RSSZune Spring update is pushed to player owners
By Ed Oswald | Published May 6, 2008, 7:18 PM
Microsoft on Monday delivered its Zune 2.5 software, including several playback enhancements and better syncing and organizational capabilities.
Among the changes that affect the device directly is the option to select gapless playback. This eliminates the gaps that occur between electronic music tracks, and is especially useful for fans of live and electronic music.
Syncing has been improved, allowing for a user to select tracks to sync even if the device is not connected. Once the device is connected via USB or Wi-Fi, it should be synced automatically.
In addition, the software allows for users to easily find files that take up the most space, thus allowing for better management when the device is nearly full.
A feature called Sync Groups aims to work much like auto playlists, allowing for certain criteria to be set and then used to update a Zune device. When new media is added to the library that meets these criteria, it is then automatically updated.
Zune 2.5 also offers improved organization. Music collections can now be sorted by genre, and then further sorted by artist, album, or release year. Advanced metadata features are also new to the software.
"I would say that this update is in large part thanks to direct interaction and feedback from users, whether from the forums, the comments on this site, formal research and more. We listened, and we hope you like it," Caesar Menendez wrote on the Zune Insider blog on Tuesday.
In related Zune news, Microsoft said Tuesday that the Zune would be available in Canada beginning June 13. This would mark the first time that the player would be available outside the US officially since its release.
And in a surprise this afternoon, NBC was featured prominently in Microsoft's announcement of expanded content for its Zune monthly subscription service. This after the network exited its content deal with Apple's iTunes last year, expanded its shows' availability through Amazon's Unbox, and subsequently launched its own online streaming channel Hulu in conjunction with Fox.
"Partnering with Zune will allow us to develop innovative content offerings for their customers, including flexible pricing and packaging options beginning this fall," reads the citation from NBC Universal Digital Distribution President J.B. Perrette this afternoon.
unless he has the original CD's, thats a really bad idea. ogg is a lossy audio format and encoding them to even 320 kbps mp3 would result in a pretty substantial loss in quality. he would literally get better quality if he cut the ogg bitrates in half and muxed in some light static.
and PC_Tool: ive come to accept that a _lot_ of things dont work on 64-bit xp. but i dont think its too much to ask for support from microsoft for a product they themselves released...especially when there are 64-bit zune drivers available for vista.
Score: 0
|It's not too much to ask. It's just a little silly to expect it when the developer itself has shown *zero* interest in supporting it in any way shape or form.
*shrug*
This is more of a Windows x64 issue than a Zune issue. The drivers appear to work well on all supported systems. ;) Modding it down for lack of support on a system it does not support, well...
That's like blasting Apple because iWork doesn't work on Windows.
Score: 0
|I bet you wont notice a conversion from ogg 192Kbit to wma at 256Kbit. I certainly cant and I am a professional musician. of course technically you will lose quality when converting from lossy to lossy and you can argue that until forever, but when it comes down to listening to music, the difference is going to be so small nobody with a zune and regular earbuds are going to notice a thing.
about xp 64bit... so you think that its unacceptable that Zune doesnt support win2k? or 98 for that matter? MS made those products as well... move on, xp 64 is dead, nobody needs it, nobody uses it and nobody makes software for it either.
Score: 0
|Probably the best software release yet. The associated firmware seems to have made the player a bit more responsive as well.
Score: 0
|I have just updated as well. Running smooth as usual. From what I've read, it seems like quiet a nice update.
Score: 0
|Where did you read about this Zune update?
Score: 0
|The rating in Fileforum would be much higher if it wasn't for the dude posting 3 times about it not being available for 64 bit XP (what is?) and some inbred tardball rating it down because it doesn't work on his iPod....
Score: 0
|HAHA you are kidding me
Score: 0
|No, actually. Read 'em. It's quite amusing.
Some dude actually rated the update a 1 because it wouldn't work on his iPod...
Score: 0
|True. I can't wait to test this out. I already updated but I haven't checked out the improvements as of yet. Great to see Microsoft improving the software and listening to it's customer base.
Score: 0
|I really like the Zune 80GB that I bought and the new software works like a champ.
Score: 0
|Shame there is still no Vorbis/ogg support. I am just waiting for an HDD player with at least 40GB to replace my iAudio M3 whose remote control has given up the ghost. I really don't want to re-rip all my CDs again.
Score: 0
|Just batch encode them all to mp3/wma or that stupid apple format :) If you set the bitrate high enough im pretty sure you wont notice any loss in quality.
Score: 0
|