So I just got off a call with Microsoft regarding the Zune and we have a few more details for you. → Read More
I’m probably in the crowd Let’s chat about the Zune Social, Microsoft’s music-centric social networking (Isn’t “social networking” redundant? When are you “anti-social networking”…) deal. Before we get too far along, know that you don’t actually need a Zune to participate in Zune Social. It’s like this: when you play a song on your PC, the title-artist-whatever information is uploaded to Zune Social. Here, all of your supposed friends (and maybe complete strangers, I’m not quite sure) can see what music you’re into. In my case, they’ll think I’m an eastern bloc drag queen since I pretty much exclusively listen to progressive house. If they like it, they’re only one click away from buying the song, provided it’s on the Zune Marketplace. And that’s pretty much all we know so far. It sounds neat enough, I’m just not sure if I want my friends to know all of my music habits. I mean, it’s not like I go to the Abercrombie Web site and audio hijack the songs while writing sports columns for the NYU newspaper. ‘Cause I don’t. Hands On with Zune 2 [Wired Gadget Lab] → Read More
Hey, you know what’d be great? If Bill Gates told us why the Zune 2 is good. I gotta say, that Wi-Fi music sync features is pretty clutch. Hopefully this will force other companies to get on board the Wi-Fi Express. Video: Bill Gates talks about Zune 2 [Zune-Online.com] → Read More
If I have one problem with the Zune 2 (other than not working too well with my iMac), it’s the new slogan—”you make it you.” What does that even mean, Microsoft? I make it me or you make it me? (Or I make it you?) Last year, you [Microsoft; let's not get confused here] welcomed us to the social, whatever the hell that is/was. Now I (or me, or someone else… maybe even you!) am (is?) are making something—the Zune 2 I guess—mine. Or yours. I don’t know. I’ve already lost interest. Methinks some of the slogans in consumer electronics are too cool for the room and end up sounding like complete nonsense. Like this post. Hey marketing guys, please stop trying to impress us with short, pithy phrases that, in the end, mean nothing to the consumer. Take “you make it you” out of the context of zune.net—say, on a billboard without a picture of the Zune accompanying it—and what does it mean to the average person? Not a damn thing. → Read More
Microsoft launched the Zune 2 family last night while I was dreaming about being a New York City police officer (that’s real, btw), to, nearest I can tell, nearly zero fanfare. (That’s what you get when you inform no one about its launch.) As much as I’d love to needlessly hate on the new Zunes, they’re not all bad. Sure, there’s no touch screen and they’re more of a facelift than anything else, they’re not bad little DAPs. Microsoft brings something to the table that Apple couldn’t (or wouldn’t)—a 16GB flash model. I’m all about flash-based players nowadays—I walked into an Apple store ready to buy the 160GB iPod Classic, but the lag caused by hard drive access time was too much—so the roomier flash drives get, the happier I become. I’m also keen on Wi-Fi music syncing, partly because it frees up a USB slot, partly because it’s future-tastic. If I had a PC, I’d also be stoked to see that my DVR recordings easily transferred to the Zune. See? Zune doesn’t completely suck. Zune [Microsoft] → Read More
So now the new Zunes are out and about, cool. They’re a big improvement to the original, which had been out less than a year. And while we’re supporters of the Zune and the Zune marketplace, there’s no doubt that the Zune still has a long way to go to catch up with Apple and the iPod line. While we now have two versions of Microsoft’s media player, Apple is filling out with fou. Or five if you count the iPhone (which, for now, we won’t). That being said, the Zune is still less than a year old to the iPod’s six. But let’s look at the parity in the market and really get down to who’s in charge here. It’s not Microsoft. → Read More
Not sure if you heard about this, but Microsoft, a software and technology company out of Redmond, Washington, is just today announcing a new portable media player. It’s the first sequel to the media player it released last year, called the Zune. This media player is also called the Zune, though we’re calling it the Zune 2, as it’s a follow-up to the original, or it might as well be. At this point we feel the need to mention that despite its late-to-the-game timing, as well as its also-ran general status at launch, we like the original Zune. It is, technically-speaking, superior to the iPods of the time. It was more attractive, and generally more than we expected from Microsoft. So we’re hopeful that these new Zunes take the torch and run. → Read More
Holy moly, Zune day is rolling along nicely. Somebody, and we’re not saying who, mostly because we don’t really know, has leaked the embargoed Zune press release set for midnight tonight. Now, we’d never do anything like that, our journalistic integrity is more important than a scoop, even one as scoopable as Zune deets. We’re not like that. Fortunately, anonymous forum members, like the ones at Harvey’s fine Zunerama, don’t have to worry about that. Hit the link for some sneak peaky info. [Update]: I find the need to apologize for the headline. OH BOY, OH BOY! [Zunerama] → Read More
Oh, by the way, readers, today is Zune day. Why is it Zune day? Because the Zune 2 is launching tonight, like, duh. At this point it’s about as secret as the fact that president Carter was behind 9/11. Inappropriate jokes aside, Technabob just dug up these sketches of the flash-based Zune 2 (which we’ve heard might be called the Zune Pixel, or perhaps Pixas (picks-us)) on the FCC website. They confirm that the MiniZune will come in 4GB and 8GB flavors. And as they need an FCC filing, that means they’ll share the big Zune’s WiFi capabilities. Tune in later tonight for more, more, more as our own Peter “iPod Eater” Ha lets loose on the launch that MS says isn’t really happening even though they invited us (shhhh). We liked Zune 1 but saw room for improvement. We’re hoping Zune 2 blows our minds, man. new zune 2 flash-based players confirmed [Technabob] → Read More
There seem to be rumors floating around today that the Zune 2 will be announced tomorrow, but there’s no definitive confirmation as of yet. Our inside sources have hinted at it, but we’re looking at an official announcement on the 16th. If this turns out to be true than our insider will be swimming with the fishes. [Update]: So we’ve just received confirmation from our informant that Zune 2.0 will be officially announced tomorrow at midnight EST. Expect to see a flash-based version and a hard drive-based model up to 160GB, as well. They will most likely be available on the 16th, so some of the earlier rumors are still true. We’ll find out tomorrow, though. [Update 2]: Details keep trickling in and the latest is that the HDD Zune is noticeably smaller than the first generation and lighter. It even has the same shock-absorbing technology as in MacBooks so it unparks the drive. And it’s made of chocolate! (Damn you, informant! Everything but the chocolate part is true.) [Update 3]: Now with spy pics. We know you love spy pics. → Read More
The guy over at iwantapinkzune.com isn’t an official source however this dude seems to be pretty sure that the Zune 2 will be out on October 16th. Obviously, bloggers are the most credible people on the internet so we are now fully expectant of a release on said date. Unfortunately for Microsoft no one will really care about any releases on the 16th what with everyone being out spending their paycheck on copies of Transformers. The last “When will Zune 2 be released?” guide you will ever need… until the next one → Read More
Zune Scene is currently running a piece on Zune 2 and the Flash Zune that are supposed to be released later this year. The story goes that a Zune employee was encountered on a business trip and spilled a bunch of details on the forthcoming products that we’ve yet to confirm. If the information is accurate, however, we can expect at least two new products from the Zune lineup sometime soon. One will be a device that is similar to the current Zune 1. It will be thinner, but it’ll have a larger hard drive. The flash device will be much smaller. There weren’t any specific details on its capacity, but the employee is reported to have said that they plan to beat the competition. In other news, Microsoft is reportedly building a facility to produce the new Zune devices next to the current Xbox 360 production plant. If that is indeed true, it’s indicative that the new devices will not be products of Toshiba. Zune 2.0 and Flash Zune Details Leaked [Zune Scene] → Read More
