I’ve been using my Zune HD for over a month now and I use it almost exclusively for all audio. I do not watch much video on my Zune, but I never did watch much on any of my iPods and iPhoneOS devices much either.
Since getting my Zune I have noticed a rather apparent feature that I keep trying to duplicate with my iPhone that I do with my Zune. The , and I’m surprised that the iPhone OS does not have this, is the ability to swipe to get to the next song.
If you’re sitting listening to a bunch of songs and want to switch songs you can just swipe with your finger to the left or right. The gesture is such a natural one and is entirely intuitive. Yet, I wonder why the iPhone OS cannot do this.
Here is a video of the sliding to the next song.
Now I stated that I use it almost exclusively for audio. There are two types of audio that I tend to use my iPhone for more often; the two types both hinge on the same iPhoneOS feature. “Double-speed”.
the “Double-speed” which is actually only 1.5 speed. Maybe I should file a lawsuit about it. This is very useful when you have a long list of podcasts or an extremely long audiobook that you are listening to.
The more intriguing part of the whole thing is that when I listen to a podcast at “double-speed” I actually seem to understand it quite a bit more than at normal speed.
Overall I still enjoy the Zune HD, and I’m not sure if I will get another iPod in the future or not. So far it does not look as though I will be replacing the Zune.
There is one feature I’d like to see with the Zune 4.0 Software, Growl support. There is Growl for Windows, if the Zune Software supported Growl I could send the updates to my Mac, which could then update my Adium status with the current song Im listening to; but that’s probably just a pipe dream.
