Vox Circle: The Zune HD Cometh?

Vox Circle is a new, weekly column by Julio Angel Ortiz, discussing various topics related to the Zune, music, and digital world.

If the rumors are to be believed, then Microsoft's next iteration of the Zune will be called the Zune HD, will feature a full-screen, touch interface, and will resurrect your dead ancestors. It will also be out within the next couple of months and, no doubt, will spawn countless discussions regarding which is better: the iPod Touch or the Zune HD.

Here's the thing with the Zune HD: it will absolutely fail in comparison to the iPod Touch if it does not include a real developer API. Because the game toolkit won't cut it.

Now, before I find myself martyred on the alter of Zune fanaticism, allow me to explain. Microsoft provided the XNA development environment so that hobbyists could create games for the Zune. That, by itself, was a fantastic move. However, it has also been implemented, to be blunt, rather poorly. Thus far, there is no mechanism from within the Zune Desktop to install 3rd party games. Oh, sure, you can install the five or so games that have been bundled with the latest firmwares for the Zune, and you're out of luck for anything beyond that. To install 3rd party Zune games, you need, at a minimum:

• The XNA development SDK
• Microsoft Visual C# 2008 (or Visual Studio 2008)
  
• Technical savvy and patience to install a game using these tools and use them to download games to your Zune
  

Not to mention that fact that, when playing a 3rd party game, you must reset your Zune every time you exit. As you can see, the experience is anything but user-friendly or convenient. Couple this with the fact that the iPod Touch (and let's be honest, this is the device the Zune HD would be compared to and directly marketed against) features more than just games as add-ons, but applications with a variety of functionality, such as Internet Radio, productivity apps, and more. The XNA library cannot take advantage of the built-in wireless on the Zune to any useful degree beyond peer-to-peer gaming, which boggles the mind.

Unless, of course, the Zune HD (and whatever version of the Zune platform that debuts with it) changes this.

And that's exactly what Microsoft needs to do. The Zune HD, if it is indeed the next version of the Zune, needs to be a game changer for Microsoft. It needs to open up the development tools and full capabilities of the device (WiFi, I'm looking right at you). It needs to make it easy for users to convert their DVD collections (I mean, why advertise "HD" in the name and then not make it easy for users to convert movies? At least form a partnership with a company that makes a DVD conversion tool, Microsoft!). The Zune HD needs to be that true "3.0" product that Microsoft is known for, where they hit it out of the ballpark and the Zune really comes into its own.

And I hope that this happens. I've been a big fan of the platform for a couple of years now, since the 1.x days, and I really want to see Zune succeed and grow beyond what it is today. Microsoft's purported "Pink" project (Zune software / player on multiple devices, i.e. Windows Mobile) is an interesting step in that direction, and in itself the subject of a future column. However, there is still a market to be had for a dedicated personal multimedia player, and the Zune HD has the potential to make a big impact in that space, if Microsoft isn't timid.

Otherwise, the Apple fanboys will be flaunting the capabilities of the iPod Touch in the face of the Zune HD. And they would have every right to do so.