Microsoft Zune 120GB already on Amazon

Two days before Microsoft is expected to formally announce it, the new Zune 120GB digital media player first outed by the FCC last month is now up for the taking at Amazon. The premature listing, which was put up today, comes just three days after it was accidentally sold to a customer at Fry’s Electronics in Atlanta, GA. This doesn’t make the new Zune the worst kept secret in portable gadget history, but it sure does let the air out of the announcement. If the player is to be unveiled in front of a live audience, then expect some yawns and "tell us something we don’t know" snickers.

That aside, I had actually been thinking about replacing my 30GB Creative Zen Vision:M with the Zune 120GB. I like to keep a HDD-based DAP among my flash-dominant collection but ultimately decided against the Zune after learning that the Archos 5 is HSDPA-ready. The Archos comes in 120GB/250GB capacities and has a web browser powered by Opera and the new ARM Cortex CPU, so I’d rather have that (even though sound quality is probably not as good). Amazon is showing a "usually ships in 3 to 6 weeks" delivery date on the Internet Media Tablet, though, which is why I thought about Microsoft’s offering again (I’m reassessing my gear this morning for an upcoming trip).

Since Amazon has been known to leak unannounced products in the past, I figured it was worth checking to see if the Zune was there.

Click on image to view full size.

And it was!

Of the eight vendors listed on the product page, seven of them show the player in stock with expedited shipping available. Ironically, the only retailer that describes the device as "temporarily out of stock" is Amazon.com!

[Zune 120GB]