a Smart DJ playlist on the Zune HD device itself, although I expect that feature to be added later. Instead, you have to use the Zune software, then save it as a playlist.)
These are the kinds of music-discovery features that make the Zune Pass a great deal at $14.99 a month. And on top of that, each month you get 10 MP3 downloads to keep.
Quickplay This feature lets you "pin" favorite songs, albums, playlists, or other types of content to the front menu of the Zune HD. It also has a "New" section that automatically displays the six items you've most recently added to your collection, a "History" section that displays the last six things you've played, and a spot to access any currently playing song that you've paused. I miss this instant gratification, particularly quick access to recently added music, on the iPod.
Background art Remember how cool it seemed when you could first look at album covers as you played songs on your MP3 player? The Zune HD makes this seem hopelessly obsolete--instead, it scrolls through album art and pictures of the artist as each song plays. No purchase is required--it works even with the LPs I ripped. It's similar to how the Zune software (and iTunes) can populate your music collection with album art from a database in the cloud, only more sophisticated. (You can see this feature in action starting around 2:00 into this video demo.)
Wireless sync This feature has been part of the Zune experience since 2007, and once you get used to it, you'll hate dragging your iPod to your computer every time you want to load new music. Microsoft seems to have improved the sync experience in the Zune HD and Zune 4.0 software--all you have to do is leave the Zune HD's wireless connection on, and it will periodically sync automatically with your PC, even if you don't have the Zune app open.
See what my friends are playing Zune's social-networking functions haven't been very useful because of the relatively small number of people who own a Zune. I'm hoping this changes with the Zune HD. Already, the Gram Parsons fan says he's going to buy one. Once we connect to one another, I'll be able to see his playlists as he runs through Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and all their musical neighbors. With a Zune Pass, I'll even be able to play any song that he's played, immediately, on my device, as long as it's available in the Marketplace. Again, this is an absolutely amazing tool for music discovery.
Apple's still riding high with the iPod, particularly the Touch, but the Zune HD is clearly moving ahead in terms of innovation. Now if Microsoft can open the Marketplace to third-party apps and fix the browser, Apple might have reason to worry.
Matt Rosoff is an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, where he covers Microsoft's consumer products and corporate news. He's written about the technology industry since 1995, and reviewed the first Rio MP3 player for CNET.com in 1998. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattrosoff. 
802.1x, Enterprise WPA, or VPN support. Any of those three and Microsoft instantly has my money.
They title was 5 features Apple should steal ..which are just innocent renderings of things that will better the ipod.
and your reply is...."And how about some features the Zune HD needs to steal from Apple?"...the ipod isn't perfect...neither is the Zune...but damn....if you like the ipod....ok!...we get it now!
My, how times have changed. My wife and I tried the Zune Pass "free trial" with the same trepidation, but we were quickly hooked. The ease and rate of music downloads can't be beat, and the ability to "own" DRM-free a number of songs a month only sweetens the deal.
I'm an ex-Apple fan, and my loyalties have reversed over the years; surprised to find myself rooting for MS here; it's a changed world from the old Apple-underdog/MS-industry leader world. Now I find myself a zealous fan of 360, one of the best full-home entertainment systems out there--MS has delivered a fantastic, if sputtering (and with a few real lows) execution with the 360 and the Xbox Live service. MS has made itself, amazingly, into the underdog that you just want to root for--against the gaming giant Sony, the 360 has come out on top, against all odds. Zune isn't there yet--so I've got fingers crossed that MS pulls out all the stops, perfects the "three screens and a cloud," gets Netflix going via Silverlight on the Zune HD before the iPhone ever gets it, produces some fine Zune HD games, etc, etc.
And, rooting for the underdog here, I hope this all happens before the Apple/Jobs design/marketing machine is smart enough to copy the Zune's several levels of superiority over the iPod line. If it doesn't, MS will have lost a golden opportunity to fold Zune into the 360's massive success. Time is critical for MS on this one--they've spent far too long talking about integration. Execution, and tandem execution, hasn't been MS' strong suit, but it certainly has been Apple's.
While you're at it, MS, how about finally enabling my 360 webcam so I can Live Messenger videochat with friends on PCs? How hard can the full integration they've been promising be? With each level of integration between products comes an exponential increase in usefulness. This is what also makes the unclear and divided state of the Zune, Windows Mobile, and Xbox Live marketplaces absolutely mystifying. They should be joined, immediately. And of course, it's coming--Zune Marketplace is coming to Xbox Live this November--but why so long?
MS needs a Jobs-like visionary and hard taskmaster to coordinate these efforts. Allard, perhaps? Zune, Xbox, and the Windows Live effort need to have a common head who's driving the train. I can only think that's been the failing in the past--too many promises, but hobbled ability to deliver, given the split leadership. This needs to change, and immediately. If MS hopes to fully develop the Zune's great promise, and to actually implement the integration, they need a vigorous, visionary leader. And it can't be a leader of an "Integration Division." It's got to be sexy, and it's got to pull together the system they've been trying to integrate for years now--Windows Live (/Games), Xbox Live, and Zune--it's got to focus entirely on that--the entertainment and media side of things. Because there, with the monthly and yearly fees, they've got a workable business model. People are willing to pay for the quality of those services, at least the latter two. With full integration, the purpose of Windows Live/Games would be much more clear, and I'd wager people would pay for that too. With hamfisted, hobbled integration, it'll always remain unclear just what we're getting for the package. So again, a leader--and now.
Again, great article. Hits the nail on the head about what Apple is missing (and, by proxy, what all are missing who only have eyes for the iPod and haven't toyed around with the Zune ecosystem).
HL
Why doesn't MS realize that the benefactors of its tremendous (but split) Zune and Xbox ecosystems would become even more fanatically loyal--and exponentially increase in numbers--if it integrated its own systems, and gave its users a little more freedom to play around in the MS "cloud" and customize it to their own whims?
HL
That being said, I still keep Win7 on my Macbook, primarily for the Zune software. Love my 80GB Zune, and I love the Zune Pass even more. Can't tell you how many bands I've discovered using it. I've got tons of stuff on there that I enjoy listening to, but would never go and outright buy. If you're in to music, the Zune is the way to go.
Had a 32GB Creative Zen before that with Rhapsody, but the 10 songs to keep a month from Zune was worth the switch. Not to mention the Zune software is fantastic.
Probably won't pick up an HD until something comes along with higher capacity. With a Zune Pass, you'll fill up that 32GB pretty quick, and you can get four times the space in a Zune 120 for near the same price.
I have been an on and off fan of Rhapsody for years and became dependent easy access to almost any artist or tune. Within minutes of hearing of a song or CD I could listen to it and download. Rhapsody was further enhanced using the wonderful Haier Rhapsody ibiza MP3 player. The ibiza is still one of the best implemented Wi-Fi players on the market but unfortunately seems to be on the verge of abandonment by Haier. Rhapsody lost my business when I began to see more and more artists removed from their catalogue and the license for their tunes dropped. Dropped licenses are a real issue and a major disadvantage of subscription services. No license ? no play.
I tried Napster streaming with 5 MP3 downloads a month but gave up on it because of the poor audio quality of the streamed music. I am now using the Zune Pass with my Generation 2 Zune and for the most part happy. I almost dropped the service when I realized many of the ?free ?tunes are WMA DRM protected files. I can copy them to other players supporting DRM WMA files but they cannot be converted to MP3 files. Even folks who should know better (Paul Thurrott are you listening?) continue to misrepresent Zune free downloads as MP3s. Many are, but almost all of my free down loads are WMA and come with some limited form of DRM protection.
Does seem ? what goes around comes around.
The Quickplay is nice. iTunes has similar "playlists". What it needs is a way to make shortcuts to those playlists and put them as icons on your home screen.
Background art? Nah....it's another one of those things like the LP thing that Apple introduced recently. Cool to look at and to show off, but only for about 5 minutes. After that I just get back to listening to my music.
Wireless sync would be kind of cool, but it's not really necessary. It's one more way to bleed the battery dry. I plug my iPhone/iPod in anyway to charge it. You can download songs straight to the device. The iPod is becoming more and more independent of the computer. Why do we need to add a sync feature as the device moves away from syncing entirely.
My first statement though, is less opinion and more opinion based on fact. Subscription services don't make money which means that it's a marketing ploy. We know the music industry hates to be controlled and that they and Microsoft will do anything to wrest control from Apple. What better way than to basically give away free music...hook people in and then start charging them more?
Bottom line, I love my Iphone for everything else, but am deeply in love with my Zune HD for my music.
Hopefully Zune HD can pull Microsoft up to 1.5% market share in that space.
A feature like Zune Pass for sharing music from iPod to iPod would be nice and Apple has sold plenty of iPods they could make it work. This would make music discovery better and easier thru sharing music temporarily between iPods but Zune 2 Zune sharing not really compelling and music rentals don't really seem that interesting.
Tried Verizon's VCast Music service to download music to my phone and my computer -- was okay for purchasing and downloading mp3s but the Rhapsody subscription component didn't interest me. Prefer to still have CDs, or use iTunes Store and/or Amazon MP3, or peer 2 peer file sharing -- point is music subscriptions don't interest me and aren't that compelling for most people using iTunes and iPods which represent a major portion of the music player and legal music download market -- that explains iTunes dominance.
- by AaronCT123 October 15, 2009 12:59 PM PDT
- Apple doesn't need to steal anything from the Zune HD. It's bad enough that everything Microsoft does is seen as catching-up anyway. I'm all for the iPod line continuing to do it's own thing, because the second Apple adds any of the features listed, they'll swear they did it first.
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- by jakemochas November 14, 2009 3:20 PM PST
- yeah they didn't CATCH UP AT ALL... not have you seen all of the new technologies and firsts this device uses? HD radio, tegra, and the OLED screen... that's just hardware, software wise they already surpassed apple with the 4.0 software
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(35 Comments)And, yes that last claim is backed up by their own website which claims that iTunes tagging is the "new-fashioned" way, knowing full well that every generation Zune has been able to do it for the past year plus.