Yes Zune fans - we can finally buy television shows on the Zune Marketplace thanks to a new set of features and capabilities introduced with the latest Zune software update. Zune users can choose from over 800 episodes of popular television shows ranging from South Park to The Hills, to Heroes, to my personal favorite - Battlestar Galactica. Each television show has a price of 160 Microsoft Points which is roughly 1.99 an episode.

But wait.. there’s more! Microsoft updated the Zune online music community with several new features. Here’s a list of the new features from the press release:

• Syncing Zune Cards to a device. Consumers simply drag and drop Zune Cards from friends to a Zune device and get updates on what friends are listening to every time they sync. If the song is available with Zune Pass, subscribers automatically have the full tracks on their Zune while nonsubscribers have full album information and artwork. If consumers hear something they like, they can add it to their collection with one click. Next time the user syncs his or her Zune, he or she will be asked to confirm the purchase.
• Enhanced friends search. Consumers now have the ability to add their name, location and bio to their Zune music community profile, making it easier than ever to find their friends.
• Instant friends. The true power of the Zune online music community is unlocked when friends are added and consumers can follow the music they’re listening to. Now, when new Zune owners join the Zune online music community, they’ll find the top music editors from the Zune Marketplace team already added to their friends list, giving them a head start in finding new music.
• Artist and album reviews. Inside the Zune music community, members have the ability to write and post their own reviews for artists and albums, providing another community-driven feature to support the exploration and discovery of music. The music community helps to find and recommend the best music.
• Reputation badges. Now members of the Zune community can earn badges that are displayed on their Zune Card showing they’re passionate fans or active members.
• Windows Live connections. Windows Live Messenger contacts will now be able to see what users are listening to via the Zune software. Clicking on the tracks displayed in the “Now Playing” feature will connect the Windows Live Messenger friend directly to that artist’s page on the Zune Social.

Finally, Microsoft added several new features to the Zune software application including:

• Auto playlists. Users can create an auto playlist that updates itself automatically as new music is added.
• Browsing videos. Consumers can browse their video collection by genre and series, plus they can preview videos before they play them on full screen.
• Editing album and track information. Users are able to edit track or album information (metadata) quickly via multi-select and drag-and-drop. The advanced metadata editing features make it easy to edit multiple tracks or survey albums and artist information.
• Organizing collections. In addition to sorting by artist or album, consumers can now sort by genre. While browsing by genre they can further sort music by artist, album or release year.
• Gapless playback. Consumers will now be able to listen to an album without the brief gap between tracks, both on their Zune and in the Zune software. This is a must-have for live-concert recordings and compilation albums.
• Syncing groups. Zune software now syncs to multiple Zune players simultaneously. Users can prepare which content on their computer to sync even when their Zune isn’t connected. Consumers can create custom sync groups for music, pictures and videos.
• Zune reminders. Experience is improved when a Zune player’s memory is nearing capacity, via an easy-to-use tool.

While this release is definitely a step in the right direction, it’s still a bit disappointing that not all of the content found on the Xbox Live Marketplace is available on the Zune Marketplace - notably movie rentals. Yet despite this glaring hole, the new updates should bring the Zune somewhat closer to some of the capabilities found on the iPod and iTunes.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Zune software, Zune Marketplace, TV shows

Zune owners who are also fans of Audible’s audiobooks will be happy to hear that the Zune is supposedly gaining Audible support later on this year. This unconfirmed announcement comes from Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows here. According to the posting, Audible and Microsoft have “completed negotiations on making the Zune AudibleReady!” Pretty cool news (though honestly, it doesn’t really affect me!).

[Check it out via GearLive]

Technorati Tags: Zune, Audible, Audiobooks

Wondering when the next Zune will be coming out? Well according to GNT, you might very well have to wait until 2009 for the next version to roll out. The French publication quoted Microsoft France’s Francois Ruault as stating that the third generation Zune media player will most likely make a worldwide release during the 2009 holiday season. That seems a bit too long for a hardware refresh if you ask us. When you consider that iPod fans get antsy if no new model or update comes out after some 6-9 months, then two years is definitely far too long of a wait. It’s hard to say whether this will actually happen of course. A new version of the Zune could very well come out first in the US followed by a release worldwide so who knows. In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to make due with the current version as well as the continued rumor mill.

[Check it out via Crave]

Technorati Tags: Zune, Zune 3, 2009

If you’re interested in knowing more about Zune Game Development using the XNA Game Studio platform, then make sure to check out the Zune Game Development FAQ over at XNA Creators Club Online. Here are some of the interesting tidbits gleamed from the FAQ:

• XNA Game Studio 3 integration includes “discoverability and access to user’s music allowing the user to customize background soundtracks or create real-time visualizations.”
• Multiple Zunes will be able to connect wirelessly in “ad-hoc gaming experience[s]”
• Will support Zune 4/8, 30, and 80
• Games will be deployed via PC connection using the XNA Game Studio 3.0 to deploy
• No XNA Creators Club subscription will be needed to deploy a game
• DRM licensed music can not be played
• Preview of the package will be coming out in Spring
• 240 x 320 display only and games must be designed for one-handed usage
• Supports 2D graphics only through XNA Framework SpriteBatch APIs, and Rendertargets. You can directly set pixel data to textures
• Limited to 16MB for code and content
• Zune will not support Xbox Live

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Zune Games, Game Development FAQ, XNA Game Studio 3

The folks at Pocket Gamer UK have published some hands-on information about Zune gaming over here on their website. Here are some interesting tidbits about game development on the Zune platform.

• Zune development kits will begin shipping to teams this spring with an emphasis on community developed games
• Microsoft is looking to make game development as easy as possible - providing unified tools for the Zune, the Xbox 360 and the PC platform (think common APIs etc)
• The kits will come with networking software and multiplayer games will support up to eight players although the exact number will be dictated by the games at hand

They also played around with the game Zauri which was being demoed by Microsoft on the Zune. According to Pocket Gamer:

Moving your spaceship to blast aliens with your laser is as easy as drawing your finger across the pad. Tap it and you drop a smart bomb. The huge screen made great sense for Zauri – not only did it look crisp and detailed, but it worked well for the top-down action. A simple game, sure, but nonetheless entertaining.

You can read more about this here on Pocket Gamer’s website.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Zune Games, Zauri,

A posting over at the Windows Mobile Team Blog recently went up entitled “Zune + Windows Mobile = Better Together?” asking a simple question:

“What are some ways the Zune player and a Widows Mobile device can work better together?”

If you’re an owner of both devices, then you might want to chime in your thoughts over there. I for one USED to own a Windows Mobile device but I must say that I’ve since moved over to the Apple iPhone. Would I go back to a Windows Mobile device someday? Sure - if the user interface was enhanced to the point of being productive! However, having used a Windows Mobile device before and knowing what it’s like to work with a Windows Mobile device, I thought I’d add in some thoughts here (and see what all of you thought).

In no particular order, here are some things that could be greatly enhanced:

• Network connectivity between a Windows Mobile device and a Zune. Make Zune Sharing more than sharing between Zunes - share between all sorts of devices. Using Wi-Fi is a good first step towards this but the Zune might very well need Bluetooth down the road to achieve greater compatibility with a wide range of devices. However, choosing the protocol is only the first step. Making sharing dead simple is the most important thing. Connecting to a Windows Mobile device should be AS SIMPLE as connecting to another Zune
• Simply the software needed to manage and operate a Windows Mobile and Microsoft Zune device. For devices with software ALL originating from Microsoft, things are WAY to complex. Here’s where one could learn a thing or two from Apple. Everything goes through iTunes on the Apple platform. Whether it’s the iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV - you have one device and one interface. You could make a point in saying that iTunes is a bit bloated now but it works and it’s also powerful at the same time. In order to sync with Windows Mobile devices, you need Microsoft Sync on Vista, (or ActiveSync on XP and earlier OS’s), and Microsoft Outlook for contact and calendaring. Multimedia management is then handled by Windows Media Player. Ah but then switch on over to the Zune, and you have a completely different media management system in the form of the Zune Software. Don’t get me wrong - I love the Zune Software and would love to see it be used as the central media player on Windows from here on out.. but too many pieces of code depend on Windows Media Player these days (Think Windows Media Center). Somehow, Microsoft needs to go back to the drawing boards and rethink all of this. How can we have a drop dead simple centralized system that allows us to sync all sorts of devices?
• The Zune Social is a good first step in integrating social networking into the multimedia business but it isn’t new at all. Think Last.FM and many other companies that have been working on this. What we need is a social networking initiative that is far more compelling and engrossing. Something that goes beyond just adding friends and seeing what they like to listen to. It would be cool to see things like: what concerts are my friends attending in the next few weeks, what local clubs or gigs are they checking out? What new books or podcasts are of interest to my friends which might be interesting to me. My friend is stuck at the airport and has nothing to do but twitter all day long - wouldn’t it be cool if I could get those messages or status updates on my Zune? How can a friend simply get a hold of me through a single ID somewhere? I’ve snapped a picture on my Windows Mobile device and I want to share it to my friends - no matter where they are and on whatever device that they are using.. how can I do that. Social networking to the max but yet simple too!
• Most music listeners have playlists - it’d be nice to be able to share playlists from friend to friend and device to device. Go on Zune Social, and share your overall playlist. Seeing what someone else is listening to is nice and dandy but I’d rather just download their favorite lists and see what I might be interested in. Better yet - if I have a playlist on my Zune, how cool would it be for me to share it with my friends using a Windows Mobile device?

OK.. I’m running out of ideas but I’m sure there’s more brewing in my head. What are some of your own ideas? Post them up on the Windows Mobile Team Blog!

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Zune, Windows Mobile

The next time you walk into a school classroom, you just might happen across students using the Microsoft Zune for of all things, learning! That’s right.. learning! Eric Langhorst, a social studies teacher in South Valley Junior High School in Missouri, is working with Microsoft to see how the Zune could be used in classroom learning.

Langhorst, who won Missouri’s Teacher of the Year award, has already been “recognized nationwide for incorporating technology to enhance student learning”. He’s known for creating what he calls “studycasts” which are basically podcasts which can then be downloaded and viewed on a PC, an iPod, or of course, a Zune.  Now, Langhorst is working with Microsoft to see how the Zune can be used to further education in the classroom.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Eric Langhorst, Zune, Microsoft Zune, Education, Classroom, Studycasts

Yes.. ZuneSphere.com FINALLY has some forums. I know.. it’s taken me some time to get forums integrated into the website but I finally got around to doing so. The hardest part was finding a good forums package that integrated well with WordPress (which is the engine that powers ZuneSphere.com). I ultimately decided to go with bbPress since it was developed by the same guys who made WordPress. Hard to go wrong there eh?

I haven’t really customized the look and feel of the forums so you’ll see the standard forums UI from bbPress. I’ll probably get around to it within a week or two. However, having a forums package up really allows all of you to start sharing information with one another right here on ZuneSphere. I hope all of you find this useful!!

To play with the forums, you’ll need a user account so make sure to register with ZuneSphere here.

http://www.zunesphere.com/forums/

Enjoy!

ZuneSphere team

Technorati Tags: ZuneSphere forums, Forums,

Some interesting news for Zune owners - we’re finally getting games for our favorite portable media player! That’s right - game developers can now develop and distribute games for the Zune platform thanks to the Microsoft XNA Studio platform which allows developers to create games for both the Xbox and Windows platforms. According to this article over at News.com, games on the Zune will have access to the wireless capabilities of the Zune (a.k.a. multiplayer capabilities) and will also have access to the music library on the Zune (think soundtracks). First generation Zunes will also have game support though some games might be incompatible with first gen Zunes (if they need the touch pad etc). Other notes from this Wired.com article on the Zune include:

• Games on Zune will be limited to 16MB for code and content
• Control pad/rocker will make a good joystick replacement interface

Engadget had an early hands-on look at a game demo (Zauri) and had this to say in addition:

• Game distribution not clear yet - whether through the Zune marketplace, Zune software, or individual installers
• Beta development tools will be coming out this Spring
• No plans for game sharing as of yet

You can see a gallery of pictures of a game running on the Zune over at Engadget.com

Technorati Tags: Zune, Gaming, Games, XNA Studio, Microsoft

In case you missed it yesterday, Microsoft announced that they would be acquiring Danger - the company that makes the software for T-Mobile’s popular Sidekick mobile phones. It’s an interesting acquisition especially in light of the fact that Microsoft has of course the Windows Mobile OS platform. So what would Microsoft want with Danger? Does Microsoft want the services that Danger provides? Maybe.. but again - that’s nothing Microsoft couldn’t create themselves.

Perhaps the real driving force for the acquisition is as Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine suggests - the teen market. Danger clearly understands how to create simple (if not cool) user interfaces for the younger audience and we all know how cumbersome the Windows Mobile UI is. If you look at the press release from Danger, you’ll notice that the company will be rolled up into the Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division. Could we see the beginnings of a new ZunePhone like platform coming out?

Consider the possibilities. The second generation Zunes already have a compelling user interface and with the addition of Danger’s expertise in the mobile arena, we could very well see the beginnings of a new Music/Mobile phone from Microsoft - the long supposed ZunePhone - all powered underneath by Windows Mobile. A powerful OS, a solid music player, and a cool user interface could very well be attractive to the teen market if not many others. It’s an interesting prospect and one I’d welcome if it was true.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Danger, ZunePhone