When the first Zune was released in 2006, it was obvious that Microsoft was playing catch-up. It was also obvious that while the Zune has some limited benefits over Apple's iPods, it simply lacked the style of Apple's thin, sexy products. The number of Zunes sold continues to be dwarfed by the iPod, and there is no immediate end in sight.
But if Microsoft has proven anything, its the ability to see the big picture. The company continues to stick its fingers in a great many pies, making continual, incremental improvements at the aims of increasing market dominance. The latest step in Microsoft's Zune line is the Zune HD, an obvious competitor to the iPod touch which feels unfashionably late to the party. But is the Zune late to the party because it was buying the keg, or because it was having trouble convincing dad to let it borrow the car?
The most immediate and obvious feature of the Zune HD is the touchscreen. Touchscreens are becoming common, but well executed ones are harder to find. The Zune HD looks promising on paper, as its screen is a 3.3" 480x272 OLED multi-touch interface. This is slightly lower in size compared to the iPod Touch, but the quality of the picture should be comparable. The new Zune HD's interface, unlike the touchscreen interface, uses the traditional Zune main menu consisting of large, easy to see options which span across the screen. This makes more visual sense then the iPod Touch's smaller buttons, which can become difficult to discern at a glance. On the other hand, it is discouraging that Microsoft seems to have adapted their older interface to the touchscreen interface rather than creating a new interface specifically for the touchscreen device.
Aesthetically, the Zune HD has made great strides against its competitors. In fact, I dare say that the Zune HD appears in some ways sexier than Apple's product. While the Apple iPod Touch has always appeared quite attractive when viewed from the front, the chrome shell only looks good for a few minutes after the product is opened. Fingerprints and scratches quickly pile up forcing the user to either cover the iPod Touch in a less-then-sexy carrying case or polish it religiously. The Zune HD can be had with a silver or a black finish that appears more industrial and more durable. Microsoft also creates a trim, flattering appearance by more closely matching the size of the screen to the size of the device.
Continue on to the next page to learn about our predictions for the Zune HD.