India Broadband Forum

roymain

“Music is in the air” that’s what they called ZUNE, The future of digital music entertainment media launched by Microsoft. Zune is Microsoft’s music and entertainment platform that provides an end-to-end solution for Connected Entertainment. The Zune is competing with the already existing Apple product iPod which has a taken majority of digital entertainment media market. Zune is not just competing for its feature but also for its price.

The Zune has a larger screen which means you can watch movies in a better way The iPod's 2.5” display is smaller but last year’s iPod newest launch and 3” Zune both offer the same resolution. The Zune has slightly larger display and the pixel ratio is visible and one can easily make out that the same number of dots because each dot is larger. The lower pixel density of the Zune's screen makes sure that its display can only be less sharp.

The point is, neither the iPod nor the Zune provide a cinematic movie experience and there is no benefit to having a slightly larger screen at the same resolution in a handheld device, apart from possibly lower battery life.
The Zune screen has a horizontal display mode for viewing movies in a wide aspect ratio.

We all know widescreen movies do look better when presented on a wide screen and but the Zune doesn't offer a wide aspect display; it has to stretch or letterbox the screen to show wide aspect movies just the same as an iPod or standard definition TV would.

I've watched a number of movies on my iPod in airplanes while flying domestic or overseas, by bus or by my own car and I find the size of the screen isn't as important as its brightness or annoyances with reflective glare.
Wireless capabilities on the Zune provide a compelling new feature
With the wireless feature in the Zune, users can now share the music, video with each other with blink of an eye. This feature enabled quick sharing and makes the Zune a unique media player as compared to the iPod’s. The only thing that bothers is that the radio of a wireless device demands a lot of battery power, as anyone who's ever used a mobile phone knows.
So precisely, the 30GB digital media player will come equipped with wireless functionality for Zune-to-Zune sharing of music, pictures and home recordings; a bright, three-inch LCD video screen that works in portrait or landscape mode to view pictures and videos; and a built-in FM tuner on top of them. The device will be available in three colors: black, brown and white.