Engadget and Mobilewhack did a little sleuthing on the FCC's site and discovered that all those similarities between the Zune and the recently released Gigabeat S30/S60 aren't just a coincidence. By all accounts, they are actually brethren bore from the womb of mother Toshiba!
The Zune appears to be the FCC approved Toshiba 1089, which falls right into line with the whole "Microsoft doesn't really make hardware, let's find a partner to make it for us" thing. It didn't make a lot of strategic sense for Toshiba to release the S series so close to the imminent release of the Zune juggernaut, but the discovery of this relationship puts things into better perspective.
This bums me out a bit since I bought a Gigabeat S30 around a month ago and would have waited a bit longer to get my hands on a Zune/Toshiba 1089. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that the Gigabeat S is a great device and a worthy predecessor to Zune family line. I still can't wait for its older, more gifted brother.
