Archive for the ‘Zune News’ Category

Red Zune 80 available at ZuneOriginals.net Again!

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Thats right, the Red Zune 80 is back at Zune Originals , but i am not sure for how long. So don’t miss out on the second oppurtunity to get a great Red Zune 80 with Zune Originals Artwork. I know that i will not leave it too late to order this time after being upset when i found out th limited edition offer had ended previously, so i will make sure one is sent to my doorstep this time.

Will post a screenshot once i can get one (finally have access to Zune-Originals but now my PC wont take screenshots).

So quick, go order some Red Zune 80’s (if you fancy giving me an Easter present you can always ask for my shipping address ;) ).

Recap: Zune at the Winter X Games 2007

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

My good friend Wetworker just hooked me up with this 3:28 video of Zune at the Winter X Games in 2007. Its seen before, but its great to see again, so thanks Wetworker.

It just shows Zune during the Winter X Games with lots of partying and some Zune Logos here and there, but i wont say anymore.. watch the vid:

Thanks again Wetworker for the video and dont forget to checkout his website, zunecards, which is currently in development.
Zune Cards Logo

Zune XNA Games - Video

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Here is a great video showing a Zune 4/8 Test Version with the Games menu. Currently we have seen four games in this video, Alien Takeover, Hexic, Zauri and Marblets (a bubble buster type game). Games are not sendable (at this time). The games show a type of meta data or description and you can flick left and right to change game. On the new Zune devices (Zune 4, 8 and Zune 80) the touchpad can be used. Zune 30 owners are not left out though, as games will also be developed for the button interface also. The games are limited to being 2d, although have some stunning graphics and everything is very slick and flawless. The XNA Api will be available for developers to create their own games for the Zune, although this is very locked down and will probably still prohibit any further hacking (atleast we have game support now though). Music and its album art, aswell as pictures can all be intergrated into games if wanted. This could open up games such as “whats the song name” or a jigsaw of a picture or album art. You can also listen to music while inside the games. Games will also feature wireless later down the line, this will be a local wi-fi (eg. Zune to Zune - there is no Xbox or PC direct compatiblity confirmed yet), which will unlock multiplayer wi-fi games with other nearby Zuners which is a pretty sweet feature.

View the Zune XNA Games Video here.

Xbox Live Games on the Zune - Zune Gets Games!

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

The announcement we have all waited for since November 14th 2006 - The Zune will be given games! Microsoft GDC report that there will be games on the Zune by the end of the year!

Zune Goes INTERNATIONAL!!!

Monday, January 7th, 2008

Microsoft is currently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to talk all things Zune. However, Robbie Bach of Microsoft has made one very important announcement:

The Zune will be released internationally in the year 2008 starting at Canada and Europe!!!

This is great news for many of the international Zune users with a big sigh of relief. We have a lot of members in the DarkZune forums where they’re from the U.K and are thrilled about the news but countries such as Australia (where I’m from), all of Asia and elsewhere, they will have to continue on waiting for the Zune to be finally brought into their countries…

You can see it live-blogged by CrunchGear or watch Bill Gates’ final keynote at the Microsoft CES page.

[via Zuneboards and Zunerama]

Zune Interest Rise by 299%!!

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

It has become clear that a lot of people have grown interested in the Zune especially over the Christmas holiday periodGraph online. According to Hitwise, Zune.net was visited a whopping 299% more than previous year’s Christmas and hits jumped 392% the previous day!

“mp3 players were…very popular as Christmas gifts,” said Heather Dougherty, Director of Research at Hitwise. “This year the Zune has captured interest from music listeners with a new line of redesigned players and discounted older models…”

It was also announced that internet traffic is up 16% from last year.

However, though figures are up for Microsoft Zunes, Apple and iTunes still remain as the top in the market with more traffic, and comes to no surprise as it still leads in the PDMP Market.

“iTunes remained the predominant download site with a market share over 6 times larger than Zune.net,” Hitwise said in its statement. “The total market share of visits for Zune.net reached 0.09 percent on Christmas Day, as opposed to the market share of visits to iTunes which reached 0.68 percent.”

Hitwise Statistics Graph

[via ZuneBoards]

Unsubscribe from Podcasts using your Zune

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Firmware 2.3 didn’t just sort the battery life issues and contain bug fixes, but has also implemented the feature of Unsubscribing (and subscribing) to podcasts from your Zune device. All you need to do is press the center while watching or listening to an episode and select Unsubscribe (or subscribe).

This is a great feature to help you get rid of the podcasts you don’t like and also another feature which the iPods currently do not have.

Sorry i didn’t post this earlier, i had already tested it on the day the firmware came out but hadnt actually listened to a podcast on my Zune before then, so i just thought the feature was standard on Firmware 2.2.

Le Cadeau du Temps: New Film at Zune-Arts

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Cesar at ZuneInsider has reported a new film at Zune-Arts. The film,Le Cadeau du Temps, features the track “Liquid Sugar” by Maps. It is said to explore “How eternal youth can be both a blessing and a curse.” PortlandStudios produced the film which can be seen here or below:

Firmware Update 2.3

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

“Zune will be issuing a firmware update today. There are no new features in this update, but it does address some issues we

Zune Battery Life

Friday, December 14th, 2007

Cesar Menendez, over at Zune Insider has reported that Zune 30 users have been “noting an improvement in battery life”. He says this is due to improved codecs in the Zune 30 so they are more power-efficient, hence the better battery life.

But with that said, some users are reporting that battery life seems worse on their Zune 30 device. He says the “problem occurs when users suspend their Zune hard drives by holding down the play/pause button