Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)

[Olley]

Good morning, Dave! I hope all that travelling isn't running you down.

I notice the different colors available after the 15th from the Zune store. Have you seen any of them in person, and if so what's your opinion of them? My wife will want the green one. Could ask the hardware folks what the finish is? I'm interested if it's paint or anodizing or powder coating or what...?

Will there be a "show" on the 15th, or just a press release? If there's a show, can you share where it will be?

Thanks again. Fly safe!

[CrowdAds]

[Jacob]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Actually, I don't own any Asian music, so I can't comment on the unicode support or how it works alongside western alphabet content. If someone can point me to free & legal content with unicode metadata, I'll try it out.

Cheers, Dave.

You don't have a subscription?
:S

[Chocolate Truffle]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Actually, I don't own any Asian music, so I can't comment on the unicode support or how it works alongside western alphabet content. If someone can point me to free & legal content with unicode metadata, I'll try it out.

Cheers, Dave.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3IBRBPS1

You can download a mp3 file from this link. It's just a 20 second of myself flicking the fingers to make random sound. I converted a wma sound recorder file to mp3 and added random Korean tags.

Sony players show 0-9 A-Z etc.

I would like to know if what Zune would say for anything other than English instead of 'etc'

I asked you about warranty year but I guess it's something you don't know yet? Is it really going to be 3 year long?

[lossendae]

Sorry Dave if i have upsetted you.

Since i've seen an answer from you to another question, i thought you were evading mine.

Plus, i know that it's difficult to simulate a conversation on a forum, but what i writed wasn't meant to be agressive, it was really just to know if i could expect an answer sooner or later.

Sometimes, without even knowing, i can be too straight forward (even when i talk actually) and it appears as if i were rude. Well, sorry again.

And thank you for your answers.

[mD-]

Dave, even though it's only a preset EQ, I forgive you =).

But this time you must make sure Microsoft adds youtube support to fully redeem yourself!

(everytime I ask for these things, I'm doing so in a joking manner)

*but seriously, I want youtube support other wise I'm getting an X-series when the price drops*

[lossendae]

Hello,

Can you give us more informations about the video container accepted by the Zune HD ?

We have a list of codecs (wmv,mpeg-4,h264,dvr-ms) but no real informations on container.

We can assume that wmv and mp4 will supported, what about avi, ogm or mkv?

Again mkv is highly used on the internet, does MS plan to follow the leader or will you'll try (again) to impose your own ?

[Ricardo Dawkins]

We can assume that wmv and mp4 will supported, what about avi, ogm or mkv?

what the heck is ogm, know ?

Again mkv is highly used on the internet

The "leader" doesnt support this popular p2p format.

[lossendae]

OGM like MKV is a container, check on Wikipedia.

MKV is a must have.
MS is not the leader on multimedia device, and imho, if they just copy the Apple model, they will stay as the company who just plugged again the copying machine.

MKV, FLAC, MPC or other "exotic" format support will give MS an aura that Apple don't have (and don't want). Pass on those, and the Zune will just be "yet another ipod killer"... With a fantastic interface but poor format support.

[rebirthsoul]

mkv really makes HD, HD

i really dunno why msft dont support major HD codecs
theres so much more HD content in divx related files

i really believe that due to subscription or paid downloadable content, a company has to bind its products down in codecs.
look at the trend.

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by Olley

Good morning, Dave! I hope all that travelling isn't running you down.

I notice the different colors available after the 15th from the Zune store. Have you seen any of them in person, and if so what's your opinion of them? My wife will want the green one. Could ask the hardware folks what the finish is? I'm interested if it's paint or anodizing or powder coating or what...?

Thanks for the thoughts Olley - I'm a pretty seasoned traveller after being in this job for so long now. Thanks though!

As for the colours - I've not actually seen or held a coloured device yet. I can tell you that the colours will mirror the anodized effect of the platinum and black models - no powder coating, no painting, the dye is in the metal.

Not sure about launch events at this point - I'm still neck deep in my own deals currently. If we're sharing anything I'll find out for ya.

Cheers, Dave.

[kindarandomz]

I have a question for the ZuneHD

Can you adjust the brightness?

[CheeToS]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

As for the colours - I've not actually seen or held a coloured device yet. I can tell you that the colours will mirror the anodized effect of the platinum and black models - no powder coating, no painting, the dye is in the metal.

That is extremely awesome.
I will take this opportunity to shamelessly plug my mockups again.

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by kindarandomz

I have a question for the ZuneHD

Can you adjust the brightness?

Yes.

Cheers, Dave.

[Olley]

Another simple question, Dave:

Accessories. I know you can't give specifics, but can we expect an array of 3rd party or even MS accessories (cases, docks, etc.) on launch day? Anouncements even?

My main aggravation as an early adopter is that most brand new devices have very few accessories (if any) available for them.

[Dan12R]

Dave, I was wondering if you could give some insight into why there's not support for .dvr-ms files that are created recording a broadcast off an ATSC tuner. Seeing how ATSC is the only thing broadcasted in America, it's extremely annoying. It would be nice if I could put shows I record off Windows Media Center on to my device. I don't even care if it maintains the HD quality since the device doesn't display in HD.

[Xiamhighx]

So Dave, the Apple keynote is rumored to be on september 9th, one week before the Zune HD release. Do you think the keynote could take the wind out of the sails? Or do you have more features under wraps?

[Ricardo Dawkins]

I think this ZuneHD will take out the limelight from that event.

[Machiventa]

Originally Posted by Dan12R

It would be nice if I could put shows I record off Windows Media Center on to my device.

Can't you just convert it to a supported format? I understand that it would be nice to have out of the box support but I'm just curious if you can convert it.

[alexiznumber1]

can you delete songs on the device without a computer? and pointless ik but i still think the zune should work with WMP. Isnt that directly from microsoft too?

[Dan12R]

Originally Posted by Machiventa

Can't you just convert it to a supported format? I understand that it would be nice to have out of the box support but I'm just curious if you can convert it.

If there is a way, I don't know about it.