Comments on: 120GB Zune coming

Yes, Microsoft is still working on Zunes, and has a new 120GB model in the works. But the real improvements are going to be in the software.

[Philips]

> 120GB Zune

Can it be used as Xbox external hard drive?
Price difference isn' t that big and Zune can also play music... ^_^

[Philips]

> 120GB Zune

Can it be used as Xbox external hard drive?
Price difference isn' t that big and Zune can also play music... ^_^

[gavandtra]

does anyone actually own a Zune, noone I know has one or would ever think of buying one ??

[tysonofyork]

I "actually" own a Zune and although I'd love to have the Zune 80, I have the 1st gen Zune and still love it. I've shown plenty of people the device and most often people are impressed with the overall operating experience. Most of those impressed are current iPod owners.

[jumpjetta]

A friend of mine had one for a couple months, but dumped it (and all his MS products, actually) when the iPhone came out. He now uses more Apple products than anyone I know.

[catch23]

I do own a Zune, and love the device. Gen1, 30GB
The Zune software is, as of the second release, about as usable as iTunes, which is to say it still sucks(but not as much as when it was released).
I wish MS would allow you to choose whatever software you wanted to sync with.

[StickMaker]

Yes, I have one and like it a lot EXCEPT for the software; it is so bad, imho, that I wish I had never bought it.

[cpopken]

I have the Zune80 and my daughter has the Zune30. So far for me I have been very happy with it. The software has never crashed and does not slow my computer down at all. I would definitely buy another one. I am not swayed by how popular a product is, I buy what I like, and after comparing the ipod and Zune I chose what I liked better.

[BigDaddyChacon]

I own a Zune80 and I love it.

[CrashPad63]

I won one from launch, great product, and free firmware and software upgrades cant beat that.

And you must not get out much, Target and Walmart a regulary out of the 80gb model. Oh and the Ipods set there gathering dust.
Ive bought two Ipods for the kids, lasted less than a year for both.

[CrashPad63]

Oh and jumpjetta Steve Jobs called and he wants you to stop and get some bread and milk before you come over.
Man looking at tyour replies why even come to a thread that is clearly MS. You hate it, you think MS sucks.... so go back to your mac bretheren and dance around your Macs, while the rest of us "think different" and choose to use a better way through MS.

[Ashwin97]

What part of the world do you live in. May be the Apple company. Believe me there are quite a few Zune owners out there. Zune is a beautiful product and if you bring your head out of the sand you can see its users. Plus you can buy your music an videos from other sites not just iTunes. Think again.

[Alan497411]

I own one! :D the only thing that i dont like about zunes is that they only play unprotected files sooo i cant pay any of my iTunes songs... but its ok because you can get a protected file converter for about $20.00

[ballmerisanape]

Quote... "the real advances aren't going to be in the Zune hardware, but in the Zune software and associated services. Apple makes great devices, and so far iTunes has remained ahead of the Zune software, but Apple has sometimes fallen short in the services arena."


are you serious?

iTunes isn't just ahead...that's like saying "Windows XP has so far been able to keep ahead of Linux"... the problem with that analogy, however, is that iTunes and the iTunes store is popular because it works well. People choose to buy iPods.. they are not forced onto you by your IT manager at work...

[tysonofyork]

I think at this point most new buyers of iPods are buying because that's what most people have. It's sad to say but we are built around status and competing with the "Jones".

[AussieBigfoot]

will M$ finally release the Zune outside the USA?? if they want to catch-up with the iPod they need to think about the 6 billion of us who don't live in USA/Canada!!!!

[RRosal]

"will M$ finally release the Zune outside the USA?? if they want to catch-up with the iPod they need to think about the 6 billion of us who don't live in USA/Canada!!!!"

They should go ahead and release the Zune in Europe and Japan. Since their XBox 360 is failing miserably in those markets, may as well add the Zune to it as well ;-)

[Mark_M]

Yes, I do believe Matt is serious. I wouldn't count Microsoft out. All you have to do is look as far back as the Xbox to Xbox 360 transition. Microsoft has the means and the motivation to make a huge leap here. They aren't likely to catch Apple overnight, but this isn't the 100 meter dash. If the new Zune software is compelling enough and boasts advantages over the ipod to existing hardware or services, you just might start to see the weight slowly start to pile on the top of the teeter totter.

And for the record, I have both a Nano and a Zune and like them both.

Cheers.

[rcrusoe]

Your Xbox comparison may be right on target. Despite all their money and motivation, Microsoft has yet to make a profit from the Xbox. The Zune may well suffer the same fate. Microsoft shareholders would, IMO, be better served if the company concentrated on developing an operating system that people actually wanted to use.

[ballmerisanape]

That's the thing.. in a consumer market such as this.. MS has to come up with a product that looks better.. and WORKS better at the same time. Yes, people get iPods because they are popular.. but they became popular because Apple did a great job creating a good user experience. Now.. with the iPod Touch.. and an eventual move to that sexy GUI.. it will be very difficult for MS to catch up.

Personally, I hope they can.. while Apple has traditionally excelled in user experience... I fear that one day they will become complacent due to their current successes.. we need competition from all fronts.. After all, that partially why MS has fallen so far down in user experience and satisfaction... The got away with "good enough" when computing was not consumer driven and trends were set by IT professionals.

Now that computing is a consumer market.. these companies are going to have to adapt... quickly.

[CrashPad63]

rcrusoe, you might want to look up your comment. Last year and this year both MS reported profit from the Xbox 360 and continuing to gain more profit traction as the build cost continue to decrease with a 3 year old mature product.
You see MS looks at these things in lshort term loss, long term gain. A great little business model made popular by the Japanese after WWII.

[StickMaker]

I'm desperately looking for some way to avoid using the terrible software that comes on CD with the Zune; I cannot use it. I wish I could run it like a flash drive; plug it in, drag and drop to and from it.

[ShadowAero]

No one ever mentions this feature and I bet most kids (Salespeople) at BB and CC don't even know the Zune can do this!

There is a feature that if you can use makes it worth more than any other mp3/video player. Media Center Integration. All the shows and movies i record with media center automatically sync and automatically convert when connected to Zune Software. It is soooo simple. I own both a 80GB and 30GB model. My ipod just sits and collects dust!

[Kaiser.a]

I have Media Center tool called MCEBuddy that can do that even for an IPod. It just encodes in the background to any format you want you're recorded shows to be in.

[M-RES]

Yeah, I have a similar feature with my iPod. I don't use Media Centre, but I do use EyeTV with a USB DVB-T stick. EyeTV software automatically converts all my recorded TV and movies and dumps in them in iTunes for syncing with the pod (or can be scripted to only do this for certain shows).

I do actually know someone who has a Zune, but doesn't use it anywhere near it's capacity, mainly down to the average lusers inability to handle anything other than very basic tasks in software they haven't been shown how to use (which is where the iPod/iTunes combo excels for most). I have a 160Gb pod, and it's nearly full, so unfortunately a 120Gb is already way too small. Plus there's no MS interest in writing Zune software for OS X, so they're cutting out a potential and rapidly growing marketplace. Shame really, because their hardware division is their greatest asset - they make perhaps some of the best keyboards and mice out there for the price brackets they sit in and I've always opted for either MS or Logitech mice for my Macs.

Still, as TFA says, it's great for competition that they're sticking at it - will force Apple to try to stay one step ahead which is better for us all regardless of player/OS selection. :)

[cpopken]

Kids just illegally download shows so they don't really care about that.

[CrashPad63]

Mres reread that post again. Media center loads on Zune with no extra card, adapter, or seprate converter. It just works. sounds to me like what you do needs a little practice and is not for the "everyday" computer user.

[EUP]-[ORIC]

We have 3 Zunes in our household, 80g (mine), 30g (daughter), 8g (wife). I have several friends whom have them as well. Microsoft can do it as soon as people understand that an Ipod is = an MP3 player and there are other, often times, better choices out there.

[toosday]

Has anyone used Songbird to try to connect a Zune to a Mac? Is it any good?

[Rotaryfan]

you must be extremely confused. you want to connect a zune to a mac??

I have a Zune 80, and it is in my opinion far better than the ipod. battery hasn't been an issue since the car charger for the original zune runs dirt cheap, so all your bass are belong to us. ..er, my bases are covered.

The one thing that would make the zune an ipod killer would be if it was integrated with the xbox 360, and could access parts of xbox live from the zune itself, as well as the software. it already has MC integration down pretty well. okay, i concede, Drag 'n' Drop would be nice; it would be great if there was a "storage" menu option.

[miketwalker]

I think this is great news since Microsoft may have lost it's way a little bit before by dividing Zune/Windows Mobile. If what Matt is saying is true and Microsoft has brought the Zune team as involved with Windows Mobile as they said they hoped to about a year ago.... then I am looking forward to Windows Mobile 7. Combine the UI/consumer friendly end with the enterprise features already in Windows Mobile and you've got a great product. Apple isn't there on the enterprise end and I truly don't want to have to own two devices.

If Microsoft/HTC release a Windows Mobile 7 phone with the Zune features and these new updates.... man, I would pay a "royalty" for the combined functionality to have it always with me. This could be great news, keep it coming Microsoft.

[M-RES]

"Apple isn't there on the enterprise end"

eh? In what way? That's a bit of a blanket generalisation and wide of the mark if you consider their drive with the iPhone 2.0 'ware to focus almost exclusively on enterprise features, including teaming up with MS to deliver them. Perhaps in a specific area they haven't written something you need, but then that was the point of opening up to devs to bring their own solutions to market for the device - maybe chase up your vendors to port to other mobile devices.

[CrashPad63]

M-res, the real question back to you is in what way is Apple into Enterprise? They gave a rather shoddy attempt at corporate with the ill concieved MobilME, and their idea of exchange being push mail and contacts. And looking at the server siode is even worse. Apple is non existant here. Oh and what apps do they cater to the enterprise sector? MS is so well versed in this that Apple license MS software and Apps to try and give an appearance of enterprise compatibility. Heard of exchange?

[bajanx]

I also live in a 3 Zune Household and its great. I have an 80 and the wife have a 4. I aslo have my 1st Gen 30 which stays connected to the tv and wirelessly syncs all my video podcast. The Zune is just a much better product. The all you can eat music service for $14.95 a month is just the greatest. That was the main reason my wife switched from the IPOD. The first ineration of the software was bad but since the upgrade its been magic. Really excited to see what the next upgrade will introduce. Looks like MSFT has something up they sleeves. Microsoft is really going in the right direction with the zune. Intergration with the Xbox 360 and media center aint bad either .

[myles taylor]

The biggest problem with the Zune or anyone else trying to eat into the iPod market is the same problem that Apple and others have eating into the Windows market. No matter how good or compelling the product is, the dominant one will often remain dominant, simply because people don't like change and they like sticking to what everyone else has. iPod has become synonymous with digital music player, just like Windows is largely synonymous with a PC (Personal Computer). Making a better product is only a small part of gaining market share although it is a first step for sure.

[cpopken]

People need to stop complaining about the Zune software, it is really not that bad. I have never had it crash on my laptop that is two years old. I have itunes on my computer and will occasionally download drm free songs if I can't find them on Amazon. My biggest complaint is that every time it loads it needs to update, and not just a little file but 66Mb worth. There is no need to have iphone software integrated on itunes. They could easily have two versions.

The Zune is a nice little device, I had the Zen Vision M before the Zune and I feel the Zune is a much better device. It syncs flawlessly with the software, has great podcast support, and with a ZunePass you can download and discover new music you otherwise might not have tried. I only wish the 120 Gb had come out sooner.

[jdoge13]

I don't understand when people complain about the zune software. Its has a FEW bugs...but overall its been great for me (the 2.5 version at least). And now that I have a zune pass I'm hooked. I recommend getting the zune pass to anybody who doesn't have it. You don't realize how much music you'll download.

[random truth]

its not the software that i have a problem with, its the hardware, I can get a ipod that is twice as big for $70 more. Or an ipod touch (which the zune cant even compete with) for $50 more. I ll admit that it is a great product, just not for me. I like being able to listen to the equivalent of xm radio on my ipod touch. ya I know the zune has an fm tuner +wifi. But I can use my ipod touch as a computer, I can listen to music, get my mail, play games, type emails, watch movies, surf the web, watch youtube, etc. Thats what I use my computer for, so for me its a computer. But whatever works for you is the best product.

[bajanx]

Ok, the touch is a great device, but the zune is a stand alone player. You can't really compare the Touch with the zune. The touch is an Iphone with out the phone. To different type of products. Comparing the zune to the ipods are a differnt story.

[Lucazio]

So you bought an ipod touch just because it does the exact same things your computer does. Why not use your computer instead of buying an ipod and save some money for something else?