I recently purchased the a Zune HD, and may I immediately say this is simply the most compelling and interesting touch screen interface that I have ever used on any device. They spent a lot of time on this device and it just oozes cool. With all the coverage on the device I am really going to spare you the wonder tour but I will say this, if you are not entrench in the world of iTunes DRM and you want a great music\video player, this is the device for you.

There are a couple of draw backs. First trying to watch videos anywhere but indoors is almost impossible, I am assured this activity is only slightly less painful on the iPod Touch. Secondly the device is only currently available in 16/32gb. This is primarily because the industry has turned to the flash drives, which have only recently started make significant strides in capacity.

Part of the appeal of the Zune HD are the graphics one enjoys when playing music, you also are always a couple of touches away from a full artist bio, photos or complete a discography. This comes at a significant price, what I would like to call the Zune HD tax.

When I synch all my music to my Zune 80 I end up consuming 17.96gb, unfortunately when I synch the same “music” to my Zune HD it takes up 21.15gb. It is certainly worth the 15% tax on the flash drive space but this seems to be more evidence that we need a 64gb version of Zune HD. You also have no way to turn off this feature as far as I can tell.

I have been on the Zune band wagon from the beginning, and for a while there I regretted it, now that you can purchase most of your music via MP3 I am not sure that it matters. However, I have been waiting, quite patiently I might add, for some kind of Zune\Xbox alliance. If the persistent rumors are to believed then that dream may come true this year.

I quote from wmpoweruser.com

“The ZuneHD will have a capacitive, multi-touch OLED screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and TV out, from what looks to be a HDMI port on the side. The radio will now be HD and the device will support HD media playback, which will be available from the updated Zune Marketplace. The ZuneHD will also support 3D Xbox games, but it is unclear what form this will take. The device will come in 16 and 32 GB versions, and will support wireless sync. It will also finally come with a browser that supports multi-touch. The device is set to launch in Fall, around September, and will also finally be available outside US, in Canada, UK and France, and possibly other European countries. “

Xbox gaming on the new Zune. Sold. Having a device this powerful must also mean that at the very least movies will be available from the Zune Market Place. Sold. Web browsing via Wi-Fi. Sold and Sold.

The last time I posted picks on upcoming Zune devices  it turned out to be true, so here is to this fall bringing some really cool new devices. Of course the iPod Touch is not a bad alternative either ;)

The recent updates with Zune have been great so far, the Zune software itself is even faster, the Zune Social site has an improved layout and even the Zune device itself got a refresh with 3 new games that support wireless community play.

What I believe is the most compelling update is that the Zune Pass now comes with free downloads that you can keep permanently!!! As you may or may not know the Zune pass is a $14.99 a month all you can eat music lease system. Almost all the songs on the Marketplace are available for this buffet styled music gorging.

Now as an added bonus when you subscribe to the Zune Pass you get to download 10 songs a month for your permanent collection. These songs can include MP3’s! So you can technically own them free and clear from the Zune\Microsoft eco system. This update means that the Zune Pass portion actually costs you closer to $5 a month for the all music rentals you like. This is sweet!!!

I have derided the Zune Pass in the past as a DRM trap and simply not the way that I wish to consume music. However, I have been enjoying the recent 2 week free promotion and I must say it really encourages you to discover and download a metric tonne of music for one low price ($14.99). I have probably doubled my music collection in less than a week.

I am not ready to purchase the Zune Pass on a monthly basis but I think everyone who has a Zune should consider getting a pass once a year, sampling all the music you can, and then purchasing the MP3 equivalent at the Zune Market Place, Walmart or my personal favorite Napster.

Ultimately renting music with the Zune Pass is not sustainable but it can provide you with a much needed view into music you have not heard before. As if to remind me of the failings of DRM I received an email for Walmart Music as follows:

...Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.

If you have purchased protected WMA music files from our site prior to Feb 2008, we strongly recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you will be able to access them from any personal computer...

Beginning October 9, we will no longer be able to assist with digital rights management issues for protected WMA files purchased from Walmart.com. If you do not back up your files before this date, you will no longer be able to transfer your songs to other computers or access your songs after changing or reinstalling your operating system or in the event of a system crash. Your music and video collections will still play on the originally authorized computer.

MSN music was the first major DRM bastion to fall now Walmart. Hopefully we shall see a day when we worry about DRM no more.

So I saw the updates from Apple, and I must say I am very impressed with the new iTouch, which appears to be a full fledged gaming system now. I am also loving the look of the Genius play list concept. My only issue with the iTouch as a gaming platform is the lack of buttons. I no it has an accelerometer but I am doubting I want to complete a game with a Touch screen.

The following video shows how you are provided with a list a new songs (not necessarily a play list) that you may find interesting based on your listening habits and some fuzzy logic found in the cloud.

Also the other big Zune update is the ability to search for songs wireless directly from the Zune Media Player, all you need is a WiFi hot spot and you can search and purchase songs from the Zune Marketplace. My only concern here is whether they make it obvious that the song you are purchasing is DRM free. Obviously this point is moot if you are Zune Pass subscriber.

Related Links:

• Zune Updates
• Zune DRM
• Zune Pass

This Microsoft Zune announcement yesterday was IMHO a preemptive strike on the upcoming Apple announcement due today. I must say I am very impressed with the line up of changes.

In short they have a couple of new devices Zune 16 and Zune 120 (they are deprecating the Zune 4, and Zune 80) and they are really taking advantage of, what up until today remain, the key differences between Zune and Apple Music devices, vis-a-vis, Radio and Wi-Fi support.

Wireless Connections

... Zune is taking advantage of the wireless connection and the built-in FM tuner to deliver a new feature called Buy from FM, which lets customers tag and purchase songs they hear on FM radio stations directly from the Zune device. When the customer is in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the song can be immediately downloaded to the Zune device. If Wi-Fi is not available, the device will have a queue of songs ready to download when connected to a home computer or in a hot spot. Buy from FM uses Radio Data System and RT+ data feeds within the FM broadcast frequencies that identify song and artist data and enable the Zune service to identify and deliver the track to the customer.

In addition to WiFi downloads I am really interested in the games available from the Marketplace. I have meant to develop a basic game of some description since pulling down the XNA development SDK for Visual Studio. I am wondering if I will be able to make the games available on the Marketplace in the same that your podcast's are available maybe even generate additional income ;)

I must admit the whole Zune Social has got me hooked (I just realized that I am involved in two social networks), I am discovering new music from people on my friends list and really pushing the envelope of what I currently listen to.

Mixview. Customers can select an artist, album or Zune Card to activate a dynamic, visual mosaic of related music and listeners. With each click users can take the view in a new direction, creating a fun, graphical way to discover new music. Mixview works with users’ current collection of music, in addition to tracks and albums from across the Zune Marketplace.

I cannot wait to see what Apple is going to announce.

Links:

• Zune Takes Music Discovery to the Next Level With New Ways to Find and Access Digital Music
• Not Enough time for XNA
• Zune Wireless Sync\Zune Social

Zune is really pushing the advertising on the all you can eat subscription model. With the Zune Pass you can pay $14.99 a month and then have your choice of all the DRM music you can eat.

There are several examples I could use that should discourage even the most ardent music lover from this choice of music purchase. For me, however, the main issue is the way I use and consume music. The DRM tether of the Zune Pass means that you are only renting (or leasing) the music. As soon as you stop paying you stop playing!

My problem with buying music is not the fact that I cannot get lots of it, but that I cannot find lots of quality music that I enjoy. So for me the quantity is less important than quality. Usually when I find a great musician\artist I will enjoy it for several months at a time and then that music becomes part of my history ... the play list of my life if you will ;)

I am willing to admit that others may not have such an organic relationship to music and that treating music like chewing gum and moving to the next piece is a reasonable paradigm. Or indeed, gorging on as much music as possible regardless of the quality may seem like a fine way to dine. Or simply paying the $14.99 to test the music and then maybe purchase what you really like later ... isn't that rent to buy ... no thank you! I prefer my music à la carte not buffet!

There was an announcement on the XNA blog that there would be support for Zune games in the next release of the XNA SDK later this year. I think that is pretty cool! That is hardly why I purchased a Zune but it is always fun when hardware you already own is able to do more things.

There is, however, a huge tactile difference between the Zune 80 and Zune 30 and I am wonder if that will effect the playability of the games on the original models.

I was desperate to get a Zune 80, my wife was attempting to get the new iPod, which in principle is fine, but I did not want to support opposing audio and video technologies in our house. So after a fruitless search within the Toledo city limits I attempted to go online with the usual suspects (Best buy and Circuit City) and got nothing.

Out of pure desperation I attempted a search on the Walmart sites with a search radius of 100 miles. I called 3 stores with limited stock and one of those stores had a single Zune 80 left. I hopped into my car and 45 minutes later I was purchasing what appeared to be the only Zune 80 for 100 miles.

If Microsoft was betting on Flash devices then I think they made a mistake, I could not justify buying a Zune 8 @ $200 (which you can find everywhere) when the Zune 80 was retailing for $50 more.

Above is my Zune card in PNG form! I found this fascinating site that takes your Zune card and converts it from flash to an image. Really helpful for sites that do not support flash.

Type in the following url: http://card.mygamercard.net/apps/zune/YOURZUNEID.png
Change YOURZUNEID to your Zune ID!

Welcome to the Social!

The Zune 2 firmware update was well worth the wait, I actually waited up till midnight to get it but it was not available until later that morning.

The podcasting addition has been made more powerful by the wireless synching that I am now able to do. It took a few seconds to setup and now I do not need to connect my Zune to my PC to get the latest Run As Radio or Hanselminutes.

The true Social (as opposed to the original wireless file sharing) aspect of the Zune will be the real selling point. I believe the widget crazy social web sites will love the accessibility of the user information and playlists! While I know Apple has a tradition of creating isolated sandboxes I think it will be in their best interest to follow suit. There world seems to have a veracious appetite for this kind of useless information.

Here is my card: http://social.zune.net/member/MAD7E7E7

On the negative side I did have to deal with what appeared to be the complete destruction of my library. My library was getting scrambled and the artist were appearing under albums they were not associated. Songs were showing up in contradicting locations ... it was a mess. I hit the message boards and found the following solutions.

FOLDER XP - C:\Documents and Settings\<User Name>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Zune\
FOLDER Vista - C:\Users\<User Name> AppData\Local\Microsoft\Zune\

• Exit Zune2 software

• Rename the following two files in the correct folder above:
  • ren ZuneStore.sdf ZuneStore.sdf.old
  • ren CurrentDatabase_365.wmdb CurrentDatabase_365.wmdb.old

• Restart Zune2 software and it will rebuild your collection.

Got this update through the mail and I am really looking forward to the firmware and software update.

I am anticipating the new Zune firmware update will be here round about the same time that Zune 2 hardware begins to ship (November 13th). I found this video on YouTube showing off some of the features. For me the most exciting thing is the video offerings in the revamped Marketplace as well as the support for Podcast's.

The fact that I can get this update on a generation 1 Zune is huge for me, I may have jumped to the iPod ship if that were not the case!

In a previous post I was wondering why microsoft had opted to use a point system completely independent of the currency that is prevalent in the governing country, which in the US would be the almighty dollar. I found this interesting explanation by Ben Barker as to why this sub currency might be useful

Why Do I Want to Use Points?
... the big deal here is that Points allow what technical types call "micro-transactions."

On the original Xbox Live, transactions had to be around five dollars U.S., the minimum for most credit cards. But with Microsoft Points, the price for most anything—maps, skins, levels, demos, and more—can be much lower than that. That's a big deal. For example, say you want to get one of the new maps for your favorite shooter, but you're not that interested in a few of the others. Lucky for you, Marketplace can offer each map individually for just a few points. Now that's savings.

In the future, you might even be able to redeem your Points for real-world objects, like hardware accessories for your Xbox 360 (note that this is speculative—at first, Marketplace will deal in downloads only).

What About User-to-User Transactions?
Though you won't be able to do it for a while yet, Microsoft eventually wants to enable Xbox Live users to buy and sell user-created content, which could prove to be the heart of the "micro-transaction" system. So, hypothetically speaking, I could create a new skin for Project Gotham Racing® 3 and use that skin when I win a tournament viewed by hundreds of gamers in spectator mode.

Big champion that I am, everyone who sees my skin when I'm racing wants it. I can then (again, hypothetically) post it up for sale in the Marketplace at, say, a dime's worth of points. Other users can get the skin for the price of a piece of candy, and I earn more points in exchange.

In hindsight I may have been prematurely critical of the points concept, I think the promise of user to user transactions is really cool, and I guess micro transactions would not be the cost effective with Visa or Master Card. I just hope this does not become a one way street. Will I be able to gain points and translate them back into real money?

PS the line up of movies and TV shows available from the Live Market Place is getting very impressive, I am hoping that the Zune gets access to this media too!

After my trip to Portland I was sufficiently annoyed by the lack of the video content available through Zune Software that I purposed to find my own videos from around the net. I happened upon this wonderful freeware application called VDownloader. VDownloader allows you to download videos from sites like You Tube, Google Video, and MySpace.

The other application that is necessary to pack the Zune with exciting video is Windows Media Encoder (WME). Whenever I do a search for video or audio conversion WME never seems to appear but this app is free people! Stop spending your hard earned money on converters, Microsoft was kind enough to provide one for us, even though they see fit not talk about it much.

There are couple of steps you need to go through in order to make the video useable to Zune so I will list the steps here.

• VDownloader can search for, Download and convert the the video straight from any site based on a URL. VDownloader converts to several codec formats, however, I ended up converting it DVD (PAL), which is still useless for the Zune but it is a start. What is annoying is that AVI is useable in Windows Media Player but not in the Zune ... why!! There is a registry hack that apparently allows AVI to be available to Zune software but I could not get it to work.

• After you have downloaded the video in the DVD (PAL) format we can start the business of conversion. Start WME and choose 'Convert a file' from the Wizard and click OK. Select the source file that you want to convert and hit next.

• In the Content Distribution page select the Pocket PC option and click next. This will subsequently give us Encoding Options page that will give us the Video options that are compatible with the Zune. Select 'Pocket PC widescreen video (CBR) which will format the video for your Zune.

• Click Finish and you should be good to go! Place the video in a folder that the Zune is monitoring and synchronize.

NOTE: I respect the intellectual property rights of all artists, please do the same. The major sites are very careful about taking down videos that they are not entitled to. However, I am really careful about the videos I download, I do my best to ensure that they are considered public domain.

I was using my Zune yesterday and as I came to the end of another 12+ hours (sweet) of audio playback and I got ready to recharge it at my PC and (for the second time) my PC would not recognize the Zune as a USB device. The last time this happened I did not know how to respond and so I allowed my Zune to run until the batteries expired and at that point was able to recharge it again.

Not wanting to repeat that episode I started to search the web on this problem and while I found no documentation that would stop it I did find the CTRL-ALT-DEL of the Zune world ... holding down BACK - DIRECTION PAD UP.

After completing the Zune reset I was once again able to view it as a USB device and it started to recharge, but what price my soul!

It has been a clear decade since the days of Windows 95, but this just brought back memories I would just as soon forget. This was back when CTRL-ALT-DELETE was more than just a chance to log off it meant a hard boot, it meant pushing the zeros and ones to a black hole that should never be mentioned again.

The Zune device is a little bigger than its iPod Video equivalent and I am told this is due to the fact that it has 'The Social' element, someone thought that wireless file sharing was a cool way to share music in a legal and limited way (3 plays for 3 Days). I love the concept but I would like to see it expanded to a much more public forum (I have had my Zune for a month and not shared anything).

For example if I am in my local Best Buy or Circuit City and a new artist has music samples they want me to here this seems to be a convenient forum for getting the music out to devices in the store. These stores have headphones littered all over where I can listen to new music in store. Surely this is the next logical step. There seems to be a lot of untapped potential here.

Also, why oh why does the Zune software not have any notion of RSS! I am forced to go get an unrelated aggregator to gather my podcast's and then go back to the Zune device to detect changes in my library and then sync the device ... too many steps! Help me out here! Allow the Zune software to be RSS aware.

ASIDE: I tried using Rss Bandit and the thing crashed constantly. After uninstalling it left artifacts in the right click menu! I was not happy. Needless to say I have gone back to FeedReader, I will also make a donation to that cause at my earliest convenience.

The Zune Marketplace is nothing compared to the iTunes, however, I have been able to download free music files from new artist, with little or no DRM restrictions from Zune Marketplace. This seems to be a trend that Microsoft is officially supporting. They are insisting on more specific content than the artist would provide to MTV, but that appears to be a reasonable exchange.

I like the idea of musicians making there music available for free via the web. If I like what I hear I will buy the album! Some people seem to believe that doing this kind of things is equivalent to killing the cash cow. I simply do not agree giving away digital music is like giving the cash cow ample reason to come in to the barn and the decide to stay!

"You only live once." - James Brown

After several days of using the Zune these have become my main points of annoyance!

• Be able to use excess space as storage for whatever I want: which leads me to ... Why can I not see the Zune as an additional USB storage device on my PC?
• Zune MarketPlace:  Why does it use the Microsoft Points system? What is wrong with US currency ($). The dollar has done a great job of serving both national and international markets for years.
• Manage Playlists on the Zune device: You can basically add to a quick playlist. It seems it would be pretty easy to create playlists as you see fit without using the Zune software on a PC (n.b. Don tells me this is a feature of iPods too).

... I still love my Zune!

"I treat others exactly the way I want to be treated." - Dionne Warwick

So my wife finally got me the Zune! I must say that I am totally impressed! I am now in the position to carry my entire body of music with me all the time. Complete musical freedom! The video quality is really impressive, I did not think that I would be able to enjoy watching anything that small, but the quality is fantastic.

The Zune community\social feature (aka wireless file sharing) sounds really cool but should not be a reason to buy the Zune yet. Simply put, there are too few Zune's around right now for this feature to be great. As I searched for Zune's in various locations I was in today, I realized that having a Zune, right now, must be very much like having the first telephone, really cool idea but its a party that needs lots of guest.

The upside is that I know several people with Zune's and being able to send them music I have created on a limited and controlled basis is really attractive.

As for the Zune Marketplace, I will only purchase DRM-less music and that means CDs for me!

"Be faithful to that which exists within yourself." - Andre Gide

I am not sure of the sales figures for the Zune so far this week. I for one was poised to purchase and ready to get the new device. However, the recent information that I have received regarding the application of a new DRM system has made me pause.

It appears that the new Zune will not honor the DRM of any of Microsoft's previous PlayforSure suitors (the playforsure irony is killing me). So you would think that MSN music is exempt. No! apparently the two dozen songs that I purchased from MSN music are useless on the new Zune! Seriously someone is not thinking things through! It appears MSN music, Play4Sure and Zune are never going to meet at a common ground. So if you were crazy enough to purchase music from MSN you will have to burn a CD and rip the music into an  unprotected format. DRM, you have got to love it! Well this should spell then end of MSN and Playforsure.

Thankfully most of my music was ripped from CD in an unprotected format (WMA and MP3) in Windows Media Player so I can convert these files into the Zune experience. In order to remain flexible I will have to buy CDs and rip my music. That way if Microsoft decide to update the DRM standard again it will not worry me! DRM, you have got to love it!

I am still tempted to move forward, the WiFi features are terrific and the share and play features are tempting for an avid musician like myself. The idea of sharing my music with anyone in my vicinity and being able to permit them to play that song for a limited time is genius! iPod will need to respond but not quickly ... they should revel in being the 900lb gorilla.

This is a quote from the Zune site that first got me hooked!

Picture this: You're walking down the street. Or you're in a room with a . Or at a concert. Or at the airport. Or on the bus (you get the picture) and then you whip out your Zune and see all these other Zune devices around that you can choose from. Zap! You’re connected to your best friend and send the new song your band recorded in the garage last weekend. Another friend gets the hilarious podcast your kid brother made at school, plus that song you just downloaded from the Zune Marketplace and can’t get out of your head. And hey, lookee here, your friend wants to send you something that you might like and buy, too.

Best of all, the song you sent isn’t just a 30-second preview­—it’s the whole song! Your friend can sample the song up to three times in three days, flag it on their device and then, if they like it, they can buy it later from Zune Marketplace. It's all connected.

bunch of friends

 

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something." - Mitch Hedberg