Microsoft set to Announce Zune 360 and 180

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Blueberry Bob writes "Just in time for the iPhone June launch, Microsoft is planning to launch the Zune 360 and 180. The 360 will be a widescreen video and music player available in 40 and 80 GB models, whereas the 180 will be a smaller device similar in size to the iPod nano. Oddly enough, only the 180 model will feature a cellphone — Microsoft believes that the combined cellphone/music player market is better served in compact players. 'Although the default behavior will be to connect the Zune 360 and 180 to a Windows machine and use the default Zune software (which is also undergoing a revamp) it will be possible to put the Zune 360 in to disk mode and the device will be treated like any ordinary USB storage device and will therefore be accessible from Mac and Linux machines too. The built in indexing in the 360 will allow you to easily search for songs, however out of the box it's not possible to create playlists on the 360 itself, they still need to be managed by the Zune software.'"

Ponies!!!

[FMota91]

In commemoration of April Fools... [myspace.com]

Microsoft's strategem

[matt me]

So have Microsoft turned themselves around, or is this Zune continuing towards another flop?

Zune 1 was a big enough joke

[EmbeddedJanitor]

and it was not announced anywhere near 1 April. How long before this can be taken seriously?

Re:

[jcbsinger]

Still not as a big joke as Newton was :)

of interest is the zune 180 only plays backwards

[swschrad]

useful for your ripped Beatles collection, but little else.

well, I take that back. it would be GREAT for country. the truck starts, the dog comes back, there's whiskey in the bottle again.....

Zune ... not quite the 'in' thing

[Kristoph]

I met a girl at my gym that worked for the firm that did all the PR for Zune. Needless to say, she had a Zune. When I asked her about it (as I had never actually seen one before) she was at pains to tell me that the only reason she used it was because it was free and that she didn't want to sweat on her iPod. In fact, the only credit she gave the thing was that it had a built in radio, which permitted to the TV audio the gym broadcasts on FM.

Anyway, it struck me that when your own PR people think your product is uncool, you are going to have some serious market issues.

]{

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

So you chatted up the girl at the gym... and then what?

Re:Zune ... not quite the 'in' thing

[LibertineR]

Come on, you know what happened, she asked him if he could come over fix her computer, because her unemployed rock star boyfriend doesnt know anything about those things, and they are running out of hard drive space for their sex videos.

Re:

[renegadesx]

And then he got arrested for stalking

Re:Zune ... not quite the 'in' thing

[Anonymous Coward]

I met a girl at my gym

***** What this slashdotter wished had happened:

Girl: Yeah, here it is. It's okay, it's got a radio. I like my iPod better, but I don't want to sweat all over it, you know?

Kristoph: Then you better not have it nearby when we're in bed tonight.

Girl: Huh? *starry-eyed* Oh.. I'm yours Kristoph..

***** What really happened:

Girl: Yeah, here it is. It's okay, it's got a radio. I like my iPod better, but I don't want to sweat all over it, you know?

Kristoph: Uh, that's cool. *uncomfortable pause* You wanna see a movie later?

Girl: God no! I mean, no, I have to floss my cat. I mean, my boyfriend's cat.

Kristoph: You sure? I mean, we could go to dinner if that's what you wanted. *blurting out* You're so beautiful please go out with me!! *cries*

Girl: Get away from me, or I'll call the cops. *runs away*

Re:Zune ... not quite the 'in' thing

[phalse phace]

"I met a girl..... "

April Fools!

Oooooh...

[Iwanowitch]

Slashdot-tit reads BOOBIES!

Re:

[Kryptonian Jor-El]

nice, i just caught that too, really takes you back to the elementary school math classes...

360 and 180

[UbelievablyLame]

360 is one half of 180

Re:360 and 180

[Eudial]

180*2 = 360
360/2 = 180

Ah, but don't forget that

180 + 180 = 360
360 - 180 = 180

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

and also

360 + 180 - 517 = 23
180 / 10 + 5 = 23!
360 / 15.6521739 = 23!!!

Coincidence? I think not.

Re:

[The Real Toad King]

NO WAI! Thank you Captain Obvious!

Re:360 and 180

[Anpheus]

Time cube creates four simultaneous 24 hour days.
360 is one fourth of 90!

Re:

[Raidedguy]

No it's not, 180 is one half of 360, not the other way around...
Wait, its April 1st, nevermind, it IS the other way around

April fool's...

[6Yankee]

Sorry, but I just can't buy it - any story on Slashdot today is suspect.

I'll believe it when the dupe comes along...

Re:

[libkarl2]

Proof of article's April Fools-ness:

it will be possible to put the Zune 360 in to disk mode and the device will be treated like any ordinary USB storage device and will therefore be accessible from Mac and Linux machines too.

Reads like one of those Nigerian phishing scams.

Re:

[mrtexe]

It's not true unless it's posted to Slashdot three times.

Re:

[sockonafish]

I was thinking it was an April Fool's, but then I saw the product names. 360 and 180. Those numbers have nothing to do with what the products do, and are only going to confuse consumers who may think that there is some kind of spinning feature and that one model can't go all the way around.

These nonsensical product names can't be a hoax, they're completely in line with Microsoft's style.

Oh come ON

[Twisted64]

It's 8:44 AM, Tuesday, here. Even the Slashdot editors should know it's no longer Monday morning anywhere in the world. And these articles are getting too plausible for my liking...

Re:

[altstadt]

Wow. Where do you live that your timezone is UTC+34? Here on the west coast of North America we are still working off Sunday afternoon.

Re:

[Plutonite]

Hate to break it to you pal, but April 1 was a Sunday this year. Maybe in Australia , where I deduce you live, they suckered you guys on the calendar dates? That would be something, I say.

Re:

[Twisted64]

Curses! I slept so hard on my new bed it damaged my brain.

Zune 180k

[nbritton]

Yeah well I hear Apple is coming out with the iPod pie rad k.

OK

[segedunum]

So I take it today is a total right-off then?

Re:

[aldo.gs]

Aw, man! And I wanted to be modded insighful. *sigh*

Ya, it's a writeoff

[Excelcia]

Ya, the whole day pretty much is. What a waste of time. Maybe later on in the evening the id-10-t errors will stop.

The first April fool's I saw from Slashdot was funny. The second was, oh right, today's April first. I don't know how many it's been now, but it's just tiresome at this point.

Re:

[JackieBrown]

Try it again :)

whether a joke or not...

[mojo0716]

I love my Zune. I bought it when it came out and I use it everyday and it's great. The interface is extremely easy to use. The bigger screen is nice for watching videos. I haven't had any problems with it. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's great media player IMO.

Re:whether a joke or not...

[Basehart]

I like the social best. I've met lots of new friends and we share music all the time on the city streets.

Know whats funny?

[Anonymous Coward]

I knew this would be an april fools joke, but the joke is on Microsoft for not actually rereleasing the zune 360 style into something people actually care about.

Ugh...

[rlbond86]

Really, guys. One april fool's story is funny. Ten is not.

Re:

[Gregory Cox]

How about eight April Fool's stories, and two hard-to-believe but true ones?

And In Other News

[coyote4til7]

My God!
It's full of...
Pink Ponies!

Re:

[gbobeck]

My God!
It's full of...
Pink Ponies!

A Pink Ponies filled Zune... now *that* I will have to run out and buy. (Provided that it comes with an OMGPONIES sign made with glitter)

seem to me

[Anonymous Coward]

seem to me this zune thing might have a ploy to snooker Toshiba while msft were working on the 360 version

ps never had such a difficulty proving i was humen---except perhaps to my wife

5318008

[adamziegler]

So I decided to type in the number into my calculator... and just for the heck of it, I flipped it upside down!!

Isn't april fools day over yet?

[init100]

I had hoped it would be, but of course, the US is at least (Eastern Standard Time, that is) six hours after me (Central European Time).

aprilfools

[hobo sapiens]

This is the obligatory post grousing about the aprilfools tag. It spoils the joke, don't you know?

Quick! Mod this post insightful!

Re:

[jZnat]

Spoilers!

Every article on Slashdot from midnight EST on 1 April through 11:59 PM on 1 April are all April Fool's stories. Period.

More Features

[Plocmstart]

Maybe if it also could be used as a 360 controller and a programmable remote (and maybe a portable DVR) I would buy it... otherwise I'll still with my Archos player which has most of the features described in the article, plus doesn't require specific software just to get a playlist created.

Hasn't there been enough of these april 1 stories

[Crashmarik]

Whats next microsoft listens to customers ?

Sony based device....

[Mark Gillespie]

LOL, the Zune 180 is based on the Sony Erricsson Walkman phone.. Sony connecting to the 360.. Nice.. I bet the Sony haters here will love that..