Zune Sports the Red & the Blue

The Zune 120 has consistently been available in one color only, black.  True to Henry Ford's Model T, this one color option certainly simplifies the stocking of the store shelves.  However, maybe it is all this talk of Obama and his maybe it's a Zune, maybe it's not, but Microsoft has expanded the color palette by 200% for this holiday season, better expressed as adding two colors.

While the Zune 120 is still only in black in retail outlets, if you go through the Zune Originals site, you will have the option of customizing your Zune to a red or blue exterior.  It's about time there were some more color choices, don't you think?

Zune Remains Editor's Choice

I was surfing, and came upon the PC Magazine's holiday shopping guide of "How to Buy an MP3 Player."  What was intriguing is that there are only three players that get their coveted Editor's Choice designation: Apple's iPod Nano, the iTouch, and the Zune 120 GB.  While I'm not surprised that Apple dominated their choices, I was a little surprised that they saw the value of the Zune.  I've long maintained that "the ultimate music player," that Apple frequently touts its iTouch as, would, by definition, fit all of my music, which is 39 gigs at last count.  I'm not saying the iTouch is a bad product, and I've even been thinking of buying one, but at least to me, I'm looking for it to replace my Palm T/X as nonsmartphone PDA organizer, and not as a music player.

When Apple ceased any new meaningful development on their hard drive based players, and designated them as "classic" to justify this, they ceded this portion of the market.  Microsoft's Zune was well positioned to take this segment over, but unfortunately most of the players sold are flash based.  Still, for the serious music enthusiast, the Zune is the way to go, and PC Mag designates it as "...the best hard drive–based portable media player on the market." 

I'm just glad that someone is making a product with a large enough capacity because sooner or later my Zune 80 will need to be replaced, and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another one.  How many pieces of electronics do you own that fit into that category?  Around my house, that is quite few!

Zune Holiday Price Cuts

Tis the season... to cut prices!  With the holiday shopping getting underway, and consumers keeping their credit cards in their pockets, Microsoft is sweetening the deals.  While I would argue to hold out for a Zune 120, that price held firm, but the rest of the line dropped in price.  Glad to see that Microsoft is doing what it takes to gain market share.  Will these price cuts get you to part with some dough?

Zune 3.0, now with Audible.com support, free book and 30-day trial available

Another feature that came along with the Zune 3.0 software update was the addition of Audible.com support. While maybe not the most advanced of the new features, its one that I am personally excited to see, in fact I would say that this addition was long overdue.

Aside from the support, Audible is also offering a few freebies. The first is a 30-day trial to test out the Audible service, of course this offer is valid only for new customers. The second offer is a free book, and this one is available for everyone. The freebie book is Black River by Dean Koontz and can be downloaded by any Zune owner.

To claim your 30-day free trial or your copy of Black River just head on over to www.audible.com/zune.

[MSN Money via Zune Insider]

Zune Originals adds new artwork, online exclusive colors

In addition to the new software and free Wi-Fi, Zune Originals has also received an little refresh with the introduction of the new Zune hardware. We have already seen the new Zune 120 and Zune 16 hit the retail stores in black, and now Zune Originals has also announced that the Zune 16 will be available in blue, red, pink and green as an online exclusive. Finally, customers will also have the option of choosing some new artwork as Zune Originals has added 14 new designs to give your Zune a little more of a personal feel.

[ZuneOriginals]

Microsoft offering free McDonalds Wi-Fi for Zune owners

In addition to the recently released Zune 3.0 software, Microsoft has announced that Zune owners will also be able to get free Wi-Fi at McDonalds restaurants across the US.

“Wayport is pleased to be working with Microsoft to make it easier for Zune users to access music on the go,” said Dan Lowden, vice president of business development and marketing for Wayport.

Now, assuming you have already updated to the latest software you will be able to take advantage of all the new features the next time you get that fast food craving. Which means that in addition to downloading music from the Marketplace you can also tag and purchase from the FM radio, and also take advantage of the recommendations and programming features. As of the current announcement, the wireless access is available at more than 9,800 McDonalds locations.

[Microsoft]

Zune 3.0 software now available

In short...the Zune 3.0 software update is now available. You can grab the new software by launching your current version and heading to Settings -> Software -> General -> Check for update. Also if you do not already have the Zune software installed you can download it directly by clicking here. Mine is downloading as I write this post, can't wait to begin playing.

Wal-Mart offering the new Zune 120, lower priced Zune 80 a little early

The official release date was supposed to be the 16th, but it seems that at least one Wal-Mart in Harborcreek, PA has decided to add them to their show floor cabinets for everyone to see. Of course seeming how everything else detail wise managed to leak out a little early with the Zune lately, I suppose we should not see this as any real surprise.

While the pricing had already been confirmed by Microsoft, we can see from the image that Wal-Mart will sell off their remaining inventory of Zune 80's for a nice $198, which sounds like a good time for anyone looking to make a purchase. Of course if you wanted the biggest storage option to date, you would have to shell out the $50 extra for the Zune 120.

Personally I have a Zune 80 that is in excellent condition so its kind of a mute point for me, but I am a sucker for a bargain and had I been looking I think I would be more than tempted to go for the Zune 80 and save a few bucks, after all, all models of the Zune will be able to get the new firmware for free anyway and aside from storage that is where most of the cool features are anyway.

Has anyone else able to find one of the new, or discounted old Zunes in a local store yet? If not don't worry much as they should be everywhere tomorrow.

[Engadget]

Microsoft officially lets the new Zune details out

I suppose this post comes as a little bit of bittersweet news considering we have already seen the details, but that said, Microsoft has chosen to officially unveil the details for the new Zune hardware and software.

So just for a quick recap, the new model of the Zune will be the black 120GB hard drive based model which will retail for $249 along with a 16GB flash based model which will retail for $199. Additionally the Zune 16 will also be available in blue. The Zune 8 will be priced at $149, and Microsoft also plans to lower the prices on some of the older models.

As for the software side, it looks like software version 3 will be available with those features that we mentioned earlier, which include Buy from FM, Device to Cloud, Channels and Games. Currently nothing was mentioned about when the new software will be made available for current Zune owners. Personally although I like the blue Zune 16 and the black backing on the Zune 120 I am more excited by the new software features and hope that will be ready soon.

If nothing else, I guess Amazon can go ahead and add that Zune 120 listing back to their website now.

[CNET]

Zune 120: The unofficial roll-out continues...or does it?

In addition to the listings over on Frys, another online retailer (Amazon) had ever so briefly list the Zune 120 for sale. Currently I have not seen any confirmed purchases through the Amazon store listing, but they have since removed it from the store, with the URL now going to a big'ol 404.

With just one day before Microsoft is expected to officially make the announcements, it seems Amazon has had a change of heart, one can only wonder whether Frys will do the same. Of course it seems that Frys is already in a little deeper with between their multiple leaks and at least one confirmed sale.

Funny thing is that when this listing was available on Amazon, there were eight vendors listed, of which seven was showing the Zune 120 as in-stock and even had expedited shipping available, and strangely the only one of the eight that was showing a "temporarily out of stock" notice was Amazon themselves.

At this point we can only hope the announcements come tomorrow, and put an end to this mess. Anyone interested in the larger capacity Zune, or what about the blue Zune 8, its pretty sharp looking.

[Amazon via Pocketables]

Frys leaks new Blue Zune 8 along with new features

Well, one can only speculate that Frys will either be in some big trouble with Microsoft, or perhaps Microsoft is trying something new to get a little attention and decided to allow them to intentionally leak, and in at least one instance sell the new Zunes to built up some excitement prior to the official release.

Of course the model that we saw sold, and later unboxed was the Zune 120, however the latest Frys leaks comes in the form of that rumored Zune 8 in Blue along with some previously unannounced new features. At least we can confirm that the Blue Zune rumor was indeed accurate, and furthermore its retailing for the $149.99 that we expected.

But perhaps a little more exciting than the Zune 8 in Blue, which personally I am digging the color is the newly listed features that it will come along with. Some of the leaked features include:

 

• Buy from FM which allows you to mark a song that you hear on the regular radio for later purchase.
• Device to Cloud which lets you use wireless hotspots to "update your collection, browse Zune Marketplace, refresh Channels, exchange favorites with friends, or buy songs you've tagged from your FM radio."
• Channels which allows you to create "custom programming stations that deliver personalized playlists to your Zune from a variety of sources."
• Games which seems to have come out of beta and become official. So far they have listed Texas Hold'em, Hexic as pre-loaded titles.

Now its seems we are just waiting for Microsoft to make this all 'official' but judging from what we have already seen I am not sure what else they could have in store for us.

[Frys] via Zunerama

Microsoft's "Say Goodbye to Laser" event to include the Zune announcement?

Of course by this time there seems to be very little surprise left in the fact that a few new Zune players are coming, we have seen the FCC approval, gotten confirmation, seen some in the wild, and have even seen the early retail purchase of the Zune 120 from a Fry's location.

It seems the only real surprise left is when Microsoft will decide to officially announce them and to make them available everywhere and not just by a lucky chance. Well that may be happening soon, Microsoft is planning an event of their own for September 9, dubbed "Say Goodbye to Laser" which according to reports will mainly be to unveil the new non-laser mice and a few new webcams. However its rumored to also include the official Zune announcement as well.

So basically what we have so far is the potential launch of the third generation Zune, which will include the 120GB model, the 16GB model and potentially a new blue colored model. Additionally pricing seems to be $250 and $150 or the 120GB and 16GB model respectively. It was also rumored that the Zune 4 and Zune 80 will be going away, which would only make sense based on the Zune 120 pricing, unless they are planning to keep the Zune 80 around and drop the price a bit.

Overall, its a mix of fact, rumor and speculation at this point, but at least with September 9 begin less than a week away we will not have to wait long to see just what Microsoft has in store for us. Personally I am hoping for something Zune-software related in addition to the larger capacity Zunes.

[ars technica]

Zune To Get Cover Flow?

I'm not sure I can even decipher what they're trying to patent here, but I'm tossing it out anyway.  Microsoft has submitted a patent for some type of Cover Flow technology that is a way of displaying web pages in a portable format.  Here's a quote:

...the Redmond-based software and electronics giant has applied for a patent to Cover Flow-style OS interface. The patent states that the idea revolves around "stacking data wheels" and is primarily designed for mobile environments, potentially the Xbox 360, according to an analysis of the patent by MacNN

The concept is expected to appear in mobile phones, the Zune MP3 player, and Windows Mobile PDAs. It is designed to function with various common mobile applications such as mail, calendar, contact lists, and instant messaging, among others.

I doubt that we'd see this on Zune 3, or maybe not a Zune anyway as it seems more suited to mobile phones than a music platform.  Still, it just might be a glimpse into what's coming down the pipe from the Microsoft team.