Really A New Zune? Its Not Dead?
09.14.07 - 01:01pm
Since Apple has just released a whole new iPod line, news of a possible redesigned Zune just seems to fall very very flat. Nevertheless rumors of a possible new Zune are out there - thinner with a two-tone translucent rubberized finish and what looks like a touch pad rather than a click wheel for navigation.
There has also been speculation of a new Zune phone possibly coming out for the holiday season. Many think that a Zune phone would be a good way for it to capture the technology that Microsoft already has a hold of such as Voip and good old Windows. (A phone with the windows browser - do you really want all those viruses on your phone????)(It would make for some great iPhone vs Zune phone ads!)
Right now, even with the $50 price cut the Zune just received it still doesn’t seem as cool as even the new iPod nano 3G. The 3G may have a smaller screen than the Zune, just 2 inches compared to the Zune’s 3 inches, and less storage 16Gb compared to 30GB, yet for the same price the nano 3G just seems like so much more. Super thin, super hot, and face it, the world is at your fingertips with an iPod. (We won’t even go into the slightly more expensive iPod Classic with up to 160Gb of storage and iPod Touch with total web access - touch screen and more, which blow the Zune out of the water.)
Nevertheless Microsoft says it is unfazed by Apple’s new iPod line. Zune unit blogger Ceasar Menendez said in a blog posting after Jobs announcement, “This may come as a shock to folks, but today’s Apple Computer announcement doesn’t actually change any of our plans. Of course we watched with some degree of interest but our plans have been in motion for some time now.”
Microsoft’s goal is simple - “for the Zune to be the only alternative to the iPod that offers the complete iPod end to end experience.” Whether those plans include a Zune window’s installed phone or just new Zunes one thing is clear, if Microsoft is to meet their goal, they have to come out with some real iPod competition.
Speak Your Peace