Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)

[daglesj]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

And I'd suggest reading all the prior posts, unless ya's want the natives to get restless.

Erm yeah I know, I was one of the main advocates of those posts back then.



So no one wants to take on the coding challenge?

I'd pay $10 for it as an app.

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

I hear ya bro,....but MS is on their own.

[quintets_man]

Originally Posted by daglesj

Yeah I just thought a SYNC tab in WMP would be fine but oh no. Sacrilidge apparently.

All we need is a clever coder to make a straight no nonsense sync tool and 'wham' bye bye Zune software.

Would make the Zune a more attractive option for a lot of folks I reckon.

I know, but you'd think the Zune could sync to WMP at least seeing as its from Microsoft(I could be wrong on that) but apparently it doesn't work that way

[oppizzippo]

Dave,

Can you comment on if there are new Zune Premium headphones coming out, should I wait to buy new headphones? Also are you using a case with your ZHD, what kind is it, leather, silicon, other?

Thanks!
Cory

[h1a8]

Originally Posted by Leroy Bad

Read the specifications posted earlier, as my comments are regarding it. It seems to imply 784kbps is the highest it'll support, even though some WMA lossless files are around 800-1000.
They need to go that high to ensure their accuracy. If they were limited down to 784kbps then they would lose that accuracy and no longer be lossless.

Someone later suggested that its referring to a combination of a 784kbps bit rate and a 48khz sample rate. But even that doesn't make sense, because if the audio was truly sampled at 48khz it would still need all the head room it requires for the bit rate in order to insure accuracy.

I assume its a typo, because again the previous Zunes have no problem with WMA lossless at bit rates above 1000kbps, and I dought they'd down play that......but then again....

When they say 'up to' they really mean 'down to'. In other words the Zune HD can play any wma lossless as long as the bitrate is higher than or equal to 784kbps.

[sassafras]

I doubt that. There is no reason that there would be a minimum bitrate on a lossless codec, except if the device couldn't handle the computational work required to 're-constitute' the bitstream. These lossless codecs are designed to be asymmetrical in computational requirements though, so the decode requires much less muscle than the encode. With a fancy new Nvidia chip powering this thing, I seriously doubt we have to worry about overstressing the thing with a lossless audio codec.

[Leroy Bad]

Originally Posted by h1a8

When they say 'up to' they really mean 'down to'. In other words the Zune HD can play any wma lossless as long as the bitrate is higher than or equal to 784kbps.

I don't see the logic in that statement.

I still think the specs are either a typo, or they meant to say it as an averaged bitrate.

[Machiventa]

Did Dave ever comment if the Zune HD will output non-HD content via the headphone jack with an A/V cable?

[DarkPotato]

hm, I have another quesetion regarding the web browser. I've heard people say that the web browser is similar to the Ipod Touch's but Dave said that the Zune HD's web browser is a full browser (full pages of Facebook/etc., instead of mobile versions). But my friend who has an Ipod Touch uses the mobile version of facebook on the Ipod touch....

[DaveMac-MS]

So, the iPod Touch has a full browser too.

However, some sites offer a customized version of their website for portable devices. If they detect you're on a portable device, they'll feed you their mobile version.

The problem is - many of us now have full browsers on portable devices, and prefer to see the full size page. That's where there is sometimes confusion.

So yes, the Zune HD browser is a full browser and capable of viewing full size pages with double tap zooms and pinch to zoom in/out. However, some sites will recognize it as being a portable device and will feed their mobile version instead.

Cheers, Dave.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Machiventa

Did Dave ever comment if the Zune HD will output non-HD content via the headphone jack with an A/V cable?

Oh Dave-Mac, you missed 1,...........

[McDougal]

Hi Dave,

Sorry if this question has already been asked, but I was wondering if the Zune HD will have apps/games like the iPod Touch?

-McDougal

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by McDougal

Hi Dave,

Sorry if this question has already been asked, but I was wondering if the Zune HD will have apps/games like the iPod Touch?

-McDougal

Read through the threads dedicated to the Zune:HD, as this question has been asked numerous times.

[ElSuperBeasto]

Hey Dave, you guys have a company store in Redmond right? I just moved to the Bellevue area and I'm wondering if there's any place around here where I can demo the Zune HD, since I missed the Best-Buy demo.

[DaveMac-MS]

Yup, we do have a company store and a visitor museum too. However, I'm not sure the Zune HD is in either just yet (at least not until launch)...

Cheers, Dave.

[lessthanadam]

Will the Zune HD support WiFi connectivity through VPN?

[Chocolate Truffle]

Since it supports Unicode, does it mean it will have multi-language keyboards too? Maybe you can choose the language of your choice as a default keyboard?

[Leroy Bad]

Forgive me if this has been answered before, but how do the background images on the Now Playing Screen work? Do I get to add them myself by or does the Zune Software find what is appropriate for me?

[Xiamhighx]

Dave, since we can now download songs on the go, can we delete them on the go? I think it's a pretty critical thing to have.

[Maxis]

Originally Posted by oppizzippo

Dave,

Can you comment on if there are new Zune Premium headphones coming out, should I wait to buy new headphones? Also are you using a case with your ZHD, what kind is it, leather, silicon, other?

Thanks!
Cory

I would highly suggest you buy a decent pair of entry to mid level In ear monitors such as phonak audeo, Shure, sleek Audio, Ultimate Ears (My personal favorite) or Sensheisers rather than buying Zune premiums; especially if you are a little bit more than a casual listener of music. Conversely, If you don't actively audition your music and simply want something that sounds better than average then no probs get the premiums.

Just a little advice

Cheers