Review: MSN Money for Zune HD
Publisher: Microsoft
Product: MSN Money for Zune HD
Price: Free @ Zune App Marketplace
One of the biggest things users of the Zune HD have had to struggle with is the tug of war between what the Zune HD was designed for and what we want it to do. I purchased the Zune HD because I believe it is the best media consumption device on around. I can use it to stream music, enjoy podcasts, and even grab tracks from the radio. (I know what you’re, thinking. Yeah the radio only plays the same old lame tracks but, an iPod can’t do that!) At the same time as I craved the Zune HD for it’s entertainment abilities, I hesitated to purchase since it is in fact not remotely a device meant for productivity. MSN Money is Microsoft’s second foray into apps for the Zune HD outside of social networking, the first being MSN Weather. While MSN Weather wasn’t exactly a showcase app by any stretch of the imagination, MSN Money is everything it’s earlier cousin wasn’t.
Money, Money, Money
If you’re used to the “Metro” UI all current Zune HD apps employ then there won’t be any surprises for you here. Scrolling from left to right or right to left, allows you to switch to different interfaces and do different things, while the wrench icon located in the bottom left corner of your screen allows you to adjust settings for whatever screen mode you are in. The “Currencies” mode is pretty self explanatory. Allowing you to monitor where the dollar stands against it’s world wide competitors. (Here’s a hint, not so hot.) By hitting the settings icon in this mode you are also able to convert a different currencies on the fly. Tap the text area and you can convert an amount you specify. Scroll up and down on the turn the text to choose what currencies you want to convert. It’s simple and effective.
Articles
The “Articles” mode displays the latest in business and economic news, all from the app, much like an RSS reader of sorts. You can’t customize what sites or companies this screen monitors, but I find it useful just the same.
Watchlist
One of the things I was eager to check out was how deep the customization and display of what companies the app monitored. “Watchlist” holds all of companies that you would like to follow, displaying quotes, and the how a said stock is doing versus where it started that day. Tapping on any ticker symbol you’ve entered, allows you to get a detailed profile of that stock’s performance history. You can adjust the timeline of the performance history graph by holding your finger down on the graph and moving your finger from left to right. This was by far my favorite part of the application. It plays to the Zune HD strengths and even loads lightning fast when using a solid internet connection. Turning your device in landscape mode allows you to see up scaled versions of each company’s graph.
Markets
Lastly the “Markets” mode, monitors the world’s major stock indexes. There is no customization here, as Microsoft has already preprogrammed it with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW), the NASDAQ, and all of their international equivalents. Tapping on these also brings up a detailed profile, nearly identical to the way that appears in the “Watchlist.” Turning your device in landscape mode allows you to see larger versions of graphs in this mode as well.
The Verdict
I’ll no doubt receive emails from the usual suspects griping. They’ll complain about how the Zune could have a vibrant ecosystem if only Microsoft would open up app development. While that is certainly up for debate what isn’t up for debate is just how much this thing rocks. Since the Zune HD is geared towards the 18-24 crowd, you’ll get no arguments from me on how useful this application might be to Zune users over all. . Those are entirely different questions, for an entirely different review.
What I can argue is the case that this app is useful for the ecosystem as a whole.The user interface is what we’ve come to know and love. The app loads quickly. Even more impressive is the amount of information it allows you to gather about world markets without having to leave the app. It’s well made, and was obviously designed for those who are on the go and need their world market fix. The equation is simple. If you are one of the aforementioned people who crave financial information, you will love the fact that you won’t need to use the Zune HD’s web browser to gather this information.
There are however some things that I don’t like. I would prefer to be able to add or remove business sites that the app displays in the “Articles” section. I also wouldn’t mind a more prominent back button when diving in and out of screens. The current back button is as tiny as they could have made it. A misplaced finger could cover it up entirely. I found myself having to consciously aim at it instead of in the general area like I do other parts of the Zune HD’s interface.
Though slightly frustrating these problems don’t distract from or make MSN Money any less useful. All in all I find myself asking two questions. One; Where has this app been all my life? And two; can the Microsoft employees who designed this spice up MSN Weather? ZuneSpring recommends MSN Money for the Zune HD, without reservations.
In Favor:
- Familiar user Interface.
- Excellent loading time.
- Excellent graphs and detailed charts on past stock prices.
- Amount of detailed dedicated to something as simple as including country flags with each currency, make it easy to use.
- Ability to increase the size of graphs by simply looking at the device in portrait mode.
- Reading articles from the App itself to save the trouble of loading the web browser, is magnificent.
In Opposition:
- Small back button is a pain.
- Text sizes are at nearly to the point of not being able to read them. An option to increase text sizes might be useful.
- The Settings button is contextual based on which screen you are in. That’s fine but you shouldn’t have to think about which options come up on which screens. Settings much like the value of X should remain constant.
We Say: If you like to monitor stocks and keep an eye on the latest economic trends, save yourself the trouble of switching between devices and download MSN Money right now.
MSN Money for Zune HD Gallery
