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iPod nano Packs a Punch
Zune vs. iPod Specification Smackdown
Zune 2 vs. iPod, by the numbers
Zune2 is no iPod killer, or even iPod competitor
Microsoft takes on the iPod again, fails again
PC Mag: Analysis: Zune Improvements Aren't Quite Enough
iPod Touch: Can We Touch OS X?
iPod nano Packs a Punch
BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl reports:
From the moment the first one was launched in 2005, I never really liked Apple's iPod nano line, favoring instead the bulkier, hard-drive equipped portion of the iPod family. I have a lot of music, and I don't like to think about which bit I'm going to leave at home on any given day. Moods switch, and one minute I'm in the mood for some John Mayer, and the next I need a shot of John Coltrane or an obscure Van Morrison bootleg.
So I stuck with my 40-gigabyte iPod—until a year ago. That was when, on a lark, I decided to buy a second-generation nano with just 8 GB of memory. Already weighed down by a cell phone and a Blackberry (RIMM), the tiny nano compared favorably with its heftier sibling. It quickly became my main iPod, and I started using the larger one less.
Now it all makes sense to me why the nano has, in two short years, become the most popular iPod. Apple doesnt break out figures on the mix of sales, but educated guesses suggest that nanos account for about half of all iPods sold.
For the full review visit here:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2007/tc2007102_167708.htm
Zune vs. iPod Specification Smackdown
Engadget's Thomas Ricker reports:
The new Zunes are official so let's get to it: a spec-by-spec scrap between Redmond's new Zunes and Cupertino's formidable iPod foe. Unfortunately, Microsoft failed to mention the all important battery performance of their new gear in addition to a few other minor details. Microsoft fans will tell you that's due to an iPhone-like surprise close to the November launch while haters will jump to the conclusion that this is a definite sign of trouble. Still even without that morsel, there's plenty of data to masticate for comparison.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/03/zune-vs-ipod-specification-smackdown/
Zune 2 vs. iPod, by the numbers
ZNet's Ed Burnette reports:
Information on Microsoft's new Zune 2 is all over the place this morning. The question on everyone's mind (well, everyone in Redmond) is, will the Zune be enough to break into Apple's near-monopoly on portable music/video players? For some inexplicable reason, my review package of Zunes hasn't arrived yet (ha) so we'll have to settle for looking at the specs of the two lines to see how they compare.
You can check it out at:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=394
Zune2 is no iPod killer, or even iPod competitor
Znet's Russell Shaw says:
As colleague Greg Sandoval notes, Microsoft has announced the second-generation Zunes. Each will go on sale in November...
....But what about vis-a-vis the iPod?
IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian tells Greg she regards the new Zune's features as encompassing "important incremental changes," while Gartner analyst Van Baker regards Zune 2's feature set as Microsoft "holding their own."
I'm somewhere in the middle. Zune is a cool product, but unlike iPod has not made the transition to both a must-have product and a transition term often substituted for the generic reference in the way, say, "I'll Google that" or "I've got to put that track on my iPod."
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=2500
Microsoft takes on the iPod again, fails again
ZNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes says:
Microsoft takes on the iPod again, fails again. The Zune 2.0 is what the Zune 1.0 should have beenI know that I should, in the interests of fairness at least, be rooting for the Zune because it's the underdog of portable media players, but I just can't do it. The problem is that the entire Zune range is just boring. I just can't find a single thing to get excited about. The entire specification, apart from the price, screams mediocrity.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=842
PC Mag: Analysis: Zune Improvements Aren't Quite Enough
With news early Wednesday of a new Zune line from Microsoft - as well a refresh of the Zune Marketplace that will now include DRM-free MP3s - the big question is: will it be enough to keep the Zune ship afloat?
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2191896,00.asp
iPod Touch: Can We Touch OS X?
OSWeekly's Brandon Watts says:
I've commented about it before, but I'll say it again - Apple sure is putting OS X on a lot of devices these days. Instead of being a question of what it runs on, it's quickly becoming a question of what doesn't it run on. Of course, OS X is one of their most valuable assets, so it's only right that they use it to the fullest extent.
Recently, the iPhone showed us OS X in an entirely new way and on an entirely new device, and even though it is locked down, you can't argue against the fact that the implementation of the operating system is stunning. This inevitably led people to vocalize their desire for an iPod just like the iPhone only without the phone functionality. I think everyone knew that this was going to happen in due time, and sure enough, it did.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2662
Charles W. Moore
Tags: iPod ď iPod News ď
