Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)

[effortless]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Now I forget where on this site, but someone was asking me about whether 16GB units will come in platinum and 32GB units will come in black. I just realized I never got to that question.

Yes - starting Tuesday you'll be able to order any combination of the 5 colours at launch, capacities and custom engraved artwork from Zune Originals.

See http://www.zune.net/en-us/press/2009...hdpreorder.htm for details.

Cheers, Dave.

thank you dave.. sooo maybe i won't pre-order then and wait for the black 32 in person!

[CrowdAds]

[engelke2009]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Yes, we're not done with the goodies.

Cheers, Dave.

I don't suppose you can hint at what some of the goodies would be?

Waiting for next Tuesday for me is like being a kid waiting for Christmas morning.

[epithetless]

Originally Posted by effortless

thank you dave.. sooo maybe i won't pre-order then and wait for the black 32 in person!

I think you might have misread DaveMac-MS' post. You can only get a black 32GB Zune HD from the Zune Originals website, not in-store.

[lossendae]

Zune HD seems to be reserved for united state first.

And maybe later for other countries (should i say other continent?).

How disappointing!

[oppizzippo]

Hey Dave,

Do you know when the software will be available on the 15th to download? Should we all wait up until midnight or something to test out 4.0? Thanks for all of your help!

Cory

[John566]

I would also like to know about an inline remote. Esp. for play/pause. This could be a deal breaker for me. Do you know Dave if the old Zune wired remote works with the HD?

It is unforgivabe to me to not have some kind of non touch screen control. Even if it was the number of clicks of the home button.

Thanks.

[Chocolate Truffle]

I just pre-ordered Zune HD 32GB Platinum. Looking forward to great machine!

[Olley]

@Dave: Any bonuses waiting for the Zune team if first month sales beat iPod Touch sales? Do you get any time off to relax after the 15th, or is it then a mad dash/press tour to show off what you've done to the world?

[Theseus]

...Bluetooth pairing with cell phones to get on a 3G connection, i.e. using your phone as a modem, which all Windows Mobile and Nokia/Symbian phones allow?

With the availability of Mifi cards and using phones as modems, I'm hoping Microsoft hasn't really locked this down. It would be a pity.

Another quick one: any chance of a decent car dock? No offense, but I don't consider FM transmitters "decent". If you live in a major city like New York, FM transmitters for mp3 players are useless; the entire FM spectrum is broadcasting. I'm interested in a cradle with a combination charger and audio line out solution.

***Update: After taking a look at the Zune HD specs, I see that it doesn't include a Bluetooth radio. Ah, well. I was hoping to emulate the call through pairing and dialing as on a Samsung P3, essentially turning the Zune HD into a 3G phone.

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by Olley

@Dave: Any bonuses waiting for the Zune team if first month sales beat iPod Touch sales? Do you get any time off to relax after the 15th, or is it then a mad dash/press tour to show off what you've done to the world?

So we're not a sales team - that's handled by the blue shirts at Best Buy, Walmart, online, etc... But, we don't need a bonus to be overwhelmingly motivated to move every last device we can.

I remember I was in Windows back when we released XP, and they announced that we could have the next week off. That was kinda cool, but I actually wanted to be in the office to track how we were doing, how the public were reacting, etc... I'm certainly not taking time off after the 15th - in fact on the 15th I'll be visiting retail stores, chatting to customers, seeing what the reaction is like, etc...

Press tours and such are handled by our press teams, but they're mostly done - usually I'd be doing a bunch of travel around now but for reasons I'll explain after the 15th I'm doing less right now (plus I'm trying to stay home as much as possible in the lead up to my coming wedding).

Originally Posted by Theseus

...Bluetooth pairing with cell phones to get on a 3G connection, i.e. using your phone as a modem, which all Windows Mobile and Nokia/Symbian phones allow?

With the availability of Mifi cards and using phones as modems, I'm hoping Microsoft hasn't really locked this down. It would be a pity.

Another quick one: any chance of a decent car dock? No offense, but I don't consider FM transmitters "decent". If you live in a major city like New York, FM transmitters for mp3 players are useless; the entire FM spectrum is broadcasting. I'm interested in a cradle with a combination charger and audio line out solution.

Zune HD doesn't have Bluetooth - lots of threads and explanations from my on why that is, just do a quick search here on ABI.

Look up Soundgate for a good quality charging/line out solution. If you want full integration (command, control, metadata, etc...) look at the Kenwood AOS-K300 and similar products, and if you want complete integration look at the Ford SYNC products, GM's PDIM's products and other new vehicles yet to be released.

Cheers, Dave.

[Ascariss]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

I remember I was in Windows back when we released XP

ah excellent, I have found someone to blame for all the problems with xp

[fmwyso]

I tried searching for the question and I haven't seen it yet...

Dave, why was the name "zune" chosen?

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Dave, why was the name "zune" chosen?

it was short and easy to remember. it has the same numbers of letters as iPod.

[Olley]

Zune: rhymes with tune.
Available soon.
If Apple is your Sun, we want to be your Moon.
Product placement idea: Make it the device everyone uses in the next production of Dune.

[Chocolate Truffle]

Dave, you still don't want to tell us about the multi-language keyboard on browser?

I have so many people trying to buy Zune from U.S. and ship it to Korea (even if they have to pay custom and tariff), but they're all curious on that. It's their major purchasing factor as they need their mother language to do some browsing on Zune.

[McDougal]

Hey Dave,

Do you know anything else about this post made by Olley?:
__________________________________________________ __________
In my email was this notice. It looks like far more than just a new device will be launched on Tuesday. Can't wait.

"As we work to bring you the next level of Zune entertainment, we want to inform you the Zune service will be down starting at 11:00 am (PDT) September 14th until the early hours of September 15th. During this time you will not be able to sign into Zune.net, Zune forums, or Zune Marketplace. We're sorry for this inconvenience, but come back to www.zune.net on September 15th and get ready to experience a whole new world of Zune.
...
Sincerely, Your Friends at Zune "
__________________________________________________ ___________

-McDougal

[John566]

Dave,

Please let us know about the inline remote if you can.

Thank you.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by John566

Dave,

Please let us know about the inline remote if you can.

Thank you.

I'm all eye's for that answer myself.

[Jacob]

Originally Posted by fmwyso

Dave, why was the name "zune" chosen?

I'll pay you money if you manage to forget it.
It was also a name that wasn't taken, one syllable, not offensive in other languages, and probably has some kind of psychological thing when you pronounce it.

[Chocolate Truffle]

Originally Posted by Jacob

I'll pay you money if you manage to forget it.
It was also a name that wasn't taken, one syllable, not offensive in other languages, and probably has some kind of psychological thing when you pronounce it.

You know, Bing is an offensive word in Korean.. lol many were thinking of the one word that refers to 'idiot' in really bad way.