Crunchgear has broken the news that the initial Microsoft Zune media player will be manufactured by Toshiba, not Microsoft.
The device has been registered with the FCC as the Toshiba 1089. It’s been confirmed that the player features a 30GB hard drive, a 3″ LCD, USB 2.0 and 802.11 b/g connectivity. Also, we can confirm that what was once thought to be a scroll-wheel (a la iPod) is simply a clickable joypad.
The more and more I read about the Zune, the less I understand about how it’s really different from any other media player out there. I have to keep in mind that Microsoft is still a software company at heart, and maybe the beauty of this device will be the operating interface.
Reportedly, the Toshiba is only the first model to be released, and Microsoft outsourced this manufacturing in order to meet the impending holiday 2006 season. There are plans to release other models, quite possibly manufactured by others including Microsoft, in the future.
A preliminary user manual reveals some functionality planned for the device, including the previously reported ability to share and stream music and photos to other connected Zune users.
