Hide-a-Pod is a brilliant idea, if not a bit cruel to the Zune nation. Apple fans came up with this brilliantly simple way to keep your iPod from being stolen - disguise it as a Zune, of course. Reasoning nobody in their right mind wants to steal a Zune, your iPod is safe. Thieves are really quite discriminating about what they steal. Looking for a quick turnaround to "fence" their wares is what the larceny is all about.

Zune had disappointing reviews early on, but Zune sales were brisk in the weeks before last Christmas. The main criticism of Zune was founded in misunderstanding of its wi-fi features. Using Zune’s Wi-Fi you could beam or squirt (as hide-a-pod calls it) songs to friends with Zune accounts. But you can't sync to your computer via wi-fi, nor can you buy music directly from the web. Zune doesn't (currently) connect to the Internet with its wi-fi connection. 

Microsoft made predictions of a million sold by June, and it seemed like a lot to ask. For awhile Zune was selling at #2, behind only Apple's iPod in total sales of MP3 players. Zune has pushed back the former #2 SanDisk, makers of surprisingly decent budget flash drive MP3 players. I wonder if they made the 1 million sales mark yet?