Yes, you read the headline correctly. The Zune HD, which was recently rolled up and borged into the Windows Phone 7 brand, has received no less than nine new apps. We heard that the existing Zune games and apps would be ported to WP7, but perhaps during that process they decided to brush off a few that were still sitting in the box. → Read More
Nearly two years after its launch, the Zune HD finally has an email client. Microsoft enlisted the help of Matchbox Mobile, the folks that made the Zune HD Facebook and Twitter, to make a dedicated email app for the media player. The end result is an email app that supports Windows Live Hotmail, GMail and Exchange done up in the Zune’s Metro classic UI.
The trick is that Microsoft never intended the Zune HD’s XNA SDK to build productivity apps, but rather games. Because of this, the SDK lacked the necessary UI elemients such as lists, text entry fields and user controls. Matchbox Mobile had to develop those on their own. → Read More
This is a rock solid deal for a rock solid media player. I can’t recommend the Zune enough for music listeners. It’s a gorgeous device with a great UI and no dependency on iTunes. This Buy.com deal nets you a 64GB Zune HD for only $219. That’s nearly half the price of a 64GB iPod touch. Once again, the Zune HD is for those looking to listen to music or watch the occasional video; it can’t compete with the iPod touch with apps. The Zune HD doesn’t have cameras or a high-powered graphics chip. It can’t play Words With Friends or Angry Birds but that’s probably just fine for those that just want to listen to some tunes on the train to work. → Read More
Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has finally decided to put an official end to its Zune media player line. “A person familiar with the decision” has informed them that Microsoft will not be putting out any new hardware in the line, and will be henceforward focusing on integrating Zune functionality with the Windows Phone 7 platform.
Not exactly unexpected; the Zune hardware hasn’t changed since mid-2009′s release of the Zune HD, although it has received several significant software upgrades. The writing has been on the wall for a long time, but whether Microsoft would double down (again) or cut their losses was far from clear. Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. → Read More
The world needed the Zune. Hell, Apple needed the Zune. Microsoft better not kill off the Zune. Too bad it’s already as good as cooked. Bye bye, Zune. We’ll miss you. As Mary-Jo Foley points out, Microsoft suits are seemingly avoiding using the platform’s name lately. It’s a bit strange seeing how the Zune brand is fairly important to Windows Phone 7. The mobile phone platform uses the Zune name for all things media. But it’s still odd that not only are Microsoft executives not talking about the brand, but also the absence of talk was noticed. Chances are if anything is changing, the brand will survive. It’s the physical media players that might get the pink slip. And that sucks. → Read More
Mac users have been asking for years for a version of Zune for OS X, even if it’s a stripped-down sync utility. The Windows Phone 7 Connector app for Mac is made for use, of course, with your WP7 handset, but apparently a simple terminal tweak is all it takes to make it recognize Zunes as well. → Read More
These rumors aren’t exactly the most substantiated we’ve ever seen, but to be honest, I’d report if a bird flew in my window today just to get the Apple taste out of my mouth. What’s being said is that Microsoft is going to double down on Zune with a Windows Phone 7-esque update. Whether there’d be new hardware is anyone’s guess. Why not? → Read More
Wal-Mart has the 16GB Zune HD available for $162.54 plus free shipping (and tax, if applicable). It usually retails for $199, so you’re saving quite a bit. Well, provided you were in the market for a Zune HD to begin with. Incidentally, that’s where I bought my Zune HD from, the local Wal-Mart. Fascinating, yes. → Read More
Joy! New apps. If you’re a Zune HD owner, fire up the ol’ girl and get downloading. This Labyrinth game looks pretty cool, and the Zune HD’s accelerometer is pretty responsive, so it should be good. Now give me a Mahjjong game and I’ll be set for life. → Read More
Potentially huge news for Zune HD owners—that means Devin and I. It has been hacked~! Yes, the good folks over at ZuneBoards have hacked the Zune HD to pieces, giving homebrew developers full access to the hardware, access that otherwise lay behind the XNA development kit. The Zune HD isn’t too shabby, so I fully expect to see ports of popular emulators like FCEUX in no time at all. → Read More
Great news, everyone! I just upgraded my Zune HD‘s firmware to the latest and greatest version, version 4.5, and I’m here to report that everything went smoothly… mostly. I probably shouldn’t have used the word “everything,” then. I can now play Xvid videos just fine, having tested an old SummerSlam 2001 DVD rip that I had in my Zune video folder. (Why I have old WWE DVD rips on my hard drive is a matter for another day.) So no problems whatsoever in that regard. → Read More
To follow up with earlier rumors we’re happy to report that the Zune HD 64GB is now a reality. Microsoft just announced the Zune HD 64GB for $349.99, available April 12, just outside of the event horizon that is the iPad ship date. This new device will run the 4.5 firmware. → Read More
The Zune HD has seen modest price drops the last few weeks with the Zune HD 32 now available at the ever important $199 price point. With a lite dose of speculation, it now all makes sense seeing as there is clearly a Zune HD 64 launching in the near future. → Read More
Patents, patents, everywhere! It seems you can’t swing a cat these days without infringing on someone’s patent. The latest victim/perp is Microsoft; an Illinois doctor is suing them because of a patent he was granted in 2002 which allegedly covers the Zune’s ability to tag a song directly from the radio and then download that song once an internet connection is established. Obviously it’s for the lawyers to work out the details, but it seems to me what he must have been granted was more a method of identifying and later purchasing a song, not the plain act of tagging and downloading later. → Read More
Just last week Dell Home dropped the 32GB Zune HD down to $240 and we called it the great price drop in the history of price drops. We were wrong. The 32GB and 16GB versions just got another price drop and it’s HUGE. → Read More
The Facebook app all of us Zune HD lovers have been waiting for has arrived! It looks pretty solid, but due to a hilarious sequence of errors, I can’t update my Zune software to allow the app to be installed. Seriously, Microsoft, I want to recommend Zune stuff to everyone, but you make it so difficult for me. You can see what it looks like in these screenshots, at any rate. More in the gallery below. → Read More
The Zune HD is a tempting piece of PMP goodness and it just got a whole lot more tasty with a modest price drop. Both Amazon and Newegg have at least temporarily dropped the price of our favorite media player. So far we haven’t heard anything from Redmond about official cuts, but something is definitely up when these two retailers both cut prices. → Read More
Update: The app no longer censors tweets. Good, because that was the most ridiculous thing ever. Oh now this is exciting. Microsoft released a Twitter application for the Zune HD a few moments ago, and I’ve been tasked with testing it out for your edification. Spoiler: it works, it’s buggy, and I can’t see the sense in using it. → Read More
The Zune HD has been kick’n it for a few months on retail shelves. But if you’re planning on buying one sometime soon and purple and magenta are your colors, you might want to wait until December 1st. On that day the portable will be available in those lovely colors in addition to the five that are already available. Of course you can customize your Zune HD even more with the signature Zune Original Artwork and through the holiday’s, free engraving. → Read More
