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

October 31, 2007

Recap: Seattle Zune Preview

Was the Seattle community event awesome?

In all seriousness it was great fun. We all met up at Fuel Coffee in Seattle, and I brought with me the red, black and green Zune 4 GBs. A few Seattle Zune community folks came out to check out the new lineup. Here's a quick crowdshot:

Our buddy Stefan at IWAPZ has a great wrapup.

 |  Thursday, November 01, 2007 1:39 AM  |  26 Comments

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ryan

cesar, whats the resolution of the zune 80?

Brian Hughes

Thanks for the get together Cesar! It was tons of fun. :-)

Can't wait for the Zune80 even more now!

Club

I believe the resolution is 240x360, or 260x320. :)

YSL

Is Zune going to be making an appearance at the Little Brother show this Saturday at Chop Suey?

Paul

So when will you be updating the software for those of us who bought our Zunes a year ago?

Espiox

@ryan

Same as the current Zunes.

Jaxim

@Paul

November 13th

John

Cesar, thanks for inviting us out last night.  I really enjoyed the event--thanks so much for the coffee and the sneak peak.  It was a lot of fun.  

@Paul - Nov 13th

@Ryan - 240 x 320 (Espiox is correct)

I can really tell that a lot of work has gone into this next gen Zune.  This looks to be a rebirth-I can see a lot of converts being won over by the new UI and enhanced wireless capabilities--especially the wireless sync.

Pretty strange seeing the back of my head pictured on Stefan's blog.  :)

DavidMx

hey cesar.. I have a sad story.. I was going to the United States on November 20th (Tucson AZ more exactly) and I was happy because the Zune 80 would be around at that time.. but.. something happened.. I'm not going on November 20th.. I'm going tommorrow! And there isn't Zune 80 tomorrow :( oo well.. something might happen :)

Saludos

Jim Vetter

I have a ZUNE and am interested in learning more about social circles and opportunities to share new ideas. Please send some links to me that may be useful!

Thanks for your time,

Jim

jimvetterciu@gmail.com

Micah

Cesar,

I was thinking about the new zunes/software coming out (nov 13) supposidly.

I was thinking that you could really build up some hype for the new zunes by releasing the software/firmware upgrades to the current owners like a week earlier than Nov. 13.

Think about it, if you have a million people download and start using this new software, and if it's any good, which I expect it will be.

Then you will have a million people telling all their friends of how cool the new zunes will be with this new software, and the web will be crawling with chatter for a week which would totally bump up the interest for those who currently don't own one.

Just my two cents, can you tell I'm eager?

Either way I'm excited for the upgrade, thanks for thinking about us early adopters, we appreciate it very much.

Cheers.

MNZuning

Ceasar, still waiting to hear something back on the Minneapolis event. Have you sent out anything yet?

kevo777

@Paul

November 13th, same as the launch for the new Zunes.

ChiChi

As a Zune fan, seems like a mistake, IMHO, to have announced the devices and weeks later they're not available to purchase and you're teasing them at a local coffee shop.  A certain competitor typically has them available for purchase in their stores (both physical and online) the day they're announced, their phone being a notable exception.

Shane

ChiChi-

What they did was a series of press previews and a coming soon announcement on their website.

There's also some community involvement, but they are far from having done a full scale launch at this point.

Also to be honest I can't remember the last time Apple announced a product and released the same day. Now I can honestly say that when they launch a product it's almost always immediately available, but a launch and an announcement are not the same thing.

Micah-

I had the same thought while chatting with Cesar but did not bring it up.  I'm not sure why I didn't say something, but then again I also had way too much caffeine that day. Thanks for that Cesar *big grin*

In all honesty though an early software upgrade for existing users might make a little bit of difference, but probably not a ton as far as the sales aspect goes.  I certainly do not know enough people that I could make a large number of converts unless I went out there evangelizing for the Zune.

Then again I am looking for a new job.  Zune tech evangelist perhaps?  Call me if you have an opening for such a position Cesar ;) :)

The real Nick

Sorry me and my GF didn't make it... I lost my ID card and we both had to work.

Was there trick or treaters?

Michael

Chalk up another vote for Micah's idea.  I like it.

TheNumberDevil

Cesar: Will the new Zunes be usable with the old Zune dock? The old dock featured a "insert" that can be changed for "future Zune models" ... the question is how/where to get inserts for the old dock so that it can be used with the new Zunes? This topic is discussed on Zunerama in the following thread:

http://zunerama.com/forum/index.php?topic=6573.msg56820

Cesar Menendez

sorry gang - we had to cancel Minneapolis - just couldn't swing it :(

Zoa 342

Waaaaaaait, i thought Cesar said the Resolution was 720 x 420 at 30 fps, and 720 x 540? at 25 fps.

MNZuning

Sorry to hear it Cesar, but thanks for the heads up.

If I get time, maybe we can pull together a less-official get together for folks here to celebrate the launch on the 13th.

Cesar Menendez

MN - that would be cool man.

Shane

TheNumberDevil-

The connector on all of the new Zunes is exactly the same as with the old zune, so all of the existing docks and cables should work.

Zoa 342-

The screen resolution is 320x240.

The output resolutions are 720x420 at 30 fps, and 720x540 at 25 fps.

Daniel R. Strack

Cesar! Saw a quick interview with you recently (forget where - VMC Internet TV content or a podcast?) and a question came up which I felt you didn't answer directly (I don't think intentionally) but what about a household with multiple Zunes?  Wireless sync no issues if sync'ing off the same PC with the same library?

nick

hey ceasar have a question. there is rumor floating around that ur computer has to be running windows vista for ur new or old zune to sync wirelessly. plz debunk this rumorrrrrrrrrrrr

nick

hey ceasar have a question. there is rumor floating around that ur computer has to be running windows vista for ur new or old zune to sync wirelessly. plz debunk this rumorrrrrrrrrrrr

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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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