11-15-2007, 04:00 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Rumour: Zune Coming to Canada in Spring 2008?
When I first started looking at the new Zune devices, when I noticed French as a supported language, my first thought was "Hmm. Canada next?". I said as much in this post. Something interesting happened over on YouTube: a user by the name of Pete Carels posted a comment attached to one of my videos saying that the Zune "will be coming to Canada, most likely in the spring". That seemed quite matter-of-fact, so I asked him what his source was. He claimed he worked for Microsoft and he had "close knowledge that this will be the plan for [the] Zune in the new year.". A screen shot of the YouTube comment thread is below.
Ok, you might be saying, so some guy named Pete Carels claims he works for Microsoft has has the inside scoop. People say things online all the time right? Well, I called the Microsoft switchboard in Redmond, Washington, and it happens to have a very sophisticated voice-recognition program (it can handle my linguistic slaughtering of the last name "Kumaramangalam" for instance) where you just need to say the name of any Microsoft employee and it will connect you to them - after it has confirmed that there is a matching employee name. Guess what? There's one, and only one, employee named Pete Carels working at Microsoft.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But unless this is an elaborate hoax, I think there really is a guy named Pete Carels working for Microsoft, and I think the Zune coming to Canada in the spring of next year makes a lot of sense given the evidence I've seen so far. Now why Pete would decide to release this information in a public YouTube thread under his own name is another mystery entirely...
If 2008 is the year the Zune starts to go international, I suspect we'll see a release in the UK next. Then...the world! Well, eventually. ;-)
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11-15-2007, 04:06 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 12
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It may not be a mainstream store, but TigerDirect has been quietly selling Zunes for some time now - at least the Zune 30. Not one hundred percent sure about the new models.
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11-15-2007, 04:08 AM
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11-15-2007, 04:11 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Boutros
It may not be a mainstream store, but TigerDirect has been quietly selling Zunes for some time now - at least the Zune 30. Not one hundred percent sure about the new models.
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Yes, I've been also checking eCost.com - but the issue is not buying the hardware, the issues is being able to easily buy Zune Marketplace songs, and more importantly, the Zune Pass. That's really the issue here: true support of the full Zune experience.
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11-15-2007, 04:17 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 20
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My main issue is about warranty and firmware updates. I'll *try* to resist the urge to buy one until the canadian launch >.<
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11-15-2007, 04:21 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotheric
My main issue is about warranty and firmware updates. I'll *try* to resist the urge to buy one until the canadian launch >.<
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Indeed, I had my first two Zune 30 devices develop problems, and getting warranty support was a nightmare: I had to ship them to a friend in NYC, he'd ship them to the Zune warranty place, they'd ship it back to him, he'd ship it to me. Took forever!
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11-15-2007, 04:48 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14
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The only reason I'm holding back from buying it right now is so that once it's released in Canada I want to get my hands on a Zune 80 with a laser engraving (Kenzo Minami) from Zune Originals. This is assuming Microsoft will allow Canadian visitors to access www.zuneoriginals.net by then. I tried to view the site but to no avail since it only allows visitors from the US.
Asif
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11-15-2007, 12:00 PM
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11-15-2007, 04:37 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 2
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I was thinking about this as well. Since we all noticed the french language option. Another thing that I've noticed is that the warranty booklet in the Zune 2 box has information on Canadian patents, warranty, and specs. Which would indicate that is planning on crossing the border.
__________________
;) Don't Let My iPods Know...
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11-15-2007, 05:24 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shawnw
A simple Google search revealed this...
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Ah, well isn't that interesting! And what's even more amusing is that he went to the University of Calgary...which is the city in which I live, and a school I went to or a year (before switching to a more appropriate school for my interests - Mount Royal College).
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