Zune details hit the airwaves
CrunchGear got the scoopage direct from Microsoft, who apparently had a very limited invite list for the news. Most of the official word on Zune is what we already knew or guessed:
- 3-inch screen (QVGA or 320 x 240)
- Integrated FM tuner and 802.11b/g
- 30 GB of storage in a model by the holidays
It’s the social experience that Microsoft appears to be counting on, as you can share any music file with any other Zune user, but with limits. Shared songs can be played up to 3 times within 3 days. After that, well….."this recording will self destruct in five seconds…." but without the Mission Impossible fanfare. More deets over at CrunchGear; my open question is: will I be able to purchase tracks via WiFi at a hotspot or can I just use the WiFi to send little lovemusic notes to other Zuners? Stay tuned…and check out the official Microsoft Zune Press Release for those of us who weren’t invited to the party. That would be us. 
UI Videos at:
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/09/microsoft-announces-the-zune-again-a-now-with-more-details.php#more
Eh. Several weeks ago I traded heated words with someone over the Gigabeat being a non-product because it wasn’t avauilable in *real stores*. Well, last week I was in J&R, and lo!, they had the Gigabeat. OK, it’s real now. And fekkin FUGLY!! I hope the Zune doesn’t have that crazy array of side buttons!
Boingboing points out that the self destruct aspect of the shared files violates creative commons licenses.
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/15/microsoft_zune_will_.html