Zune HD: Ready For War

September 18, 2009 By leif

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Zune HD: Ready For War – While the sun never seems to set on Apple’s MP3 player empire, a new challenger named Zune HD has come forward and the sleeping giant known as Microsoft has woken to a new quest. The Zune HD has come a long way from its meager beginnings. The iPod Touch has sat fat and happy for many years; and now, as Apple citizens grow smugger with each updated iPod model that gets released, a fire burns in the hearts of the wizards and engineers at Microsoft who are more than ready to do battle with their latest underdog creation.

The old ways of DRM past are gone now and the hearts and souls of new music and media player buyers are up for grabs. The Zune HD knows that this war cannot be won in its life time and yet it tunes in it’s HD fm radio tuner, shines up it’s tough ultra slim exterior shell and preps for battle. Behind the walls of Apple’s kingdom, the iPod asks it’s self what that glimmer is that it sees off in the distance. After doing a search with it’s Google neighbors, the iPod comes to learn that glimmer is the sight of a Zune HD army with their OLED screens charged up and marching upon the Apple empire. The media player war has begun and the line has been drawn, do you know what side you stand on?

Showing 19 comments

John Bereczki at 5:48pm 3rd February 2011 Hey all you apple fans who think apple is great and the first, maybe read some history first: The world's first company to announce a portable MP3 player and the attendant system for uploading MP3 audio content to a personal computer and then downloading it onto a personal MP3 player was Audio Highway. Under the direction of founder and CEO, Nathan Schulhof, Audio Highway announced its Listen Up player on September 23, 1996,[3] won an Innovations Award for its Listen Up player and its Listen Up Personal Audio System at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1997,[4] and began shipping the Listen Up player in the United States in September 1997.[5] The Listen Up player also won a People's Choice Award[6] at the 2nd annual Internet Showcase conference, held Jan. 30, 1998. As the lead inventor on three U.S. patents (5,557,541; 5,572,442 and 5,841,979),[7][8][9] as well as co-inventor on another U.S. patent (6,549,942), Schulhof is sometimes referred to as "the father of the MP3 player industry." So HA HA Apple fans!!!!!
John Bereczki at 5:43pm 3rd February 2011 First off get your facts STRAIGHT YOU MORON - Apple DID NOT invent the first MP3 player, Audio Highway did!!! Way before apple probably thought of the icrap products! SO NICE TRY!!! The first one was released in 1997 - there were a few others before Apple, so apple isn't anything special - maybe they made it look all nice but it's not their idea! SO HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES! Do you research before you blah on about how great apple is!!!! So Apple is the COPY CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! LOSERS! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_player CAN'T YOU STOP BEING A ZOMBIE LIKE OTHER LAME APPLE USERS! Everyone walking around with white ears phones, pretty lame - I don't care how great your apple product is or if it came out with the first mp3 player or how popular. At least I can think for myself and I don't give in so easy to the propaganda garbage from Apple, oh look if you buy this you'll be cool like every other apple zombie on the face of the planet! Get a life - I'm glad there are a variety of mp3 players and not have to jump on the band wagon like so many people. Oh look at that apple product, oh let me go throw up on your apple stuff cause it makes me sick! It's not the product that bothers me its all you fanatics or mac heads who are so closed minded! You call the Zune HD - crap, well have you ever even tried it? If not, then how can you even call it crappy!!! Did you even read the article - for those who don't care about apps, Zune HD is better and I agree - it's easy to use, so what if it's a touch screen, the interface is different, so is the body, the screen is OLED which is WAYYYYYYYYYYY better than your crappy itouch will every be! The sound is amazing and so what about apps, if you love your apps - then stick to your crappy apple products and waste your money on that! So why consider a Zune, cause I don't want to be like you or the rest of the crowd who can't think for themselves, affected by the media and advertising. Also it's more rich in media.... sound and visual but then again you probably would NEVER know that because you haven't even tried one or willing to because you're so obsessed with your dumb apple and apps! Half of your list is dumb as you can do some of the those on the Zune! Some of the ones that can't be done on the Zune sound not very practical so try another one!!!
Whoever at 1:24pm 12th December 2010 CAN'T MICROSOFT GET ITS OWN IDEAS? It is constantly copying Apple. Who came up with the IDEA of an MP3 player? The answer is Apple. Apple is a revolutionary company. Now, some people might think "it doesn't matter if they're copying, they're just trying to make money." Well, isn't EVERYONE? At the end of the day, it's about ideas. And Apple is the best when it comes to new ideas. Microsoft may have been the original computer, but lets face it: it's gone pretty downhill. The only reason people buy Dells and whatnot is because Apple computers are expensive. But money does NOT translate into quality. If you want a crappy mp3 player that has a touch screen flung on top of it, then go ahead and buy a zune. But if you want a top of the line piece of technology that can be completely customizable and has endless options: thousands of apps that do incredible things- then get an iPod, for heavens sake! The argument that some people don't want all those fancy apps and things is no longer excusable. BECAUSE APPS ARE NO LONGER JUST ABOUT GAMING. Find your iPod from your computer. Bump your iPod against someone elses and be able to share music. Use your iPod as a remote. Go on the internet...and print things from your iPod. Get the weather--and even predictions on snow days. Bake a virtual cake. Own a virtual pet. Take a video and edit it right then and there. Then share it with anyone via email, SMS text, facebook, or twitter. Read a book. Play a game, whether it be a puzzle, a coloring book, a board game, a video game with amazing graphics, or an old fashioned arcade game. Watch your favorite TV shows and movies--own them or rent them. Chat with your friend with facetime--so you can see them, right there on your iPod screen. Doodle a quick drawing. Bring up a keynote presentation, even if you forgot your real copy at home. Then control that presentation with your iPod. Record yourself singing a Christmas carol, then fix up your voice so you sound like a star, and send it to your friends. Have your credit cards, gift cards, and reward cards right there, at your fingertips, with cardbank. Listen to an audio book. Enjoy the crystal clear sound of one of iTunes' millions of songs. Take photos with character with Hipstamtic--and enter online photo contests. Email. Make a quick note. Update your social network account. Watch youtube videos. And so, so much more! Even people who don't like games love apps, after they get to use them! Reason being, apps are USEFUL. They do so much, and for only a few extra dollars, you can have all of these amazing features at your disposal. So why even consider a zune?
1. DSES at 1:34pm 12th December 2010 Totally right.
  1. John Bereczki at 5:44pm 3rd February 2011 Totally wrong!
2. John Bereczki at 5:50pm 3rd February 2011 Get your facts straight .... Idiot, apple copied that idea from someone else so the icrap is nothing special!
Aleeacerix at 7:53pm 22nd November 2010 If Microsoft made more ads for the ZuneHD, then it will be more known and it would sell more ZuneHD in other countries.
a or m? at 10:03pm 5th October 2010 I just started to look at a new mp3 player and fell in love with the Zune HD. I've heard about Zune before but only through myspace. Microsoft did quite a bit of advertising there but not very much otherwise. I also have heard about all the glitches and other stuff that happens to Apple stuff and I have heard very few negative things about Microsoft (most of them about Vista).
1. weeweweeww at 1:33pm 12th December 2010 EW you fell in love with an MP3 PLAYER!
unknown at 4:30pm 18th May 2010 My sister has had the older version of the zune for i don't know how many years and my brother-in-law has had countless ipods and ipod touches that have broken on him and my sister terrorizes that zune too.
cosmiccrank at 10:40pm 17th April 2010 Zunes are absolutley fantastic. People who use Ipods only use them because of advertising, and the popularity, and because of the applications on the Ipods.
Zunes give you such an experience, It's like being at the movies, except it could be at the park or in your room. They are just fantastic. I believe they will make more applications and more user made apps as well.
All microsoft would have to do is advertise and zunes would explode.
1. ZunesRtheWorst at 1:32pm 12th December 2010 You said the word fantastic twice. SAYING IT TWICE DOESN'T ACTUALLY MAKE IT FANTASTIC. People who use iPods use them because they're AWESOME and THE BEST. By the way, get with the program, MICROSOFT ALREADY ANNOUNCED THEY WEREN'T PLANNING ON MAKING A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER PROGRAM FOR ZUNE, SO NO USER BASED APPS! Obviously, you have too much faith in Microsoft to fix all the faults in their crappy excuse for an MP3 player. "All Microsoft has to do is advertise". Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it, if they were actually a SMART company? Truth is, they won't advertise. There's no hope.
tonello at 8:39pm 28th January 2010 i just got my zune HD and i have to say its better than my sister's itouch. even my teacher who practically hates microsoft admits that its better than the Iphone (mostly cause its on the crappy AT&T network). but the pictures looks crystal clear, and the sound quality and videos are just stunning. i think the first thing Microsfot should have done after the Zune HD came out was make the apps store available to third party designers.
1. THE ZUNE at 1:28pm 12th December 2010 SHUDDUP! NO ONE CARES! Your just trying to make yourself feel better because you made the wrong mp3 player choice.
parker at 5:12pm 20th January 2010 we all admit the ZuneHD is a better device than the Itouch. The only reason that people, commenting this post, don't like the zune, is because it's not super popular and talked about like the Itouch. But, if the ZuneHD was advertized as much as Apple products i bet you would see everyone rushing to the store to purchase one and be "in".
Nameless at 9:57pm 13th January 2010 I think zune is a much better device. It has a better screen and it is more powerful, meaning it should be able to run better games. I just think they need the versatility that the itouch has. If they had all the apps, it would sell much better.
Ty Schwartz at 2:23pm 27th December 2009 I agree with Ian Bell. Microsoft should probably spend more of their advertising money on the Zune, instead of Windows 7. Half the people that I know don't even know what a Zune is. It sounds great, and i think more people will buy it if they got advertised. I have not seen one single Zune commercial in my lifetime. Microsoft needs to step it up a little.
Randy Flores at 1:11am 21st December 2009 i got a ZuneHD and i think it's wwwaaayyy better than my iPod Touch... it's more realistic and 3D... and it desn't really blur up the pictures like the iPod
Ian Bell at 1:50pm 30th September 2009 Personally, I think people will forget about the ZuneHD after a few months. I don't see them advertising anywhere and there just isn't that buzz you would expect.