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Microsoft lays an oeuf

Microsoft released its answer to the iPod Touch last week to mostly positive reviews, and while I seriously considered purchasing the Zune HD, Microsoft is only releasing the player in the U.S. - for now.

Microsoft released its answer to the iPod Touch last week to mostly positive reviews, and while I seriously considered purchasing the Zune HD, Microsoft is only releasing the player in the U.S. - for now.

There are a lot of reasons why it's not available in Canada, not least our bilingual requirements for hardware, software, packing, etc. - one of the reasons the original Zune player was not released in Canada until 15 months after its U.S. release.

I had hoped this product might be available here and some credible rumours - including one from usually reliable Ars Technica (www.arstechnica.com) - that the Zune HD release would be international. Up until last week that appeared to be the case, although Microsoft shrouded the Zune HD release in so much secrecy that it was impossible to tell for sure either way. Currently there's no release date available for Canada, but it's possible it could take a year or longer for the hardware to arrive here. That's a lost opportunity for Microsoft, which will find itself even further behind Apple by the time they can make the Zune HD available around the globe.

That said, there's nothing stopping me from going to the U.S. to buy the Zune HD player, and if the release of the earlier Zune models is any indication the Zune Marketplace and Zune Pass should work just fine. I tried to download the new Zune 4.0 software and it worked fine as well.

But while the Zune HD remains an option for me, I'm not sure at this point whether it's worth the trip when the iPod Touch is readily available in Canada and is likely a better player.

While I believe the Zune has a bright future as a portable music player it's nowhere near as versatile as the iPod Touch, at least not yet. It does music and video very well, and the Zune Pass system where you can pay $15 a month for unlimited music, 10 free downloads and some free videos is far better than iTunes when it comes to overall value.

The Nvidia Tegra chip that powers the Zune HD is also probably a little better than what you'll find under the hood in the iPod Touch, given its low power architecture, ability to process HD video and real 3D experience. However at launch there were only a handful of simple games available, none of which showcased this technology and very few useful apps other than the web browser.

Calculator? Weather widget? Really?

Out of the box the iPod Touch has a web browser, calendar, contact book, e-mail client, messaging software, social networking apps, maps, and more. The 32 GB and 64 GB version include earphones that come with a microphone that allows you to record audio, which the Zune HD can't match yet. Add a library of over 20,000 apps in the iTunes App Store, many of them free, and the Zune comes off looking kind of anemic. Zune HD is promising more in the near future like a Facebook app, but that's the kind of thing that really needed to be there at launch.

In a side-by-side comparison iPod Touch is in a different class as a portable media player AND pocket computer, while the Zune HD - despite longer battery life, lighter weight, better screen - is really just a media player, albeit an extremely good one.

The Zune HD does have a built-in FM receiver, which the iPod Touch lacks, and HD radio - the latter of which might be useful if I lived somewhere HD radio was available. Other than the ability to output HD video if you buy an $80 docking station - something I doubt I would ever use - the Zune HD has very few real advantages.

So far anyway. There is no reason the Zune HD can't do everything that the iPod Touch does one day but Microsoft isn't releasing a Software Developer Kit to the public just yet and is developing all apps in-house. By comparison, Apple released its SDK to the public and has been rewarded with thousands of compelling applications that make creative use of the platform.

Microsoft's decision to keep things in-house still doesn't explain why Zune is less capable than Windows Mobile, Microsoft's smart phone operating system. Windows Mobile has on-board productivity and media software, including calendar and task management software, and the ability to open and edit Office documents and spreadsheets. Why in the world wasn't this available for the Zune?

What about Microsoft Live applications like chat, Hotmail, or even something that could pick up RSS feeds from MSN.com? Or the promised integration with Xbox Live?

If you really are looking for a media player and don't care about apps, then you could do worse than purchasing a Zune HD, but again it's buyer beware. Don't be the first in Canada to buy this, wait until someone has tested it here first.

That's not to say that there aren't a hundred other devices out there, but Apple remains the leader and Microsoft is really the only company with the resources to keep up (in the U.S. anyway) - with the possible exception of Sony, which has hinted that something big is on the horizon that will change the way we listen to music forever. I doubt it, but hey - it got my attention.