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Go Back   Thoughts Media Forums > ZUNE THOUGHTS > Zune Talk

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  #1  
Old 09-05-2007, 09:48 PM
Sage
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I was actually kinda disappointed with the iPod refresh. I was hoping for a device with the capacity of the new iPod classic (160GB is awesome!) with the features and screen of the iPod touch. If they ever make such a device, I'll buy it without hesitation.

Did you notice they also lowered the price of the iPhone to $399?

The Zune sure is up against some tough competition.
 
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  #2  
Old 09-05-2007, 10:21 PM
Jason Dunn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sage View Post
I was hoping for a device with the capacity of the new iPod classic (160GB is awesome!) with the features and screen of the iPod touch.
I suspect that the combination of a device with a hard drive and a big screen + WiFi would be bigger, thicker, and have worse battery life than Apple would want to release right now. That's just a guess though.
 
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  #3  
Old 09-05-2007, 10:29 PM
mgullotta
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Default Did you see the wifi functionality at Starbucks!

Wow! Zune is in big trouble. How could they launch anything right now, unless it is comparable, it is going to seem silly.

The biggest announcement is they totally one up-ed MS on their Wifi with the announcement at starbucks. I guess the only way they can come back is with positioning their zune somewhere above the iPod classic, but below the iPod touch. Thats to show that they have more features than the classic, while maybe not the awesome features of the touch, but with more hard drive capacity. Then price it right.
 
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Old 09-05-2007, 10:57 PM
Jason Dunn
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Originally Posted by mgullotta View Post
The biggest announcement is they totally one up-ed MS on their Wifi with the announcement at starbucks.
Yeah, you think so? I think that feature is "neat", but I don't think it's anywhere near as killer as the WiFi iTunes store. The Starbucks rollout is REALLY slow...they're going to have it in a couple of cities by the end of 2007, and a few more in 2008, but it doesn't appear to be going wide-spread very quickly (which is puzzling).
 
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  #5  
Old 09-05-2007, 11:07 PM
Chris Gohlke
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And suddenly I have buyers remorse regarding my Zune.

I'm thinking like Rocco, the touch could finally be the small but usable browser you can carry in your pocket.
 
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  #6  
Old 09-05-2007, 11:34 PM
Janak Parekh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason Dunn View Post
Yeah, you think so? I think that feature is "neat", but I don't think it's anywhere near as killer as the WiFi iTunes store. The Starbucks rollout is REALLY slow...they're going to have it in a couple of cities by the end of 2007, and a few more in 2008, but it doesn't appear to be going wide-spread very quickly (which is puzzling).
It occurred to me that this might be the tip of the iceberg. What if other retailers come to Apple and try to strike the same deal? Apple tends to be closed, so maybe I'm just thinking too far ahead, but it could be big. (Also, I'm guessing Apple/Starbucks need to install special computers/software in the stores to coordinate the music playback.)

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Originally Posted by Chris Gohlke View Post
I'm thinking like Rocco, the touch could finally be the small but usable browser you can carry in your pocket.
As an iPhone owner, I can tell you, Safari is an excellent browser. It's the first browser I have bothered to use extensively on a mobile device.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sage View Post
I was actually kinda disappointed with the iPod refresh. I was hoping for a device with the capacity of the new iPod classic (160GB is awesome!) with the features and screen of the iPod touch. If they ever make such a device, I'll buy it without hesitation.
Well, as always, Apple left a few holes open. There are quite a few people desiring of an iPod touch-esque device with a hard disk. I suspect the iPod touch/iPhone platform will never go there, as Apple seems to have settled on flash memory for their OS X-based platform. My concern is that Microsoft never quite capitalized on the holes Apple left in their previous lineup, and now Apple has closed a bunch of them, and I don't know if they'll capitalize the few that are left.

Quite frankly, what I don't get is why didn't Microsoft release a Wi-Fi store before now? This is nothing unique nor innovative, but everyone except Sandisk seems to be hanging around waiting for Apple to do it. Why why why?

--janak
 
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  #7  
Old 09-06-2007, 12:00 AM
ZappCatt
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janak Parekh View Post
It occurred to me that this might be the tip of the iceberg. What if other retailers come to Apple and try to strike the same deal? Apple tends to be closed, so maybe I'm just thinking too far ahead, but it could be big. (Also, I'm guessing Apple/Starbucks need to install special computers/software in the stores to coordinate the music playback.)

--janak
I am not sure how hard this will be. I believe all the Starbucks just play the Sirrius/XM "Starbucks" channel..so all they would need to do is get the playlist and have it syncronized, right?
 
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  #8  
Old 09-06-2007, 12:18 AM
Adam Krebs
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Typically I'm quite worried when Apple announces this many new products. But even Gizmodo (known for their fanboyism) had to admit that they were basically just updates (and that the iPod Classic is basically a bigger Nano with a hard drive). I don't see anything too killer that they didn't have before, like the Touch is basically the iPhone without the phone.

Sure, pretty much everything was leaked beforehand (Apple's success is catching up to them), but I just felt that this didn't have the flair of other Stevenotes.

But yes, I am in agreement with the rest of the commenters here that the Zune has to get moving, and fast. I can only hope and pray that the reason we haven't been getting real firmware updates has to do with some incredible killer feature, but even I'm skeptical that this is the case. I hope MS proves me wrong (I wasn't a fan of the original Xbox, but I think the 360 is just amazing), and completely one-ups Apple, with wireless downloading, PC sync, etc.

It's funny to think how Steve Jobs made fun of Microsoft's "many flavors of Vista" (the "business", "home", and "ultimate" versions of OSX were all the same thing), while he is now putting out four new versions of his flagship product.

Please, Microsoft, prove me wrong. Show me amazing things that you can do with software on your current player, and have the second model be a mere upgraded hardware. Either that, or give me my money back.
 
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  #9  
Old 09-06-2007, 12:42 AM
Rocco Augusto
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janak Parekh View Post
As an iPhone owner, I can tell you, Safari is an excellent browser. It's the first browser I have bothered to use extensively on a mobile device.
I prefer the Nokia Internet Tablets for mobile browsing (Opera browser and ridiculous 800ishx480ish screen res), but this is only because I find myself constantly rewriting code to get it to work in Safari.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mysekurity View Post
Typically I'm quite worried when Apple announces this many new products. But even Gizmodo (known for their fanboyism) had to admit that they were basically just updates (and that the iPod Classic is basically a bigger Nano with a hard drive). I don't see anything too killer that they didn't have before, like the Touch is basically the iPhone without the phone.
Yeah, I was a little disappointed to see that the new touch device looked EXACTLY like the iPhone. If I was an iPhone user, I would be ticked off as the device looks great for tablet use but shady for phone use (though I'm interested to hear what you think of the phone functions Janak!)
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  #10  
Old 09-06-2007, 02:11 AM
ucfgrad93
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Janak Parekh View Post
Quite frankly, what I don't get is why didn't Microsoft release a Wi-Fi store before now?
That is an excellent question. In my opinion, it was the one thing the Zune had over the iPod, and Apple beat them to the punch!

Zune is in a world of hurt right now. There are so many choices in the iPod lineup. And after 9 months (or more?!?) there is still only one option for the Zune.

There is some good news for Zune today, the price was dropped to $199.

http://playlistmag.com/news/2007/09/05/zune/index.php
 
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