That said, the right seven could be enough if one of them was like any of the Halo series games for Xbox 360. Nine might as well be zero when App Store offers 65,000+ applications. By comparison, the Zune Marketplace offers nine Zune HD applications, seven of which are games. Nearly 70 of the top 100 paid applications at Apple's App Store are games. 15, 2009, that App Store has more than 21,000 gaming and entertainment apps compared to about 600 for Sony's PSP and about 3,700 for Nintendo DS. Betanews' Tim Conneally reported on Sept. Nintendo and Sony are on the defensive, as Apple extends a rich hardware and software gaming platform. The iPod touch is rapidly becoming the handheld game console of choice. The device would be even better for handheld gaming, and there the Zune HD packs the hardware to deliver but not the entertainment applications and games to support it. Zune HD is Microsoft's sexiest product ever. Task-oriented UIs emphasize simplicity and hide complexity, increasing usability. The task-oriented user interface, while very non-phone like, is ideally suited for a multi-functional device, even one with 3G telephony. With a 3G radio, Bluetooth and application store, Zune HD could be a helluva phone. The Zune HD's size, particularly its thinness, would be ideal for a cell phone - way better suited than iPhone.

For size, shape, weight and feel in the hand, Zune HD is simply the best portable media player I have ever held.

The device is what the 5th generation Apple's iPod nano should have been: Slightly larger to accommodate a touch screen. If Microsoft combined iPod nano with iPod touch and sprinkled in its design DNA, Zune HD would be the progeny. The portable media player is finely crafted, is remarkably thin and fits more comfortably in the hand than iPod touch (Zune HD measure 52.7 mm x 102.1 mm x 8.9 mm and weighs 74 grams). Without partners, Zune HD is little more than prototype for a Microsoft phone, which this device absolutely should have been. These faults can only really be fixed by what Microsoft does really well: Partnering. Much as my geek nature likes the device, my pragmatic character finds faults. I ask at the start: Can you easily use the product and eke some enjoyment from it? Related: How well will the product fit into digital lifestyles? Many other reviewers have glowed over Zune HD. I strip away the hardware speeds and feeds, refuse to benchmark and focus on the down and dirty of usability. Zune HD is a real heart breaker, because Microsoft otherwise has delivered something exceptional.īefore proceeding a qualification: Unlike many other product reviewers, I'm decidedly pragmatic.

There isn't much you can do with Zune HD other than watch movies or listen to music, and there is currently no ecosystem for extending Zune HD's utility - nor is one visible in the distance. It's a single device in a multipurpose world. But Zune HD also is a platform without a purpose.

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