zune

Will Zune be renamed to Microsoft Music, completely abandoned, or what?

January 13, 2012 | By Livven

It’s been rumored for a long time now that the Zune brand would eventually be killed off, considering the commercial failure of the Zune music players. But alas, Zune has lived on as the music service integrated into Windows Phone and Xbox, and the Zune desktop software is used to synchronize Windows Phones with PCs, suggesting that Microsoft was looking to retain Zune as a brand similar to Apple’s iTunes.

In all Windows 8 demos and previews to date, however, the Zune branding was notably absent, and Neowin is now claiming that they’ve seen a possible replacement for it, on Windows 8 devices shown at CES, that’s called Microsoft Music.

We do not know yet whether this Microsoft Music app will replace Zune or Windows Media Player, or whether it is just an internal, non-finalized moniker for the music player application. What Microsoft will probably do, though, is to ditch the venerable Media Player and integrate the features of the current Zune software into Windows 8, so Windows Phone users do not need to install another application to sync their devices. The only question now is how that new software will be named – Microsoft Music?

Whatever the outcome, it’s quite frustrating to see the lack of a clear branding strategy at Microsoft. While the application stores on Windows Phone and Xbox are called Marketplace, in Windows 8, it’s called Windows Store instead. The worst case scenario here would be that the same divergence happens with Zune and Microsoft Music – or even that there’d still be a seperate Zune software, in addition to the built-in music app.

Update: We had an anonymous but seemingly informed tipster who said this:

Zune isn’t going away. The Microsoft Music app is more a hub. It will allow users to get to other service like Pandora or Zune, and will also show things like artist information, upcoming shows and lyrics.

You heard it here first

Source: Neowin via The Next Web

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Zemote 2.0 released, re-introducing playlists

January 10, 2012 | By DreamDevelopment

The only Zune remote for Windows Phone out there has got a big update on Sunday. Zemote 2.0 fixes some important bugs, optimizes speed in a couple of areas and introduces some new features.

Zemote 2.0 introduces playlists the way it should be. You can browse your playlists on your phone and change the current playing list very easily with the Zune remote now. You can just start playing the list, or you can start playing it with a specific song.

In this update, the album view will work a lot smoother also and jump list is added, so you can easily jump to the albums instead of scrolling all the way down.

And here’s a short overview of all features offered by Zemote:

Play/pause songs in Zune
Play next/previous song
Turn repeat and shuffle on/off
Change volume or mute
Browse your collection via albums, artists, songs or a custom search
Rate songs in Zune
Automatic PC discovery
Zemote DJ: create a list of songs you want to hear next so you don’t have to change tracks all the time
In the application bar you can always play/pause or skip tracks so you never lose basic control over Zune.

You can read everything about the update here.

Zemote is available in the Marketplace here, which costs you $1.99 and has a free trial.

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Zemote (Zune remote) 1.4 is now available!

December 2, 2011 | By DreamDevelopment

Zemote 1.4 has been released to the Marketplace. This update introduces Zemote DJ.

Zemote DJ
With Zemote DJ you can queue up songs that have to be played. You create a list and those will be the songs Zune will play first. When your list is finished, Zune will continue playing randomly. Simply add all songs you want to hear, reorder them in the order you want to hear them and confirm the list by hitting the back button while going back to the main screen.

Other things in this update:

Faster search performance
Bug fixes

You can find more information about Zemote on zemote.dreamdevelopment.be

Zemote is available in the Marketplace for $1.99 and has a free trial which does not include Zemote DJ.

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Calculate Microsoft Points value in your local currency

November 14, 2011 | By Philippe Bédard

Microsoft Points Ultimate for Windows Phone MS Points Ultimate is the ideal application to convert Microsoft Points to your local currency accurately. Microsoft Points are used by Zune, Xbox LIVE, Games for Windows – LIVE, and other Microsoft properties and partners. But how much money Microsoft Points cost?

This application let you convert Microsoft Points to two prices in your currency: the online price (i.e. xbox.com) and the price at your local store, which is sometimes lower than the online price, especially when you find a discounted Points Card!

Instant dual conversion
Compare the price online (i.e. xbox.com) and at your favorite local store (Points Cards)

Worldwide support
You can adjust prices in the Settings page

Live Tile
Displays the last conversion directly on your Start Screen

Metro style design supporting portrait and landscape screen orientation and the standard numeric keypad

And free! (without any ads!)

Install “MS Points Ultimate” from the Windows Phone Marketplace now!

Disclaimer: this app is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft, Microsoft Points, Xbox, Xbox LIVE and Zune are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

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Many Zune Pass users stuck in an endless ToS loop

November 9, 2011 | By Surur

It seems Microsoft’s Zune Pass service is having issues, with a rash of users complaining when they try and sign in to the service they get asked to accept Terms of Service, but that accepting the Terms just results in the same ToS popping up again.

Microsoft has a knowledge base article up on the issue, but it dates from September and it is not known if the solutions offered there will be helpful.

Interestingly they note that problems with the clock on the PC may be one of the issues, and one wonders if this is in any way related to daylight savings time, with the clocks recently falling back one hour in the USA.

Are any of our readers affected by this issue, and is there any sure-fire solution? Let us know your experience below.

via WPSauce.com

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Zune Pass with streaming and music purchasing confirmed coming to Australia

October 31, 2011 | By Surur

Istartedsomething has managed to clarify the status of the coming Zune service in Australia, which are expected to go live on the 16th November 2011.

He was able to confirm that the Zune Music Pass in Australia will cost $11.99 per month, giving users unlimited listening capability on their Zune software, Xbox and Windows Phone devices to a library of about 11 million songs at launch and also that there will also be the ability to individual purchase songs and albums from the Zune marketplace at launch. The last part has been in question until recently.

The news is a good sign that Microsoft is able to roll out equivalent services to more of its markets, and we hope the trend will continue for many more Windows Phone users in many more countries.

Zune Music Pass Coming To Australia At $11.99 Per Month

October 26, 2011 | By Pradeep

At a press event in Australia, Microsoft Australia announced that its Zune Music Pass service is coming to Australia on Nov-16th. With Zune Music pass, subscribers can stream music from the library of about 11 million songs on Zune desktop software, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone devices. The Zune Music pass service will cost $11.99 per month and however there will be no free songs available for download every month as we had in US earlier. Also, still there is no option for users to buy individual songs/albums from the service. Anyway, good to see Zune services expanding outside US.

Source: istartedsomething

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Zune HD killed once again

October 9, 2011 | By Surur

The saga of the Zune HD has taken another turn. The execution of the device heralded last week when all links to the Zune HD was removed from Microsoft’s Zune website, and the above announcement, saying “we will no longer be producing Zune players” was posted on Microsoft’s site.

There followed the removal of the notice and denials by the official Zune twitter account.

Now the notice has gone up again, and online stores shows the Zune HD is out of stock.

The writing has been on the wall for Zune hardware for some time now with the integration of much of the software in Windows Phone 7, and while no-one may have told the Zune support staff I think it is safe to write the obituary now.

Update: According to WPDownUnder Matt Akers, formerly Zune Program Manager and Zune Insider Podcast host confirmed that the Zune HD has indeed officially been discontinued.

Via Neowin.net

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Some HTC WP7 handsets have lock-up issue with Zune Pass music playback

October 6, 2011 | By Surur

A large number of HTC HD7 owners are complaining that their device locks up during music playback, requiring the battery to be removed to get the phone working again. The issue appears to be related to Zune music in particular.

Users are complaining in droves on the Microsoft Answers website, where Microsoft seems to be blaming the Mango update.

The problem is described by Islehopper as below:

1. Phone Manufacturer: HTC
2. Phone Model: HD7 (hardware version 0002) Original 16Gb Storage (not user modified)
3. Mobile Operator (Taiwan GSM)
4. Phone Operating System version (Mango 7720 upgraded by HTC Taiwan 9/16/2011)
5. Zune software version: 4.8.2345.0
6. Computer Operating System version: Win7 Ultimate SP1

Problem: during playback connected via 3.5mm jack to car audio system, Sonos box, wire or wireless headphones randomly locks up between songs.

Occurs during playback of both drm-protected Zune Pass media and drm-free mp3′s.

Work-around: Must remove/replace battery to restart Windows Phone.

Problem is not new to the 7720 Mango ROM. Have had problem since first purchased HD7 phone in February. Zune Pass started March 2011.

Problem has been frequently reported on HTC, Samsung and Dell devices. (google search: wp7 freeze zune playback)

If running a 2nd program in background (like "marathon" app), I can listen to Zune for at least 1 hour with no problems. Marathon is a GPS tracker that allows Zune to play while recording GPS data. Without Marathon running, Zune appears to go into a deep sleep mode that prevents Zune from checking DRM and locks up the phone.

Extremely annoying and ruins user experience. Zune is a fantastic product — Zune on PC + Zune on WP7 is an extremely attractive alternative to iPhone/iTunes.

Like many others experiencing same problem,if not resolved soon, will see significant attrition in 1-year Zune Pass subscriptions, including myself.

Let me know if any further information needed to address problem.

** One additional Note: AC connection prevents the problem. This is reproducible ***

The problem is likely some kind of power management problem, and users at the Microsoft site are getting pretty antsy for a solution, which has been very slow in coming.

Are any of our readers similarly affected? Let us know below.

Thanks Ricky for the tip.

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Zune HD and others officially dead after all, despite denials

October 4, 2011 | By Surur

Despite Microsoft blaming a publishing mishap for the Zune HD page being pulled from the Zune.net site, a post on the Zune.net support site officially confirms the device has been discontinued.

The post makes it clear Microsoft “will no longer be producing Zune players” and that the focus is Windows Phone 7. The service will remain, and warranties will be honoured, but Zune HD owners now officially have a collectors item.

I guess some-one should tell Michael Yaeger …

Thanks Theo for the tip.

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Microsoft Discontinues Zune Hardware Line-up ?? Update: No

October 3, 2011 | By Pradeep

It seems Microsoft today pulled the plug from the Zune media player line up. Zune media players including Zune HD is now not listed for sale in Zune.net website. Though Zune didn’t splash the media player marketplace, they are really good at what they do. Zune HD is one of the finest piece of hardware released at its time. Even though Zune brand still stays in the form of services such as Zune Music pass, marketplace, etc, its sad to see the hardware going..

Microsoft is yet to confirm the news.

via: @tromboneforhire and @edbott

Update:

Michael Yaeger from Microsoft tweeted the following,

@yegr: Zune HD product page is still on Zune.net – publishing mishap when we pushed out the CA work.

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Zemote (Zune Remote) for Mango now in Marketplace

September 23, 2011 | By Surur

Zemote is a Zune remote that allows you to control the music playback of Zune on your PC. Browse your music collection trough the album-view to have all your covers under your fingertips and hit them to see the tracks on the particular album. Or find your favorite track in the tracks list or via a custom search. With Zemote you can also perform basic actions, such as setting the volume, mute, next track, previous track, play, pause and so on. Zemote uses your local Wi-Fi-network to connect to your PC, all you need to do is make sure both your PC and your phone are connected to the same network and hit connect on your phone. When everything is set up, you can start using your phone as a remote!

Features

Play, pause, skip and previous command
Turn repeat and shuffle on and off
Change volume or mute
Find songs in a track list
Use the album view to find songs of a particular album
Search everything you want with a custom search
Nice and easy-to-use interface in Metro UI style, mixed with our own style

Zemote is £1.49 without free trial and can be found in Marketplace here.

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Zune getting ready to roll out to Canada, include Zune Pass

September 22, 2011 | By Surur

Bob has dropped us a line and some screen shots showing that Microsoft may be getting ready to roll out the full Zune Marketplace to Canada.

When signing into Zune with his American Zune account and his PC region set to Canada he was able to load what appeared to be a full-featured Canadian Zune site, which featured music and also offered to let him sign up for Zune Pass. However when clicking on the link it still took him to the US sign up page.

When signing in with his Canadian Zune account only the usual apps and Videos were available.

There have been some evidence of a full-featured Zune experience coming to Canada and Microsoft has released a Regional Availability Chart which did show Canada getting the Zune Marketplace, so hopefully we will see the full service roll out very soon, possible as part of the Mango package.

Thanks to Bob for the tip and screen shots.

See another screen shot after the break.

Continue reading →

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