The 80 GB second generation Microsoft Zune is available for pre-orders and will be available on 13 November for $249.99.
From Amazon.com: “Availability: This item will be released on November 13, 2007. Pre-order now! Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.”
80 GB Microsoft Zune MP3 Player
# 0 GB digital media player stores up to 20,000 songs, 25,000 pictures or 250 hours of video
# Features wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing so you can swap tracks and other media
# Big, bright, 3.2-inch color screen
# Compatible with Zune Marketplace for media downloads and subscription services
# Automatically imports your existing music, pictures, and videos form iTunes and Windows Media Player in a variety of formats
Amazon is selling the 30 GB Zune Player
for $177.29. That is a great price since most people paid $249 (plus tax if you bought in a store) just over a month ago.
Well you know what today is kids? Zune is out! So here is a little round up over the past few months to give you a hand in your decision to get a Zune or not.
Zune Launch Parties:
Zune Accessories
- Read this post for a round up of all the Zune Accessories
Zune MarketPlace
- A run down on the Zune MarketPlace here
- Download it here
Zune and Xbox 360 Working Together
- Some info on the Zune integrating with the Xbox 360 - here
Zune Review Round Up
- A round up of some of the bigger reviews on the Microsoft Zune - here
Zune Windows XP Theme
- Not enough Zune for you? Well got the Zune Windows XP theme here
And of course the 2 official Zune sites - Zune.net and Zune-Arts.net
If you are now interested in purchasing a Zune head on over to here and as always don’t forget the Zune community, come have a chat and let us know what you think of the Zune.
As you know the software to go along with the Zune is the Zune MarketPlace, and this was unofficially released today by a BestBuy shopper. Well here is the run down on the Zune MarketPlace and how it all works:
After the install Its time to choose your Zune tag, seems “cooper” (my name) is already taken. People work fast these days…
And then you sign into your Live account, which can be several things like a Hotmail account. By the off chance you don’t have one, then it give you the option to go off and create a new one. A word of warning thought to people out side of the US, when you try to sign in to the MarketPlace you will not be able to, unless you selected “US” in your country when creating a Live account.
Signing in….
And welcome to the Zune MarketPlace! This is what you will be greeted with on starting the program.
There are 3 section on the left: Playlist, Library and MarketPlace. Pretty obvious, MarketPlace tab is the shop side of the program which is made up of several sub categories, first one being Playlist.
And then Charts, Which have several charts available, Top Albums, Top Songs, Billboard Carts, Zune Charts
Active Downloads, Nothing really here, but this is where your downloads in progress will be.
Artists, browse songs by artists
Albums, browse songs by albums
Songs, browse individual songs with in albums
Genre, browse by genre
Year, browse by year
This is now you private section of your own music. When the MarketPlace is installed it automatically starts scanning your folders in the background for your media. The abstract purple (purple is not the only color) album art is what goes there if no album art is available. This section will be pretty firmilure to users of Windows Media Player11.
Now we come to the video section of the Zune MarketPlace. Sadly it will scan your hard drive, but will only put in the videos that are supported on the Zune, and seeing as most of my video files are AVI, I have allot of video converting to do…
The happy snap picture sction.
This is the options to the way the files are displayed (just like WMP11)
And the options drop down menu
Now this thing is pretty cool. This is what pops up when you click the minimize button down in the right bottom corner. Its a little (actual size) remote looking device that can sit up the top of your screen and let you keep control of your beats that your rocking out to.
And as said before, the MarketPlace can be downloaded by going to this page.
So as the Zune release date for the US draws every so closer, the number of various Zune reviews grows. Here is a listing of all the Zune reviews, where the reviewer had some one on one time with the Zune and have done some very interesting in depth reviews. So lets begin:
Site: 2Old2Play.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 20th of October - Link
Details: One of the first independent full hands on reviews of the Zune. These guys go into great depth and try to explain every thing about the Zune the best they could. They do not really go into great detail on the Zune MarketPlcae and there are no videos or pictures as well. But 2Old2Play.com do cover the core aspects of the Zune: The Zune setup, music sharing, video playback, and user interface.
Site: Cnet.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 2nd of October - Link
Details: No surprise Cnet.com has done a review of the Zune, Cnet is one of the leading consumer product reviewers on the net. These guys opinions are usually pretty spot on and holds allot of weight as far as product reviews go. The Cnet Zune review covers: Body design, interface and the Zune features.
Site: Gizmodo.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 3rd of November - Link
Details: One of the big tech blogs out there and my personal favorite one as well, Gizmodo has carried out a great review on the Zune. They cover some of the things not covered that well in other reviews, including the Zune Marketplace, where they get to try it out and see how it works on a PC. Gizmodo also covers DRM protection, with and interesting point:
Another not-published or seldom-talked-about feature is guesting. A friend can take his Zune over to your computer, set up a “guest” relationship with your Zune Marketplace software (as opposed to a regular owner relationship), and you’re free to drag songs and pictures from your library onto her device. These songs do not have the 3 play 3 day limit on them. Depending on whether you purchased or you’re leasing these songs, you can do this with either 5 or 2 Zunes, respectively. So in essence, if your wife wants to grab a few songs off your library for listening to…
Gizmodo has some great pictures of all 3 colored Zunes (Black, Brown and White) as well as some video clips of them using the Zune MarketPlace.
Site: Engadget.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 3rd of November - Link
Details: The Engadget review is more for the people who do not like to read and are more visual. There are various pictures on the Zune, that pretty cool looking Zune case that they are carried around in and the Zune MarketPlace. Engadget also has a really in depth video walk through, where they do a complete interface walk through, showing you every nook and cranny of the Zune and the things it can do. That video can be viewed here or download it here (109mb)
The following is a list of the reviews from 6 music industry bloggers who were flown out to Zune HQ a few months ago for a first hand look of the Zune:
SteroGum.com
Coolfer.com
MOKB
3Hive.com
There were 6, but the other 2 were not really that good, so I did not include them.
Well that about wraps it up on the Zune reviews. Get enough info there? If I have missed out any reviews, please leave a comment and let me know so it can be included in the list. If all this reading about the Zune has made you interested in buying one, you can pre-order your Zune at the ZuneInfo.com shop which is powered by Amazon.com
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A list of all the retail shops in America that will be selling the Zune come November the 14th. Unlike the Xbox 360 shortage upon release Cesar from ZuneInsider.com has said “We’re confident that retailers will have solid availability, and any consumer who wants to purchase a Zune will be able to do so.” So there you have it, and here is the list so far:
Target
Best Buy
Costco
Fry’s
Amazon
Meijer
Staples
Transworld
Toys R Us
Circuit City
Kmart
Office Max
Office Depot
Wal-Mart
GameStop
Sears
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Virgin Megastore (select locations)
Brookstone
CarToys
And of course how could we forget..
The ZuneInfo.com Shop :)
ZuneInfo.com just launched a new section of the site. We now have an online shop powered by Amazon.com and a are now ready to start taking pre orders for the Zune and all its accessories.
There is also all the pictures of the accessories if you are interested in looking at what exactly they do look like.
So whether you want to pre order your Zune, or just have a glance at the accessories, then head on over to the ZuneInfo.com ShopÂ
