.::New Zune? Possibly Microsoft's PSP

It looks like Microsoft could be set to announce a rival to the iPhone at E3 next month.

As spotted by Neowin, an intriguing new update has appeared on the Twitter page for the Microsoft Office 2010 team.

It reads: "June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers."

A follow-up message has since popped up, saying: "New product launch, that's all I'm allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre."

So will June bring news of a new Zune? Will the announcement be made at E3? Will it have phone and gaming functionality, just like Apple's offering? Or is Microsoft finally launching a service that will let "Zune lovers" actually have sex with their machines? Probably not the last one.

Ok maybe I'm looking way too much into it being a portable Xbox but it does seem a phone verison is coming out and wouldn't be suprised to see some XBLA games on it

I should think a portable xbox would be fairly easy to achieve these days as it would be not that much more powerful than a PSP.

PostRe: .::New Zune? Possibly Microsoft's PSP by KK » Tue May 12, 2009 12:06 pm

Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

Zune HD has been rumoured for a while, hasn't it?

The rumours made it sound more like Microsoft's iPod Touch than a PSP though.

Garth wrote:Zune HD has been rumoured for a while, hasn't it?

Yeah, I would definitely say that is a part of it which would be the first of it's kind on the market?

To make Zune a success they need to join with the Xbox brand and do a joined effort, Netflix & XBLA spring to mind

KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

Must you come into every Zune thread and make these snide remarks? It's very boring and you've obviously never used a Zune.

Would be awesome if you could use games from XBLA on a Zune. I would buy that as I would have 74 games straight away

Shadow wrote:
KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

Must you come into every Zune thread and make these snide remarks? It's very boring and you've obviously never used a Zune.

Kklein is just a grumpy person...that's just the way he is.

Shadow has a point though, the 2nd and 3rd gneration Zunes are very good MP3 players. I'd rank the 120GB Zune over the 120GB iPod anyways.

Zune HD has no buttons, it won't rival anythign but the iPhone but then it'll fail, App Store is amazing.

suzzopher wrote:Would be awesome if you could use games from XBLA on a Zune. I would buy that as I would have 74 games straight away

This would be the big appeal for me too. It would also make sense for MS to expand their "Marketplace" platform in this way just as their rivals are doing.

KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

do you own or have owned one, i do and its very good, ive had mine for a year now and its an 80gb version, kicks ipods arse in my opinion and the software isnt gooseberry fool like itunes.

degoose wrote:
KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

do you own or have owned one, i do and its very good, ive had mine for a year now and its an 80gb version, kicks ipods **** in my opinion and the software isnt **** like itunes.

When i was looking for a new MP3 player, Zune would've been my first choice but Microsoft, for whatever reason, decided not to release it in Europe.

Did they ever say why it never came out in Europe?

KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

Exactly why the new one is dubbed "Microsoft's PSP", then.

Codename 47 wrote:
degoose wrote:
KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

do you own or have owned one, i do and its very good, ive had mine for a year now and its an 80gb version, kicks ipods **** in my opinion and the software isnt **** like itunes.

When i was looking for a new MP3 player, Zune would've been my first choice but Microsoft, for whatever reason, decided not to release it in Europe.

Did they ever say why it never came out in Europe?

Because they were making gooseberry fool all money in the States so it would have been suicide to have a launch in Europe.

Still reckon it's better than the iPod just for the sheer fact you don't have to use iTunes

tomvek wrote:
suzzopher wrote:Would be awesome if you could use games from XBLA on a Zune. I would buy that as I would have 74 games straight away

This would be the big appeal for me too. It would also make sense for MS to expand their "Marketplace" platform in this way just as their rivals are doing.

In the latest release of XNA they provided support for Zune so this is very possible.

Codename 47 wrote:
degoose wrote:
KKLEIN wrote:Ah, Zune...the product no sane person wants.

do you own or have owned one, i do and its very good, ive had mine for a year now and its an 80gb version, kicks ipods **** in my opinion and the software isnt **** like itunes.

When i was looking for a new MP3 player, Zune would've been my first choice but Microsoft, for whatever reason, decided not to release it in Europe.

Did they ever say why it never came out in Europe?

as far as i know they where using the US as their test market first until they where happy and then release it worldwide, im not sure why they didnt though as it has some great features and works amazingly well compared to the ipod, the screen size is also brilliant and the layout is really well done, my favourite thing is how simple the software is. I got mine of ebay but i believe there are a few stpres on the internet that import them.

You mean this:

The rumoured Zune HD which features a larger touchscreen (bye bye, Squircle), Mini-HDMI out and 720p video playback. Hopefully it will match up to the ipod touch in terms of gaming, only with XBLA compatibility.

It is highly doubtful Microsoft would launch it as a phone as well. They already have WinMo. Their hardware partners wouldnt like getting pissed on like that, especially with Android running amok.

Website · Last edited by Venom on Tue May 12, 2009 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It absolutely has to have a phone built in to be a 'playa' in this market, and I don't think MS is trying to emulate the PSP/DS... Mark my words, Microsoft are going 100% for the lucrative iPhone/app market -but you can bet it will have some kind of Xbox 360/Windows 7 functionality such as remote-play.

I've been holding out for the new iPhone rumoured to be revealed in June. A phone-less PSP Go is out of the question for me. Despite the original Zune looking the Sloth Fratelli of the PMP family, I'm definitely interested in seeing what Microsoft can offer as an alternative.

They still release new Sidekicks though so who knows what Microsoft will do. A Zune client for Windows Mobile seems a logical step to me but thats hardly something to put off buying an iPhone for. A nice early release of Windows Mobile 7 might though.

.::New Zune? Possibly Microsoft's PSP

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