I'm In Seattle at Zune HQ

[Jason Dunn]

<p>I'm down here in Redmond at the Zune headquarters, and along with my fellow Zune MVPs (there are nine of us now) we're getting briefed on what's coming next for the Zune. And by "next", I mean some of the things that have been reported in the past few days. Got any questions you'd like me to ask the Zune team? Let me know and I'll do my best to get them answered. I'm preparing a thorough report that I hope will go live shortly after I return from Seattle.</p>

[USArcher]

Here are a couple of questions regarding the Device to Cloud capability...

- What do you mean by "automatically update your collection"? Does this imply it will sync with your "home" PC remotely or purely with the Zune backend service (ex. for new podcasts, etc) ?

- Will we be able to share content (photos, etc) without knowing if our friends are online or not? Or is this capability initially limited to sharing favorites?

- Will the Device to Cloud capability work when Zune is sitting in the AV Dock?

- Just out of curiosity, is this capability built on the Live Mesh platform? That would be a nice plug for that platform.

Two other questions...
- Does this version include the previously stated plan to support Audible format? If so, will audiobooks be sold via Zune MarketPlace?

- What, if any, performance improvements have been made to Zune devices?

[Sven Johannsen]

Ask if any of them have ever met any Windows Mobile or Media Center guys.

[charlestreyk]

When is Zune 120 coming out?

Is there any additional features to regular zune80?

Is the rumored Zune touch actually coming out? and if it is, when?

thank you very much!
best,
Charles Trey Kang

p.s. this is my first post and zunethoughts is my favorite website

[Espiox]

Are there any new features not listed in the press release?

Some that I would like to see:
- Taskbar control panel
- Minimize to System Tray
- On-device playlist creation/editing
- Rotate images on the device (pleeeeease zune team?)
- More codecs

And have they got anything in the way of integration with Xbox yet?

[charlestreyk]

when is zune120 officially coming out?

is there any additional features?

is the rumored zune touch actually coming out? and if it is, when?

[Espiox]

Oh, and: Clock? :P

j/k

EDIT: Holy sh*t (http://www.zunerama.com/2008/09/zune-30-has-a-clock/).

[USArcher]

Official Press Release

http://thegreenbutton.com/blogs/chris_blog/archive/2008/09/08/291799.aspx

[Espiox]

Zunerama is saying the the 16GB flash player will come in Blue-on-Silver and Black-on-Black. Are they making any changes to the 8GB colour lineup, or are they just keeping Black, Red and Pink?

[jamiet]

I'd like to know about integration with Windows Live services. I've overheard that Zune activity will start appearing on newsfeeds of our friends on Windows Live Spaces (e.g. "Jim has just created a new playlist on Zune Social"). Can you confirm if that's true and ask about any other Windows Live related features?

[jamiet]

Are there any plans to release in new countries?

[paschott]

Any chance that the zune software will start taking into account the fact that files with different filenames are actually different files? The current 2.x software attempts to treat those duplicates in some smart manner that just results in a bunch of my files not showing up - especially podcast-type entries that came from outside of a podcast feed. I have a bunch of files that will not show up in the Zune software because it thinks they are the same.

Will the new software/firmware apply to the Zune 30 as well as the newer Zunes?

(I saw the list in the other post and that answered some of other questions I would have had otherwise.)

[David Tucker]

I haven't read the press release yet but the feature I've been dying for since I got my Zune is video subscription. Any chance of seeing that?

[Espiox]

Will the new software/firmware apply to the Zune 30 as well as the newer Zunes

Once again, your early adoption is being rewarded! [Link (http://www.zunerama.com/2008/09/zune-30-firmware-will-update-all-zune-players/)]

[Paduch]

Is the software update (v2.6?) coming soon? When? I only assume that the same great customer service that we saw last year will be updating all our Gen2 Zunes and not just on these new ones???

[Paduch]

Forget my last post, I just read the press release. I'm especially excited about the Audiobooks. I would say 75% of my listening on my Zune is of Audiobooks. Does this mean that Audiobooks will be sold on Zune Marketplace as well, and will they be covered under the Zune-Pass subscription service? Thanks.

[Jason Dunn]

Zunerama is saying the the 16GB flash player will come in Blue-on-Silver and Black-on-Black. Are they making any changes to the 8GB colour lineup, or are they just keeping Black, Red and Pink?


The 16 GB player is black only (glossy black). The blue Zune is 8 GB only. I think this is really silly, but that's what they're doing. I think black, red, and pink are staying the same for the Zune 8

The Zune 120 is black only - there's no red 120. Bah! :mad:

[Jason Dunn]

Does this mean that Audiobooks will be sold on Zune Marketplace as well, and will they be covered under the Zune-Pass subscription service? Thanks.

No word on that yet - I suspect you'll see partner-related info coming out on the 16th of this month.

[Jason Dunn]

Are there any plans to release in new countries?

There's nothing on that yet unfortunately - hell, the Zune is released in Canada and there's still no word on having the Marketplace in Canada. :(

[asif2020]

I have just one question for the Zune Team:

When is Zune MARKETPLACE coming to Canada (any specific date)?

Cheers Jason!

[Brothernod]

A couple questions (thank you for the opportunity!!)

1) Any idea when we'll see mac support? Some of my best friends are stuck with mac's due to working in the film industry and I wanna share me some songs with them.

2) Have they added an audible que to let someone know you want to share a song with them? Or how about the option to auto accept wireless transfers? I've tried on a few occasions to share music with people, but they're never looking at their device to hit ok. I hope I haven't overlooked the feature.

3) Any advancement in playlist creation on the go? I never know in advance what I want to listen to, but I often want to combine a couple artists for the day. The ipod I had before my Zune handled this nicely where everytime your device went to sleep between use sessions it would save off your last on-the-go playlist allowing you to make a new one. It also had the ability to remove songs from your on-the-go playlist which is really important when you love 90% of an album but hate a couple songs.

Otherwise sing them some praise, I really love my zune original and hope to hock my 80 to get some more storage space and a new fancy etching.

::edit:: OH YEAH, remembered 2 more quick little questions

4) Any chance they can make it so when you hit the zune pad during video playback it brings up the status bar? I can't think of the reason why but I know I'm often watching something and am curious how far into it I am, but to find out I need to pause then unpause it. Similar to how the screen comes back on when you touch the pad while listening to music.

5) Any chance we can get some form of tv-out adjustment? I've been using my zune to watch Naruto with my aunt who loves it suprisingly and the overscan on her tv eats some of the subtitles near the edge. Any chance they could add a simple shrink option with a few levels so it can be tweaked for various tv's?

ok, that's all the questions i've always wanted to ask.

::/edit::

[yomero]

I want to listen to my FM radio stations on my desktop PC speakers while my zune is docked or wirelessly.

[Jason Dunn]

When is Zune 120 coming out?
Is there any additional features to regular zune80?
Is the rumored Zune touch actually coming out? and if it is, when?

The Zune 120 is out basically now - you'll see it for sale on Amazon.com and other places. In fact, here's the link where (http://astore.amazon.com/zunethoughts-20/detail/B001EQ0HAW/104-5712529-9428741) you can buy the Zune 120 from Amazon.com and support Zune Thoughts doing it. :)

The new features for the Zune 120 are all coming to the Zune 80 - and the Zune 4, Zune 8, and Zune 30. All Zunes get updated!

There was no news about any addition Zune form-factors.

p.s. this is my first post and zunethoughts is my favorite website

Welcome to Zune Thoughts! :D

[Jason Dunn]

I'd like to know about integration with Windows Live services. I've overheard that Zune activity will start appearing on newsfeeds of our friends on Windows Live Spaces (e.g. "Jim has just created a new playlist on Zune Social").

Interesting - that's the first I've heard of that. On the 16th you'll have to check that out for yourself. :)

[Jason Dunn]

When is Zune MARKETPLACE coming to Canada (any specific date)?

Zero news on that front I'm afraid. :mad:

[Jason Dunn]

I haven't read the press release yet but the feature I've been dying for since I got my Zune is video subscription. Any chance of seeing that?

Nope, nothing about that either. We didn't meet with anyone from the Marketplace team, which is a shame because there's lots to discuss there.

[Jason Dunn]

I want to listen to my FM radio stations on my desktop PC speakers while my zune is docked or wirelessly.

A neat feature idea, but that's the first time I've ever seen it mentioned, so it's probably not a feature on the Zune Team's list. I'll try to remember if the next time I talk to them...

[Jason Dunn]

I wish I had more answers for you, but...

1) Any idea when we'll see mac support?

This was brought up and the Zune team was quite non-committal about it. I know that they see the need, but how important meeting that need is to them is anyone's guess. Mac users are a small, albeit growing, population and it may not be a good investment for them to make given how many Mac users would probably prefer an iPod. I personally think it needs to happen, but not all my fellow Zune MVPs agree with me.

2) Have they added an audible que to let someone know you want to share a song with them? Or how about the option to auto accept wireless transfers?

There's nothing new here in 3.0. This issue was brought up with the Zune team, they didn't have anything to say about it beyond the usual "Ok, that's interesting" kind of thing.

3) Any advancement in playlist creation on the go?

Nothing new here in 3.0.

4) Any chance they can make it so when you hit the zune pad during video playback it brings up the status bar?

I don't believe this has changed from 2.5. I agree it would be a neat thing to have.

5) Any chance we can get some form of tv-out adjustment?

I brought up the issue of fit-to-screen options to get rid of black bars, but shrinking content to use up less of the screen due to TV overscan...boy, that's niche scenario that would be really hard to justify resources for. Your TV set doesn't have the ability to turn off the overscan?

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, I've answered most of the questions in this thread, but if I've missed any, please re-ask after reading my event report....which I'll hopefully have up by end of day tomorrow.

[Brothernod]

I brought up the issue of fit-to-screen options to get rid of black bars, but shrinking content to use up less of the screen due to TV overscan...boy, that's niche scenario that would be really hard to justify resources for. Your TV set doesn't have the ability to turn off the overscan?

I haven't had issues with the overscan on panel tv's, but it's often a problem on tubes. It's not about the black bars, but the side handful of pixels get clipped because of a crappy tv haha.

Was just curious while I had the chance to ask detailed questions about little things. Thank you sooooo much for the opportunity, keep up the great coverage.

[fyiguy]

Ask if any of them have ever met any Windows Mobile or Media Center guys.

Jessica used to work with the Windows Media Center group and hosted a an Ask Microsoft (http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/83/ShowForum.aspx)forum over at the Green Button before moving to the Zune group earlier this year. Plus she has cool hair, well at least she did when I met her at CES this year (http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/CES+2008++Media+Center+Show+Party.aspx).:D

Jason:

Any news if the Audible client is needed on the PC or can the Zune desktop software import and download Audible content natively? Will there be an Audible client for Zune like there is Windows Mobile in the future? Will this also allow for other Amazon content like videos, music, maybe even Kindle books?

Any news of support for streaming music via WiFi from satellite radio sources like XM or Sirius or other Channel sources like Pandora, LastFM,etc?

Does the Zune still softboot/reset after exiting an XNA Game/Application?

[Brothernod]

Does the Zune still softboot/reset after exiting an XNA Game/Application?


I read somewhere today that it doesn't reset after games anymore.

[Jason Dunn]

My full event report is now live:

http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/90574

If, after reading it you have more questions, please post them in that thread. Thanks! :)