- ign.com -
November 15, 2006 - After a long summer of rumor, speculation, viral teasers and brief first glimpses, the Zune foreplay is finally over and the hardware has hit the street. Microsoft is the first real challenger to Apple's iPod hegemony, and MS knows well exactly what it's going up against. Apple has always worked to enhance the aura of hip that surrounds the iPod and has consistently delivered the 'Pods in rather slick packaging. Microsoft aims to do the same with the Zune, and we say they've succeeded.
The Zune box is only slightly larger than the current packaging for the 5.5G iPod. The Zune box is constructed of glossy paper laid upon reinforced cardboard and feels high quality in hand. The minimalist, yet risky color scheme of brown with accents of orange and magenta looks pretty cool as well.
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The box opens via lifting the brown top portion from the colored base, where upon the opener is immediately greeted with the Zune marketing catch phrase, "Welcome to the Social." The greeting lifts to reveal the Zune, which sits upon a webbed tab for easy removal from its nest. On either side of the Zune, tabs cover the sync cable and headphones, which are kept neatly in plastic sleeves.
A door on the back side of the box contains a sleeve that holds the Quick Start Guide, Product Guide, Install CD, a voucher for 14 days of the all-you-can-eat Zune Marketplace subscription, and a nice faux suede protective pouch. The packaging presents the Zune quite well, and overall we'd say the Zune packaging feels and looks higher-end than the current iPod video container.
We're in the midst of putting the Zune thought its paces and will have our comprehensive full review ready for publishing tomorrow. At the moment we must admit that despite the fact that the Zune is larger than an iPod video we think it's pretty nice and are totally impressed with the interface, both graphically and for its intuitive nature. Enjoy the pics for now and we'll see you tomorrow with the full breakdown.
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