I've debated with so many people yesterday about that. Just because I'm an Apple fanboy it doesn't mean that I can't get one of these. I have an iPod touch 2G, I will have an iPhone and a Macbook. I have an iPod, I just would rather get this amazing device rather than another iPod. I already have one. I don't have Zune. If anything, I can compare them and see which I like better. Walmart has a 15 day no questions return policy. If it sucks so bad, I'll take it back. I may end up with an iPod touch 3G, but I doubt it. It'll be 2,2 so it won't be a major upgrade. Maybe some new features and a slightly bumped processor. Not worth it. I'll buy an iPod touch 4G next year, and then I get the best of everything. Someone at Appmania needs a Zune HD anyway.
I think this thing looks pretty sweet. I can't really say if I'm going to buy one or not, I'll wait for it to actually come out and hear what people think first. It seems like it has some pretty cool features, I think for me the most useful one is the HD radio integration. But I'm def no fan of Windows anything. Ever since I got my first iMac about 9 years ago, I can't imagine ever using Windows again. The only Microsoft thing I like at all is the Xbox. I guess if the Xbox integration on this is anything cool, I'll probably pick it up just for that.
Hmmm. That's kinda like the idea that I had in this topic: Should Apple Enter the Console Business The idea I proposed was that Apple should merge the iPod touch and AppleTV lines into one product. A mobile device that is HD capable, and package it with a "hub" that facilitates extra storage (the mobile would hold 32GB, but the "hub" would have a 250 -500 GB HDD), ethernet connection, charging, TV output (one on the mobile device, the other on a TV set). Now I amend that a bit: TV output would be from the mobile device itself, however, to get dual screen TV output you'd use the "hub". As the "hub" would be packaged with the mobile device, it would be supported (so developers would, in fact, make dual screen games, ala GBA connection with GameCube or Dreamcast VMU style stuff), rather than having it as a separate peripheral that might not be supported by developers. Also, since the important hardware would be on the mobile device itself (the "hub" wouldn't run anything itself) you can take it on the go, play it on the big screen at home, but also it would be cheaper than buying both an iPod touch and an AppleTV, which, let's face it, pretty much does exactly what an iPod itself does...but in HD. Make an iTouchHD, package it with the "hub" and no need for AppleTV, more mass market friendly, and two birds with one stone (mobile and home use) hit in one shot. The HD output is, IMHO, a missed opportunity on Microsoft's part. If they packaged in the A/V dock with the ZuneHD, they would assure that developers would develop HD content for ZuneHD as every consumer would have the increased potential to put it to use. There will be games on ZuneHD...but how many will be in 720p? Not many since all ZuneHD consumers won't own the A/V dock. So the "hub" in this hypothetical iTouchHD I'm coming up with would include the A/V dock/charge station/extra storage/ethernet connection in the box. And that would be Apple's avenue to cutting off any gains Microsoft and Sony would make by tying in their mobile devices with their game systems and their digital distribution stores. Remember, a big bit of news raised is that MS will make the Zune brand dd store available to XBox Live subscribers. Apple can use that same strategy, in reverse.
NVidia Tegra GPU, probably. ARM CPU is most probable, with an ARM 11 being the most likely bet. Some are getting it wrong, however, thinking that the 720p playback means only Tegra is possible. PowerVR SGX, which is apparently used in the Palm Pre, and most probably will be used in Apple's next iTouch/Phone (which, and I'm speculating, late 2010/early 2011 at the earliest as Apple will milk the current set up for all its worth) also can play back 720P HD video. But Tegra is more likely to be used in ZuneHD than PowerVR SGX. Hopefully Apple, even though it has its own chip design team, opts to design with PowerVR SGX in mind. That would, in addition to the ARM CPU we all know they will definitely go with, ensure that the true next gen (not just a slight hardware revision, but a major CPU/GPU, RAM, etc. change) iTouch/Phone has backwards compatibility with all of the current platform's apps...including the games.
It looks very sweet! If it is compatible with windows mobile apps, we might have a winner. I hope sound quality is even better or at least as good as the other former Zunes. I like the dark interface a lot more. I am not a fanboy of Apple or Microsoft. I buy what is best for me.
I don't think is going to be compatible with windows mobile apps (its running a different form of win mo) however it is probably going to be compatible with windows marketplace apps, which are closed down like apples app store.
I'm definately an Apple fanboy. As in, Apple does NO wrong. But the Zune HD is amazing. Not better than any iPods, but it's pretty great, I want one, but I'm not sure about budgeting. Have had this debate on Twitter for a while now.
Damn, I'm sorry, but I prefer the look of that Zune to my iPod Touch. Now for my two cents on the Zune. The Zune, I believe, would have done extremely well except for one problem. About a month or two after it came out, the iPod Touch came out. How could the Zune compete with that? Answer is, it couldn't. If the Zune HD comes out and is truly amazing like they say it will be, it may, MAY beat out the iPod Touch (doubt it) but knowing Apple, as soon as it comes out there will be the iPod Holo which basically is a video player the size of your thumb that makes truly 3D images by bouncing light of dust particles in the air.
I agree, the Zune'll get there few seconds of glory. Maybe more if they give us one of those cool little screen functions that's fun to mess with for a while. But I thought Apple was working on electric nodes you plug into your head to create a virtual reality?
That's the thing, MS have shown their hand now. Apple has the chance to show its next generation of devices and software and could kill it off before its even launched. Also, it seems pretty stupid to name it ZuneHD when it can't play HD without the dock. But then again HD is just a buzz word these days with no actual meaning as the definition of what HD is has been really f**ked up by marketing departments the world over! The thing that MS hasn't shown is the software. And as the app store has shown, software is key to selling these devices. It'll be interesting to see what MS can do with the OS, apps and SDK? And also what Apple will do in regards their multi-touch patents and such...
I've just been having a debate with what seems to be a misinformed fanboy and it's refreshing to see a decently balanced debate on this here I own a couple of Zunes and an iPod Touch and have come to my own conclusions about them - Zunes have better software (it was terrible to start out, but now...) - personally, I don't enjoy using iTunes and the syncing system is flawed. - Zunes overall are imo better than classic and nano models (better interface, nicer screens, radio, better syncing features, nicer sounding) The touch is a different device altogether but imo the Zune is better for playing music than the touch and as good as for playing video. That's where the comparisons stop...all other features are unsurpassed and overall the touch is a far niftier device, which is why I have it. The ZuneHD looks nice. It's a departure from the other Zunes and looks quite industrial. Personally I prefer brushed metal effect to the shiny backing of iPod touches...I have to carry mine in a hard case all the time but with the ZuneHD I'd be comfortable not using a case, or just using a sock. We'll have to see as far as ZuneHD vs iDevice video/audio quality is concerned. Imo ZuneHD has to do a few things to do well. It should have Mac compatibility. They're going after Apple market share but by default they're not winning over die hard Mac owners. It needs great Xbox integration. It has the potential to take advantage of Microsoft's XNA games, with all the games here http://catalog.xna.com/en-GB/gamescatalog.aspx theoretically easily portable to the Zune. They need to allow that potential. There's hundreds of games on the Xbox arcade marketplace that should theoretically be possible to be transferred to your Zune after plugging it in (Zunes can be plugged into your Xbox via USB to listen to music and watch videos). If this is possible and other games are ported too, it could be a better gaming device than the iDevice. Not what you want to hear, but Microsoft after all do have established gaming connections, Apple doesn't. It needs out of the box flash support. Tegra allows this...Zune would have a serious win if it incorporates it. A grey area is productivity apps etc which the iDevice has a wealth of. Another thing is pricing. Currently, both the App store and Xbox marketplace give 70% to the developers. But, the App store seems to have cheaper pricing. This isn't a Zune forum I know, but as I said, it's interesting to have a balanced discussion between lovers of technology as opposed to fanboys.
Yea but rumor has it that the Zune HD will happen with the expected iPod refreshes and I'm pretty sure Apple might postpone this to neutralize the Zune HD or just release it and take up all the hype like they did with the iPhone and the Zune
Dunno. I agree, the iPod touch and iPhone were very well timed devices when Apple's sales figures were declining (for that year, they were looking at around 32 million iPods sold compared with 10 million more in previous years) and Zune was looking to take advantage of that. This time around, I'm less sure Apple has an ace up their sleeve. We've seen the product, the iPhone 3GS wasn't that different from the iPhone 3G, and the ZuneHD is a new unknown product. 3rd gen touch could add a camera...they could even add HD support but would those two announcements deflect interest enough from the ZuneHD?
Apple have shown their hand with the next gen iPod touch though. It will definitely run on the same type of hardware on which the new iPhone 3Gs runs. That means ARM Cortex A8 CPU, PowerVR SGX GPU, and 256MB RAM. ZuneHD uses Nvidias Tegra SoC, so that means dual ARM 11 CPUs, probably 256MB RAM, and, of course, NVidia's own HD decoding/encoding components and GPU. iPhone 3Gs (and the next iPod touch) are also capable of 720p video as well. Seems very well matched. Should be exciting.
