Music, culture, and the inside scoop from Cesar Menendez,
a Microsoft employee working on Zune - Microsoft's new music project.

October 11, 2007

Interesting take on Zune from the Podcasting Community

Our buddy Paul at Zuneluv (a respected podcaster in his own right) points to an interesting article over at Podcasting News: "Five Reasons to Reconsider the Microsoft Zune." Overall, they still seem to prefer iPods, but it's nice to get a nod from a publication that I (and a lot of podcasters) respect.

 |  Thursday, October 11, 2007 7:06 PM  |  18 Comments
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Ricardo Dawkins

so, where are the battery life numbers ?

the week is almost over....come on. Get the machine in motion already.

kingp

The Zune 2 has a lot going for it. I'm excited.

The real Nick

Maybe I have the 1st post!

Ceaser I never heard back about your show...I emailed you.

aceattorney

Definitely going to be picking up one of the next gen Zunes (can't decide between the beefy 80 or pocket-friendly 8).  I'm just tired of the iPod interface and software.  Zune is the way to go for me from here on out.

Jaxim

Hey Caesar!

I never got an email as to when you are coming to New York City to show some new stuff. Can you elaborate as to when this will occur? I'm very interested!!

mr. sir

when exactly are all these amazing things going to be happening? just a question

ps. You Rock

Nodes

I've seen a few places complaining about 'just' 1000 podcasts being available. You will be able to subscribe to any MP3 podcast the way you can through iTunes by just entering a URL, right? It doesn't have to come from the zune store, does it?

AlexNC

The Podcasts, if done right, have a lot of potential. Hopefully it is set up in a way to automatically sync new podcasts to download to my Zune. And hopefully I will be able to delete the old ones off my Zune manually, instead of having to delete them through the Zune software.

Any word on deleting on the fly? Can I delete old Podcasts manually through the Zune player?

James

OK I love my zune but in the last few days when i plug my zune in the software starts, but it cannot actually find the device to sync.  

I have followed all the advice i could find from zune support sites, and short of reinstalling the software every time i need to sync, i cannot get the bloody software to find my device!!  Any more help...

PS Vista Home Prem

AMD x2 2ghz

2Gb Ram

Nvidia 6100 integrated

So it isn't a crap machine either!

And yes i am using the usb plugs on the mobo!

Stealthgator

Yo what up with the Minny show? I emailed you didn't get nothing back.

lunaclown

So does the new Zune firmware let you transfer Media Center content over with JUST VISTA?  I have a Media Center PC...will I need to upgrade to Vista to take advantage of this feature or will it work with my current setup?

Greg

If you're ever going to do another post answering questions about the new firmware, here's one I just thought of: Can you delete things from the Zune itself or is it still just through the PC?  I have a steady supply of Colbert on my Zune courtesy of TiVo to Go and it would be nice to be able to delete an episode right away when I'm done with it.  Right now I have to try to figure out which ones I watched already when I periodically clear it out.  If you haven't done it yet, count this as a suggestion.  I'd also like the option of having it delete from the computer as well the next time it syncs.  It should probably ask you each time instead of being a global setting.  (ie. select Delete and a dialog gives you "Delete from Zune only", "Delete from Zune and computer", "Don't delete")

Thank them for lossless, by the way.  I had a lot of things in FLAC from when I had a Rio Karma and now I can just convert them to lossless WMA instead of keeping a second compressed copy around.

Zoa 342

James, try to use other usb ports if not, well i dunno. Are you guys sure the music on my Zune will self delete? It's been over two weeks and the music still plays. Of course i charge it by iGo, my computer runs slow with ZMP running.

Malory1

It is great to see the Zune line getting some respect, finally. Can't wait until the new Zunes come out!

David B

I purchased a sanadisk e250 today (2GB) on sale for $79.97 canadian. i couldn't get a zune because you don'y sell em in canada eh? don't worry because apple doesn't do subscriptions i won't buy them

John in S.Florida

Cesar, I wanted to cc you on a comment that I made to the ZuneCorps podcast discussion on future Zune Wifi Store and the iPod/Starbucks announcement.

- Starbucks/Wifi Store: I disagree with your assumption that Microsoft is locked out of Starbucks because of the iPod/Starbucks offering.  If Microsoft wants to *trump* iPod, I would think they would be talking to some nationwide Wifi Hotspot service providers like T-Mobile (Starbucks), AT&T and/or Boingo.  I can imagine users signing up for the service thru Zune Software from which a Key would be stored on the Zune device that allows it to automatically connect to the hotspot.  Microsoft can partner up with these providers in so many ways.  From branding, giving Zune Pass users some sort of connection plan to sharing profits with service providers or some other combination.

AlexNC

why would you want people to use your hardware for advertising? Please, DO NOT team up with Starbucks or any other retailers. I get enough commercials when watching TV. I dont need them when listening to music too.

John in S.Florida

...continued

I know Microsoft has talked about kiosks and Microsoft Surface as potential means to interface with Zune.  But the reality is all of that would take many years to get wide adoption.  I just think it makes business sense to work with communication/hotspot providers who already have nationwide install base.

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About admin

I'm Cesar Menendez. I left the Xbox marketing world for Microsoft's new foray into music - Zune. Community, cool videos, music, discovering new music - these are things I love. In the past I wrote music reviews for RealNetworks, and before that I volunteered at KCMU (now KEXP). Get in touch w/ me using this email: AskZune (then type the at symbol) microsoft.com (please no solicitors)
(edit me)

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