Adam Krebs
11-19-2007, 02:00 AM
With all the <a target="_blank" href="http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/showthread.php?t=23533">good Zune press</a> recently, it's no wonder they've been <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/11/17/zune-2-sells-out-across-the-web-wait-what/">hard to find</a>. Gizmodo and Engadget have been reporting that the 80s are sold out at pretty much everywhere except for Circuit City (where I found mine) and a few other select stores. The guys at Zune Scene are reporting that production on the Zune80 is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zunescene.com/zune-80-shortage/">6 weeks behind schedule</a>, and that we won't really start seeing more until next month.<br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/875/ipodmods-is-now-rapid-repair.html">RapidRepair</a>, known for its great <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rapidrepair.com/shop/zune-repair-guides.html">Zune30 repair guide</a>, has seen fit to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rapidrepair.com/guides/zune2/Flash-Zune-8GB-Take-Apart-Guide.htm">take apart</a> a Zune8, revealing a couple tasty tidbits about the device, as well as a few unfortunate surprises. For example, the components are held together with a mid adhesive, and the Zune Pad is non-replaceable. Zune-Online forum member <em>MikeHill33</em> didn't feel like doing the whole "delicate" thing, and instead <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zune-online.com/news/zune/zune-v0-welcome-to-my-hammer.html">took a hammer to his Zune30</a> (apparently due to problems updating).<br /><br />Those having trouble with their Zune software screwing up <a target="_blank" href="http://support.microsoft.com/?id=945319">metadata tags</a>, having installation troubles, or just plain disliking the new program can fix two of those three by checking out the new <a target="_blank" href="http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/11/16/quick-software-update-coming-today-friday-november-16.aspx">software update</a>, released Friday.<br /><br />When will Cesar start an <a target="_blank" href="http://zuneinsider.com/archive/tags/Friday/default.aspx">NMF</a> podcast?<br /><div id="newcode"><br /></div>Long Zheng at istartedsomething.com <a target="_blank" href="http://www.istartedsomething.com/20071116/microsoft-iris-uix-framework-zune/">did some digging</a> in the v2 software and found that the entire thing is written using a previously unheard of framework called "Iris" or "UIX", and not, as had been suggested, <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Presentation_Foundation">WPF</a>. Some people are quite upset that Microsoft isn't using its much hyped .Net 3.0 framework, but it appears Iris is a <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=346301#346301" target="_blank">variation</a> of MCML (Media Center Markup Language, Microsoft's attempt at allowing 3rd party developers onto Media Center). This is a good thing, because it means that not only does Iris use a modular, XML-like schema, but it also supports basic scripting logic (determining whether it needs a scrollbar, etc.) and can be easily fine-tuned.<br /><br />The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/356/accessing-the-zune-hard-drive.html">harddrive hack</a> from last year is still available, and with only slightly different instructions than before. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zuneboards.com/content/view/177/1/">ZuneBoards</a> has a great tool that easily re-enables the functionality. Also, in case anyone was wondering, the new software still uses the PlaysForSure DRM 9.1 (same as last year), so there hasn't really been anything new in that area. I assume it's to ease the transition over, without having everyone re-download/authorize their Marketplace files (last year's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/315/zune-marketplace-song-playback-issue.html">skipping issue</a> was bad enough).<br /><br />On Friday, YouTube user alwaysmc2 posted a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AklnUskCag">video of the unboxing</a> for his new Zune Original. The box looks similar to the retail packaging, save for its lack of brown (and excess of white). The biggest difference appears to be a full-sized poster version of the selected artwork, a postcard-sized "thank you" note, and, oh yeah, the engraved artwork on the back. I'm not such a huge fan of the full-body designs (they're all close to, but not quite what I'm looking for), and I do like a few of the "picture with text" options, but I'm not sure what I'd write. Any suggestions?