Zune HD Gets Some New Games and Apps… For FREE November 13, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Mp3 players and iPods , add a comment
Project Gotham Racing on the Zune HD (Pic from Kotaku)
Remember back in our Zune HD review where we mentioned how the Zune HD will be getting some new free games and apps, like the hit Xbox 360 game Project Gotham Racing? Microsoft released a whole bunch of new games for the Zune HD including
- PGR: Ferrari Edition (which is like it’s Xbox sibling, giving you 12 Ferrari cars to race all over New York, London or Tokyo either in a 33 level Career mode or in online races aginst up to 3 other cars)
- Lucky Lanes Bowling, a bowling game where you can play either against the computer or up to 4 friends
- Piano app which simulates a virtual piano
- Vans Sk8: Pool Service, a skateboarding game where you aim to do the best tricks in 10 different events
- Checkers
- Audiosurf Tilt, a game where you pick a song from your music library on your Zune and then try to collect the colored blocks and avoid speed bumps along a custom roller coaster made for each song. Microsoft also said today that they soon will also have apps for Facebook and Twitter.
Yes, this is nowhere near the 100,000+ apps in the iTunes App Store, but Microsoft does deserve some credit– creating what looks to be some quality apps (specifically the PGR and Audiosurf games) that look to take full use of the high powered Nvidia Tegra chip inside the Zune to give some solid games all for the unbeatable price of FREE (though you do have to look at a brief ad while the game loads, something I’m more than happy to deal with if it means quality, free apps).
Now if only they’d open up a real App Store and give developers a chance to fully tap into that high powered Tegra chip (I mean check out this video of PGR and Audiosurf on the Zune from Engadget, who they say looked as sharp as a PSP game!), and we’d be all set.
Anyone out there with a Zune HD, you like your new games?
Full info on the apps can be found on the Zune site here.
Review: Microsoft Zune HD October 2, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : First Look/Reviews, Mp3 players and iPods , add a comment
The Zune HD
For the last week or so we were able to spend some good ‘ol time with Microsoft’s sweet new Zune HD. It really is a slick device– OLED multi-touch 3.3 inch touchscreen with amazing display (thanks to NVIDIA Tegra graphics), sleek design, thin aluminum casing, built in WiFi, and of course, the HD features of HD radio and the ability to play your videos in HD with the optional HD playback kit.
So if your looking for a new device and have to choose between say, this and the iPod touch 3rd gen, which should you go with? The answer, my friends, is after the break.
(more…)
New Info on the Zune HD August 19, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Mp3 players and iPods , add a comment
The Zune HD
You’re also very interested in the Zune HD? Who could blame you — HD Radio, WiFi, AMAZING (yes, AMAZING) OLED screen, HD playback of videos, an awesome design and a bunch more features.
When we first wrote that post on the Zune HD we were very excited as this could really be Microsoft’s “iPod killer,” but were left wondering on its launch date and price, as well as details including battery, features and storage. Well have no more fear– Microsoft has finally let all the details out of the bag, and wow this thing looks even better to me than it did before.
Beginning with storage, the Zune HD, like its iPod Touch competitor, has either 16 or 32 GB depending on how much you want. Among the previously unmentioned features of this incredible machine, the web browser seems nearly on par with Safari, and I especially advise you check out CNET’s hands-on video and their positive comments here. And not only is there multi-touch, battery life on this bad boy is also insane: 33 hours of music, 8.5 hours of video, and only 3 hours to charge from your PC and 2 (yes, 2) hours to charge from an AC adapter! All that is way better than the iPod Touch in every way. There are also a host of color design options, as you can see from the above pic (right now you can only pre-order in the standard black, 16 GB version, or “platinum”– a 32 GB version, silver)!
On to the biggest news: the price and release. The 16 GB version will be coming in at $219.99 and the 32 GB version will be coming in at $289.99 when they launch on September 15th (a little under 1 month away). That’s $80 cheaper than the iPod Touch 16 GB and $110 (!) cheaper than the 32 GB iPod Touch. Wow is right.
Of course, just to be fair, Apple is said to be holding a big event sometime in the two weeks of September where they are rumored to be launching new iPods (possibly these), so if your looking for a new Mp3 player, you may wanna hold off for a month cause things are about to get really interesting.
You can pre-order the Zune HD here from the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart, and can check out the Zune HD for yourself at any of these Best Buy stores on August 22nd and 23rd.
Zune HD Announced May 27, 2009
Posted by Chaim Gartenberg in : Mp3 players and iPods , add a comment
The Zune HD
It’s been rumored for a while, and here it comes. Microsoft’s next shot at it’s multimedia line, the Zune. And it seems that they actually might have something here. Details on it are few and far between right now, with more coming at Microsoft’s E3 event (a major tech event next week, June 2nd) but here’s what we know so far:
- New hardware-- 3.3 inch OLED touchscreen, built-in WiFi and web browser with multi-touch, HD radio, ability to play back movies in HD with a dock (sold separately), and the usual ability to play movies, music, and photos.
- Xbox Live interactions– Microsoft’s not giving a whole lotta info here, but the Zune Marketplace and the Live Marketplace on the Xbox are apparently merging, along with other Xbox/Xbox Live integration. Again, more info at E3.
- Coming in the Fall– When exactly we don’t yet know.
So, what do I think? At this point, its hard to tell. Without knowing some more info, like the extent of the Xbox integration, or even the storage capacity, and of course, price, it’s hard to guess where the Zune HD is going. Personally, I think that it looks pretty cool, but without more details or trying one out personally, I can’t call this one yet. More stuff to come next week as Microsoft announces it, so hang tight.