For what feels like centuries, the iPod was considered the must-have music device. An elegant design and simple interface made even the sluttiest of fratboys fall in love.
But then came along Microsoft's Zune. Instead of a dainty, scratch-prone piece of MP3 china, the Zune is chunky and coated in spank-me-harder rubber. And the Zune was there for us with a shoulder to cry on during those nights we vented how the iPod lacked WiFi, FM, and a general understanding of "a woman's needs". Plus, its 30GB hard drive is just as big as the comparable iPod's...if you know what we mean.
We appreciate that the Zune let's us hook up and share moments on trains or bathroom stalls, but we still crave the monogamy of iTunes DRM support. Hit the jump for our Frankenreview: everything we just said above without the technologically awkward sexual innuendo.

Frankenreviewer Says:
Design
"It can't touch the iPod's looks or coolness, but it's certainly more practic...

When we're making a comparison between the iPod and the Zune, it's also important to note that the software makes a big difference in your music experience. You'll have to use the software suite extensively for both playing back music at your computer and organizing songs onto your portable device. This is why both iTunes and Zune Software play such a large part in determining which music player you should purchase.
So which one is better? That depends largely on your personal usage habits, but suffice it to say iTunes has a challenger on its hands. Find out why after the jump.
It's hard to customize a music player or music library for everyone's use. Some people don't use ratings at all—I love them—and some people don't use smart playlists. So to figure out which one's better for you, you'll have to pick and choose the features you like and decided on that. Here we go.
Music Importing: On install, the Zune automatically imports your existing iTunes dat...

Filed under: Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Ok, we had a bit of a rough start after getting open the box and all, but we've given the Zune, and its software, sharing, wireless, etc. as good a looking over as we could hope to. We've got things we like, and things we don't; rough edges to go right along with the well thought-out niceties. We came away underwhelmed and not at all surprised -- and why? The expectations were for Microsoft to deliver a "Microsoft" player and system; maybe not too shabby looking, but not very usable, and definitely bug-ridden. But everyone hoped Microsoft had got it right this time, eschewed patterns of old and gotten a fresh start with new blood willing to think about things from outside the staid Microsoft culture. But that just wasn't the case. It's a Microsoft product (in the vernacular sense) through and through. Click on to find out why in our full review of the Zune, Zune player, and Zune marketplace. (And we do mean full.)

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When not busy looking for "if it bleeds, it leads" stories to report on, CNN sometimes fills its airtime with cute little tech reviews. This week, they (well, The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin) looked at the Microsoft Zune. Now, we already know that our very own Jason Chen has testified, under pain of death, that the Zune is pretty good. (Then again, he puts next-gen game consoles down his pants...) Our friends at CNN seem to disagree.
The review starts off positively enough, but then the anchors weigh in with their valuable opinions. Watch as Suzanne Malveaux whips out an iPod shuffle for seemingly no reason; marvel as Miles O'Brien demand that Microsoft hire better design guys. Overall, an extraordinarily in-depth review.
There, someone who doesn't think that the Zune is the Savior of Man. – Nicholas Deleon
CNN ridicules Microsoft's Zune while gushing over Apple's new iPod shuffle [MacDailyNews]

Filed under: Portable Audio

A pink Zune, already? Normally a company goes limited edition pink around the time the product buzz reaches an unsettling hush, not on product launch day. However, this and an orange Zune were apparently delivered as gifts for those helping Microsoft push the ol' girl out the door. Just don't be surprised to see these new colors announced over the next few months, you know, when Vista is supported, WiFi is opened up, and the Zune phone and 60GB models drop. Busy, busy.

[Via ZuneBoards, thanks Han Yoon] 
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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs
Look out Samsung, Asus, and the rest, Taiwan's HTC is getting ready to light a fire under the saggy azz of the next gen UMPC platform much as they did for Microsoft's Windows Mobile. Hey, we can dream right? In an interview with the Seattle Times, HTC says they'll be hiring a 12-person engineering team into their US offices to drive some of the highest-level industrial design work in the company. Namely, devices for new high-speed, broadband networks that "mimic miniature, long-battery-life laptops that can make phone calls." According to Todd Achilles, HTC's VP of Sales and Marketing, their "ultramobile PC could be sold as early as next year." We've already seen HTC and UMPC-friendly Via in bed together on their OnDemand media distribution technology which might lend a hint at the niche HTC will target. Regardless, with HTC's US HQ in Bellevue, just down the road from Microsoft's, we should see some tightly integrated product...

Now that the Zune is out, I’m sure you guys want to hear from other people like you. Every day people who have purchased a Zune them selves. If you have, do a little review and let other people know what you think of the Zune, all reviews will be published, good or bad. So [...]

Remember the post about the IME Zune car integration? Here is  video of it working. What you think? Will you be pimping your car out with one of these babies any time soon?

Got a good printer? then your in luck! Before you run off to buy a Zune from the shops seeing as you decided not to buy from the ZuneInfo shop :(, you might want to take this with you: But no guarantee it will work, you will need a very good printer or you could just [...]

Seeing as song sharing is such an important piece of the Zune puzzle, we thought we'd show you again what the Zune to Zune file transfer looks like. You'll notice that it's quite speedy to send a song, which then kicks you from whatever it is you were doing into your Inbox to view what was sent to you. Brian thinks the transparent popup notification is obtrusive, and on one level I agree. But there's pretty much no way of sharing songs by asking for permission without prompting the user somehow. Just be prepared to turn off your wireless if you don't want random people sending you things. – Jason Chen