Microsoft on Thursday confirmed several of the worst kept secrets in the industry, acknowledging the pricing, availability date, and capacities for its upcoming Zune HD.
The black 16GB version of the touch-screen media player will sell for $219.99, while a 32GB version in "platinum" color will cost $289.99. The pricing had already leaked via Best Buy and Amazon, while the September 15 launch date was noted as part of a retailer's display, reported by Gizmodo.
Microsoft will also start taking pre-orders for the device and starting September 15, it will be able to be ordered in five colors from Microsoft's Zuneoriginals.net site, with the option of adding one of 10 engravings by guest artists to the back of the device.
Among the device's features are its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display, multi-touch Web browser and the ability to send video in 720p to a HDTV (using a dock, sold separately).
Although the prices put the Zune HD well below Apple's current iPod Touch prices for the same capacity, I would expect Apple to revamp its products for the fall, likely offering the iPod Touch at similar prices and capacities, and perhaps borrowing the video camera and other features from the iPhone 3GS.
If you can't wait until September, here's a video I shot during a brief hands-on demo I got in May (or see our slideshow above).
Apple made a few jabs at Microsoft during Tuesday's notebook event, but if I were a Windows executive today, I'd probably be breathing a sigh of relief.
Although Apple did revamp its entire Mac product line on Tuesday, it didn't hit the $800 price point that the rumor mills had projected.
The new laptops seem nice enough, and they might be enough to keep Apple on a roll, but Apple didn't take the Mac into any new segments of the market.
Clearly fearing that Apple was on the brink of such a price move, Microsoft launched a pre-emptive attack on Monday, with Vice President Brad Brooks going into great detail about an "Apple tax" ahead of what even he thought would be the introduction of significantly cheaper Macs.
It seemed at the outset of today's event as if that might be where Apple was headed. In his introductory comments, Apple executive Tim Cook rattled off several reasons Macs are doing well. One of those things on the list, he said, is something Apple has nothing to do with--Windows Vista.
But in the end, Apple's attack was limited to those words and the company's usual arsenal of elegant but pricey machines. Apple has made some significant advances, to be sure, but it looks as if this year's Mac-vs.-PC battle will remain at the high end of the market rather than dropping down to the mainstream.
Nonetheless, it is interesting to watch the war of words heat up. For years now, Vista has been a popular punching bag for Apple, and Tuesday's event was no exception.
Microsoft, though, is only belatedly trying to defend itself, with the most visible effort being its "I'm a PC" advertisements.
The reasons for Microsoft's moves are clear. First of all, it had let itself be completely defined by a competitor. Secondly, Apple's market share is significant and growing. Although its share of the global market is only a few percentage points, its share of the dollars spent on PCs, particularly in the United States, is far more significant.
For complete coverage of the Apple notebook news, see "Apple polishes up its MacBook line."
I expected to see some lower Vista prices in this weekend's ads, but was surprised to see just how low the prices had fallen.
Officially the price cuts announced by Microsoft on Thursday don't take effect until later this year when Service Pack 1 hits retail shelves. However, the company had said that many retailers were offering promotions that bring the software to its lower price.
But the ad at OfficeMax took things a step further. In this week's circular, the office products chain is selling Windows Vista Home Premium for $99. That's $30 less than Microsoft's just-lowered price and the same as the suggested price for Windows Vista Home Basic--though perhaps just a hair more than the clearance prices a couple weeks back at closing CompUSA stores.
The question now is just how low will Vista go.
In looking at the reasons behind Thursday's price cut for Windows Vista, it's easy to blame the OS itself. After all, plenty of critics have panned it, users have grumbled and even Microsoft executives themselves were slinging arrows that the software wasn't ready for prime time when it launched last year.
But, it's important to note that this cut doesn't affect the bulk of the PC market, where folks get Vista as part of a new PC. Rather, the cut is limited to the comparatively small number of folks who buy a boxed copy of Vista to upgrade their machine.
NPD analyst Chris Swenson notes that the prices for boxed copies of Windows have remained fairly high while the cost of getting a new PC has fallen drastically since Windows XP made its debut in 2001. Prior to the price cut an upgrade to Vista Ultimate cost $299. Now, I've seen some ads where you get a whole Vista PC for that price or not much more.
One other interesting note, it appears that the price cuts are also designed to spur Vista-to-Vista upgrades. Has anyone out there paid to move to a higher priced version of Vista? If so, I'd be interested to hear when and why you made the move. Drop me a note below or e-mail me at Ina DOT Fried AT CNET DOT Com.
- prev
- 1
- next
