Not being able to use your Zune as an external drive was your biggest complaint? Hey, you can start shopping for your Zune now. At least this is what the geeks from Zuneboards are saying. Apparently, they managed to crack the Zune and use it as an external drive. They did not publish the whole recipe for now, but it sounds promising. We’ll keep you posted.
Vaja released their complete line of Zune cases today. The Argentina based company is a manufacturer of high-end leather cases for the Zune. Made of 1st grade quality leather, the cases can be personalized to your taste with text and graphics. There are four different models to choose from: Classic, Balance, Classic Top & Classic Top Retro. All cases have a wide choice of colors and options. If you are looking for a distinct look for your Zune, Vaja cases is certainly the best choice you can make.
But Vaja Zune cases are everything but cheap. Prices start at 60$, and if you add the personal graphics and a rivet snap clip, your case is going to cost you well over 100$. All orders are custom orders and are ship by Fedex. So, don't even think about dropping at Bestbuy to pick-up a case!
I can't wait to put my hands on one! We will also have a complete review of their cases soon! But for now, take a look at their really nicely done website.
More pictures of their Zune cases after the jump.
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"
I recently purchased a Microsoft Zune player (to replace my lost iPod, which never surfaced no thanks to crappy Iberia!). Unfortunately, days before the arrival of my Zune from the USA, I made the switch to Windows Vista. This meant that, when the Zune arrived, I couldn't sync it up with my media-stuffed laptop, as in their infinite wisdom, Microsoft have decided NOT to make a Vista friendly version of the software available yet.
So I set about seeing if the XP software could run happily on Vista! It does... and here's how I did it!"
Of course, you can wait in January to have the official Vista compatible Zune software but if you already migrate your computer to Vista, Paul from the Modaco forum can help you. By the way, I would not call Microsoft to ask for help after that... Enjoy!
via ZuneThoughts
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"Mike McGuire, vp of research for mobile devices and consumer services at Gartner Inc., San Jose, Calif., said he sees Microsoft's social-networking strategy as being based on recommendations that lead to sales. "The social nature of music as a form of currency is well established," he said. "But from the larger industry perspective, where it gets interesting and powerful is when music
sharing can lead to actual purchase.""
"Gartner's recent research study, "Consumer Taste Sharing Is Driving the Online Music Business and Democratizing Culture," supports this. According to the report, said McGuire, nearly one-quarter of frequent online music users want the ability to share music. Also, some of the most regular users of online music are the most interested in consumer-generated recommendation tools. McGuire and co-author Derek Slater predicted that by 2010, 25 percent of online music buying will be driven "directly from consumer-to-consumer taste-sharing applications.""
According to Gartner, Microsoft has the right strategy with is "Welcome to the Social" slogan and Zune sharing features. It's true that the Wi-fi feature is technically cool. We are certainly missing the Zune to PC synchronization, but the real goal for Microsoft is the sharing of music that will lead to music discovery for users and then converted to sales at the Marketplace. The missing part is the incentive for users to share their music with other users. This will come when Microsoft introduces the unannounced commission plan based on Microsoft points.
via Yahoo
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"We
are almost ready to select the next wave of accessories manufacturers for the Spring season. Since the entire reason I started this blog was to have a direct dialog with the Zune community, I thought what better way than to let you guys decide who one of the partners should be? "
The ZuneGuy (Bill Wittress) needs your help! By visiting his site, you can tell him what partner he should select. Tell him why your favorite accessory maker would be the best choice for the Zune. After receiving the proposals, a survey will be done on his blog to select the partner. Microsoft is getting really democratic? What is the next step? Open source for the Zune? Just kidding...
Be part of the Zune accessories' committee now!
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Beyond the arrogance of requiring Microsoft's own "money," the Zune Marketplace also shows sloppy workmanship. Its registration screen wouldn't accept three Washington, D.C., Zip codes. When presented with a shared
song that I'd tagged (and which was in the Zune Marketplace inventory) its search function couldn't find it. And when I tried buying a new album, I only got six of 13 tracks and a message that the others "might not be available."
When Rob Pegoraro did his Zune review, he had almost only nice things to say about the Zune player. But like a lot of reviewers, he had majors complaints about the Zune Software and Marketplace. This seems to be the weakest part of the Zune experience. The installation problems, the Microsoft points and the lack of OS compatibility are the major user complaints as well.
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"One
of the best aspects of the Zune is its Xbox 360 integration. Once you connect it through your USB port and go to the media blade and click on “music,” a slot for your Zune is displayed. Click on it and you’re good to go. All your music is listed for your listening pleasure. I was also pleased to find out that Zune Pass songs play perfectly fine on the 360. So if you’re looking for a subscription-based music player that defiintely works with the Xbox 360, the Zune is the player for you"
Xboxic did their own review of the Zune. And guess what? They tested the Xbox-Zune integration and they were very happy with the Zune capabilities. They noticed a small bug when you try to upload your music on your Xbox when a game is already started.
"when you try to load Zune music in-game, you’re greeted with an error code… but as long as you load up the music before you play a game, you’re good to go for the rest of your gaming session."
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Users from a forum at Zunescene said:
"I have the same problem. I agree that it may be happening with ZuneMarketPlace downloaded songs. It's true that I hadn't noticed anything before signing up for my Zune Pass and unlimited download, while listening to my own songs."
"Strange, when I fast forward till the last seconds of one song and let it play and go over the next song, it doesn't skip. And if I replay the same song (one click to the left), the song that had skipped before, doesn't anymore. The skipping always occurs at the beginning of the song. Goes to show that there's a big problem with the internal software/decoder, not with any corrupted song file."
Does anyone notice the same behavior?
via Zune-online
The 30Gb Zune Player is not enough for your? Microsoft squashed the 60Gb and 80 Gb Zune player rumors? Hey, here is the solution for you! Ipodmods’ guys are able to easily upgrade your 30Gb Zune to a 40Gb Zune player. If you would like a 60Gb or 80Gb hard disk, they can do it as well but be aware that they can’t close the case with those two hard drives.
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In the first few days after the launch last week, we saw a lot of articles written about the Zune. Most of them were with titles that makes us believe the Zune is not that good after all. But who can blame the authors! Punchy titles brings much more traffic!
We looked at those reviews again to watch closely if some important aspects of the Zune were really considered bad by the reviewers or not. Guess what? We made a list of the nicest things said about the Zune and we did not had to search very far to find them!
We had a first look at Gizmodo’s Zune review:
"Overall, this seems pretty promising. I can't find any mis-steps or anything where I have to ask "wait, this is dumb, why did you do this?" in both the player and the software. The Zune itself is very sexy, and feels nice to the touch—not too heavy."
Then no surprise with Engadget:
"What's an audio player, though, without at least passable audio fidelity? Not much, and thankfully, the Zune delivers here. Though we lack the discerning ears of a card-carrying audiophile, sound quality was definitely up to snuff. Audio was loud enough at 20 (of 20 points) that our aging, deaf ears could hear it well enough in some pretty loud places, like on a really busy street or in a very crowded cafe."
Wired Zune review: Only nice things to say about the interface!
"If you need to turn down volume in a hurry from deep within a menu, the Zune makes it easier than the iPod does: all you have to do is tap the Back button until you're at the top screen, then click the directional button down. (On an iPod, you'd tap Menu until you get to the top screen, scroll down to the Now Playing item, select it, and then scroll the volume down.)
I dragged a key across the Zune's screen, -- pressing pretty hard -- and it didn't leave a scratch. Same goes for other surfaces of the device. Apple should start buying their screen plastic from wherever Microsoft got these."
Continue reading "Zune reviews: 10 Nicest Things Said About the Zune" »
