zune

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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Ibiza Rocks giving away 3-month Zune passes to UK WP7 users

September 17, 2011 | By Surur

IbizaRocks is running a contest to give away 3-month long free Zune passes to Facebook and Windows Phone 7 users who tag themselves and a friend on their Facebook page.

They write:

To mark the end of the an incredible season at Ibiza Rocks, our friends over at Zune have kindly given us some 3-month Zune Passes to give away!
Your 3 month Zune Pass will allow you to stream an unlimited amount of music through any or all of the following channels – Your PC via the Zune software, on the web via Zune.net or MSN, on your XBOX 360 or on your Windows Phone 7.
This means you can listen to the Ibiza Rocks 2011 playlist or any other of the 10 million tracks available to you on the go, at home or in the comfort of your own living room.
For the ultimate experience we recommend you install the Zune PC software or use Zune via Kinect for XBOX 360, it’ll blow your mind!

Want to stand a chance of winning? Tag your name and a friend’s in our Facebook Status Update.

If you don’t win a 3 month Zune Pass, you can still get 14 days of unlimited streaming with their14-day free Zune Pass trial which is open to everyone!

The contest is for UK residents only. If you want to give it a try Visit Ibiza Rocks’s comment here.

Via MML

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MusicTimer available in Marketplace!

September 16, 2011 | By sp

Mango-ready MusicTimer is designed to automatically pause the Zune player at a specified time. App works in a few modes – you can set the time after which it is shut down OR time of day to shut down player OR count of songs to stop. In version 1.1 it support English and Polish, but in future I plan support also Spanish, German and French. (If you want Your language just write to me and help me with translation.)

Trial version is almost fully functional, but there is a few little restrictions:

maximum count of songs-countdown equal 10,
message box during app start,
ad support,
you can not set information about 1 minute to pause music.

You can find MusicTimer in Marketplace for 0.99$ or use free trial version here:

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Zemote For Windows Phone Allows You To Control Music Of Zune Client On Your PC

August 30, 2011 | By Pradeep

Zemote is a Zune remote that allows you to control the music playback of Zune client on your PC. You can select the song/album to play from a list or search for it. It 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.

It has following 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

It will be in the Windows Phone marketplace for $2.49 soon. btw, it requires Windows Phone Mango. More details on the app here.

via: XDA-Forums, WPSauce

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Zune desktop agent uses less memory than iTunes Helper, Samsung Kies or RIM Launcher

August 27, 2011 | By Surur

The iTunes client is famously a resource hog on Windows, which makes it an unsurprising reason why some people choose not to go down the iOS ecosystem route.

SaudiWP7 have taken a hit for the team by actually loading a synchronization client for all 4 major smartphone OSs on their desktop – iPhone, Samsung Kies for Android, Blackberry and Zune for Windows Phone 7.

As can be seen from the screen shot, the the Kies launcher is the heaviest at nearly 20 MB, followed by iTunes Launcher at 3 MB. RIM’s client uses a minimal 1.4 MB, and the Zune launcher a tiny 1 MB.

While the memory usage of the sync client is likely inconsequential to most people, it does show that the care and attention the Microsoft dev team lavished on the phone has extended to the desktop client also.

Via saudiWP7.com

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Change log–What’s new in Zune 4.8

August 23, 2011 | By Surur

On the surface there is not much new visible in Zune 4.8, released today. Under the covers however there has been some significant improvements in the client and how it works with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango.

Mark Akers from the Zune team have posted this change log.

Progressive updates: In Zune 4.8, you only have to click the update button once for multiple updates. Once an update is finished, the software automatically checks for more and repeats the installation process until your phone is completely up to date.
Streamlined backup. By synching media separately from other phone content, we’ve lowered the overall time it takes to back up your phone. The backup file is also more compact, so it should take up less space on your computer.
Skip phone backup: If you don’t have enough room on your computer to store a phone backup file, you’ll now have the option to skip this step so you’re not blocked from updating your phone.
Zune 4.8 now supports 22 display languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US and UK), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish.
Zune 4.8 is available in these countries or regions: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Support for 48-hour movie rentals
Parental Controls now support M-rated (Mature) content
Option to hide purchase confirmation dialog for faster app checkout
See what apps are compatible with the Windows Phone you own

The updated Zune client can be downloaded here, or by checking for the update under Settings > Software > General, and then click Check For Updates.

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Zune regional availability chart released

August 23, 2011 | By Surur

With the release of the Zune 4.8 Microsoft also released this chart of Zune service availability.

The chart confirms our earlier rumour of Australian availability, and does show more countries getting better service.

Has the Zune service in your country improved? Let us know below.

Via MobilityDigest.com

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