I’m still trying to wrap my brain around some of the synergy mashups in the wild. When it comes to social networking and portable devices I can admit that I’m well behind the times. I’m the dude who sat around for days pondering why in the hell anyone would want a camera built in to their cell phone. The first efforts were laughable. Horrid quality pictures, noticeable drain on battery life, and a much thicker, heavier device made me think that a camera in a celly would never, ever work.
Fast forward to today and we’re talking about the Zune HD: Microsoft’s latest toy, delving deeper into the Apple (Ahem) pie crust of a sales chart. Microsoft is planting the hopes of the Zune – both as an idea and a product – squarely on the shoulders of Zune HD. As of today Zune HD is generally available. Today is also the day that Microsoft kills dead any Zune which isn’t branded “Zune HD”.
The Zune HD is a multifaceted gadget, for sure. Until the last few days though, Microsoft has remained tight-lipped about any planned integration with the Xbox 360 or potential portable gaming capabilities. The Zune is arguably the first mainstream device to use an OLED display. It’s internals are stuffed with the latest in mobile graphics hotness from nVidia. It can playback HD video and HD Radio, and can be connected to its music library via wifi. I think it’s clear that Microsoft is gunning straight for Apple’s jugular. I’m not sure how far Zune HD will go, but I do know that I love what I see. The device feels like sex, but in the palm of your hand. It pops like Weta Workshop Eye Candy. It has more features than my Great Grandfather could shake a stick at… Still, the largest potential as I see it is as a mobile gaming platform – a new console, if you will. Microsoft has confirmed a handful of games already, and has this (brief) juicy glimpse of 3D gaming on the device:
For the longest time I thought Apple was just plain loony for advertising the iPhone and iPod Touch as “game consoles”. I admit that there are some spunky, fun time killers in the iPhone ecosystem but I still don’t consider it a full-fledged platform optimized for gaming. The new Zune packs brand-spanking-new bleeding edge graphics HOTNESS. Seeing as how Microsoft has eliminated all other Zune models from the product line, it stands to reason that they’re unifying the hardware for just such a task: ensuring that a game is playable no matter what “version” of the hardware you have. Henceforward, Microsoft can precisely control the hardware specs to make sure that future models are backwards compatible, which should entice a number of game developers to hop on the bandwagon. If the holiday season is generous to the Zune moniker then I can see serious potential for competition with not only Apple on the media end, but Sony and Nintendo in the portable gaming space. Because Zune HD already uses its internal wifi for various networking tasks it would be a breeze for Microsoft to integrate some online gameplay or social gaming aspects. Imagine tapping into your Xbox Live friends list, joining a party chat, or even playing a game of Uno on your Zune, so long as you have a wifi connection.
For the first time I am finally gaining in clarity of understanding why hardware synergy exists. When I really slow down enough to think about it, I do take advantage of a great deal of previously impossible techno-widgets. While my personal affairs don’t leave much time for portable gaming, I can understand the market, and the want for some competition.
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