Reports: new Zunes October 16: pix here

A tipster to Engadget says that an upgraded Microsoft Zune will hit the online and retail channels "sooner rather than later."

Given that we are less than two weeks from the frantic 4Q consumer electronics purchasing and gift-giving season, my bets would be a new Zune soon as October.

Turns out that's right. ZuneScene reports October 16.

The Engadget and the ZuneScene reports indicate a Zune color palette that at least to me, connotes an attempt by Microsoft to market directly to gender-driven color preferences. Pink for the Sisterhood of the X chromosome, army green for my peeps in the Brotherhood of the Y-chro. Red and black, too.

8GB and 4GB capacity for a smaller version of the Zune, and a video-enabled, 80GB model for those who want to play and store lots and lots and even more content. The navigation, it is said, will be pushable "from any side."

No pricing info yet. Keyword=yet.

That said, I don't sense anything super-creative here that would rock iTunes' or iPhone's world upside down. I mean, how many of you even know someone with a Zune?

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