Microsoft offers nothing for Office users in their new Zune
Microsoft has released its new Zune HD in the USA and it’s hard to get at all excited about it compared to the Apple iTouch.
It really is amazing to see the Zune stumble from version to version in a closed world of its own, oblivious of developments from other manufacturers.
The new Zune continues to be solely aimed at entertainment; music, videos etc. Microsoft puts a brave face on this pretending that the Zune is for ‘fun’ and deliberately doesn’t have any non-entertainment features.
Apple understands that people don’t compartmentalize their lives into work and play, the two are mixed. These days we listen to music while checking email or reading web pages.
The iPhone is good but we prefer the cheaper iTouch. Either device can
- check email (even Microsoft Exchange Server connections)
- read Microsoft documents (old and new formats)
- read PDF files
For heavens sake, even the tiny iPod Nano can display a copy of your contacts and calendar among its many features.
All things that the Zune can conspicuously NOT do.
We can only hope that the upcoming Windows Mobile (the old Pocket PC) version 6.5 offers a better mix of connectivity and media playing. If Microsoft can do that on devices which have 16, 32 or 64GB storage (instead of the lame sub-5GB devices at present) then they might start to claw back Apple’s lead.
