The Rabapab Blog

After waiting a month I finally picked up a new Zune HD 32GB.  I had been waiting for the new Zune device since it was announced, and so far I am pleased with what I have seen.  It definitely delivers in the media player category, the equalizer is a great addition, and the touch screen interface is full of win.   The device itself is very sexy, much smaller and thinner than I was expecting, vastly improved over the previous brick style devices.  Size wise it is comparable to the Gen 2 flash based devices, but with 2 to 3 times the storage space.  The OLED screen is gorgeous, videos and pictures look crisp and bright, vast improvement over the previous screens.  It will certainly feel much better in the pocket than the 80GB it replaced, although I will still be using the old Zune around the house and in the vehicle.  The HD will be my mobile media device that will be used at work and when I am away from home or my car.  I have not had a chance to check out the HD Radio tuner, but am certainly looking forward to using it when I get back up to Canton this weekend.  I was surprised that Microsoft did not ship the HD with the higher quality ear buds like they did with the Zune 80GB brick, instead they opted for the standard ear buds.

Even though for the most part I am pleased with the purchase there are a few things that the Zune team needs to address in a firmware update.  Before I get into those things I do want to mention that most of the negative points I am not quite sure how they were missed during product testing.  It truly baffles my mind that when a company as large as Microsoft does device testing they allow so many glaring defects or bugs to make it into the final product.  It would seem to me that perhaps they need to better select their product testers, and give them specific testing scenarios.  Some of the issues that I have found so far are blatant and at least in my mind should have been easy to identify and address before the device even went to market.

The Zune HD appears to have some issues with accurately tracking play counts and reporting them to the Social.  After visiting the Zune forums it appears that this is in fact an issue related solely to the HD models, and the Zune team is aware of the issue.  For more information on the play count issue please visit the Zune forums http://forums.zune.net/526671/ShowPost.aspx.  This can be a big deal for some Zune users as they utilize the Zune’s ability to track play count to build playlists of their most listened to songs.  The play count feature is one of the main things I like about the Zune devices and software, so I certainly do hope that they address that in their next firmware update.  Another huge issue for some users is the Internet Browser, which seems to be a very weak implementation.  After getting the device home and charged I was unable to connect to sites like MSNBC, Digg, Google, etc.  Upon further attempts I have been able to get connections with MSNBC and Digg mobile sites, so it seems to be hit or miss.  For me the Internet Browser is a nice to have, but I am certainly not overly concerned about it working.  I am a Blackberry user, have a laptop and a netbook that I can browse the web from.  However, the forums again are full of people ranting on the fact that the web browser is weak and that they are even having difficulty connecting to wireless networks, http://forums.zune.net/514655/ShowPost.aspx.  I have not noticed any issues with connecting with the home wireless network, but I am not as clueless as some of the folks on the forums seem to be about networking. 

Other than those two issues I have not as of yet found anything else.  As I said overall I am pleased with the Zune HD, it is so much better than the previous generations of the Zune device.  I really just hope that Microsoft gets on the ball with the firmware updates and fixes some of the bugs that exist with the device so far.  If they can fix the issues I have listed above I think the device will stand a chance of being a competitor in the media player market. 

There is however, one other point I would like to make.  This is not really an issue or bug so I did not mention it above, it is mostly just a poor decision on Microsoft’s part.  The applications available for the device so far are very limited, and for no real reason, at least none that I can see.  I was really hoping that they would take a queue from Apple in this category and offer a larger library of applications.  Now that may come along later, but from what I have seen and read so far, it is not looking good.  The apps are one of the biggest draws for the Apple iPhone and iTouch device lines, why Microsoft would not attempt to tap into that market as well is beyond me.  Here is to hoping that they will open the Application Marketplace up and allow 3rd party developers to build apps for the Zune HD.

So I must say that I am definitely looking forward to the Zune HD release supposedly sometime this fall.  The previews and few hands-on reviews that I have read with pre-release hardware samples lead me to believe that it will be quite the piece of hardware.  The touch screen interface is what I am definitely looking forward to, it has been long overdue.  The jump to the HD Radio will help to keep the device out in front, which will add to its appeal.  And now that it will have a web browser built in the device gains the utility of similar devices with WiFi connectivity.  The OLED screen should be absolutely amazing to see in real life, and I certainly cannot wait to get my hands on one.

I do hope that Microsoft can see the huge market for allowing applications to be developed for the device.  And with that knowledge I hope they open the device to 3rd party developers to create software similar to that capable of being run on the iPod Touch devices.  Otherwise, even with all the nice bells and whistles the Zune will still be lagging far behind the iPod Touch and iPhone applications market.  I would think that making the Zune device capable of running 3rd party software would be possible, considering as how it is running a Microsoft operating system.  Certainly they can build something that Apple is clearly capable of building, only I am sure that Microsoft can do it better and with the ability to multi-task.

If you are looking for more information check out the following articles, I found them informative.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10303243-49.html

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/28/zune-hd-hands-on/

http://gizmodo.com/5272228/zune-hd-hands-on-photos-and-video-tour

Those are just a few articles with pics of early versions of the device in the hands of the reviewers.  And so far the device looks amazing, it can only get better between now and release.  Hopefully Microsoft will see the light and start releasing development kits to developers to begin creating applications.  That way with some luck they have some apps ready to go when the device is released.

Stay tuned for more on this device in the future.  I do plan on grabbing one as soon the device is released.