This Monday I was in Redmond checking out the updates with a few of my fellow bloggers so this news is a day or so late. Overall, the update is pretty impressive especially the music discovery features, which was something I really liked about my Rhapsody subscription. I’m anxious get it running on my own music library to see how it stacks up.
The wireless features are also slowly developing now with the ability to download directly from the device. More interestingly this feature ties into the FM radio. Since the Zune has RDS (Radio Data Services) and RT+ (Radio Text Plus) knows what track it being played on the radio and since identifiable, you will be able to download most songs you hear on the radio with one click.
The one thing missing however, a big disappointment to many, was the lack of direct from-device podcast downloads. This just seems like such a natural progression that my guess would be that it will eventually be added, but the official word is that it is something they are still considering. With all of these features the Zune is gradually being untethered from the desk top.
There are still many many more updates, but I’ll get into them more when the new firmware and software is released, but in the mean time to the left and right of me Jason, Drea, and Harvey took better notes than I did. So check out their sites and give the press release a read as well as a few videos below.
Also I want to give a shout out to my friends on the other side of the table: Stefan, Patrick, Neville, Chris , and Paul.
iPod Who?
12 Comments
Charles on September 10, 2008 6:32 PM
i have a question that might be irrelevant to this entry, but i went to the official zune website and it says “The songs are yours to keep as long as you keep your Zune Pass valid.” does this mean, once i unsubscribe my zune card, i can’t listen to the downloaded music anymore?
Elvis on September 10, 2008 7:17 PM
Yes, Charles, that what it means, in regards to subscription downloads. Any songs you buy are yours to keep.
Charles on September 10, 2008 9:44 PM
so there’s no way of listening to songs that you downloaded with the zune pass, after unsubscribing?
Hylic on September 11, 2008 1:35 AM
It wouldn’t make too much sense for them to alow you to continue to listen to the music once you stop your subscription.You can always just buy the music instead of “renting” if you want.
Aaron on September 11, 2008 5:02 AM
Quick question. Why are there 3 duplicates of the original video?Also @ Charles:That’s how subscription-based services work. It’s like that with Rhapsody, in that you can’t access any more music once your subscription has run out. However, you always have the option of purchasing the songs you like, so that you don’t lose the ability to play your favorite songs.
radio joe on September 11, 2008 4:40 PM
Did anyone ask about future support for DivX, FLAC, etc?
sprockkets on September 11, 2008 5:47 PM
Divx simply means MPEG4-ASP support, and usually they only support the SP, or no b frames.Having Microsoft support any open format is a conflict of interest for them. It isn’t hard to see why, that after many years they do not support it on the computer either. It would make their own formats look like crap too.
Watson on September 11, 2008 7:48 PM
I am deeply excited about this update. Wireless downloading has been something I have been yearning for. Honestly, I dont understand why its not a more popular feature; I almost bought an ibiza rhapsody simply because it offered wireless downloading.Some of the new eyecandy for the desktop software looks interesting too.
Watson on September 11, 2008 7:55 PM
Also,according to this update, it looks like the update should be rolling out on the 16th.http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/08/microsoft-confirms-new-zunes/
lt.milo on September 11, 2008 9:27 PM
Watson, I agree. I am really excited for this feature, especially since I can’t sync my zune to my now linux-running laptop. Now I can just download songs I want without a computer at all. It’s a dream come true (well the real dream come true would be linux support, but still!)
Dylan on September 14, 2008 6:28 PM
Hi all, I have a very important (to me, anyways) question: is there any plan to allow scrobbling to last.fm?Please email me @ d.bahoosh@gmail.com if you have information.
Justananomaly on September 15, 2008 3:46 PM
Really looking forward to this. I hardly ever use my old Zune 30 anymore but it looks like I’m going to stop using winamp and start using this new 3.0 software as my default music player, its just too impressive looking to not use it.