In a press release earlier today, Microsoft let the world know all the juicy facts about its new upcoming product and what now looks like a promising iPod competitor, finally. And who better to release such a product than Microsoft, Apple’s long-time foe?
In my eyes, this product is great. iRiver for years has tried to come up with something worthy. Unfortunately, to this day they’re still lagging behind. Microsoft, on other hand, has created so much hype around this topic, that they simply can’t not deliver at this point. Now that I’ve seen the press release, the pictures and the test drive (below), I can totally see them living up to the expectation.
Really, most of the features are just what you would expect from a portable music player these days: 30gig hard drive, 3-in screen and even an FM player (something iPod lacks). The real gem is that it’s Wi-Fi enabled! For now, they only announced Zune-to-Zune connections where individuals will be able to share songs seamlessly (of course, which they will later have to buy in order to continue listening to them). Really, this is just a start. Imagine the possibilities of a wireless-enabled mp3 player!
AirPort Express competitor
Expanding on the above thought, Microsoft can totally make a similar device that will be able to provide music for speakers anywhere within wireless range. Except, you won’t need a whole computer to transmit music to it because Zune will be able to completely fulfill that task by itself.
We have the AirPort Express setup currently in our apartment, in our living room. To it, we hooked up 5.1 system that plays loud music during parties. The transmitting computer, my MacBook Pro sits conveniently in my room. Except that it’s not really all that convenient. Every time I want to skip as song or change the playlist, I have to go to the last room in the apartment and do it from there. Bringing my laptop out to the living room, frequently filled with semi-tipsy college students with beer in their hands is the risk I’m simply not willing to take!
From a consumer point of view, this is a problem for me. Now Microsoft will introduce a perfect product that will fill this void in my life. Great!
Another important consumer point of view
Another positive thing for any consumer is the fact that finally, there will tough competition in this market. Finally, there will be awesome innovations which will bring along great products. Even for those Microsoft haters this is a good thing. I love Apple products and if the Zune takes off, I simply can’t wait with what Apple will come up in response. I would love to play music right from my iPod to the AirPort Express and in Apple’s case, they don’t have to upgrade the AirPort Express, just add Wi-Fi capabilities to the iPod, the rest of the framework is already in place.
It’s sexy too!
There’s really not much to say about this. The form is good and from this video, looks like the function is good too:
» YouTube link
The negatives
Of course, there’s the whole software support barrier which I may not be able to ever cross. Currently, I’m not willing to switch from iTunes to that software the Zune will be bundled with. Of course, at this point, I know nothing about it, but at the same time, I doubt it will be available for Mac OS X. Now that, I would love to see!
Don’t get me started on the logo too. From the designer perspective, this is horrific. Yay for focus groups made out of five year olds.
ilovedesign
September 16th, 2006 »I’m not a Macfan too.Let’s see what this Zune really worth…
Rob Schultz
October 18th, 2006 »I’m not all that impressed with the product design, however I do love the wi-fi capability. I won’t be selling my ipod video just yet, but I will be interested to see how this spices up the next generation ipod and perhaps the itunes store.