Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)

[Olley]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Well, to be clear - I've just said it doesn't make sense for the majority of people who aren't so technical as to carry around multiple memory expansion cards. I forget how long ago - maybe a year or so - I saw data showing the average size of a media library on a PMP was almost 4GB. That data also showed the average size of a self-identified "power user" library was almost 7GB. Now, that's likely increased in the 12mo or so since I saw that data, and the more ready availability of video will also impact it - but the clear message is that overwhelmingly, users have much less content than any of us on this forum do... So, unless you don't make a device whose capacity can accommodate 80+% of the target market's media libraries OR you are in the media card/flash storage business, there's not much reason to invest in that space. Note that Samsung too is a flash memory vendor. Cheers, Dave.

Your poll info came no doubt from the era (last year?) when players were 4gb and 8gb capacities. My informal poll of college students wearing earbuds resulted in a scientific "I dunno, a few thousand songs maybe?" for the average answer. In that environment they trade CDs and songs and collections can climb quickly. 5000 songs is not unheard of, and the reason many sport an iPod Classic rather than a Nano or Shuffle or Touch.

Carrying around microSD cards isn't easy unless your player is in a case with pockets for them. I've got cases for my phone (samsung instinct) and iriver P7 (now bricked) that have microSD pockets in them. Very nice, but cases like this are rare. Video is where that removeable media has potential. With a DVD-quality movies at 2gb, I can see places like Blockbuster renting movies on 2gb MicroSD cards. Since a Zune HD with dock can serve as a VCR, it seems perfect to me for the movie to be on removeable media. Much easier to play it on any PC (with a microSD slot), your Zune HD, or the big TV via the HD. Just a thought.

[CrowdAds]

[Ricardo Dawkins]

but all the tracks must be "properly timed"

From where are you getting that information ?

[Laqueum]

I got the information from the Zune market place. I was going through some of my Aphex Twin tracks and noticed that the only difference between what I have and what the market place has is track length.

Or maybe the Zune software is just really fickle. ::shrug::

[mandeep singh]

yo dave...i was just wondering for the images in the background of the now playing screen...if the zune software cant automatically find and download these images (lets say for a local band or something), is there a way that u can put your images there instead or are u screwed.

second question is...as of right now there is no divx codec support (unless im wrong....fingers crossed) is there anything that can be done about that?? im thnking along the lines of a petition or anything else just as long as HD will be able to play divx....how can we the users grab microsofts attention. my inderstanding is that this can be fixed through a firmware upgrade.

sorry if these questions have already been answered

[oppizzippo]

Originally Posted by Laqueum

After taking another look at how to get artist pictures to show up in the now playing screen I think I found the key I was missing... turns out, not only does your collection have to be properly tagged but all the tracks must be "properly timed".

With that said, I have yet another question and a request for you, Dave. Can you find the person that thought it was necessary to must have song play time in sync with what's in the market place and hit them with a rolled up newspaper?

Honestly, that is not fair. People do rip their music from various sources that don't always give the exact track length... and I honestly don't think there's an easy way to "correct" such an issue on the users end. Really, the only requirements should be artist and album name, my opinion of course.

-Thanks

Originally Posted by Laqueum

I got the information from the Zune market place. I was going through some of my Aphex Twin tracks and noticed that the only difference between what I have and what the market place has is track length.

Or maybe the Zune software is just really fickle. ::shrug::

When you add the album art do you do the "Find Album" or do you add the art yourself? I would guess if you use the zune software to find the picture you will get all the info Microsoft has to offer on that album.

Cory

[Laqueum]

Originally Posted by oppizzippo

When you add the album art do you do the "Find Album" or do you add the art yourself? I would guess if you use the zune software to find the picture you will get all the info Microsoft has to offer on that album.

Cory

I do both. As far as I can tell album art does not have an effect on getting the now playing screen to show artist pictures.

[Maxis]

Originally Posted by oppizzippo

When you add the album art do you do the "Find Album" or do you add the art yourself? I would guess if you use the zune software to find the picture you will get all the info Microsoft has to offer on that album.

Cory

When you do that you get some of the most skanky album art ever. Thats the only reason i DO NOT USE that feature. After discovering media monkey and the way it completely inserts pretty much any size album art into the file ive been letting media monkey auto tag my media ever since.

Funny how when you download from marketplace you get some of the most STUNNING album art but the moment you want to tag your "other" mp3's they give you the horrid stuff that stretches over your zune screen. I think they are still using the album art database from WMP rather than creating a database from the zune servers where the better resolutions are available.

Just my 2 cents Jamaican

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Originally Posted by Laqueum

I do both. As far as I can tell album art does not have an effect on getting the now playing screen to show artist pictures.

it is a bug on the way the zune software handles the id3 tag metadata. One forum administrator at Zunescene knows about it. And there are a few posts at www.zune.net forums talking about it.

[kindarandomz]

if the zunehd does get upgraded, will microsoft be offering upgrade offers?

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by kindarandomz

if the zunehd does get upgraded, will microsoft be offering upgrade offers?

I guess you think this is a question that can be answered now? Especially since it would be stupid to get a "bonus" to upgrade the capacity of a player, and screw the current customers. M$ doesn't work that way bro.

[Moki]

Hi Dave,

What events or activities are going to mark Launch Day? Will there be free balloons and hotdogs at the retail outlets? Will there be a big countdown like Time Square on New Years? Will Balmer be showing it off on national TV? Will there be a big advertising splash on that day?

Are you still going to be checking in at the forum after launch day?

Thanks!

[Jacob]

Apple just lowered their iPod's prices.
http://gizmodo.com/5355321/cheaper-i...on-apple-store
The 32GB is now cheaper than the Zune; however the 16Gb Zune is still cheaper.
Thoughts, everyone?

[Olley]

Originally Posted by Jacob

Apple just lowered their iPod's prices.
http://gizmodo.com/5355321/cheaper-i...on-apple-store
The 32GB is now cheaper than the Zune; however the 16Gb Zune is still cheaper.
Thoughts, everyone?

It was inevitable. Now there is room for the new models to be announced today. It will help them clear old stock, although I haven't noticed this strategy before. It could mean they have far more old stock on-hand than usual, which is constistent with other clues about slow sales I've seen.

[The DarkSide]

The real war is on, Apple just fired back, and we'll see who takes this battle - for now.

[Olley]

It's possible the new models Apple announces won't be available right away. Lower prices on iPods are only happening in the U.S. where Zune competes. Apple has had brass balls lately when dealing with supposed competition, updating iTunes to keep the Palm Pre out (for a moment) for example. Pricing a 32gb Touch $10 under the Zune HD 32gb pre-order is another case. I can hear Jobs saying "Take that, Microsoft!".

I'm personally loving it. Game ON!

[Chocolate Truffle]

Is keyboard other than English supported on web browser? If so what are the languages available since it has unicode support?

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by strangesweet

Is keyboard other than English supported on web browser? If so what are the languages available since it has unicode support?

You'll have to wait till the device comes out on the 15th to find out, as no one seems willing to answer any real questions ATM.

[engelke2009]

Originally Posted by Jacob

Apple just lowered their iPod's prices.
http://gizmodo.com/5355321/cheaper-i...on-apple-store
The 32GB is now cheaper than the Zune; however the 16Gb Zune is still cheaper.
Thoughts, everyone?

I expected this to happen. Will this make me change my mind about getting the zHD and get the 32GB Touch? Probably not, but I did think about it for a sec. I just like the Marketplace too much. If the price difference was more than $10, I would seriously think about it more.

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by Laqueum

First, how exactly does the Zune PC software know when to apply the background image on the now playing screen? I ask because even if everything is tagged properly it rarely pops up. Usually it'll only work for one or two albums within an artist collection (sometimes even just for one or two songs... very annoying!). I'd also like to know if there is some way to control this on my side. I'd love to add in my own images to the mix.

Another thing, if I can't add in my own images and/or get the software to properly apply the images will the Zune 4.0 software be more robust in this aspect?

Actually, I'm not real sure of the logic it uses. I know the experience is MUCH better on Zune HD and that may well be in software advancements. Might be worth putting this discussion on hold until you've had a chance to try out v4.0 and then let's see where we stand...

As for adding your own images? Let me ask the team - I've never tried to do that.

Originally Posted by clubdirthill

Do you care to say why you (By "you" I mean the marketing team.) have been so tight lipped about app support, despite the clear evidence of such a thing (at least being in the pipeline) from the Best Buy event, numerous reports of a preloaded Burnout Paradise Zune trailer, comments from Microsoft reps saying it will have it (See Engadget's Zune HD hands-on), etc. Apple?

No comment on your specific question - but if you're asking why we haven't announced EVERYTHING about the device and ecosystem, and why we're saving some news for launch day - well, that should be obvious. If not, then considering marketing 101 - our biggest splash is launch day - why not have some awesome news to share then? And if not then, when?

Originally Posted by Laqueum

With that said, I have yet another question and a request for you, Dave. Can you find the person that thought it was necessary to must have song play time in sync with what's in the market place and hit them with a rolled up newspaper?

You're making some big assumptions here - firstly, that Microsoft gets to dictate the usage of images and other label-owned content. You're also assuming that we're allowed to make use of label-owned artwork on an unlimited basis - even on content that we can't specifically identify (for sure) or that isn't purchased from the store. Now, there are things we can do to apply that experience to content not purchased from the store, but we have to abide by the rules set by the content owners. We don't "own" that content.

Originally Posted by Olley

Your poll info came no doubt from the era (last year?) when players were 4gb and 8gb capacities.

<snip>

Video is where that removeable media has potential. With a DVD-quality movies at 2gb, I can see places like Blockbuster renting movies on 2gb MicroSD cards. Since a Zune HD with dock can serve as a VCR, it seems perfect to me for the movie to be on removeable media. Much easier to play it on any PC (with a microSD slot), your Zune HD, or the big TV via the HD. Just a thought.

Well, the poll data came in an environment when there were 16GB devices, 120GB devices, etc... and of course we've had at least 30GB in capacity since our launch in 2006. Bottom line is that consumption on average is way lower than expectation would suggest. However... what's changing is video. Data shows that video purchase from iTunes is very underwhelming - but as streaming video becomes more common for the average consumer, I think there is opportunity there. The beauty there is that capacity is not a factor.

Originally Posted by mandeep singh

second question is...as of right now there is no divx codec support (unless im wrong....fingers crossed) is there anything that can be done about that?? im thnking along the lines of a petition or anything else just as long as HD will be able to play divx....how can we the users grab microsofts attention. my inderstanding is that this can be fixed through a firmware upgrade.

The device doesn't currently support DivX. Frankly - while petitions never hurt, I can tell you that we're well aware of the market desire for DivX. There is no hardware blocker to supporting DivX in the future - let me leave that one there.

Originally Posted by Moki

What events or activities are going to mark Launch Day?

<snip>

Are you still going to be checking in at the forum after launch day?

You know, I just realized I'm not sure where the launch events are - I've been so heads down on my deals and projects (more details to share on 9/15)! Lemme ping @brianseitz and see if there is anything I can share.

And yes, I'll definitely be here on and after 9/15. I'll finally be able to talk about what I've been doing for the past while...

Originally Posted by Jacob

Apple just lowered their iPod's prices.
http://gizmodo.com/5355321/cheaper-i...on-apple-store
The 32GB is now cheaper than the Zune; however the 16Gb Zune is still cheaper.
Thoughts, everyone?

Not so - the 32GB is $299, so both the 16GB and 32GB Zune HDs are cheaper than their Apple counterparts.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/a...op-end-64gb-m/
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...mco=Nzk2MDUxNQ

Originally Posted by engelke2009

I expected this to happen. Will this make me change my mind about getting the zHD and get the 32GB Touch? Probably not, but I did think about it for a sec. I just like the Marketplace too much. If the price difference was more than $10, I would seriously think about it more.

Looks like if your deciding factor was fiscal - you don't need to worry about that.

Cheers, Dave.

[Olley]

Apple:

Eliminating the 16gb Touch.
8gb old model now $199.
Zune HD 16gb $219.99
16gb Touch old model $249.
32gb Touch old model $279.
Zune HD 32gb $289.99
32gb Touch faster model $299.
64gb Touch faster model $399.
No camera on the Touch. The Nano gets one though.

I'm ordering a blue 32gb Zune HD on the 15th.