Well, isn't that how precedents happen in the first place?
Ergonomics should determine size, not geek-lore.
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Zune HD Hands on Demo and Impressions
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Well, isn't that how precedents happen in the first place?
Ergonomics should determine size, not geek-lore.
One of the problems with a non-standard display resolution is that you either have to convert every video to the non-standard size or choose videos with higher resolutions to guarantee no loss of detail which wastes storage space. Given the nature of the HDMI output I suspect that is what Microsoft had in mind.
Higher resolution content downscales onboard but you get full resolution over external output.
Wasteful on space but it's flexible. I wonder how you'll conserve power that way playing back 720p media onboard or you can spend time converting it on down.
Yeah, this is the idea here. Not sure how efficient it is until we get an idea of the video chip inside (assuming its doing hardware scaling rather than CPU scaling).
True h.264 playback hardware is getting much more efficient. The iPod already plays back 640 x 480 media while the display is less.
Sure, it's possible that the Zune HD will have a dealbreaker issue or two that will be blatantly apparent once you get your hands on it. But my point was that this isn't your ordinary Microsoft product, and anyone who gives it the usual tar-and-feathers welcome ceremony and pre-emptively brushes it off as another epic fail isn't paying attention.
The Microsoft we're used to will copy a product without adding anything new or unique, and they usually fail to copy what actually makes the original product attractive. And to top it off the design is usually underwhelming, if not plain ugly.
I don't see any of that here. It brings plenty of new features to the table (when was the last time Microsoft was actually ahead of the pack in any manner whatsoever? Did that ever happen before?), the form factor and design is good and it positions itself as a contrast to Apple's 'roundness' by going for angular shapes. The graphics are strikingly clear and simple with none of the usual Microsoft clutter and submenu hell, the transition animations are very tasteful... if the final product is anything like this, the sales potential is 20 times whatever it was for the original Zune. If they throw in a nice implementation of (MSN) Messenger Live, too, the kids will be all over this thing like mosquitos on nudists.
Anyone know how many tv shows are 16:9?
If it can't 'fit to screen', then you are going to spend a lot of time with black horizontal bands on your display with a screen 270 pixels high.
And I would assume the same will go for photos.....
Maybe you are right. But you have to admit, the zune has a piss poor track record so there is plenty of room for skepticism.
I agree completely.
If it was available in store today, I would say it is a healthy competitor to the iPod Touch. There are some hardware features that are "obviously" better (OLED, HD capacity, HDMI out).
However, if this is supposed to be a prototype (ie an insight into the future), it's incredibly underwhelming.
We'll have to wait and see what other capabilities it will have. But for the time being I can't see how it's special. Let's hope for a better demo in the next video with a reviewer who actually knows a thing or two about technology (again, really?? "you can see the high def there" - atrocious).
PS
NEVER thought I'd see the day where Apple Fanboy Bashers outnumber Apple Fanboys. Shocking!
I have a perfect example for you. This just happened to me in the last 30 minutes.
I was browsing the web in Firefox, latest version plus Ad Block Plus. I also had Adium open with one chat window and Mail was open sitting in the background. I quit Firefox because I was done with it. Upon closing, I notice the dock didn't reflect the change in Firefox. I try to click the Dock and nothing happens. I click the Apple logo in the top left and nothing happens. Finder is frozen. Great. I bring the little window via the keyboard commands, click Relaunch on Finder (Firefox is not in the list of running apps at this point) and nothing happens. I try again, nothing happens.
So I wait a few minutes and try again, nothing happens. At this point though, the Apple menu works. So I click restart. The menubar at the top disappears but the dock stays. After 10 minutes nothing has happened. I have to force shut down the system via the power button.
OS X. It just works
Things like that don't happen in XP, Vista, or Windows 7.
I'd say that nearly all current shows are 16:9, and have been for 4-5 years. The only shows I watch that are still stuck in 4:3 limbo are South Park and Family Guy. Everything else (Lost, Heroes, 30 Rock, The Office to name but a few) is 16:9.
Thanks Anuba for bringing this up!
This is a point I've been wanting to address based on what I have seen coming from MS in the last 18 months or so. THEY ARE TRYING. Yes you read that right, they are actually trying to be competitive again. I think they finally woke up and realized that they can't just sit on their marketshare anymore and watch the groundlings, because frankly the groundlings have been blowing them away for years now while they just rely on their marketshare to get by. I honestly beleive they have woken up and want to deliver good products again. It seems like the company has had an awakening that I'm sure has to do with fresh young blood influencing the company. MS seems to have a new spring in its step and I really hope things continue on this path. I dont want to hate windows anymore, I still do, but it looks like in the future I won't. 7 is a good first step and this zune (from what we've seen) shows that they are committed to spreading that spirit around to all of its products, or at least its figureheads.
Don't get me wrong, I love Apple's products way more, but if things continue like this I won't feel bad about suggesting my family to look at some MS products in the future.
This line made me laugh.
I've had my Vista system lock up completely several times. No it doesn't force me to restart (merely because I'm patient) but I literally cannot do ANYTHING until things unbind.
The OS's of the world have flaws, thats ok and realistic, I just want to see that their creators are working on improving them. To me it looks like both MS and Apple are really working hard right now.
For the sake of argument, can we list them so we can see what's new?
OLED
Fm radio
Play hd video/pictures though a hdtv
Retro design
Rival GUI
Rival media cataloguing software
Plays flash web graphics
What else?
From everything I've heard, but Ill make my call when I actually have leopard/SL (or have a mac for that matter).
I did use Tiger for a good 2 weeks on a G4 Powerbook (i may have the name wrong) that only had 512 mb of RAM last summer. It was a dream, a few beach balls here and there but nothing more than a 4 second wait, which I thought was AMAZING for such an old machine (I beleive that one was manufactured in 2004 if memory serves me right).
That's another great thing about Macs, they don't slow down over time like windows machines do.
Yup, thats why 8/10 new TV's at any store are widescreen and have been for a good number of years now. 4:3 is a dying breed (for good reason).
Ta, spotted that as I pressed submit.
I just wish it had a higher resolution. OLED screens are simply gorgeous.