[Darius Wey]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, we have 28,000 of them for you, courtesy of the FCC.





The FCC report is legitimate, so there are no question marks here. On the front, you can see a circular control pad, flanked by a "Back" button and a "Play/Pause" button.





The bottom of the Zune features a sync-and-charge connector. The top houses a headphone jack. The rear has an all-too-familiar Zune logo printed on it.









Above, you'll find a series of shots of the Zune's system board from all angles.



Attached to it is Toshiba's 30GB 1.8" HDD.









Yeah, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, baby!





The Zune includes a reasonably-sized 3.0" low-temperature TFT-LCD, great for viewing album art, browsing your media library, and watching videos (for those who doubted it, an FCC document indicates that the latter is supported).





Proof, once again, that the Zune contains a spinning platter.





Housed within the Zune is a 3.7V Li-Ion battery. It looks to be non-user-replaceable, but we'll learn more about this in the coming weeks.







The FCC's product testing environments are never visually appealing, but thanks to their provision of Zune-related images, we forgive 'em.





Black is back.



And apparently, so is chocolate brown.







Seeing images like this prompts an important question. Will the Zune only connect and talk to Windows-based PCs, or will it befriend Macs as well? iTunes' compatibility with both Windows and Mac OS has helped the iPod transform into a raging success worldwide. Microsoft owes it to itself to follow suit.

[Darius Wey]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, we have 28,000 of them for you, courtesy of the FCC.





The FCC report is legitimate, so there are no question marks here. On the front, you can see a circular control pad, flanked by a "Back" button and a "Play/Pause" button.





The bottom of the Zune features a sync-and-charge connector. The top houses a headphone jack. The rear has an all-too-familiar Zune logo printed on it.









Above, you'll find a series of shots of the Zune's system board from all angles.



Attached to it is Toshiba's 30GB 1.8" HDD.









Yeah, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, baby!





The Zune includes a reasonably-sized 3.0" low-temperature TFT-LCD, great for viewing album art, browsing your media library, and watching videos (for those who doubted it, an FCC document indicates that the latter is supported).





Proof, once again, that the Zune contains a spinning platter.





Housed within the Zune is a 3.7V Li-Ion battery. It looks to be non-user-replaceable, but we'll learn more about this in the coming weeks.







The FCC's product testing environments are never visually appealing, but thanks to their provision of Zune-related images, we forgive 'em.





Black is back.



And apparently, so is chocolate brown.







Seeing images like this prompts an important question. Will the Zune only connect and talk to Windows-based PCs, or will it befriend Macs as well? iTunes' compatibility with both Windows and Mac OS has helped the iPod transform into a raging success worldwide. Microsoft owes it to itself to follow suit.

[martin_ayton]

I'm reading and responding to this on my Hermes... I mention that because the forum's system for formatting the content for my PDA has stripped out all the 'photos from the main article. Interestingly, they all appeared in the pages that followed my clicking on the 'post reply' button, so I'm glad I did!

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by martin_ayton

I'm reading and responding to this on my Hermes... I mention that because the forum's system for formatting the content for my PDA has stripped out all the 'photos from the main article. Interestingly, they all appeared in the pages that followed my clicking on the 'post reply' button, so I'm glad I did!

I got it to load in Internet Explorer Mobile on my PDA ("Default" view). Admittedly, it took a while, but the pictures finally appeared.

[mcsouth]

Of course, Windows will probably be the primary focus of this device, but I would think that making sure it is supported on the Mac would be a critical part of the MS strategy to overcome the ipod juggernaut. Let's face it, the Mac community will be outspoken enough about this device as it is - it not being compatible with Mac would just be another black mark against it.

Even better (although admittedly fringe) would be support for a wide range of formats, including OGG, and allowing for connection as a USB mass storage device to Linux - if MS really wants to take this player places, they need to consider offering support for more than just their own formats. Obvious would be AAC support, again to placate the Mac folks. I realize this doesn't get around the Fairplay issue, but it is a bit of a step at least.

I realize this probably won't happen, but having onboard support for Divx would mean I wouldn't have to reencode video to load to it - it seems that is an ongoing complaint with other units, that video transfer is slow because of the need to transcode to a different, proprietary format.

[ctmagnus]

Here's where I think the Zune (at least in it's current form) may fail:

I read on Engadget that this device will have a 3" screen. Taking that measurement, plus the size of the device in addition to the screen given in the followiing picture:



vs the 2.8" screen device on the left and the 60GB 5th gen iPod on the right:




It seems to me that the Zune will be rather large, which will turn away some potential purchasers immediately.

[ucfgrad93]

Looks interesting. The specs seem pretty good, however, the design of the unit leaves a lot to be desired. Can't wait to see an actual review of the unit.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by mcsouth

Even better (although admittedly fringe) would be support for a wide range of formats, including OGG, and allowing for connection as a USB mass storage device to Linux...onboard support for Divx would mean I wouldn't have to reencode video to load to it...

Exactly! I talked about this in another thread, but I think that in order for the Zune to gain ground against the iPod, they have to abandon the sacred Microsoft WMV/WMA cow. Meaning, they can't be delusional and support nothing but Microsoft formats like all of the first generation PMCs did. Fact is, people use Divx, Xvid, OGG, and a whole bunch of other formats. If Microsoft wants the Zune to be a real contender, they need to support a lot of formats. WiFi might be cool, but right now it's a LOT easier for me to rip a DVD into Divx for my Zen Vision:M than it is for me to get the DVD into WMV format.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by ctmagnus

It seems to me that the Zune will be rather large, which will turn away some potential purchasers immediately.

Yeah, I'm a bit concerned about the size myself - some of the FCC photos make it look VERY thick. But it's so hard to say for sure until I see one in person. My Zen Vision:M looks big on paper, but when held in the hand it feels like a great size.

[egads]

Feature wise it looks nice, but for looks alone I would not buy it. I'm hoping this is just a VERY early proto and the production device will be smaller and a bit more pleasing to the eye...

[SuperFreak]

No appeal at all. Okay, it's ugly...

I love the specs, but geez - can at least make look nice. I'm not even going to give this device a second look if I didn't know anything about it.

Unfortunately, probably half of the consumer doesn't know anything about it, and with looks like that, I don't know how it will make it.