Brian's Brain

Hopefully by now at least some of you have gotten a chance to peruse my Prying Eyes teardown of Microsoft's new Zune HD portable multimedia player, published yesterday. And some of you might have seen my hands-on observations on the device from a month ago. Reviews of the Zune HD have been quite positive, albeit with a few grumbles:

1. No Mac OS X support for device management (although it's possible for subscribers to stream content from zune.net via any browser, running on any operating system)
2. A touchscreen-centric user interface, eschewing good ol' fashioned navigation buttons and even the previous generations' slick touchpad (a complaint which I noted in my writeup)
3. An OLED display that washes out in direct light (ditto), and
4. A dearth of applications at launch, both in general and specifically third party-developed.

AppleInsider basically had nothing good to say about the device, but then again if you consider the source and its potential bias...

Here are a few standout reviews (IMHO...although the titles are nothing to write home about!), if you'd care to see what other folks think about the Zune HD:

• Third time's a charm: Ars reviews the Zune HD (Ars Technica...and preceded earlier that same day by Zune HD: First Look)
• Zune HD Review: The PMP, Evolved (Gizmodo)
• Review: Microsoft's Zune HD is a nifty media player (particularly notable considering that to call the Chicago Sun-Times' Andy Ihnatko an Apple fanboy would be...umm...an understatement. Thanks to John Gruber for the heads-up)
• Zune HD Review (Engadget)
• Review: Zune HD (Crunchgear)

I can't help but wonder to what degree (if any) Microsoft's touchscreen-based user interface decision will adversely affect its ability to compete against the Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation Portable and upstart Apple iPod touch in the portable gaming space (though I doubt the decision to eliminate 'squirting' will prompt much user backlash). And I can't help but wonder just what clock speed the Tegra APX2600 CPU inside the Zune HD is running at. Microsoft and Nvidia remain tight-lipped, so we'll probably have to wait for some third-party developer to inadvertently reveal the details. Until then, content yourself with the architectural analysis of Ars Technica's Jon Stokes. Ars also did a nice piece two months back, after Microsoft's release of the product's target spec.

The Zune HD supports HD Radio capabilities by virtue of a SiPort IC that my Prying Eyes piece pointed out (PDF). I mentioned a month back how much I was enjoying the subband-delivered multi-content capabilities of digital radio; further experimentation since then has further confirmed and strengthened my initial positive thoughts. Venturebeat's Dean Takahashi published a compelling writeup on the challenges the company faced in bringing the chip to market, which I commend to your attention.

iFixit's Kyle Wiens (who I've worked with before) was doing his own teardown as I was working on my piece. He and I swapped various pieces of information and analysis this time, and his writeup provides plenty of pictures for your perusal. Anythingbutipod also published a teardown; particularly check out the memorial to one of the team members (who passed away during product development) that Microsoft honorably includes inside each Zune HD sold. Anythingbutipod also collected a bunch of Zune HD tips and tricks for any of you who might be tempted to buy your own unit.

Finally, how about some video? Thanks to an Ars Technica heads-up, I can pass along seven promotional pieces:

And Long Zheng also passed along the introductory videos for the Zune v4 software (which I can't figure out how to embed, alas, so click on the link to see it for yourself) and the device itself:

Happy weekend, all!