Ok, I’ll be frank, and that’s not a pseudonym, it’s the only way I can look at the Zune. Being in the antipodes, I have handled a couple of brick sized, and similarly colored devices, that bore none of the style, or usability of my first gen iPod. MS knows they are running behind in the Mobile/Personal Media Player arena.  They are getting really close to a point where their devices will be a non-factor.

All of the rumors of a MS Hardware based phone, have only served, to strengthen the belief that MS, will exclusively manufacture their own hardware. The Zune HD is a wee step closer to that dream. Now that the Zune HD is official, there is more than a spec sheet leaking out.

Engadget must be intimate or sleeping with, someone that’s got the inside track at MS. Oh , so here’s Steve Ballmer, showing off the Zune.

That sort of access means they can get a Hands On with the new Zune.

the thing kind of rocks. In your hand the Zune HD has a nice, solid feel, with good heft to it and a surprisingly thin profile. The OLED screen looks absolutely stunning — even at severe viewing angles, colors were super bright, edges were crisp, and text looked beautiful. The UI is an extension of the existing Zune interface, but way tricked out in this version, with lots of flipping images, scaling text, smooth scrolling, and an extreme emphasis on simple visual navigation. While the OS isn’t finished, we didn’t notice a single hiccup while jumping through menus or playing back HD video. We’ll definitely have more on this in the near future, but for now, you’ll have to manage with this handful of images

Zune HD hands-on

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