Cesar,

Why isn't Microsoft talking about future improvements to the Zune?  I mean, I hear generic things, like "We're looking into Podcast support", etc, but no buzz is being created.  It doesn't have to be earth-shattering.  Let us just play checkers or something over wi-fi, for example!

Let's get some excitement going.  Along those lines, can you give any feedback on whether or not any of the following is coming soon?

o Games - simple games like checkers, battleship, etc., would be incredibly easy to do via wi-fi.  I was on a 10-hour bus ride with someone who had a Zune as well, and it would have been great to play some simple games.  I understand why more complex games wouldn't come out until 2008, but there's no excuse to not allow a few simple games to be played.

o Podcast download/directory support - sure, we can download an MP3 of a Podcast, but it requires third-party software, and the Zune treats it just like another song, which means that if we're shuffling songs, it might play as well.  We need a separate menu option for Podcasts.  We also need for Podcast playback to remember where we left off.  For songs, it doesn't matter, but for Podcasts, we should be able to start a podcast, take a break and listen to some music, and go back to our podcast where we left off.

o Video support - ok, so the Zune only supports WMV.  At least provide auto-conversion from other formats within the Zune software itself.  

o Video marketplace - Microsoft has the video marketplace for the 360.  Extend that to the Zune marketplace.  We need to be able to buy videos.

o Clock - really, why is there no clock?  There's obviously an internal clock, or else the DRM could never expire.  Why not a simple option to display it on the screen?

o Misc - Have the music pause when you undock.  It pauses if you unplug headphones, but removing it from a dock doesn't.

o Hardware - this is for a future version, but even if we can't sync without the proprietary interface, please allow us to charge it up with mini-usb.  That way we can tether to a computer within a Zune cable and get some juice.

o PIM - this isn't really important, but it'd be nice if it could sync with PIM sources in a read-only format.

o Pictures - allow us the option to store the originals, along with a Zune-optimized size, on our devices.  This would make it truly a format for giving other people copies of our pictures that they could go back and put on their computers to print or whatever.

o USB mass storage device - allow us to copy pictures to the Zune straight from our cameras.

o Wi-fi music download - allow us to connect to any wi-fi network and download music.

o Xbox live - presence information via wi-fi.

o More, more, more - I have more ideas, but these are enough off the top of my head.  

Thanks for listening!

Is making announcements at CES going out of style....  Not a single Zune-related announcement out of Las Vegas.  Extremely WEIRD.  Are you guys serious? Honest question?

John, you have some awesome ideas there. But right now, I don't have a specific announcements to share (but when we do, I'll post)

your q about video support, zune will auto-transcode mpeg4 and h.264 content to .wmv to play it on the zune.

Sportsunit - dude! we've been out for 6 weeks. 6. Is it that unbelievable we're not announcing a new feature 6 weeks into the lifecycle?

It's almost like I feel I was owed at least that...lol.  I've dealing with issues from almost day 1 (skipping, shut offs, etc).  After spending hundreds and supporting the platform, I was thinking, they're going to hook us up with new stuff.  They're going to make announcements.  They're going to treat the Zune as a big thing at CES.  Obviosuly, that didn't happen in the keynote at least.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, these guys are being ooohed and awwwed...I admit, I was jealous.  6 weeks sounds relatively short, but something new every couple of months doesn't sound out of this world to me.  I'm not thinking you guys are on an XBOX schedule of twice a year.  Maybe I need to snap out of it, or just make the switch huh?

Also, considering that there were rumors about new features launching a couple of weeks after the device came out, I really was expecting something new.  It's unfortunate for me that I let rumors hype me up I guess.  I guess when competitors are launching completely new and innovative product lines, the least you would expect as a supporter of the rival camp is announcements that you're working to catch up to old products (itunes, video ipod).  The launch device was a shell basically.  A lot of potential in this shell, but it's very no frills.  I expected a seriously aggressive rollout of features on a frequent basis. Again, I may need to stop dreaming. The RDF probably applies to me (I took Robbie Bach and J Allard's comments about updates and keeping up with Apple literally...).  

As far as the iPhone though, correct me if I'm wrong.  Microsoft does tend to wait a while until something is successful to compete with it.  I honestly don't expect anything for another few years out of MS that touches this thing.  History repeats itself a lot around Redmond.  That's just how you guys work...that's not even a diss.  Honest.  

Cesar, how closely are you guys collaborating with the Media Center and Media Player teams?  And can you provide links to active blogs for those projects?  Some of my comments here have been perhaps directed more at that then Zune. I'm just trying to discuss ideas for bring it all together..more unified experience than it is today.  Thanks!

To add to what I said above, there were no zune related announcements period...no accessory announcements.  No partner announcements.  Nothing.  Anyway, I'll stop whining...

Cesar, et al.

Microsoft should develop something like this for the Zune.  It seems easy enough and is very handy.

http://www.sendstation.com/us/products/pocketdock/lineout-fw.html

Highlight of CES was meeting you as well.  After 90 minutes in line for the party, I had to bug out.  FWIW - the link to ZuneLuv is www.ZuneLuv.com / not www.ClicZune.com.

Paul

Paul, I see you found the answer to the question on my mind: How can MS claim number 2 status when the most recent NPD data shows them a distant number 4 with only 2.8 % market share:

http://www.paulcolligan.com/2007/01/10/10-minutes-with-a-zune-product-manager-what-i-learned/

I find it laughable that MS has to stoop to this to claim success. Kind sounds like BIll Clinton's "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is".

It doesn't matter what MS says, or how they spin it, they are competing against all MP3 players, not just the 30GB hard drive segment.   I doubt that you'll find any analysts, anyone else for that matter, who would segment the market so narrowly and claim MS is number 2.

Hey, I like the Major Nelson video clip. Also, I'm loving the name that Major Nelson gave his Zune:  "Zunerama".

I'm gonna sue! :)

- Harvey

(Zunerama.com)

Adding on to John West:

*Calendar: They should also have a calendar on the Zune and be able to make your schedule on the Zune MarketPlace and then be able to download it to the Zune. After the event has taken place, the next time you plug it into the Computer, it will erase the event to save hard drive space.

*Games again: Some other games you could put on the Zune are Tetris, Pac Man, for playing by yourself. Using the WiFi, you guys should add games like Hearts(make it so you can connect up to 3 other Zunes), Uno, the Game of Life, and others in that area.

*Include some type of SideShow functionality if you  can. Lets say if you're at a hotspot, you can check your email, or something in that area.

*From out of no where, tell have an announcement saying there is actually Bluetooth 2.0 embedded into the device (I wish..)

*Video Sharing: Being able to share videos on the Zune via Wi-Fi and not have to worry about DRM. Have Soapbox support. I already know you can download some Soapbox movies to Zune format but Zune needs to expand on that. Have Zune support for all Soapbox movies, not just a few of them.

The perfect time to make an announcement is January 30th... Thats when the consumer launch for Windows Vista!

*Oh yea, have a keyboard displayed on the screen and make it so you have to turn it in landscape mode. This feature would be used for writing notes on your Zune, or being able to message other Zunes asking if they want to play a game like hearts or something. Remember, you can always have the Wi-Fi turned off so you don't get messages or have a choice that says, "Do not accept incoming messages for an hour," or when using Wi-Fi for certain applications.

*Make it so you can have avatars on your Zune to make the experience even more personal. So when you see someone else in the area via Wi-Fi, it will have a personalized avatar next to what they are playing.

Cesar, I just read a rather interesting blog entry from Jason Dunn on a rather large percentage of Zune Marketplace songs restricted from sharing due to DRM restrictions. Can you comment? I find it hard to believe that Microsoft would push both the subscription plan and wireless sharing as differentiators, and then limit sharing so drastically.

As you have so many times in the past, can you uncover the truth on this one?

Thanks - Dan

In regards to Jonathon R's suggestions, I think the keyboard, etc. features are way too much. The Zune should be first and foremost an MP3 player and should share much more nicely than it does already. Get that right, and follow the KISS principle. There is absolutely no need to make the Zune into a PDA...

That having been said, when are we getting Podcast support and a video marketplace?

Thanks,

John

the zune kicks ass! but all i want 2 know is can you download games onto a zune?

Last week, at the Project Fashion Show in Las Vegas , Zune partnered with Nylon (the magazine) . We hosted

can u put games nor the zune?