Easy Ipod Blog

In what can only be great news for Apple American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has said While we have great respect for Microsoft, we are frankly underwhelmed by the much-hyped Zune device,”. Wu also mentioned that “Microsoft had hinted of an all-new design from the ground up, but from our analysis, it appears that the Zune is essentially a repackaged Toshiba Gigabeat that has seen limited success. Moreover, the software is similar to the Windows Mobile OS licensed to its hardware ‘partners’. At this point, we believe this could end up being another classic case of overpromising and underdelivering by Microsoft.”

The main funtion that has not impressed so far is the Zune’s control pad functional which is not as user friendly as the iPod Click wheel.

Wu said he continues to believe that creating a complete device-software solution similar to Apple’s iPod and iTunes is nearly impossible. “Replicating the ease-of-use and experience of iPod + iTunes is a difficult endeavor, not to mention likely to infringe on Apple’s patents,” Wu said. “In our opinion, Sony has come the closest in creating a pleasant experience with its Walkman cell phones, but its success has had little to no impact on Apple (likely because customers use the Walkman phones mostly as cell phones).”

In addition, the Zune player will likely only have success against Microsoft’s own partners, according to Wu. “To us the portable media market is divided into two camps—iPod + iTunes (the de facto standard) and Windows Media,” he said. “We believe Zune will likely see some success due to Microsoft’s strong brand name and strong marketing effort. However, we believe its success will likely come at an expense and be limited by its lack of differentiation vs. other Windows players (CREAF, SNDK, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, iRiver, Archos, and others).”

What do you guys thinks about the soon to be released Zune player will you be ditching your iPod for a Zune? Do you think that the Zune can compete with the iPod?