The Microsoft Zune HD is an intriguing device. It's a pretty good portable media player. It can handle 720p HD video in WMV and H.264 formats, and it has excellent audio quality. It even packs an HD radio tuner. And the NVIDIA Tegra chipset enable some pretty flashy (but still useful) graphics in the user interface.

And the Tegra procesor means the Zune HD can also handle some pretty slick games and other applications. Up until now, that meant a few games, a calculator, and a weather application. But now Microsoft has added a few new 3D games to the Zune Marketplace: Audio Surf: Tilt, PGR: Ferrari Edition, Checkers, Lucky Lanes Bowling, and Vans sk8: Pool Service. There's also a new Piano application.

The new games are pretty slick and really help demonstrate the power of the Zune HD platform. Unfortunately, it's still not much of a platform. There are over 100,000 apps in the iPhone app store. There are 15 in the Zune Marketplace.

Granted, all of the Zune apps are free (although you have to put up with a brief add for the Zune Pass music subscription before they start). But where are the third party apps? Where are the chat, Twitter, and Facebook clients? Or calendar and contacts applications? Heck, with the graphics capabilities on the Zune HD, where's Virtual Earth?

Anyway, the new applications should be available to anyone who updated their Zune HD to run version 4.3 of the Zune software. The update also brings a few other changes, including support for a larger virtual keyboard in landscape mode and an auto-suggest feature for text input.

You can check out my brief hands-on video with the new games after the break.

Despite the Zune not being available in Europe, I confess to having owned a Zune 30, Zune 80 and a Zune 8GB... all devices i've been very happy with. One thing I particularly like about the Zune experience is how Microsoft continue to update the software and extend the featureset (where possible) for all the devices, ensuring that even those with the oldest Zunes enjoy the latest developments... for free. I'm pretty sure I can think of another music player company that could take a leaf out of Microsoft's book.

In keeping with that tradition, Microsoft have just released version 4.0 of the Zune software (in line with the Zune HD launch) and it's available to download now, free, for all Zune owners.

The new software release adds 'quickplay' - instant access shortcuts to your recently downloaded or played music, videos and more, 'smart dj' - an automatically generated playlist of relevant music from both your own collection and the whole Zune marketplace, 'mini mode' - a small size, unintrusive view of the player and 'mixview' - a way to discover a 'mosaic of connections to other artists, albums, and fans'.

An interesting feature of the new update is that Mac or PC users can leverage their $14.99 per month Zune pass in a new way, by streaming any of the Zune Marketplace's huge catalogue direct to their machine. Who needs Spotify you might argue?

Sadly there is still no way to actually SYNC your Zune with a Mac... version 5.0 perhaps Microsoft?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has all but confirmed that Microsoft is working on an iPhone competitor with a Zune phone. That's not to say that Microsoft will build and sell the hardware. But in an interview with CIO Magazine, Ballmer stated that the Zune isn't just hardware, it's also software. And that the Zune software will be ported to run on other devices including PCs and Windows Mobile devices..

In other words, future cellphones running Windows Mobile could ship with Zune-style media player software instead of the mobile versio nof Windows Media Player. It's also possible we could see devices where the default look and feel of the devices is built to suit the Zune UI rather than the typical Windows Mobile interface with its old fashioned start menu paradigm.

And before you ask, the image is from wmpoweruser, and I'm pretty sure it's a mockup created by combining the Zune and Windows Mobile user interfaces. Ballmer may be willing to talk about the future of the Zune software, but to the best of my knowledge Microsoft has yet to release a screenshot.

[via Engadget]

Microsoft released an updated version of its iTunes competitor today. The new Zune Marketplace adds TV downloads and a bunch of new music features. Here are some of the highlights:

• The desktop application is integrated with the "Zune Community," allowing users to send messages and share their collections with friends
• Ability to drag and drop a friend's Zune Card onto your portable media player
• Gapless playback
• Tools for editing meta data

But it's probably the new TV store that's going to steal the show. Microsoft says more than 800 episodes are availabe as of today, with titles including South Park, The Office, Heroes, 30 Rock, SpongeBob, Ghost in the Shell, Battletar Galactica, and Robot Chicken. Programs will cost you $2 per episode. There's no word on if and when we'll see movies on the Zune Marketplace.

Microsoft announced some updates to its Zune media player lineup this week, with new smaller, flash memory based Zunes coming soon. But we're much more excited about the software updates.

Microsoft has revamped both the Zune firmware and the Zune Desktop software. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that if you've got a current generation Zune, you'll be able to upgrade your firmware to get all the new features. Really, that's shouldn't be so impressive, but considering Apple wants you to buy a new iPod every year, it does kind of make the Zune slightly more attractive than it had been.

So what's new?

• The Zune Marketplace is adding over a million DRM-free MP3 tracks. This from the company that practically (but not really) invented DRM.
• Podcasts and music videos are being added to the Zune Marketplace
• You no longer have to listen to shared music within three days. But you can still only listen to a shared track three times before it self-destructs.
• You can share videos and photos with other users, not just music
• Support for additional codecs including h.264 and MPEG-4
• Automatically import recorded TV shows from Windows MEdia Center
• Microsoft is launching a social network called Zune Social
• Microsoft is launching web widgets called Zune Cards that let other users see your music selections
• You can share music that someone else shared with you

While Apple is busy pushing out iPod updates that make your (admittedly hacked) devices less useful, Microsoft is actually releasing updates that make the Zune better. Suddenly that brown media player doesn't look so silly, does it? Oh, right, Microsoft is killing the brown version.

Several months after Microsoft dropped its lawsuit against the developer of FairUse4WM because it couldn't find him or her, the utility has been updated to version 1.3 Fix-2.

FairUse4WM strips DRM from Windows Media Audio files purchased online. The latest version can remove DRM protection from songs downloaded from Microsoft's Zune Marketplace, meaning you can play your legally purchased music on pretty much any device, not just Microsoft's Zune.

It's not clear whether the update comes from the same developer Microsoft was after or a new hacker. However, the new program was uploaded by a Doom9 Forum member named "Divine Tao," which is an anagram of Viodentia, the name the original hacker had gone by.

[Thanks Abdul!]

Not content to just follow Apple into the portable music market with the Zune, Microsoft appears poised to follow Apple into the DRM-free music market.

Music label has already agreed to sell unencrypted high quality digital audio files through Apple's iTunes Music Store. Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp told CNet that Microsoft plans to follow suit, offering DRM-free versions of EMI music.

There's no word on when the unencrypted tracks might hit Zune Marketplace, or how much they'll cost. Apple is charging a little more for unencrypted tracks, at $1.29 per track, compared with $.99 for AAC files with DRM.

What's a giant mega-corporation with a struggling digital download store to do to bring some zest into the venture? Why, hire one of the most prominent providers of business optimization software, of course! Forbes is reporting that Microsoft has hired Omniture to analyze and breath some life into the Zune Marketplace. From a Microsoft spokesman: "Omniture helps us understand what our customers care about, continually allowing us to improve the online experience and provide the best possible content and services."

One can only speculate as to what Omniture and Microsoft will cook up - so why not take a crack at it? To the Zune users, and specifically the Marketplace shoppers in the audience: put yourselves in Omniture's shoes. What would you change about the Zune Marketplace and experience?

Bloomberg reports that Microsoft is planning to add gaming to the Zune by 2008, to better compete with Apple's iPod, which already has games on-board. Zune must add games and continue to include more and better features than Apple to be ahead of the curve, instead of trailing behind. Nothing will come close to challenging the iPod for a while, since it is so far out in front, including the mind-share of the country that the iPod holds, but having played with the Zune a bit, I think it has a good chance to be a popular second place item. Microsoft execs also are contemplating a Zune phone, and possibly wi-fi video-sharing as well. Will Zune be a sleeping Lion, and eventually take some of the market-share from Apple? Do you have a Zune? Care to share your experiences with using it daily, how it works, what you like about it? Please, feel free.

Sure, there are plenty of ways to grab a video from YouTube, save it as an flv file, and convert it the file format of your choice. But Zunemytube's got to be the simplest method I've seen so far.

All you have to do is install the plugin for Internet Explorer and a little Zune icon will pop up in your toolbar. Then you surf YouTube, Google Video or MSN Soapbox and find videos you want to save. Once you've found a video, all you have to do is click the "Zune It" button in your toolbar and the program will automatically download and convert the video into a Zune-compatible windows media video file. The program creates individual folders for Google, YouTube, and Soapbox videos in your "My Videos" folder.

I have to say, the video quality leaves something to be desired when converting YouTube videos. This is probably because you're taking a highly compressed video and converting it to another compressed video format. I had a bit more luck with Google Videos.

The program only works with Internet Explorer, and I was only able to test it with IE7. Anyone try it with earlier versions?

[Via jkOnTheRun]

How is this for traffic, Hitwise noted that Apple's iTunes hit a 413% increase in traffic over the 2006 holiday season over 2005's. This was mostly due to the ever increasing demand of the famous iPod, making this the third holiday season where the iPod has been at the top of everyone's most wanted list. The traffic doesn't stop there though, Hitwise also noted that iPod users helped in the 110% increase in traffic to the Apple Store to deck their iPod's out with new accessories. There is currently no word out about how many actual songs and videos were downloaded through iTunes over the holidays, or how many sad kids there were that received a Zune instead or an iPod in their stockings.

On another note, Zune was knocked down with a traffic ratio of 30 to 1 to the Apple iTunes store. Yes, the Zune was just released, so we might have to wait until the next holiday season for stats to see how things compare.

Information Week reports that Microsoft could be unnecessarily eliminating support for Windows 2000 and older systems from new software releases.

A number of new Microsoft programs, such as Office 2007 and the new Zune software won't install on Windows 2000 systems. While some programs are truly designed with newer operating systems in mind, it appears Microsoft has intentionally blocked some programs from running on older systems.

For example, Windows Defender won't install on Windows 2000 systems. But if you futz a bit with the installer program, it appears that Defender checks to see what version of Windows you're using. If you're not using XP or a newer operating system it won't install. But some users have reported that you can modify the installer, and Defender actually runs quite well on Windows 2000.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Microsoft no longer supports Windows 2000. The company only provides 5 years of support for most consumer software. But it's a step further to intentionally cripple software compatibility, presumably to convince users to upgrade their operating system every five years -- even if they're not experiencing any problems with their existing OS.

[via Slashdot]

First off, let me state for the official record, that I am neither a Zune fan or Zune hater. I can't decide. I don't own one, and I don't know if I will in the future. I like a few of the ideas and features in the Zune, but it has its drawbacks as well. One thing I find funny is how the blogosphere has largely bashed the Zune, yet according to Gizmodo, Zune is 2nd in sales behind the iPod. Of course, second isn't where anyone wants be, but for goodness sake, Zune just launched in November, and the iPod has been king for a while, so for a product competing with the almighty iPod, it is pretty impressive that the sales could trump all the other players right out the door. Is Microsoft as least doing something right with the Zune, or is this a beginner's luck thing? Will Microsoft remain a contender or is this simply a holiday-infused debut flurry that will fizzle?

via Gizmodo

What's the first thing you want to know whenever a new device comes out? Whether you can play Doom on it, of course.

Okay, but the next question is usually whether you can install Linux.

Well, you can't really do either with the Microsoft Zune yet, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to upgrade (or downgrade) it by replacing the preinstalled software with some open-source firmware.

Rockbox is an open-source firmware replacement for MP3 players. Currently there are ports for a number of iRiver, Archos, and Apple iPod models. Work is underway to port Rockbox to the Toshiba Gigabeat F and X series. Microsoft's Zune is manufactured by Toshiba and has more in common with the Gigabeat S than the F or X series, but one of the main developers behind Rockbox says a Zune Port could be on the way. One of the main roadblocks would be the security features built into the Zune because of it's Wi-Fi capabilities.

Of course, installing Rockbox on a Zune would probably mean you couldn't play music purchased from the Zune Marketplace, and would definitely mean voiding your warranty. And odds are you wouldn't be able to share files with other Zune users via Wi-Fi (but who really does that anyway). On the other hand, this could be the first step towards using the Wi-Fi for something useful, like web browsing.

I wouldn't expect to see any major developments for a couple of months at least. The Toshiba porting is still underway, and as far as I can tell nobody's actively working on a Zune port just yet.

So Microsoft's Zune is out, but it's still a few steps behind the iPod in terms of battery life, ease of installation, and podcast support. Doug Arrison from FireAnt has gone one step further than Microsoft, and released a free program for syncing podcasts to a Zune. FeedYourZune is an RSS reader/aggregator for audio and video podcasts. It will automatically download podcasts and sync them. It doesn't include any file conversion at this point, so you'll need to download podcasts that are already in a Zune-compatible format. But Doug says file conversion will be included in a future release. You can also use FeedYourZune as a video player and playlist manager on your PC.

Oh yeah, and look, it features a Zune-like interface (read: black).

[Via Zuneguy]