Seitz Talks New UI Element on ZuneHD/Older Zune Firmware Updates
Brian Seitz continued his media blitz on the ZuneHD and dropped some tantalizing hints about the newly coveted device in a new interview.
His first hint comes about an overlooked element of the new ZuneHD's UI.
Quote:
If you saw pictures of the front menu, it looks very similar to the UI today. However, that's where most of the similarities will probably end. There's a really cool interface we'll be talking about in the coming months and if you actually look at some of the pictures you can see it. No one's really picked up on it yet... I'm not going get into too much detail on that right now, but it's a completely new way to get into your media. I'll go and talk with some of the people who are working on that stuff and make sure that they're comfortable and then let you know. It's a really cool experience and way to interact with the stuff that's on your device that you don't have today. We're really looking to just step up the game of the way that you're, not just listening to your content or watching your content, but how your navigating through it and how you can interact with it while your stuff is playing.
Anyone have any ideas on this? I haven't been able to figure out what he's talking about. Check out the video again and see if you can see anything:
Seitz also briefly talked about the older Zunes and their future with regards to updates:
Quote:
Since they're still building the firmware, I think we'll still have to wait a little bit to find out what's going to happen to some of the downstream existing devices. We've done our best to make sure that all the value that we're building into each generation goes downstream as much as possible. Though, there does come a point in the hardware where stuff such as touch and stuff like that does not compute with an old device. We're really proud of what we've be able do so far and it's yet to be determined what's going to happen to the down-level devices, but we'll do what we can.
I personally think there will be at least one more update/refresh for the older generation Zunes, but we all know there was going to be an end to these eventually. MS has done an outstanding job retaining value to older generation Zunes.
I believe I have discovered the features that Brian Seitz discusses. It can be seen on the picture. If you look carefully, in small text you can see various submenus per se. For example there is the menu item entitled Music and underneath it splits into: Artists, Playlists, Songs, Genres, Albums. So instead of clicking on the music menu and clicking on the subsections, they are easily available in the main menu.
Therefore:
Title of Section --> subsection 1, subsection 2, subsection 3, etc.
Music --> Artists, Playlists, Songs, Genres, Albums
Videos --> All
Pictures --> By folder. by date
etc.
Each subsection is clickable.
I noticed it earlier, and thought it was sufficiently evident to be deemed not worthy or to have no need of mentioning.
Also, for those who have not read the interview, do not expect anything on the Zune HD on E3.
Last edited by MercifulBoss; 06-02-2009 at 12:11 PM.
-shows albums covers in song list
-improbed vista like transparency
-can see background and album cover in now playing menu
-can view subcatagories in the main menu
-transitions like slide and flip when switching menus
-play/pause next and previous can now be pressed on screen with touch controls
-back button is now on the screen in the top left
-pictures shwos bigger thumbnails
-smoother scroll feature.. making device look more like it has momentum
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I agree with what matt said. If you look at the ZuneHD picture you can see pictures next to Music, Pictures, Radio, etc. Right above these letters in faded words you can see History, Pin, New (I believe). I think you may be able to click on that and see what is in your history, New, Pin, and all that. And I also agree with the subcategory clicking also for faster browsing and stuff. But that is the only "special" thing I noticed.
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IMHO, ZuneHD's rumored hardware is to make big. Tegra chip is one of the most powerful solutions. ZuneHD has to be as cool as it seems. The only question I have is about battery - for how long will it live?
I don't think old zunes to get much updates. Looking at iPods - they don't get functional updates - only small fixes and optimization
I think he was talking about when the guy went to the Coldplay screen and you could see the artist picture of Coldplay in the background behind the album art. Which I though was pretty cool.
Everything in the new interface flips or slides...it reminds me of a book. Or like Flip3D in Windows Vista, but it's really smooth and the next destination is already determined depending on what he selected in the video. That's really the only difference that I caught.
If you notice the pictures beside the text in the main screen in an earlier video I saw those were enlarged and its like your favorites and stuff you can tag. I guess thats what he's talking about.
When you shake it the text wiggles =P i wanna buy it just for that!
*what are you doing??*
*Watching the text wiggle =D*
ha, yeah, that would be kool. but i wish they made the hold the same, the ipod touches hold is stupid, you can't put it on during movies or doing normal things, it pretty much completely takes you out of it. if they kept the hold switch, i would be very satisfied.
I think he was talking about when the guy went to the Coldplay screen and you could see the artist picture of Coldplay in the background behind the album art. Which I though was pretty cool.
I think you may be onto something there...
I did notice it was much like the 'now playing' screen from the desktop software.
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EVERYONE! Go watch the video again and just pay attention to DETAIL when he picks Cold Play...Notice it shows the artwork for the album...BUT behind it is something new....it's the Zune Marketplace photo for that artist!
Seitz Talks New UI Element on ZuneHD/Older Zune Firmware Updates
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