Posted by on under ugly duckling, beautiful swan, zune, gray bird, champis, clear stream, anet, techcrunch, growing pains, ipod touch, thin air, quirks, caliber, sy, hd, offerings, swan, samsung, bush, microsoft | 
But what did he see in the clear stream below? His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. —The Ugly Duckling
It's been a long, brown trip for the Zune: from its early days (mocked and abject) to its awkward years (deemed a dead end and money pit) it's been embattled and criticized, and rightly so. After all, here was an unpopular company with a frankly ridiculous brand it had pulled out of thin air, attempting to compete with the guys who defined the market. We've always been champions of the devices, despite their quirks, and of the service, despite its growing pains — and Microsoft occasionally made it pretty hard for us to stand by our favorite little misfit media player. Well, for once they just made it
really easy. Let's not beat around the bush, now: this thing is going head-on with the iPod touch, one of the most versatile and well-liked devices on the planet. There are other PMPs, sure, but the caliber of these two devices is well beyond the best offerings from Creative, Samsung, or Sony. To make it easy on the Apple fans who are impatient to comment on this story, let me just state it right now for the record: the Zune HD is not an iPod-killer, but it
is the only player out there that can go up against it and not be annihilated in the process. It's good enough that everyone owes it to themselves to give it a look — unless you're afraid of just how good it might be.
TechCrunch50 Conference 2009: September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco
Tagi: ugly duckling, beautiful swan, zune, gray bird, champis, clear stream, anet, techcrunch, growing pains, ipod touch, thin air, quirks, caliber, sy, hd, offerings, swan, samsung, bush, microsoft
Posted by on under computer speakers, quality factor, ipod nano, superior sound, mids, noes, scheme of things, shure, sound quality, nano 4g, gadget, 3g, ears, clarity, capability, zune, jazz, job |
The Gadget: Not to be confused with the original In-Ear Headphones, Apple's new In-Ear Headphones have been redesigned from the ground up with balanced audio powered by two drivers in each ear. It also comes with a remote and microphone that's compatible with the iPod Nano 4G, iPod touch 2G, iPod Classic and iPhone 3G (kinda).
Price: $80
The Verdict: After a history of offering lackluster earbuds, Apple has come through with a product that sounds really good and is reasonably priced, all things considered. The balanced sound and dual drivers makes all the difference in the quality factor. While not necessarily thumpy, the bass has a nice resonance without drowning out many of the high end intricacies found in jazz or electronic music. The midrange audio is relatively flat and doesn't overpower your ears, which is nice because it allows the high end noises to really stand out, letting you hear things you don't get from your car or computer speakers.
To see how they stacked up in the headphone scheme of things, I tested them against a pair of standard iPod headphones, the premium Zune headphones, and the Shure SE110s, the winner of our earphone battlemodo.
• Unsurprisingly, the Apple In-Ears outclassed the normal iPod earphones in every category, providing superior sound and comfort.
• The Zune Premium Headphones v2, which are very good for only costing $30-$40, had bass that was a bit punchier, but could not compete against the mids and highs of the Apple In-Ears. If you really like bass or a lower price, you might favor the Zune headphones, which more than get the job done. But on sound quality alone, the Apple In-Ear headphones are superior.
• Compared to the Shure SE110s, the Apple In-Ear headphones don't quite match up. It's not a stark difference between the two, but the SE110s are superior in almost every category, from bass, to high end clarity. Part of that is because the Apple In-Ears don't have the noise isolation capability, and partly because they're just not quite as good. And though theyre $40 cheaper than the SE110s MSRP, you can find the SE110s at some online outlets as low as $75.
As far as remote capabilities go, I tested the Apple In-ear headphones with an iPhone 3G and a first gen iPod touch (neither of which are officially supported. As Apple claims, the audio works fine with both devices. Neither the remote or the mic work with the iPod touch 1G at all, merely reducing it to a pair of headphones. On the iPhone 3G, you can't use the volume, or track changing controls. The remote can only play/pause a song, answer/end a call and make use of the microphone. But all of those work perfectly fine on the iPhone.
Overall, the Apple In-Ear Headphones are a quality product at a fairly reasonable price. They sound great, and work as expected. That said, unless you really need a remote on your headphones (or just want to show the world you're a card-carrying member of the Cult of Apple), there are still a couple of better values out there. Still, Apple's latest headphone offering is not a bad choice. [Apple]
Tagi: computer speakers, quality factor, ipod nano, superior sound, mids, noes, scheme of things, shure, sound quality, nano 4g, gadget, 3g, ears, clarity, capability, zune, jazz, job
Posted by on under mac os x, zune, virtual machines, os x, linux |
Syncing your Zune in Mac OS X, running Word in Linux, giving Linux a go within Windows 7: just a few of the things you can do with virtual machines. Setting one up isn't just easy, either—it's...
Tagi: mac os x, zune, virtual machines, os x, linux
Posted by on under zune, minor improvements, gaggle, firmware update, 3d games, quandary, text input, cupertino, new software, hd, nbsp, microsoft |
Who says Microsoft ain't lookin' out for those who selected its
Zune HD over something Designed In Cupertino? Just days after countless owners went berserk over a
playcount syncing issue, Microsoft has released a new firmware update that not only solves that very quandary but also adds a gaggle of fantastic new and / or improved features. The v4.3 update is available now by selecting "Player Update" from within the device itself, and with it will come "support for upcoming 3d games and applications, as well as an auto-suggest feature for better text input, and other minor improvements." We're hearing that those "minor improvements" include a snappier browser, so it's pretty safe to say you're only harming yourself if you don't get this download going right now. (Psst... there's a vid of the new software running after the break.)
[Via
MobileTechWorld, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading Zune HD v4.3 firmware out now: fixes playcount bug, adds lots of great things (video)
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Zune HD v4.3 firmware out now: fixes playcount bug, adds lots of great things (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Tagi: zune, minor improvements, gaggle, firmware update, 3d games, quandary, text input, cupertino, new software, hd, nbsp, microsoft
Posted by on under zune, smooth as butter, fashi, ipod touch, mobile gaming, droid, 28 jan, hd, motorola, nbsp, samsung, palm, game, games |
50 seems to be a pretty trendy number right now, what with
Palm's Pre Plus and Samsung's i8910 HD
both showing off the ability to
run more than 49 concurrent processes. Joining that number party, albeit in a different fashion, is this video demonstrating 50 games running smooth as butter on a Motorola Droid handset. If you thought you had to have a
Zune HD,
iPod touch or one of them
webOS thingies to get your mobile gaming on, maybe this will serve as a competent dissuader. See it after the break.
Continue reading 50 Android games demonstrated in one video -- who says Android can't game?
50 Android games demonstrated in one video -- who says Android can't game? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |
AndroidHD |
Email this |
Comments
Tagi: zune, smooth as butter, fashi, ipod touch, mobile gaming, droid, 28 jan, hd, motorola, nbsp, samsung, palm, game, games
