Looking that various reports from Engadget, Crunchgear it looks like Zune HD is a major sellout. It could be because of one following reasons, a) retailers afraid to stock up b) Microsoft trying to create a artificial scarcity or c) the response has been overwhelming. From the user feedback and reviews, I believe it is the c) . 

Following stores have been sold out:  Amazon( 32GB Ships in 1-3 weeks),  Newegg (32GB ETA: 09/22/2009),  BestBuy (32GB 1-2 weeks)

However, the following stores still seem to have them: Walmart, Buy.com, Microsoft Online Store and Zune originals

Personally, I would go with Zune Originals, where you can create custom inscription, pattern and more color choices.  (the site takes a long time to load though)

via Engadget and  Crunchgear

Now that XNA update for Zune HD has been released. If you interested in developing applications for Zune, here is what you have to do

1. Get the  Visual Studio C# express and XNA Games Studio3.0 

2. Get the Zune HD update for XNA Games Studio

3.  Get yourself an Zune HD [ Amazon, Best Buy and prices from around the web]

4.  To Connect your Zune HD and have it recognized by the Games studio follow the instructions here

5. Resources that can be useful

• General XNA FAQ:
• XNA Team Blog
• Good Books on Zune/XNA  game development
  • Zune Game development using XNA
  • Learning XNA 3.0: XNA 3.0 Game Development for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune
• Some forums to discuss app development and other issues: Zunerama

If you find more resources, steps provide them as comments and I will update the post to include them.

XNA team has released  an update to the XNA Games Studio to enable developers to write  apps/games against Zune HD . [XNA Games Studio is IDE based on Visual Studio for developing games based on XNA framework]

From the XNA blog, this update adds the following

In the last post we covered the reviews from different gadget sites and until I get around to posting my own review, here is the some of various video tours of Zune HD from different sources

Let us start with a Zune HD commercial

Did you  note the  strikingly dark/ black background as compared to Apples bright white background.

Video from Gizmodo’s review

Video from Crunchgear’s review

Video from Brian Seitz – Microsoft’s Zune Team

Well folks, the long awaited and much anticipated Zune HD has been finally released !   From the early reviews and user feedback it looks like this is absolutely stunning product and Microsoft might have gotten a winner here. I have ordered one myself and will post the detailed reviews once I have had chance to play with it.

Here are some of the reviews from top sites

Gizmodo Review:  

Best of Breed

The Zune HD is the best touch screen PMP on the market. It’s got the most unique vision, the most impressive hardware and the most stylish software. It’s priced fairly at $220 for 16GB and $290 for 32GB, though I’d call the $90 dock a required accessory.

Ars Technica Review: 

Third time’s a charm: Ars reviews the Zune HD

Microsoft’s new media player won’t appeal to everyone, but for those with an interest in new music and subscription services, the Zune HD has become the device to beat.

The good: Excellent music discovery tools, artist metadata, useful WiFi features, clean design.

The bad: Flush-mounted buttons that perform common tasks, no Divx/FLAC support, limited DVR support.

Some of Amazon User reviews

Has come a long way since the "brick" Zune: 

But for the first time, Microsoft has developed a Zune player that can finally use the words "downright sexy" to describe it.

Absolutely Fantastic, 

The OLED display is so crisp and beautiful. Pictures don’t do it justice. It is extremely responsive, far nicer than my iPOD touch.

Easily the best PMP on the market!

All I can seriously suggest is be open-minded to the Zune experience. Just because all your friends/family have an iPod/iPod Touch doesn’t make it the best on the market right now. The Zune HD’s technology is superior in the marketplace right now

and many more that say : 

Best MP3 Player PERIOD;  Great player + Great s/w = Great product; Close to Perfect – This is a winner; A delight to own

Most common cons sited include

• limited Apps, not open to third party developers (no SDK)
• Limited Codec support (divx etc..)
• No Flash/you tube support
• No 64GB version
• Slow browser with no tabs

The last weeks big news is the “Apple’s  09/09/09 Rock’n roll event”. Below are the highlights of the event, followed by my thoughts

• New iPod Nano’s announced with camera, radio, pedometer, larger screen and  new price
• New iPod Classic with 160 GB capacity announced same price
• iPod Touch updated with faster chips and new prices.
• iTunes 9 with iTunes LP functionality, app management, home sharing.

All the rumors about iPod Touch getting a camera, and iPod Classic being killed off  were just that .. rumors. With Zune HD competition looming, it is very surprising that there was no major update to iPod Touch either by adding a camera or any other capability.

iPod Nano: Looks like Apple is going after the Flip market by adding video camera capability to iPod Nano’s. Also very strange that it is not capable of still photos and can only do video ! Radio is now built-in and the cool touch apple added is you can pause the radio for upto 15 minutes. Along with video camera  and radio, iPod Nano  flaunts a larger 2.2 inch screen , voice recorder with integrated mic, a small speaker and  nike + pedometer. 8GB iPod Nano  sells for $149 and 16GB   for $179.99

Summary: I think Apple delivered a winner with  this iPod Nano and has made a good product even better.

iPod Classic:   Contrary to rumors, Apple has continued with the iPod Classic line up and has  boosted the capacity to 160GB but at the same time  maintaining the price point of $249.99.   I still think Zune 2nd generation 80/120GB products (with a bigger screen)  to be much better product than the iPod Classic. But with Microsoft stopping the  production of Zune 80/120GB, I don’t think there are very many other alternatives (Archos). Btw there are great deals that are coming up on Zune 80GB/120GB  (from Slickdeals)

iPod Touch:  This is where my biggest disappointment for this event comes from. There was nothing announced for iPod Touch except that it now supports a faster graphics chip (same chip present in iPhone 3GS) and lowered price. The new price for 32GB model is $299 and that is still $10  more than Zune HD 32GB model! [There is also a 64GB model that sells for $399]

Summary:  Disappointment !

iTunes:   Hopefully this is a start of the much required updates to iTunes ! Making it look more like a rich media player and less like a Excel Spreadsheet.  The latest update to  iTunes adds “iTunes LP” and “iTunes extras” , basically these are album/artist bonus materials, videos, photos, exclusive interviews. Other features include previews from anywhere in the store, Genius mixes,  App management ( u can manage the apps on your iPhone/iPod Touch directly from iTunes), and most importantly home sharing where you can share your library with other iTunes/computers in your home with ease. There is also some basic  integration with Twitter and facebook.

Summary: Much overdue and welcome updates !

Via: Engadget, Crunch Gear, Gizmodo

On of heals of rumors that Microsoft is going to end all Zune players except Zune HD, there is a new rumor that Apple is set to kill off iPod Classic and just carry iPod touch, nano and shuffle !

Maybe is because the iPod touch with flash memory is approaching higher capacities and with greater revenue stream (profits from device and from App store)  that Apple thought it is best to move off of iPod Classic completely !

So folks if you are in market for a high capacity MP3 player from Microsoft or Apple, get them while they are still available hopefully offered at a great discount  like Zune 120 @ Amazon for $189 , iPod Classic currently sells for  $224 (maybe further discounts are underway in future)

You can also see  the iPod Classic vs Zune 120 comparison in one of my earlier posts.

Via Silicon Alley Insider and CrunchGear

Oh, well it looks like all the previous generation Zunes (both flash based and hard drive based) are on their way out and Zune HD will the only flagship product going forward!  Though the new UI and features in Zune HD  are not expected to be compatible with the old Zunes, I was still hoping Microsoft will surprise folks by providing  a firmware update. Even though the current rumor does not rule that out, I doubt Microsoft will invest any resource on a product that is on the way out !

On a positive note I am glad Microsoft focused all its energy on Zune HD and making it player that can truly viable challenger to iPod Touch. [You can see a comprehensive comparison of  Zune HDs  to the current generation iPod Touch here]

Via Crunchgear

With good amount of details of Zune HD out I thought it be great to compare it to existing 2nd gen iPod Touch and see how  well they compare.  I know Apple has confirmed the 09/09/09 rock and roll event and they might potentially announce new iPod Touch but until then, here goes the ultimate and most elaborate Zune HD Vs iPod Touch (2nd Generation). 

   VS  

Find great deals on Zune and iPod from real time comparison shopping site kalistro.com

• Zune HD
• iPod Touch

I will provide a updated new comparison once we know more details about the next generation of iPod touches (possibly after 09/09/09 apple event)

Sri

There has been much rave reviews of the Zune HD’s user interface and how snappy and cool it is. One thing I feel that is truly innovative but has not gotten much attention is its split home screen with list of menus on one side and a visually rich history or favorites on the other side.   Seeing the demos I think this feature will drastically reduce the time and number of clicks required to get to most of the stuff I care about.

I own a iPod as well as a zune and I really wished there was a quick and easy way to access my history, be able to pin some stuff so I can easily get to it. Such a “favorites”  & “ history” paradigm exists almost in every other major software we use (browsers, OS application lists, documents, pictures etc..). It is almost a no-brainer thinking about in hindsight but still iPod (classic, touch) does not have this.

More sample pictures of the quick play feature

Sri