As you’ve seen, some Zune bits and pieces have been hitting the interwebs…especially the great finds from our fans! Today I’m very excited to admit announce the Zune 3.0 fall update, available for download September 16.
In short, we’re adding new enhancements to the entire Zune ecosystem that will undoubtedly continue to make it the best place to discover music whether on your PC or on the go.
Whether you’ve been with us since day one with a Zune 30 or are just heading to the store for a new blue Zune 8, you’ll be able to have all of the new features via a firmware update.
Core to everything we do is aimed at helping you discover and share music. We wouldn’t go as far as to consider ourselves “geniuses” at telling you what music you should check out, but we do think we’ve come up with some pretty good ways for you to expand your music library based on the type of music you and your friends listen to.
We are introducing Channels and Personal Picks. Think of Channels in terms of being a regularly updated playlist that you can subscribe to for free with a Zune Pass. We’ve got some of the best sources for music recommendations including the Billboard Top 100, The FADER Magazine, KEXP radio and more. Personal Picks is based on the music you listen to and how you rate your music. The Zune software will suggest artists, albums and tracks and custom Channels you might like, as well as connecting you to other listeners in the Zune Social.
There’s a reason we put in FM Radio and wireless capabilities in every device and Zune 3.0 delivers something that I am sure you’ll be impressed with, Buy from FM. Second to friends, terrestrial radio is a major way people find now music. 50% of Zune owners use FM radio on a regular basis. Now when you hear a song on a radio station that transmits with RDS or RT+ data feeds , you’ll be able to tag that song and purchase it.
Another feature that will take advantage of wireless capabilities is the ability to browse, stream, buy and download from Zune Marketplace on the device. When you are connected to a wireless network, you can check out the top hits, newest release or even search for your favorite artist with the new search function.
Realizing that sometimes folks want to take a break from music, we are bringing in support for Audiobook content from the industry leaders in the space as well as our first introduction of games on the Zune.
Now there’s a lot more details that will generate a lot of questions and I’ll do my best to keep you all up to date. For more go to the press release.
Finally, I’d like to say thanks to everyone who sent feedback in some way over the past months, whether in the comments on this site, the forums or elsewhere. A lot of these features you’ll see are in direct response to feedback we see, whether in formal research, forums, comments on this site. It isn’t easy lining up an update like this and while it might be another week until this goes live, we are sure it’ll be worth the wait!