Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

So as we understand it, apparently Microsoft secretly slipped 100 hot pink (or shall we say, magenta?) Zunes into the retail market for purchase, where only especially eagle-eyed buyers would notice what they were getting before taking it home and opening up their rather eye-catching player. (For lawsuit’s sake, it’s in the fine print on the bottom of the box.) Supposedly there’s another 100 pink Zunes that were given out to the Zune team, but we doubt those will be up on eBay any time soon, as is at least one of the pinks. Kind of a bummer though for that dude. You get what you thought was going to be your white (or brown or black) Zune home just to find out you’ve got a limited edition — great, except that of all the colors to surprise a user with, statistically speaking pink might be the worst selection.

Oh yeah, and in other news somebody hacked XNJB — the Mac app that makes use of select Windows-centric portable media devices — to at least partially rock out Zune style (which so far as we know uses a variant of MTP, kind of like how it also appears to use a variant of PlaysForSure). Hot diggity, pink Zune on a Mac, can you get any more esoteric?

Read - Pink Zune eBay auction [Via Zune Info]
Read - Zune on a Mac [Thanks, Nate]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Gather round, ’cause we’ve got some Zune hacks to get your Sunday going. First, a fellow named Kristof has informed Zune-Online about a way to get the Zune software running on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (there’s also a Vista hack too, which we saw earlier). The site has exact step-by-step instructions on how to pull off this one, but the short of it is, it essentially involves editing the Zune.inf file. For our next trick, we’ll point you to a site that shows you how to change the Zune icon as seen in Windows. For that one, you’ll need to first pull off the USB drive hack that we showed you before, and then you’ll need to use Regedt (Registry Edit) to find the appropriate registry value, an ICO editing program (like IcoFX), and patience when drawing on an icon that’s 48 x 48 pixels. But you’ll have our eternal love and respect if you change your Zune icon to the Engadget “e” logo. As usual when trying something like this, do be sure to backup any strings that you edit so you don’t end up bricking your Zune.

Read - Windows XP Pro x64 hack
Read - Zune icon hack

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Cookie cutter gadget? Passe. It’s all about skins, even the kind that may or may not ruin the shiny new finish on your valued consumer electronics. Submitted for your approval: tons of skins for your rare and lustworthy devices. Ok, so the 360 isn’t much of a skin, but we find the literal use of the term rather amusing, and when was the last time you saw a fake-fur faceplate?

P.S. -Big ups on the Xbox 360 and Eames-inspired PS3 and Wii skins above.

[Via Joystiq, thanks Craig]

Read - PS3 skins
Read - Wii skins
Read - Zune skins
Read - PSP, Xbox, etc. “skins”

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We don’t know exactly how many stores are now accessory to the heinous crime of pre-launch gadget sales, but it looks like Microsoft is one customer closer to overthrowing the nation of iPod courtesy of the Zune-gun-jumping Best Buy at Union City Landing shopping centre. Best part: already the crashing has begun (see above). It’s going to be an interesting week.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

And here we have the brown Zune stacked agains the Zen Vision:M, iPods 5G and nano, and the Sansa E200 series. Just because it’s taller than the rest doesn’t mean it’s larger than the rest though; we actually found the Zune to be deceptively small, and still quite pocketable. But hey, that’s just us, we’re the peeps prepped and ready to rock a Universal in tight jeans.

P.S. -In case you’re wondering, the screens only “lit” on the Zune because it’s a non-functional retail display unit.

[Thanks, Steven]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Announcements, Digital Cameras, Media PCs, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We’ve given away an enormous amount of kit these past few weeks, but we’ve got some pretty big prizes up on the block right now. We know you’d like to go on with your weekends unhindered by any obsession with competing for a Nikon D80 DSLR, VidaBox SLIM Media Center PC, or a Zune, but sorry, we want to see what you’re made of.

Halloween contest - VidaBox SLIM home theater PC
Care to take on 2005 runner-up Cameron R? (Movie above, no sound.) Make a gadgety Halloween costume! Send it in by Wednesday, 11:59pm EST, November 1st. Full details on how to enter here, let’s make it happen.

Gadget photo contest - Nikon D80 DSLR with lens
Shoot the best gadget or tech themed photo! Send it in by 11:59PM EST, Sunday, the 29th. Full details on how to enter here.

Engadget theme song contest - Zune
The final pre-release Zune! Write the Engadget theme song; Send it in by 11:59PM EST, Sunday, the 29th. Full details on how to enter here.

Oh yeah, we have some other contests going on right now, too:

• Seriously, you can win a Philips 42PF9631D 42-inch plasma
• Xbox 360 Premum pack!
  

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Announcements, Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Ok everybody, we have the winner for the fourth Zune on Engadget — Taylor S guessed the correct number of Zune stories we published last month (18), congrats! Thanks again to everyone who entered, and the good news is you’ve got one last shot at a Zune, which, as you may or may not have heard (and we do sincerely hope you fall in the first camp), is Microsoft’s new vertically integrated portable media player device (and platform) centered around “connected entertainment.” You should know by now where to go for all the specs and details, but it’s a 30GB portable media device with built-in WiFi for sharing music with your pals and interacting with media on the go. Engadget’s hooking up a few very lucky people with a Zune. Want to be the first among your friends — hell, among the first ever — to get one?

We’re giving away one Zune per week for five weeks; snagging one will get progressively more difficult, and since this is our last Zune giveaway contest, you’re gonna have to work for it a bit. This one’s going to the person (or group) that writes the best Engadget theme song. We’re looking for the catchiest tune or jingle about Engadget, with words or without — but it should be fun (or funny), decently well produced, and capture the spirit of Engadget. (Note: we may use your tune on the Podcast or at our events — with credit, of course!) When you’re all done send it in to zunecontest at engadget dawt com (please, no entries over 10MB or they’ll bounce.) Have your entries in by 11:59PM EST Sunday, the 29th to be eligible. Engadget’s editors will select the track that takes home the prize. As always, please mind the rules!

• You may enter other Engadget contests, however…
• You may only enter this contest once; if you enter more than once on this particular contest post you’ll be automatically disqualified and barred from all future giveaways. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) You may enter future Engadget relaunch giveaway contests though!
• You can only win once. (If you win and then try to go for a second prize during our relaunch giveaways, you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc.)
• This contest is open to the US only — sorry, Microsoft’s rules!
• You will be shipped your Zune when Microsoft ships you your Zune (and no sooner), so sit tight, it might be some weeks before it comes!

Good luck, and be sure you’ve entered our other contests, as well!

• Win a VidaBox SLIM for the best Halloween costume!
• Seriously, you can win a Philips 42PF9631D 42-inch plasma
• Win yourself a Slingbox PRO
• Xbox 360 Premium Pack here!
• HD has a Helios X3000
• Nikon D80 DSLR for the best gadget photo

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless

Any wild guesses as to which big tech exec isn’t a fan of the new Zune? If you guessed Steve Jobs, you’d be completely correct; in a recent interview with Newsweek’s Steven Levy, Herr Jobs says that he’s not at all worried about the Zune. “I’ve seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever. By the time you’ve gone through all that, the girl’s got up and left! You’re much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you’re connected with about two feet of headphone cable,” argues His Steveness. You make a good point, Steve, but we’ve heard you sing this tune before, like when the original Mac didn’t have networking capabilities and you basically told people to resort to sneakernet — of course, eventually Macs were able to connect with one another. So, we’ll agree with you that the wireless capabilities on the Zune kinda suck out of the box, but we’ll also bet that you’re already at work on some wireless action for a future iPod, no matter how hard you might deny it now.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We’re kind of surprised it took this long to get the two of ‘em side by side, but here they are. The Zune is, of course larger, but it’s kinda weird how much more exaggerated those size differences are when you’re really eyeing the extremely-curved corners of the iPod. Ok, we’re done, go ahead, get it all out.

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation

No word yet on pricing in dollars, but expect this one to set you back about 10,270,000 Microsoft points. Dock, A / V cable, and travel pack not included.

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio, Portable Video

While Amazon has done a commendable job in (presumably) dispelling the hot air of a Griffin spokesperson, it’s not always, um, entirely reliable. However, we’d bet the gallery of Zune accessories gracing its pages now weren’t uploaded erroneously. Boasting everything from the premium earphones, travel pack, FM transmitter, and dock to the sync cable, wireless remote, A / V cable, and car charger that we’ve known were on the way, we’re just glad we can finally match a face with a name. Although none of the Microsoft-branded accessories are priced or available for pre-order, the Zunes themselves certainly are (in all three colors, no less) for those who aren’t feeling lucky. Say, doesn’t that dock connector look awfully familiar?

[Thanks, Darryl]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

And in other news, it’s a chilly 32 degrees in Hell today, and we just saw a winged pig buzz by our window.

[Thanks, Mikami]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We thought the world record for the speed of knockoff went to TechFaith Wireless for their Q-before-the-Q, and their line of slick Windows Mobile-based knockoffs — but it would appear we’ve been proven wrong. Everyone, say hello to Oriphe Industrial Limited’s MPF2110, which is “liking Microsoft zune” (yeah, we’re liking it too). The MPF2110 plays MPEG, AVI, AMW, and MTV video formats (what the hell are those last two?), MP3, WAV, and WMA audio, has an FM / voice recording, USB 2.0, a 1.5 or 1.8-inch display, and up to “2GB flash memory chip by Samsung/Hynix, the most reliable.” (So, Samsung is an accessory to the crime; perhaps because Microsoft went with Toshiba?) Sign us up, we’re going to buy ten thousand and sell them outside Zune-sponsored shows to see if anyone of those “artists and musicians” can actually tell the difference.

[Via The MP3 Players]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Yeah, it’s a somewhat minor-seeming detail, but no one seemed to know how much damned battery life the Zune was going to have at launch. They were pretty tight lipped about it, but our new pal Matt Rosoff, a Microsoft analyst, let us know that according to his contacts, with wireless off we can expect a 12 hours of music playback at 128Kbps, 3.5 hours for video playback, and 4.5 hours when running a slide show. Compare that to the 30GB iPod’s 14/4 hours and the 80GB iPod’s 20/6 hours, and it’s a little difficult to fully envision the payoff for that added thickness and height. Still, remember: bigger screen, wireless, bigger screen, wireless. Ah well, we’ll just hope upon hope that’ll be something the fix before release in a couple months.

[Thanks, Matt]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones

Zune, the music player; Zune the service; Zune, the software; Zune the lifestyle brand; Zune, the cellphone? The iPod beat Microsoft to the portable music device market by what, five years, so don’t be surprised that it doesn’t look like they’re going to let Apple off so easily on a cellphone — especially not while they’ve got a fighting chance. At a press conference today, Chris Stephenson, GM for Zune, told the press, “A Zune phone is definitely part of the future of this brand.” We did definitely hear before that Microsoft was working toward setting up an MVNO, but even if that never takes off, there’s no reason to believe the Zunephone won’t spring to life irregardless. As much as we love our HTCs, let’s just hope it isn’t a Windows Mobile device given a facelift — we all know that, like PlaysForSure, the problems with adapting off-the-shelf Microsoft stuff are more than skin deep.

[Thanks, Joel]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Wireless

So Archos is getting into the WiFi PMP game. With as much buzz as devices like the Zune and the eternally unconfirmed wireless iPod get, you’d think it’s the absolute holy grail of the PMP. But in truth you need some spankin’ good software to back up the 802.11, or you’re just wasting a chip. From the looks of the documentation of the Archos 604 WiFi, they’ve at least got it half right. The new version, which we spotted last week, includes not only 802.11b/g connectivity, but replaces the 4.3-inch 480 x 272 screen with a touchscreen version. As reported, they’ve packed in an Archos-specific version of the Opera browser, making the device much more akin to Nokia’s 770 tablet than the Zune. Along with tabbed browsing and other touchscreen-based perks, the new 604 has full-fledged Windows file sharing capabilities, and seemingly robust WiFi connection tools. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any snazzy WiFi-based sync, sharing or purchasing capabilities — all main selling points of the Zune — so the verdict is still out on how successful this could actually be. Still, we’re definitely willing to give it a once over, and a harmless little cage-match-to-the-death between it and our 770 shouldn’t go too far amiss. Keep reading for a few pics of the WiFi in action.

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Well it’s official; we’ve definitely gone Zune-crazy ’round these parts. Not content with presenting you with a super-blurry photo of the upcoming device’s supposed interface, we’re now reporting on an artist’s rendition of the GUI from someone claiming to be in the know — so keep in mind that you’re looking at mockups here and not actual screenshots. Anywho, the pictures jibe pretty closely with all the info that’s streamed in so far: although they depict a rather no-frills white-on-black menu screen, when you slap some skins onto the background (like Bill Gates’ old mugshot, for instance), it seems like a pretty aesthetically-pleasing experience. We’re not gonna repeat ourselves and regurgitate all the functionality and specs that you’ve heard so many times before; instead, we’re sending you directly over to iLounge to peep the full set of meticulously-rendered drawings. Hey, even if these shots end up looking nothing like what appears on the final device, whoever whipped them up has a promising career as a fake product designer and Internet rumor-starter of the highest caliber.

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We already knew the Zune was going to come in a triad of colors, but we didn’t have much of any idea as to the price they were going to stick you for. Common sense would dictate it would be at or slightly below what the iPod is asking for their device — but not above — and if TWiCE is correct with their information, the Zune will run for an on-par $299. They’re also reporting the Zune won’t allow for music purchases on the go, which kind of flies in the face of that whole “connected entertainment” thing, as well as the idea of putting WiFi in a portable, so we’re looking at it somewhat skeptically for the time being.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

So word going around late this week was that the Zune, better known as Microsoft’s supposed iPod killer, is slated to ship without support for video. Yeah, you heard that right. According to a report on from the New York Post, “Microsoft called up some content providers and said the video portion of its Zune device… was being delayed.” (The other juicy tidbit was that they’d have ad-supported downloads, but that’s still unsubstantiated as far as we know.) Microsoft’s Zune PR, of course, provided us with the following statement with regards to the story: “We do not have product details to share at this time and as such cannot comment on rumors or speculation.” Then, on top of that TechWeb reported that Microsoft actually referred to the rumor as “speculative.” It’s all the standard fare non-denial denial, we know, but we still don’t have any strong reason to believe the Post’s report has any weight. Besides the fact that sources told us nothing of the like, Microsoft would effectively be committing Zune to launch failure this buying season if they trot it out into the market place not even as well equipped as your standard iPod. That is, after all, the point of Zune, right? To best the iPod in all the ways Apple’s been dragging its feet, and provide a viable alternative? It’s 2006, look at that device right up there. If you think that’s not going to have video, well, may god rest Zune’s soul.

[Via Macsimum News, thanks CoreyTheGent, Jon, and Conor]

Read - NY Post
Read - TechWeb

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Filed under: Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:

At Microsoft, we know that customers appreciate the importance of choice and compatibility. If you’re in the market for a new digital media player, look for the logo that ensures interoperability with a wide variety of players from our valued partners and wretched competitors such as Creative, Samsung, iRiver, Archos and Sandisk. PlaysForSure means that you won’t be locked into one company’s digital media player. On the other hand, isn’t that worth the convenience and elegant integration you’d get with a sweet, sweet Zune player?

PlaysForSure also means that you’ll have access to the widest variety of digital music stores, so you can choose from content offered by Napster and Yahoo! Music or, for an even better experience, you can take advantage of the great integration of MTV Networks’ Urge with Windows Media Player 11 — an experience so good that we’d just as soon pass on it in favor of a whole new music management application that will integrate with our own player and store. Finally, we’ll have something to compete with that company that owns MSN Music. There are also a number of excellent PlaysForSure video services such as CinemaNow and Vongo that we’re going to trounce with the service supporting Zune.

One of the best features of PlaysForSure is the ability to subscribe to all the music you want for a low monthly fee. But that becomes really cool when you can share that music wirelessly with other subscribers, and for that PlaysForSure will be as useful as a broken m:robe 500. PlaysForSure also won’t do much to ensure a wide variety of dockable accessories, another area where Zune will beat the skins off any PlaysForSure player

PlaysForSure isn’t just about portable media either. Using certified digital media receivers such as those from Roku and Slim Devices, you can stream protected audio from your PC to any room in the house. That kind of functionality is tough to beat, but we feel up to the challenge.

So look for the PlaysForSure logo with its five-part badge system that’s significantly easier to figure out than the homeland security threat level indicator. In fact, look hard for it, because you won’t find it anywhere on our own digital music player. Remember that if your player doesn’t support PlaysForSure, you risk purchasing the product with the broadest industry support or ours, which we think will be the best on the market.

If you’d like more information on PlaysForSure, head on over to your PC and check out the PlaysForSure web site. Or you may want to wait until the next Super Bowl when traffic will be low as we’ll be driving it somewhere else entirely.

Microsoft. Your products. Our prerogative.

Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group and a contributing editor for LAPTOP. Views expressed in Switched On are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.

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Damn, I haven’t even finished my morning coffee and toast and this is the second Zune post. I am really sick of this thing, but I will give in and show this teaser video that GenerationMP3 found. Nowhere in this mysterious commercial is Zune mentioned or directly shown, but at the end it does say “The Future of Entertainment” and “Summer 2006″ which leads to believe it is somewhat Zune related. Kind of neat, kind of stupid—just release the damn thing already. – Travis Hudson

Publicité pour le Zune de Microsoft ? [GenerationMP3]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Ok, so we got off the horn with Microsoft just a few minutes ago and realized that making heads or tails of all this Zune stuff is probably driving some of you crazy . (We know others are probably just getting driven crazy by all the posts we’ve been writing about it. Sorry, it’s our job!) So here’s what we know for sure, think we know according to inside sources (i.e. yet unconfirmed information), and what we don’t yet know at all about the Zune.

What we know (for sure)

• Zune is the name of the project, the brand, and the device.
• The first Zune device will be launched this year, with more devices to come in 2007.
• The Zune brand encompasses not only the device, but the software that will drive it, as well as a music, movie, and media service the Zune device family will use for acquiring, sharing, and discovery of said media. Music will be the first angle of service that is launched, “connected entertainment” being the ultimate goal.
• The Zune media service will heavily leverage community aspects and recommendation; emphasis is being placed on using Zune to discover new artists, media, etc.
• The Zune media device will be drive-based, and have WiFi.
• The Zune brand is intended to be an entirely vertically integrated end-to-end solution, not unlike the iPod / iTunes / iTunes Music Store triumvirate.
• The service and device will not be PlaysForSure compliant, meaning you will not be able to use your Zune player with Napster or Vongo, for example. This will be an entirely new system. Microsoft will continue to support and develop for their PlaysForSure initiative, but all things PlaysForSure are handled by two entirely separate division that will not have any crossover.
• Zune is under Microsoft’s new Entertainment & Devices Division, and is headed by, among others, Robbie Bach, J Allard (Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect), and Bryan Lee (Corporate Vice President and CFO, Entertainment and Devices Division), which accounts for the division of this project from the rest of Microsoft, similar to how the Xbox project was also strictly separated.
• The logo we had is, of course, real.
• Microsoft’s launched the Zune’s viral marketing site. [Thanks, bv]

What we think we know (and are pretty sure of)

• They’ll be showing off the device by the end of next month, and will aim for a November release.
• Microsoft will buy your way out of iTunes in order to convert you to a Zune user.
• The Zune will come in multiple colors.
• Pyxis is the codename for their nano competitor which would also include video capabilities; Alexandria is the codename for the software that powers the Zune experience.
• A Microsoft portable gaming system is in the works, and will be a part of the Zune family. This device should have Xbox Live Anywhere integration. This may or may not be an Xbox co-branded portable, but is probably going to be the portable gaming / media device we’ve been hearing about for years.
• Microsoft’s ad campaign will include a Super Bowl commercial.
• The Zune will have a bevy of accessories at launch; it’ll probably be cheaper for accessory makers to develop for the Zune port than pay the Made For iPod tax.

What we don’t yet know

• Whether the Zune media service will offer the same kind of all-you-can-eat subscription media services as PlaysForSure media services like Napster and Vongo. Supposedly subscription will be offered, but downplayed in favor of song purchase (which is the opposite of most PlaysForSure services).
• Whether you’ll actually only be limited to sharing with up to 10 people nearby, as rumored, and that they won’t get the protected files, but will “bookmark” them for later purchase.
• Exact device specifications for the first Zune device, as well as its price (though we hear it could be as much as $399).
• Whether it’ll include XM and/or Sirius service as rumored (we doubt it).

Let the analysis begin!

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Since Microsoft's official announcement in Billboard didn't tell us all that much new info, here's a little bit more on Zune's rumored capabilities from another tipster.

There's going to be an add-on game pad similar to the Sony Ericsson P800 Bluetooth game pad. However, this one is going to be magnetic (really?) so it can attach to the Zune. Isn't that bad for magnetic, hard-drive based storage? You'll be able to use this game pad for "classic gaming", probably somewhere around the mid-80s to early-90s, NES/SNES-level graphics.

They'll let you customize your own case when you buy the Zune, whose default case looks pretty much like the pictures we've been showing here. You can change the outside, add RAM (for gaming, or PDA features maybe?), reduce storage space, and change the colors of the finish. – Jason Chen

And here's the "viral" site that Microsoft set up for Zune: Coming Zune [comingzune]

Thanks Tipster!

We got a peek at the Billboard Mag piece on the Zune, which for all the buzz that’s been going around, is fairly light on details. Microsoft says it’s a “brand” (probably in the way that iPod is a brand), and that Zune-branded devices are going to follow this first flagship model—portable video players and game devices.

Microsoft is thinking about “’seven or eight’ wireless scenarios” that they could possibly enable on the Zune, some of which are browsing other users’ libraries, buying and downloading songs w/o a PC and viewing a “digital locker”. Like reports said earlier, MS is focusing on collabrative and sharing with the Zune, allowing users to “view each other’s playlists” and “recommend music and sample tracks”.

What’s also fairly surprising is that they say music will be the first content offered by their online service, with video coming later. That probably means no equivalent of the iTunes TV shows or Music Videos until later. The music service isn’t going to be related to MSN Music, which may wither and die with this Zune service taking its spotlight.

Here’s how the Zune fits into Microsoft’s big picture alongside devices like the Xbox 360 and Windows Media smartphones:

That scenario is to provide ubiquitous access to digital media from a wide range of Windows-powered devices in what ultimately aspires to be one part MySpace, one part iTunes and one part Xbox Live.

More news as we get it. – Jason Chen

Microsoft has a big interview in Billboard Magazine next week spilling the rice and beans on the Zune. The three bullet points we were able to get, since we’re too poor to buy T-Shirts without holes in them let alone subscribe to Billboard magazine:

• Microsoft officials for the first time have confirmed that the Redmond, Wash.-based company is readying a portable music player and integrated service, shedding new light on a topic that has fueled rampant speculation in news reports and blog postings for weeks.
• In an exclusive first interview with Billboard, Chris Stephenson, Microsoft’s new GM of marketing for MSN Entertainment Business, says the company will later this year launch Zune, an umbrella brand for what he says is “a family of hardware and software products” targeting various digital entertainment services.
• The first implementation of this will be the portable music player and digital music service, in what is the company’s strongest effort yet to rein in Apple Computer’s iTunes/iPod juggernaut, currently responsible for about 70% of the digital music market and 75% of the portable digital music player market.

There’s confirmation that it’s going to have portable gaming and portable video capabilities, with WiFi and an add-on game pad (aftermarket).

More info in about 5 minutes.

Image courtesy Zune Nation