Jan 7, 2008
by Cesar Menendez at 11:33 AM

Yesterday during the Bill Gates Keynote at CES, Robbie Bach announced the Zune launch in Canada* in Spring 2008. The Canadian offering this spring will first include Zune players (including Zune Originals), Zune software and Zune Social, with the Zune Marketplace online store coming later this year.

 

Robbie also noted that we've had about 1.5 million who have tried out Zune Social, and that, "We can differentiate ourselves in this space, and we think there's plenty of opportunity for that market to grow."

Hope everybody had a great weekend!

<Edit: here's a link to the press release>

*I want to give a shout out to Phil, Jason and the rest of the Zuneinsider readers in Canada!

29 Comments
Comments

bring video to zune. and simple games. it's cool that zune is going to Canada but zune needs more. i know that the 360 is getting more video while zune is left with lowly music videos. and something that the zune could use to gain some ground against the ipod is simple games like solitaire or tetris.

Any plans for LatAm?  Finding accesories here (Mexico) is a real pain!  I know that the marketplace could be a little difficult, but how about releasing the player & accesories in this area?  

oh cesar, please add a million to that "1.5" before the opposing fanboys get to quoting you.

and congrats to all you Canadians, eh!

You're halfway to making me a potential buyer. Now all you need to do is make it compatible with OSX

nice! Thanks for the shoutout, im excited for the marketplace....im loving my zune!!!!!!

1.5 people have tried out the Zune Social... I always knew that some did things half hearted. :-)

I sure that was supposed to be 1.5 million.

Keep up the great work on the Zune!!! I love mine.

hey Cesar, this isn't really related to zune but I figure you might know since you work for ms. Behind Bill for a long time was a picture of what appeared to be a phone but was about the thickness of a credit card and appeared to be a full touchscreen smartphone. Any idea if that's just a random mock-up or an idea for a new device?

Sweet, and then you're going to bring it to the UK later in the year right? RIGHT?!?

Espiox do what i did, order one from the USA and get it shipped, until the marketplace becomes official subscribe to another marketplace and listen to your own cds and collection.

This seems obvious to me but people don't seem to realize it--the main gimmick/feature of the Zune is wireless music sharing. This is clearly subject to local copyright laws. You can't start selling Zunes in a new country without first ensuring that they aren't illegal.

And if you think that's nonsense, ask yourself: why don't any U.S. smartphones allow you to record phone conversations?

@ Phil W

Oh, I have a Zune. I just want the Marketplace. Or at the very least I want my Plays data to upload properly to the Social.

I might just grab a Zune Pass pre-paid card next time I'm in the US.

James i know the Zunes arnt illegal in canada, because in the zune manual theres a whole section about the laws and warrenty information for the zunes in canada and espiox i do want the market place :(

Although I didn't expect much to be announced for Zune other than this, I'm surprised we didn't at hear about a least one new content partnership (Audible?) or DRM free tracks. Lets hope Zune has more to show for at CES when it comes to hardware accessories.  Zune is the only one, Media Center has a rather skimpy presence as well.  The one surprise, not during the keynote, was the power pack for Windows Home Server.

Also, I wish "connected entertainment" was used so much in the context of social networking.  Well, I guess I don't mind that but it bothers my to the nth degree Windows Mobile phones still cannot access/play Zune purchased content.  That should be a priority over building social networks everywhere.  Just my $.02

@james: but doesn't the 3 days restriction avoid this?

I can live without the marketplace, I am old fashioned and still buy physical CDs.  I want Zune to go global.

Hey James,

I have a Sony Ericcson z525a and it records phone conversations. Still illeagal without prior knowledge to the other caller though.

Zune in the UK would be great. I replaced my Philips Gogear, (which was great apart from it not being upgraded past WMP 10) with a Zune 30, and what an excellent player - though the Zune Media Player is still buggy with my collection.

Travis: Finally! It seemed like the obvious feature if you were going to have the sort of digital memory scenario Bill Gates outlined at the end of his keynote.

ble: I don't think there's any *law* that says "3 days" is legal. Microsoft's lawyers apparently think the chance of an adverse court ruling is small enough in the U.S. to be worth the risk, but the calculation has to vary by country.

I wonder if the Zune Team will still keep non-USA or Canadian IPs out of www.zuneoriginals.net forever.....:@

I had to get mine on ebay...!!!

What about the already-overdue European release? With my Sony refusing to transfer songs with SonicStage unless I delete all the songs on the device, and firmware stability problems reducing the iPod Classic to a carbuncle, I'd buy one of these in an instant.

Man when is it going to come out in Australia.  I keep asking but it seems like it's in vain.

If it comes out to Canada, when do you guys think it will come out to the rest of the world???

Zune in Canada!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!

Quote by sianlee: "Man when is it going to come out in Australia.  I keep asking but it seems like it's in vain.

If it comes out to Canada, when do you guys think it will come out to the rest of the world???"

And how about the Netherlands? btw, ceasar did u see the "release zune worldwide" petition? something like 400 people signed it in half a week.

Hey Cesar, if you get time, wonder if you could contact me via the contact form on thezune.net

I just need to have a quick chat about things, it will only take a moment..

Oh and great news for me in the UK to get another Zune!

Thanks. This is good news, but still fairly nebulous with the 'spring' and 'later in 2008' wording.

I may still get my zune from the US with the $ being so high and with the way price for Canada has still been going. MS Points are still nearly $.40 more per 100 than they should be, and that adds up VERY quickly.

Hope you guys do a better job with the Zune marketing in Canada than you have been with Xbox in Canada. Remember Canada is more than just Toronto.

Cheers

Well I had to sadly give my Zune away just before Christmas because it doesn't work with OSX  :(  I don't know who's fault that is, I am sure both companies will blame eachother but the long and short of it is that I ended up buying an iPod.  Better battery life, storage, ease of getting my video onto it and it's compatible wth Audible files.

Despite all that, I really do think the Zune is a better device in principle.  I miss the UI, sooooo much better than the iPod tree structure.  miss the screen! But, size, capacity, battery life and the fact that Apple peeked over the Atlantic and noticed that other countries exist finally forced me down the Apple route.

I perservered for a year with Zune but no meaningful updates for 12 months, no Marketplace, not a whisper about a release outside of North America is just unacceptable for a company that is supposed to be a global technology giant.  Maybe someone will find a bigger map for Zune 3?

I didn't go to CES this year, but other folks from the Zune team did - here are some highlights - Folks

any news on zune in canada? it's now officially spring...

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