New Zune

[polish]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137975-page,1/article.html (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137975-page,1/article.html)


Microsoft announced a new slate of Wi-Fi-equipped Zune players today, including $150 4GB and $200 8GB flash-based players, and a $250 80GB model that's slimmer than the original Zune. All of the new models feature touch-sensitive controls and wireless syncing with your PC, a much-demanded feature that Microsoft will also make available on the original 30GB Zune when the new models debut in mid November.


I might actually get one since it finally wirelessly syncs with the PC. Media Player with extender for the 360 has been good to me so far.

[jagowar]

media player is nothing compared to the power of media center extender... media center is much more powerful and media center content will now be able to be synced to these new zunes.

and i am leaning towards getting one as well.

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/new-zune-family.jpg
Hard drive Zunes

* It's called the Zune 80 and, shockingly enough, it has 80GB of storage.
* Uses the new Zune Pad -- four way touch-sensitive d-pad (with up, down, left, and right buttons).
* It will sell for $250 (with "premium" headphones).
* Available only in black (to start).
* Screen size has increased to 3.2-inches (from 3-inches). As far as we know the resolution is still QVGA.
* Dimensions are 61.1 x 108.2 x 12.9mm (2.4 x 4.25 x 0.5-inches), some 1/3rd smaller than the classic Zune.
* The classic Zune will now be known as the Zune 30 -- it's not going anywhere. More on that in a sec.

New flash Zunes

* Zune 8 and Zune 4 are the names for the 8 and 4GB flash based models.
* Also uses the Zune Pad.
* These will sell for $200 and $150 respectively.
* Both will be available in pink, green, black, and red.
* It will feature a 1.8-inch screen (compare to the nano's 2-inch screen).
* Dimensions are 41.4 x 91.5 x 8.5mm (1.6 x 3.6 x 0.33-inches) -- compare to the new iPod nano, at 69.8 x 52.3 x 6.5mm (2.75 x 2.0 x 0.26-inches).

Everything else

* New Zunes ship in November, date not yet announced.
* All Zunes (including the Zune 30) will have a new, redesigned interface and feature parity. In other words, early Zune 30 adopters will have all the same software features as new Zune 80, 8, and 4 users.
* Additional native video codecs for h.264 and MPEG-4 -- users no longer need transcode those file types to WMV.
* Zune can FINALLY sync video from your Media Center PC! Jeez, took you friggin long enough, guys!
* WiFi sync to host computer! Includes moving over music, movies, photos, podcasts, etc.
* Podcast support! (Sorry, no over the air downloads -- sync only.) Podcasts can also be shared via WiFi.
* The 3x3 song sharing DRM has had its three day restriction removed, but users can still only play files three times.
* There is still NO wireless music store.
* The Zune software is all new and rewritten, and is supposed to actually be more than a rebadge of WMP10 now. Friggin finally.
* The Zune music store is going DRM-free, with over 1m MP3 tracks being made available for download. Other details (like which labels, whether there is a DRM-free upgrade path is for users who've bought music with DRM, price differences, etc.) are not yet revealed.