New Zune Delayed Due to Loose Wire?

Has the rumored 80GB version of the Zune has been pushed back because of a faulty wire? That's the word around the campfire, at least.

Zune Scene reports that a supposed 80GB video-centric model of the Zune may not arrive until late this year because of production speed bumps. According to the blog, an anonymous source at Microsoft says a "wire was coming loose" due to a design flaw; the design has since been fixed, but production for the new Zune (code-named "Scorpio") may be pushed back to September. Meanwhile, the upcoming flash-memory Zune (dubbed "Dracos," or so says the grapevine) is already in production, the source said.

Of course, take all of this with a grain of salt—we're talking anonymous tipsters here, and Microsoft hasn't even confirmed the existence of an 80GB Zune (although company execs told investors last week that a flash-based Zune is, indeed, in the works, and that higher-capacity models are in development).

Otherwise, news on the Zune front has been pretty slow. Redmond announced earlier this month that the eight-month-old player has finally crossed the one million-sold mark, but to my mind, the Zune hasn't made much of a mark on the personal tech landscape—indeed, I had only my second in-the-wild Zune sighting just last week. Still, I think Microsoft could turn all that around by rolling out over-the-air music downloads on the Wi-Fi-capable Zune; it's a killer feature that even the iPhone has yet to exploit.

So let's hear it, Zune fans (you're out there, right?)—what do you want to see in a new Zune? Or are you planning on jumping ship?

Related:
Zune 2.0 Production: Scorpio Gets Emergency Surgery [Zune Scene, via Wired's Listening Post]