tinyurl.com/etrw5 -> www.ilounge.com/index.php/backstage/comments/zune-interface-features-detailed/
Tell a Friend image If you've been wondering how the Zune's user interface will compare with the iPod's, we have some real answers for you this morning: the similarities are significant, but Microsoft has made a number of changes that range from cool to not so cool. Turns out that there's no touch-sensitive scrolling feature here - it's shaped like a wheel, but it's really just buttons. Zune has a menu button on the left of the circle, scroll buttons within the circle, and a play/pause button to the right of the circle. There's also a hold switch just like Apple's on the unit's top, near the headphone port. You press up and down on the "Wheel" to scroll up and down through menus.
Think iPod, but in reverse: white text on black screens, but with a very iPod-like menu hierarchy. A white and gray gradient highlight bar fades in and out as you transition from level to level of the menus - a slightly futuristic and definitely nice visual effect. There's also user-customizable wallpaper, which could compensate for the fact that the screens otherwise look pretty boring - there aren't any dividers for top, bottom, or side interface elements, just text. When holding the scroll button to run through a huge list of songs, the screen superimposes the current alphabet letter over the right side of the song list to let you know quickly how far you've moved (right). Zune displays album art in a full-screen-width cube at the top of its screen, leaving room for an MTV-style black track details bar at the bottom, along with a battery life indicator. The album art is significantly larger and more detailed than the iPod's largest such display, thanks to the size of Zune's screen. Yes, like virtually every other iPod wannabe out there, it has one. Like the fading gradient highlight bar, however, this one is stylish in a minimalist way - large numbers on the screen, with a fast-moving bar and numbers representing the FM dial. Think Apple's iPod Radio Remote interface, but with more motion, no background art, and no preset details at the bottom - you can pick North American, European, and Japanese frequencies. Apparently you can use the Wi-fi feature to "loan" other Zune owners music for some short period (a day), giving them the opportunity to buy the tracks themselves from the Zune music store. While this is a cool idea, and could work well for ubiquitous iPods, it gets an "eh" here because you're unlikely to randomly bump into other people who have Zunes, and unless Microsoft actually gives away music, you're even more unlikely to find people who are willing to purchase tracks from its latest music store. You may also be able to spool Zune music to a Wi-Fi-enabled Xbox 360, which again is a cool idea, but requires a $100 wireless adapter and the $300-400 console. Zune is a bit bigger than a standard 30GB iPod, and apparently made entirely of plastic. In addition to the Music menus, there are Videos and Pictures playback interfaces, which aren't as simple as Apple's. Rather than using the iPod's single-line Rolls of Film + display, photos can be shown in a list of individually-named folders with a second line indicating the number of pictures per folder, which unnecessarily uses up screen space. An Extras menu provides access to the Radio feature, and presumably features added by future attachments or firmware. Settings lets you adjust the menus, the internal LCD screen, sound effects, the radio's frequency tuning, and more. The big question being asked around these parts right now is whether Zune has any feature so compelling that it can really rival the iPod juggernaut. Right now, the feeling is that Microsoft may have gotten a few things closer to right than normal, but neither any individual part of the package nor the complete experience will truly rival the iPod's super-simple, mainstream experience. At best, we've heard predictions that Zune will fight for the same fraction of "tech geek" market share (15%) that Apple hasn't yet taken; at a $300 entry point with a 30GB hard drive, it's hard to imagine that Zune gains traction in the iPod's strongest market, the iPod mini- and nano-loving $250-and-under tiny device buyers.
loungeStore comments Things i really don't like: -the whole thing is plastic -need to buy $100 adapter for Xbox 360 (plus system if not owned) -Buying HDD for xbox 360 (if needed) -Thicker than ipod video. Krn iPod Posted by Krn iPod on August 17, 2006 at 10:50 AM (PDT) Comment 1 I just noticed, the headphone wires are pretty much like apples earbuds, I like the fact that the earbuds are magnetic... Krn iPod Posted by Krn iPod on August 17, 2006 at 10:55 AM (PDT) Comment 2 Overall.... Posted by Alien on August 17, 2006 at 11:00 AM (PDT) Comment 3 "white text on black screens, but with a very iPod-like menu hierarchy." White text on a black background tends to make the eyes feel like they're being x-ray'd. It also tends to leave you seeing transparent parallel stripes across your vision if you look at white on black text for any length of time. Creative reckon they invented this whole columnar view based on metadata of hierarchical file structures. As ever the proof of the pudding will be in the end user experience and not in the sum of the features. Posted by Brenster on August 17, 2006 at 11:05 AM (PDT) Comment 4 I like some feature of the gui, like the inverse white on black, i wish i could mod my ipod that way, also the superimpose alphabet is pretty sweet. on August 17, 2006 at 11:37 AM (PDT) Comment 5 The Windows Mobile phone I have does the superimposed number over the contact list while scrolling through the contact list. It looks cool to begin with, but turns out to get in the way because once that little think pops up you've got to release the scroll wheel, the re-engage to go find the name you're really looking for. Posted by Jack Cox on August 17, 2006 at 11:55 AM (PDT) Comment 6 Can someone please enlighten me about what exactly is so cool about the superimposed alphabet. I think I can work out by looking at the screen when I'm browsing or scrolling a particluar letter of the alphabet. Posted by Confused on August 17, 2006 at 12:12 PM (PDT) Comment 7 When I'm scrolling, no matter how fast I'm going, I can tell where I am, because the first letter is the same for all the songs, and it doesn't change. Posted by Eric on August 17, 2006 at 1:07 PM (PDT) Comment 8 Microsoft cannot use a wheel touch pad. In my view, Apple's touch pad is one of the primary reasons I like the iPod. Also, white on black writing seems cool, but after awhile your eyes miss the black on white. You can make Microsoft word and Apple's OS to look that way. Posted by Terrin on August 17, 2006 at 1:11 PM (PDT) Comment 9 LOL ya wow it doesnt have any killer features beyond wifi/ fmtransmitter+reciever and a complete overall experience... As for "waisitng screenspace with 2 lines" then again the screen is what 2x the size as the ipod video? LOL give me a break atleast they have screen realestate to waste. simple because after my 3rd ipod just broke and my brother is on his 5th one... theirs a new device in town and i think i'll give it a run smile Posted by Chris on August 17, 2006 at 1:35 PM (PDT) Comment 10 why can't ppl make device that has lot of cool features (ie. Posted by khang on August 17, 2006 at 1:36 PM (PDT) Comment 11 White on black menus? I can certainly see why M$ says it will take them 5 years to compete against the iPod... Posted by Ben Dover on August 17, 2006 at 1:36 PM (PDT) Comment 12 The interface sounds a little bit like my Toshiba gigabeat s, which uses the portable Media Center Edition. The 60 GB gigabeat, however, is slightly narrower and about just as thick as the iPod. The only thing that the iPod has on my gigabeat is the availability of accessories. Posted by gigakeepin' on August 17, 2006 at 1:45 PM (PDT) Comment 13 Krn iPod: It's likely you'll be able to plug the Zune player directly into the Xbox 360 USB port and play music that way, if you don't want to fork over $100 for the wireless adapter. Posted by UnnDunn on August 17, 2006 at 1:45 PM (PDT) Comment 14 I would assume using this with the Xbox 360 would be just I use...
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