Gentlemen, start your engines.
The Microsoft Zune HD portable media player is officially available for preorder today. Outlets ranging from Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, and Microsoft itself are taking preorders on a black version of the 16GB Zune HD, or a silver version of the 32GB model. As Tuesday's pricing leak suggested, the players are retailing for $219 (16GB) and $289 (32GB). Preorders of the Zune HD are expected to arrive on September 15, the same day we expect they'll hit store shelves.
Also on sale today is the Zune HD AV Dock, which allows you to connect the player to your television or home entertainment center and output videos and menus at 720p HD resolution. The dock retails for $89 and includes an HDMI cable, power adapter, and a remote control.
Microsoft has also sent out an e-mail (see above) showing off three additional color options (blue, green, and red) of the Zune HD along with 10 designs, that will be available from the Zune Originals online store starting September 15.
But Microsoft may be shooting itself in the foot by not offering these custom colors and designs for preorder. By not doing so, it's effectively telling customers that they can preorder a dull version of the Zune HD now, or wait to order a cooler version on September 15. With new iPods likely to drop in September, I would think Microsoft would want to put its full weight behind preorders before Apple potentially spoils the enthusiasm.
For more on the Zune HD, check out CNET's Zune Central.
On Sale Now: $259.95 - $309.99
View the latest prices for Zune HD (32GB - platinum)
Here's an interesting post on how to save the Zune over at digital lifestyle blog Last 100. The blogger is Michael Pinto, creative director of Very Memorable Design, a design company that specializes in youth marketing.
To summarize: Microsoft needs a super-cheap Zune--maybe $25--to compete against the $50 iPod Shuffle, and should create limited-edition Zunes associated with fashionable brands, artists, comic books, and sports heroes. He also suggests preloaded content, including selling cheap Zunes loaded with concert recordings immediately after the show ends, as some artists are already doing with flash drives.
Customizable Zune Originals (shown here) are a good idea, but limited-edition Zunes emblazoned with popular brands would be even better, according to one commenter.
(Credit: Microsoft)Memo to Microsoft: offer this guy a job if you haven't already.
That said, I disagree that Microsoft needs to focus more on the form factor and the fashion instead of the technology. It needs to work on both simultaneously.
I was a fan of the company's original goal of reaching out to hard-core music lovers, similar to how the first Xbox tried to appeal to hard-core gamers with a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, two features that the PS2 lacked at that time.
But I think that focus got blurry last year when Microsoft tried to move down-market with the flash-based 4GB and 8GB Zunes, which were neither cheap enough to capture the casual youth consumer that Pinto's talking about nor sophisticated enough to take market share away from the high-end iPods.
So yes, cheaper Zunes would be great. But I still think there's room at the high end of the MP3 player market for Music Freak Zune, with features such as a gigantic hard drive (160GB to match the biggest iPod Classic), more EQ choices and volume balancing, support for more codecs (Apple Lossless, Vorbis, and FLAC, for instance), a line-in or built-in microphone for capturing live shows, and an analog recorder in the software for ripping tunes from vinyl, DVDs, and other sources.
They could even build out a competitor to GarageBand and offer it as an add-on to the Zune software--imagine users putting their own tunes onto a Zune then exchanging them wirelessly with other users or posting them on the Zune Social site. Hard-core.
Then sell the high-end device below cost--maybe $300, which is $50 less than the 160GB iPod Classic--and continue to deepen the catalog of music on the Zune Marketplace (3.5 million songs so far, with two-thirds of those now available in DRM-free MP3 format), and I think they'd start to build some serious market share.
Want a red Zune 80 without all the lovey-dovey sentiment? They're now on sale at Zune Originals.
(Credit: Microsoft)After appearing briefly as the Valentine edition of the Zune 80, today Microsoft has brought back the red version of the Zune 80 through their Zune Originals online store. Unlike the fumbled Valentine's edition, however, these red Zunes won't come cheap. In fact, Zune Originals is now charging an extra $15 for the artwork engraving service that they initially offered free of charge.
Still, for those of you who really want to fly your Zune freak flag high, the red Zune 80 definitely looks like it will get some attention.
You can't accuse me of not putting my money where my mouth is. I paid full price for my custom Zune 80. Let's hope I don't regret it. Click on the photo to view the Zune Originals unboxing image gallery.
(Credit: Donald Bell / CNET Networks)As a longtime iPod loyalist, I had a lot of mixed emotions ordering a Zune 80 for myself last Sunday. Part of me felt like a traitor, honestly. I thought about my poor 5G video iPod, which had been ignored for weeks at the bottom of my messenger bag while I played with Microsoft's loaner for my review. Now, I'd never abandon my iPod completely, especially considering that part of my job is reviewing the seemingly endless parade of iPod accessories. Still, I figure there's room in my life for another MP3 player, right? I mean, I would be negligent as a digital audio journalist if I didn't order one.
Well, my Zune 80 arrived today, and I can honestly say I have no regrets (so far). I went the custom route and ordered the Zune 80 directly from Microsoft on its ZuneOriginals site, complete with custom artwork. Say what you want about the Zune, but the designers have definitely outdone themselves on packaging details. From the foil-embossed box, to the golden envelope, the entire package from ZuneOriginals felt like it should be holding Lil' Jon's diamond-encrusted Pimp Cup. ... Read more
Microsoft is finally allowing the 80GB Zune to be directly ordered and customized from its ZuneOriginals Web site. We reported about the ZuneOriginals launch earlier this month, when Microsoft was offering orders for only the smaller Zunes 4 and 8. The laser-etched designs being offered for the Zune 80 appear to be identical to the Zune 4 and 8 designs, only bigger, and thereby, way cooler. The service costs nothing, and the shipping is free.
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