BostonPocketPC

Well we had some errands to run as a family is the per usual and my daughter read about the new Zune HD Best Buy events and saw Boston was one of the chosen few areas. So we pulled up the PDF off of the Best Buy website and headed to Framingham. The display was right at the front of the store for Demos this is a premium real estate with a lot of foot traffic, a small crowd was already gathered when we arrived and jumped into the demo and fondled some mock up models that were being passed around.

Zune HD Hardware

The ID (Industrial Design) of the Zune is really cool mainly due to the addition of the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology lending to its svelte thin size. This device is really thin! My daughter placed the mockup being passed around next to an iPod Touch for size comparison and when placed next to an 8GB Flash Zune (sorry I don’t have a picture for comparison my oldest wanted to go look at all the phones) The weight we were told was the same as two of the mockups together, very light and barely noticeable in one’s pocket (So be sure to check you pockets before doing a wash!).

To power on the device you press the power on at the top of the device. My daughter asked how you lock the device and I believe the person giving the demo said you press the button to lock the screen and press and hold the power button to turn the device all the way off and on. There is a lock screen like many phones and DMP (Digital Media Players) have that can have a PIN to keep people off of your Zune. The lock screen image is the same as your background image which is selected from images on your Zune like on the current Zune.
Pressing the button on the upper left-hand side toggles the transition interface that has both volume up and down controls as well as Play/Pause in the center and previous track on the left and next track on the right, which the current Directional-Pad/Squircal does now, with a large text read out of the volume great for those over 40. Pressing the transition button on the side will bring you back to the screen you were previously on.
On that same side one of my daughters noticed the Hello from Seattle that used to be on the back of the Zune.
The back of the Zune has two beveled edges for a nice comfortable grip in ones hands no matter what you hand size and it’s held together by 4 Tri-Wing screws that are found on some of the previous Zunes.
The Home button does just that, brings you all the way back to the Home interface, much like pressing and holding the back button on previous Zunes. That’s it for buttons on the device the rest of the interface done via the beautiful touch screen with a swipe in the back direction to bring you back.
The accelerometer automatically shifts the screen from landscape to portrait mode depending on the orientation of the Zune.
HD Radio is added that allows you to listen to HD enabled radio stations, much like OTA (Over The Air) HD TV where you have many HD options on one main frequency via the headphones doubling as the antenna. HD stations are indicated with an HD text
On the bottom of the Zune HD is your headphone jack(no headphones where shown at this event) and the same Zune connector so if you have old Zune accessories and cables they will work with the new Zune HD.

User Interface

UI Elements you have the standard:

Music
Videos
Pictures
Radio (FM and HD)
Marketplace
Social
Podcasts
Settings

Removed from the menu is Games (which used to reside between Podcasts and Settings). Squeezed in between Podcasts and Settings is the Internet, which is an internet browser that wasn’t shown at the demo due to some changes that might occur. Also not demoed was the Marketplace, which was revealed on the internet in another BestBuy demo that there is an Apps and Music listing. At our store we were told that Microsoft gave specific directions that no one was to see some of the unfinished portions of the software, because they haven’t been finalized yet and didn’t want to give the public a false information – those being the Internet browser and Marketplace. MS also requested that no one, but the person doing the demo could touch the device. So we all got to touch and fondle plastic mockups, which are generally sent to accessory manufacturers so they can make cases, docks, etc. Back to the UI. When asked if the current Zune devices will receive updates, he said yes, but it won’t have all the features of the Zune HD and wouldn’t go any further. I am assuming this means the basic menu structure will be changed reflective of the new offering in the Zune Marketplace, but it wasn’t clear if the new sidebar UI would be there.

New UI on the side under the Standard UI are really cool shortcuts to get you to your media quicker.

You have Pins, which are songs and playlists that you can drag and pin to the UI great for favorites or favorites at the moment. You also have a History that allows you to not only look at songs, but radio, videos, pictures, and media last viewed. Also added is a New category. Something which is really cool if you have a Zune Pass or you just downloaded a new song, video, podcast, to the device and you want to get to it quickly you can find it listed under here.

During playback you have the same series of artist pictures that are shown in the desktop software as well as access to the Artists bio. You also get the same cool animations that In regards to new software that not only works on the Zune screen, but can also be displayed in party mode via the Zune HD & AV Dock. It kind of reminded me of liner notes on vinyl, cassettes, and CDs - I used to read when listening to their music. I would love to see the addition of lyrics here as an option in the Zune software. I asked how large the pictures and information were for each artist and our demonstrator said a few kilobytes and I asked if there was an option to toggle this on or off on the Zune desktop software and thinks there is an option, but wasn’t a 100% sure.

The Zune HD & AV Dock shares the same connector as the previous Zunes, but the ole 30GB Zune won’t fit into the slot. The dock had a few issues displaying via the HDMI cable, probably due to scan and resolution switches that the Samsung LCD television couldn’t detect - (our television at home has similar issues synching when video sources change when played through our receiver like switching from Xbox Dashboard to playing a DVD-a quick turn off and on usually reestablishes synch). Our Demo person was able to get it to work once and showed an HD video of the next series of Heroes that was shown at ComiCon09 He ran most of the other demos showing off the UI and playback via the composite connection.

HD Video (720p) is actually compressed and reduced in size to the resolution of to save space on the Zune HD otherwise you would only be able to store a handful of HD videos. Playback supports 720p HD video files play on the player, downscaled to fit the screen at 480 x 272 - not at full HD resolution.

I asked about Media Center synchronization of recorded television and the demo rep wasn’t sure.

Overall we were impressed with the Zune HD. It was much nicer than I had expected and it was smaller than the iPod Touch, which is pretty remarkable considering it has some great ID. The UI and side-by-side comparison makes the current iPod Touch look very dated. As the iPod starts to move away from Media, it appears Microsoft is focusing on media first and add-ons like apps, games, and internet – (with social media Twitter and Facebook which the Zune is all about sharing media) second, while not losing sight of what is important to the consumer. It does seem to come a bit late especially the Zune video store and merge with Xbox Live. To gain true market share MS really needs an OSX version of the Zune software and the ability to sell media and Zunes in Europe, the Pacific and Asia even if it is in baby steps.

My kids who are current Zune owners – 1 30 GB Zune, 1 8GB Zune, and 1 4GB Zune wanted the new Zune HD for Christmas, but missed the games that were present on their current Zunes. My wife who loves her Sansa Clip even wants one (in green). Myself I am still on the fence since my current Zunes work so well and with each product update it stays current and works better than it did with each software update. However the gadget lust is really getting me thinking. As with my kids if there are more XNA games in line with the Xbox 360, with Xboxlive Gamer Tag/ Zune Tag synch and achievements/badges along with some cool apps like a Sonos control application(please?) like the iPhone/iPod Touch have as well as Netflix streaming over WiFi, then I am full on board.

I will get a Zune HD, its just a matter of when.

Both Zune HD 16GB and 32GB and both are ready for pre-order for September 15th delivery date through Zune HD’s product page. You can pre-order the Black 16GB and the Platinum 32GB Zune HD from one of five retailers; Best Buy, Amazon.com, the Microsoft Store, and Walmart. If you visit Newegg directly you can preorder from them too. (I don't know if its on Bing Shopping yet for Cash back.) You can also visit Zune.net /zunehd to find links to the four online retailers and to get a more detailed look at the device. As expected, the suggested retail pricing will be $220 for the 16GB model and $290 for the 32GB version.

Make it yours

Also at http://www.ZuneOriginals.net, starting on September 15th both 16GB and 32GB capacities of Zune HD will be available in four different colors with the option to customize your player with one of 10 new engravings designed by guest artists.

Videos:

Here are some great videos to check out on the Zune HD.

One by our buddy Andru Edwards from GearLive.

Another by TechFlash with Brian Seitz of the Zune team.

Gizmodo has one too on the Zune HD TV interface.

And another recorded by at the gdgt event in San Francisco.

If you would like to win one the folks at Microsoft have a few contests going on. Head here for more info.

You can win a Zune HD through Microsoft, ;) if you're social enough. According to another press release and giveaway rules, if you visit Zune's Facebook and MySpace page and comment on their profile about the one Zune HD feature you're most excited about, if you're on Twitter you must add a Zune gradient to be eligible at http://zune.m80im.com and @reply to Zune about the one feature you're excited about. Here are the rules: