Zune Demo Party: NYC
October 19, 2007 | Filed Under News, community, party | 4 Comments
Last night Zune gathered the community and press to demo the new Zunes at the Bowery Hotel in NYC. Arriving at 5:30pm I was a bit late, and although alcohol + food might have been running low, the Zunes were still there for me. Upon arrival I met Cesar and he oh so kindly handed me a 4/8 model — I must say I was impressed.
By looking at the earlier pictures, I was not too sold on the 4/8 models. They looked cramped and too small for my taste. But in person, the screen is very sharp and there is a comfortable amount of room for my hands to push buttons. This model is great for people that plan to use their device mainly for music. The 80 model is still my favorite though. The screen is bright and large — its utopia for the video fans. We did question the resolution of the screen. It seems the screen was made larger, but not the resolution. The 80 on site was just a mock up model so a few things were not implemented yet unlike the 4/8. With that said and my drool wiped from my face, I cant wait to see the final product for the 80.
playing with the Zune you can’t help to notice the change in interface — it’s a beauty. The main menu is very clean and the transition animations are smooth and fast. I did notice some other changes like the rating system. If you organize your music by the star rating, you might not like this new update. The 5 star system was removed and substituted for “Heart” and ” Broken Heart” Symbols — basically, “Love it” and “Hate it”.
The new wheel is really cool. You can click or just “slide” your thumb to move the direction you need. You can also turn it off if you want to just click. It’s very quick and intuitive.
The new finishes are not so bad after all. The glossy is not an obnoxious gloss and it’s pretty sublet. The 80, as we all know, has a metallic back. Since this was a pre production sample, I am not sure if this is the final metallic backing. This metal was with a matte finish, but the final may very well be glossy.
After checking out the Zunes It was time to see what others had to say. I sat down with some commentors on Zune Insider and chatted Zune, shared music and did what all of the cool kids do in the social. Jaxim was there and posted his impressions here. I will post pictures later on today!
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Now playing: Band Of Horses - The End’s Not Near
via FoxyTunes
