80GB Zune not shipping yet?

Two days ago on November 13th Microsoft said the new Zune players are available. Now reports come in that the 80GB Zune is not shipping.

I have seen that many pre-ordered the 80GB Zune on Amazon.com already weeks ago. Apparently the orders have not been filled.

Zune Scene quotes an inside Microsoft contact saying that the Zune 80GB is 6 weeks behind production schedule. There are supposed to be 80GB Zune players coming in the next weeks.
More details on Zune Scene.
Engadget quotes a Best Buy tipster stating a December 12th shipping date for the Zune 80GB. More details on Engadget.

Black Asus Eee PC now also from NewEgg

The black Asus Eee PC is now also selling from NewEgg. We reported yesterday that J&R will ship the black Asus Eee 4G on November 16th.

The Galaxy black sells for $399.99 just like the white Eee.

It would be good to know when Asus is actually launching the 8G. Asus said that Windows Asus Eee PCs are still coming this year. Will those be 8G? Who knows.

Xbox 360 Arcade ships Today

Microsoft finally got around to officially announcing the Xbox 360 Arcade. The Xbox 360 Arcade already showed up in some retail stores a week ago.

The Xbox 360 Arcade is now shipping from major online retailers. Wal-mart offers the Xbox 360 Arcade for $279.92.
Gamestop sells the cheapest Xbox 360 console for $279.99.


The Microsoft Xbox 360 Arcade console includes five family-friendly games (PAC-MAN Championship Edition" (NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.), "Uno" (Carbonated Games), "Luxor 2" (MumboJumbo), "Boom Boom Rocket" (Electronic Arts Inc.) and "Feeding Frenzy" (Sprout Games)), a wireless controller, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection to enable high-definition output if desired and 256 MB of memory.

As said in my earlier coverage of the Xbox 360 Arcade, Microsoft should have set the price to $249.99 to compete heads-on with the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo can just lean back and can keep their pricing while Sony and Microsoft cut pricing of their consoles for the holiday shopping season.

On the other hand Nintendo seems to still struggle to get enough Wii consoles into the U.S. marketplace. It is still not in stock on Amazon.com every time I check.