When it ships later this year, the Zune HD could cost as much or more than the iPod touch by the time both updates are released this year, an additional leak said Thursday. An interview with a previous source on Neowin cautions that prices aren’t “set in stone” but has the base 16GB model costing between $249 and $279, or at least as much as the Zune 120 does today. A current 16GB clickpad Zune costs $179.
The insider also supports notions of a 32GB version and adds that a 64GB model is possible later in the Zune HD’s life cycle, though he doesn’t say what the larger-capacity model might cost.
Such a price could potentially hurt the Zune HD, as Apple is widely assumed to be lowering the price on its 16GB iPod touch from its current $299 for its next revision. The Microsoft player is likely to cost more through its use of a multi-touch OLED screen, which should produce more accurate colors than Apple’s LCD, as well as the NVIDIA Tegra chip that supports decoding 720p video.
The official confirmation was more or less a “let’s get this out of the way for E3″ move. Microsoft wanted to be sure the Xbox 360 and its Natal controller would be the star of the show.
Like all journalists, I tend to be wary of news tips from people I don’t know. Such was the case when I was contacted way back in March by someone claiming to have inside info on upcoming Zune hardware. The tipster told me that the new Zune would be a full touch screen device. I thought this was interesting, so I passed it along on to Twitter much to the delight of my followers.
So to clear up any lagging questions about the Zune HD , I sat down with my source — we’ll call him “TK” — to get him to answer a few more questions.
RR: What is your title at Microsoft? TK: Software Engineer
RR: How long have you worked for Microsoft? TK: 2 years.
RR: What kind of projects do you work on for Microsoft? TK: Windows Kernel
RR: Why did you decide to talk about the Zune HD? TK: Because I love Zune…It’s just an all around better product then the iPod & I wanted it do better in the marketplace.
RR: Was it approved by execs higher up, or did you just go ahead without Microsoft approval? TK: I went ahead without any approval from any of the higher ups.
Howdy folks, we're back again with another action packed episode of the Zune Insider podcast! This week we have a couple of special guests from the team drop by. Josh Vincent, a program manager on the Zune Software and DJ extraordinaire, and podcast guru Rob Greenlee. We'll talk about DJ life, life on the Zune team, and we'll also sample a few of Rob's favorite podcasts. We even have an extra special surprise courtesy of Rob, niiiiice! As usual, we'll also talk music, videos, and other items of great randomness. Awesome!
Get your Zune Insider fix on the web here, or subscribe here.
But I have converted it to HTML for easy viewing below:
How to place any file on a Zune by dressing it up as a video
(Only tested on a Zune 30GB – running the latest firmware and Zune software as of 25th of June)
What can be gained from doing this:
1. Skip the ridiculously long video transcoding process for a much faster sync
2. Save any file to the Zune – retrieved using the Zune software and then changing the file name back (or maybe not if you hide a .zip within a .wmv?)
3. Sync video to the Zune that is not compliant with the Zune software’s strict format - Could it be used to play higher resolution video on a TV via the AV out leads? Maybe something with a higher frame rate?
How to do this:
1. Prepare a very small .wmv file (something in the range of 20 seconds will do just fine)
2. Prepare your other file to be placed on the Zune (If you plan to use a video file, makeit a .wmv as these seem to play on the device, .mp4 files will not)
3. Open this folder in windows explorer: “C:\Documents and Settings\##YOURUSERNAME##\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Zune\Transcoded Files Cache” and delete any files within, keep the window open
4. Run the Zune software and connect your Zune
5. Drag and drop your small .wmv onto the Zune device icon to sync it to your player, wait for this to finish, do not close the program
6. Return to the Zune cache folder, take note of the new file that will have appeared (in my experience it will be formatted like this: asdFG.tmp)
7. Copy the file to be injected to the cache directory, swap it for the .tmp file you found in step 6 by deleting the .tmp and then applying it’s name and extension to the new file (you will not be able to delete the temp file because it is currently in use by the Zune software, this is easily fixed using a program like Unlocker – http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/)
8. Go back to your Zune software and navigate to your device, delete the small video from your Zune
9. Drag and drop your small .wmv onto the Zune device icon to sync it to your player again, wait for this to finish, do not close the program if you wish to override this file again, but feel free to disconnect/reconnect the Zune
10. That is it, your file is now accessible from your device’s video menu
Step 2 – Experiment with file types/video formats and come up with your own applications for this
Step 4 – You will need to keep your Zune software running after the sync so the cache does not become irrelevant when your open it again
Step 10 – Something you will notice when you open your videos is that the injected file will have the thumbnail of the small .wmv file you replaced as well as the file name and apparent duration (e.g. it will say 20 seconds but when you play the video it will not be limited to this length)
This appears to be a sign that the Zune software sends over the video’s information separately to the file. I personally use a small .wmv file who’s thumbnail is white text on black saying “Injected File” because I got sick of looking at that guy from the TopGear video I had chopped up
And if you’re thinking this is a bit of a pain to use, this is my plan for an command line application to speed this all up/make it easer to inject multiple videos at once:
Put all the files (videos?) you would like injected into a folder somewhere (these would be .wmv files in a format that has been tested to work by injection)
Type into the command line: injector.exe -t -##FOLDER DIRECTORY## (will generate a small base file for every video you placed in the folder you pointed to)
You would then run the Zune software and sync these base files, leaving the window open
Type into the command line: injector.exe -m -##FOLDER DIRECTORY## (will move the files to be injected into the cache, overwriting the transcoded base files)
You would then move back to the Zune software, delete the videos from your device, then re-sync the base files
If you want this to work, someone other than me should probably write this heh.
−
zuneninja // www.zuneboards.com/forums
(PS. Redmond, please don’t patch this – you really piss off your biggest supporters
We here at Zune are saddened by the news of the passing of pop legend Michael Jackson.At this time of shock and grief we would like to point our Zune users to some of his groundbreaking chart-topping hits and tribute audio podcast called “Thrillercast” in our Zune Marketplace software, published by Sony BMG.
The “Thrillercast” podcast is made up of 28 episodes and in each episode celebrities like will.i.am, LL Cool J, Herbie Hancock, Imogen Heap, Adam Curry, Quincy Jones and many others tell stories of how Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album changed their lives and impacted music for generations to come.Thriller was the world’s biggest selling album of all time.
The job market is getting hot and everyone is looking to upgrade their salary or make a career move to a better job. The search fgor jobs has taken on a whole new look with the internet leading a shift in the industry.
Job searches used to be more about grabbing your local paper or asking a friend but the internet has changed all of that in the last few years and job searching online is more confusing than it should be. Major job search engines like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com have been overwhelmed with new job seekers and the colume of resumes you get when you put a job on these sites is just plain ridiculous. We had an ad for a secretarial position that received over 1000 applicants in just the first 2 weeks.
How can you expect to find a job with that much competition? You just can’t and people have begun to get creative in their job searching. Localized search engines are gaining popularity where as an example you can find Philadelphia Jobs by searching a job search engine that is tailored to your geographical area. If you were living in this area and needed to find a job in Philadelphia then your search should target your desired location specifically.
These niceh directories offer Philadelphia Job Seekers the ability to find the Philadelphia Jobs they need without having to deal with the hassle of picking through jobs you cannot take because they are too far away.
This article below goes on about how many CD’s you save the planet if you buy a Zune but there was little comparison to the damage the battery and other heavy metals inside your portable media players that are not properly disposed of and end up in waterways or landfills where they are doing more damage than a lot of CD’s.
I think if we had an environmental impact tax on items like batteries and other dangerous materials you would find a lot more green equipment being developed. I do not think I would call a Zune eco friendly unless it were properly recycled in the end of it’s life but I can certainly see the article writers point as to the number of plastic disks saved by harddrive players.
Did you know that buying and using a Zune is saving the world? (not just the Zune, but an Ipod, or any other MP3 player)
My Zune 80 holds 177 albums as of right now. If I had to buy all of those albums think of all the packaging waste that would come with those.
cdrecyclingcenter.com says that MILLIONS of plastic CD’s are thrown away every year!
Don’t get me wrong, millions if not billions of CD’s are ‘reused’ by the used CD market, you only have to visit ebay to see the huge amount of numbers of music and other types of CDs being reused. That is Great, but eventually they will end up in the trash.
On the other had, not many Zunes end up in the trash, you can still sell a broken Zune for a good amount, I sold a broken iphone for $200 that I washed in the washing machine (long story)
If i washed a CD would anyone pay me $1 for it? I think not.
Just think about, save some packaging, buy a Zune instead of a CD
Whether you are looking for music, movies, videos, TV shows, games or software for your Zune player, you will find them here. Read about the top sites in the entertainment industry for Zune downloads today. More
When it ships later this year, the Zune HD could cost as much or more than the iPod touch by the time both updates are released this year, an additional leak said Thursday. An interview with a previous source on Neowin cautions that prices aren’t “set in stone” but has the base 16GB model costing between $249 and $279, or at least as much as the Zune 120 does today. A current 16GB clickpad Zune costs $179.
The official confirmation was more or less a “let’s get this out of the way for E3″ move. Microsoft wanted to be sure the Xbox 360 and its Natal controller would be the star of the show.
