“Microsoft Corp. chose Toshiba Corp. to manufacture its Zune digital music player, a device that will compete with Apple Computer Inc.’s market-dominating iPod,” Dina Bass reports for Bloomberg.
Bass reports, “Toshiba, which currently sells music and video players with Microsoft’s Windows software, yesterday filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for approval of the device. Microsoft spokeswoman Denise Gocke confirmed the filing and Toshiba’s role in the project.”
Bass reports, “The Redmond, Washington-based company plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several years in a bid to dent Apple’s 77 percent share of the $4 billion U.S. market for digital music players. ‘Toshiba makes a very high-quality product,’ said Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group in San Jose, California. He called the decision ‘a good choice’ and said Toshiba’s Gigabeat music player is often reviewed as one of the few devices whose hardware is equal to or better than the iPod.”
Bass reports, “”The FCC filing included a photo of the device, which is white with a black-trimmed screen and a black-trimmed, white scroll wheel. Zune will have a 30-gigabyte hard drive, a three-inch screen, and be available in three colors, black, white and brown, according to the Toshiba filing.”
Full article here.
And, so, it’s confirmed. The Zune, or as it’s already known in France, “Z’Brick,” is made by Toshiba and is the size of a small convenience store. Oh, and that “white scroll wheel” mentioned by Bloomberg is not a scroll wheel at all, it’s only a four-way button that just happens to be round. You know, to look like Apple’s product in an effort to fool the ignorant. As usual. Apple’s patent pending iPod Click Wheel is patent-pending for a reason, you know. The fact that the brick-like Zune comes in brown is considered by many analysts to be highly appropriate. And, if Rob Enderle thinks it’s all good, then you know it’s very, very bad. How bad? Even we expected more from Microsoft.
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That thing looks thicker than a 1G iPod. Who’s pocket is that going to fit in?
“The fact that the brick-like Zune comes in brown is considered by many analysts to be highly appropriate.”
LMAO!!
Macnut222, I believe it is meant to go into the back of your pants, just on the inside though, and center it.
THIS MUST BE A JOKE???
Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group in San Jose, California. He called the decision ‘a good choice’ and said Toshiba’s Gigabeat music player is often reviewed as one of the few devices whose hardware is equal to or better than the iPod.”
Good old Rob the Knob, talking trash as usual
For the 1st time ever MS has to play being way behind on the score board against a mighty competitor and where MS will not be able to leverage its OS market share.
Can’t wait to see how this ends. I’d like to see how much money MS is going to throw at this.
Not to be confused with the tacky faux brick material known as Z-Brick; http://www.z-brick.com/
Wait, come to think of it…
A big hit that will divert attention from unsightly cracks of overweight plummers when stored in their back pocket!
….All in all it’s just a….
….nother BRICK IN THE WALL.
Brown? What kind of color choice is that? Black, good, White, good……but Brown? Red, Pink, Green? Those are better choices. Brown…..
Geeze. Stupid. Absolutely stupid.
Oh, shit. I mean, oh, Zune.
Microsoft should pull the plug on this immediately. A repackaged Gigabeat is going to do about as well against Apple’s iPod as… well… a Toshiba Gigabeat.
Microsoft sucks.
It connects to your PC via it’s cutting edge technology serial port.
To Do List:
1. Sharp stick ✓
2. March on Redmond
3. Ballmer’s head
I guess MS will spin the brick-like Zune as “rugged” vs. the iPod being “fragile” and “too small”…lol
Hey, it’ll work too. As it is, fuctards see the iPod nano and lament that “it’s too small” and “i’ll break it” or “I’ll lose it”…
Now, if it’s going to be a brick, it should at least do everything the Newton did…
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” -John Keats & Mary Poppins
No joy in a Zune.
I wonder about Zune’s packaging? Time once again to review how MS would redesign the iPod packaging:
Jeg-
They did a good job coming from nowhere with the Xbox. They didn’t unseat Sony of course, but the system isn’t doing too badly either.
I know they were able to leverage the OS in the crushing of Netscape, but don’t forget Netscape was the untouchable king of the hill.
It’s funny how people talk about GM and Ford when trying to describe Apple’s 4% market share takeover of the 95% Windows world.
Yet when someone tries to take on iPod and iTMS, no one mentions GM and Ford. Everyone then seems happy in the La La Land of market domination.
I’m a 3 iPod kind of guy with a huge investment in iTMS stuff, “I ain’t switchen.” It’s just funny to see the exact same people drone on about the importance of a 4% market share then in the same breathe laugh at a measly 25% market share for music. An arguably larger market than computers to boot.
88
eureka, i’ve got it. steve looked so haggard and tired at the WWDC because he saw some spy photos of the zune and stayed up all night laughing his ass off!
i think i just lost a couple of pounds myself just now.
thanks, microsoft and toshiba!
oh, and i’ll have you know, in france it will be called z’merd.
Would someone in San Jose go to The Enderle “Group” headquarters and take some snapshots? I’d love to see this thing for what it is. Rob and his dog sitting at a 4 year old PC.
Don’t worry about a thing!
Apple has been expecting this and is going to pull another “Nano move” just when the “Brick” is starting to get rolling.
For those who don’t remmeber the “Nano move”, it was Steve Jobs nifty little innovative trick to replace the colored iPod Mini’s just when competition was starting to heat up.
The cause of Creative’s huge losses and Dell’s exit from the MP3 player market.
Microsoft is going to try the brute force attack with this “brick”, but Apple is going to suddenly make all products that look like a video iPod, including the “brick”, obsolete by introducing a new product.
It’s going to have a 16:9 aspect ratio screen, I can tell you that for sure right now.
Secret Agent Man,
Do we fscking sound the least bit worried to you?
The only thing we’re worried about is having some doofus drop one of these piece of shit Z’Bricks on our feet.
Is it feasible that Apple would allow it’s new allies at Creative to make their players compatible with the iTunes Music Store just to screw MicroSoft? I know they’re making the big profits from the iPods, but might not a small loss in sales to Creative be worth the added grief it would inflict on MS and their Zuney-Toons player? Just an idea.
My Toshiba laptop – at work of course – is total crap. We all hate the thing. A friend of mine bought a Toshiba laptop- poor lad – and deeply regrets it.
Looks like they didn’t spend much time coming up with that thing, as always copying but too quickly and badly.
Creative isn’t going to be making any new players unless Steve Jobs lets them do it the way he tells them to do it. Creative isn’t Apple’s ally, it’s Apple’s bitch.
Apple’s doesn’t need any help. Look at that POS Zune from Microsoft. It’s DOA.
Ballmer won’t last 12 months.