A closer look at the Zune HD video included .Guy says better than ipod touch

Except for the App Store, I don't see how it ISN'T better than the iPod Touch (Other than not capable of Mac running).

I mean, What happens if you want to watch a video in HD on your iPod Touch? I think it's just a personal preference on what music player to buy- Zune, iPod, or any other MP3 player

fratboy said:

yeah right

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/28/early_glimpse_at_zune_hd_better_than_ipod_touch.html

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Of course the UI is smooth - however, they are not the first ones to come out with this presentation. Apple showed the world how it's suppose to be done correctly. Only after TWO YEARS do you see devices start to implement this properly. So the point is "big deal". Been there, done that, have it already.

That's the problem with these companies - they play catchup. Now if the first Zune was done this way, I would give them props instead of calling them copy cats.

So all I can say is a big as s YAWN.

I'll be getting one of these. I have an iPhone, no need for a Touch. I prefer the Zune over the Touch though.

its a brief look, and according to the video and pic, I do think its pretty, tight, and elegant. UI is very smooth and dynamic.

How does it run app? whats the browser look like? We will find out later.

But for now, It does looks at least on par with iPod touch, if not better in design and UI.

The UI layout gives me a headache, much prefer the iTouch's UI, much nicer design and neater layout.

Where's the IE based browser? MIA I guess.

IE needs to die a painful horrible death.

Edit: I just needed to comment on the OLED screen. It looks terrific, but how well will it hold up under direct sunlight? OLEDs have bad reputation in this regard.

Really like this, hopefully it will stand up to the ipod touch, competition can only be a good thing.

Thing that will be crucial is the apps and of course the app store.

The best part about it is that the screen is 16:9. Why does Apple sell movies on the iTunes store which are 16:9 but not a player with a display capable of showing them properly?

neiltc13 said:

The best part about it is that the screen is 16:9. Why does Apple sell movies on the iTunes store which are 16:9 but not a player with a display capable of showing them properly?

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Actually most movies are not 16:9, they're mainly 1.85 or 2.35:1. It's the TV shows that are 16:9.

The iPod touch and iPhone are not strictly media players (albeit in the Zune HD it's a media player with some web browsing thrown in) but are rather hugely diverse communications products.

Having a wide but thinner screen (the Zune HD has less pixels than a touch\iPhone) makes for good viewing of widescreen content but a less than satisfactory experience with other things.

Chop off 50 pixels from an iPhone's screen and try to imagine howmuch smaller the keys would have to be on portrait mode (a fair bit) so there goes some ease of use in web browsing and email etc. You also lose ground in many other third party apps (if MS go the way of an "app store" style thing) in that they don't have enough room vertically for landscape stuff. Turn the Zune HD sideways and you might have a nice big keyboard but notuch room for anything else above it.

16:9 is fine for TVs and laptops and stuff but of rather a slightly taller ratio that provides a decent compromise between 4:3, 16:9, and wider media but with the ability to do other stuff as well without losing out on the user experience.

OriginalMasta said:

Of course the UI is smooth - however, they are not the first ones to come out with this presentation. Apple showed the world how it's suppose to be done correctly. Only after TWO YEARS do you see devices start to implement this properly. So the point is "big deal". Been there, done that, have it already.

That's the problem with these companies - they play catchup. Now if the first Zune was done this way, I would give them props instead of calling them copy cats.

So all I can say is a big as s YAWN.

Click to expand...

very good post, and i agree with you.

also, we'll have to see what the next iPod Touch will look like

It doesn't matter if they're playing catch up. They finally have made a product I'm actually interested in to an extent. I love my Touch and would never replace it with the Zune HD, but it's close.

People mentioned how great the UI is, but personally I don't like it. The video may be playing tricks but it looked like a lot of specific swipes in certain spots and directions to get around. I do like the theme however. It's very stylish.

Microsoft will have to catch up with Apple 3rd party software-wise if they want to get anywhere though. The Touch/iPhone can do practically anything now, not to mention when 3.0 comes out. It's a tough record to surpass.

The App Store is the killer for many, but to be honest, a lot of what the AS offers for me is done on a laptop - seeing as I have much better options under Windows, which offer more practicality for real-life use than Apple offerings.

As a media player the Zune seems very compelling - and unlike those who don't get it, I prefer the subscription model. I'd jump on it if they rolled out the complete service over here.

Looks sharp, but I think my eyes would hurt after a while.

Just make a button that looks like a button, even if it's not really a button but a touch-screen button.