Posts Tagged zune
Let’s get Press Pause on the Zune Marketplace
Posted by jasoncross in PC Tech, Software on October 30, 2009
Okay gang, I have a quick task for you. Don’t worry, this will take about 10 seconds and you don’t have to get up from your computer.
For some reason, Press Pause, the weekly video game web show I co-host with Carlos Rodela, is not listed in the Zune Marketplace. You can get it on iTunes here. You can subscribe to it in the Zune software by adding the RSS feed. But we want to be listed in the excellent Zune Marketplace, and for some reason it’s not there.
So, I need your help to submit it. If they get enough submissions, they’ll add it. Just follow these three steps.
1. Go to the Zune podcast page on the web. Any browser should work fine.
2. Click the bright “Submit a Podcast” button on the left-hand side.
3. In the dialog box that pops up, enter the following URL and click “Submit”: http://mevio.com/feeds/presspause.xml
That’s it! Thanks for all your help! And to show you that this wasn’t just a complete waste of your time…hey, you’re already at this neat Zune podcast directory thing on the web. Did you check it out a bit? You might want to. You can stream any podcast in the Zune marketplace (which is really big) right on the web page. Free. That includes audio and video podcasts. And you don’t need to have a Zune account, or to sign up for anything, or enter in some arcane RSS feed, or any of that stuff. It’s just a big, totally free podcast playback machine on the web. Neat, huh?
Update: Looks like we’re listed now. Thanks to everyone who submitted.
Zune HD Review at Maximum PC
Posted by jasoncross in Media on September 23, 2009
I recently reviewed the Zune HD for the fine folks over at Maximum PC. So go there and check out the review. I bring up a lot of points in the review, but overall I love the Zune HD. Microsoft has truly made a great device, great software, and a great service here. A lot of reviews sort of skimp on talking about Zune Pass, but it really is the major differentiator here. The software and device are really made to worth together with it, feeding you more and more music rather than just giving you control over the music you already have. I sum things up thusly:
“If you want a portable player primarily for media, the Zune HD trounces the iPod Touch. Music, video, and podcast offerings are similar, but the Zune has FM and HD radio, marginally better sound quality, 720p video output, the optional Zune Pass subscription service for music, and an honest-to-goodness superior interface. The software on both desktop and device is designed to be vastly better for discovering new music. If you want a pocket computer to run apps and play games, with music and video playing as a second-tier function, the incredibly robust App Store on the iPod Touch make it still the obvious choice.”
Zune Pass is magically awesome. $15 a month gets you all the music you want. Obviously it has DRM so that it expires when you stop subscribing. Otherwise you’d just subscribe for one month, download thousands of songs, and quit, laughing all the way to the bank. But for that $15 a month, you also get 10 song credits you can use to download 10 totally DRM-free songs you can keep forever. And believe me, when you can download and listen to as many tracks as you want, you’ll easily find way more than 10 songs you want to keep a month. This, combined with the software’s new Smart DJ feature, will introduce you to lots of awesome new music you don’t have and let you quickly, easily, and legally download it.
The Case for Zune on Mac
Posted by jasoncross in Media, Software on September 16, 2009
I’m currently working on a review of the Zune HD for Maximum PC. So I’ve been neck-deep in Zune (and iTunes) for the last few days. Of course, this comes hot on the heels of a major update to iTunes with iTunes 9, and some new iPod goodies, which I wrote about earlier. Since I’m reviewing this stuff elsewhere for pay, this is not going to be a review of the software or device (I’ll probably do a Zune 4.0 software review here in the future). Rather, this is an argument for Microsoft to finally bring Zune to the Mac.
Seriously Microsoft, it’s time. The iron has never been hotter, so to speak. The stars are aligned. And other clichéd turns of phrase. You have the right device, the right momentum, and the right opening to establish to the Mac crowd that, yes, Microsoft is indeed capable of making great software and sexy devices that have great features and are easy to use.
iTunes Got It, Zune Doesn’t
Posted by jasoncross in Media, Software on September 11, 2009
I really enjoy the Zune software and marketplace, and the subscription thing is great. But I’ve often been disappointed at the way some of the music I look for simply isn’t available. Not for subscription, not for sale, not “Album only” sales, nothing. I go and look in iTunes, and it’s there. The Zune folks say they have over 6 million tracks, but I’m honestly not sure how many iTunes has (I last heard 12 million, but that was some time ago), and this may be a meaningless metric anyway.
So I’m making a list, out of curiosity. After the jump you’ll find some of the albums they don’t have on the Zune marketplace, but do have on iTunes. Sometimes the album and tracks are in the database, just unavailable for purchase/download.
Help me make my list, won’t you? Post in the comments some of the songs or albums you can’t find available in the Zune marketplace. (If you’d like to play along but don’t have the Zune software, just go download it. It’s free.) I just started. What follows is a partial list, by no means complete, just some of the first things I found. But I figured I’d solicit some help before I got too far along.
Zunepodcasts.com
Posted by jasoncross in Media on August 30, 2009
It looks like the folks in Redmond have registered zunepodcasts.com and are doing something pretty neat with it. Well, not that URL specifically. It just redirects to social.zune.net/podcasts.
Rather, the interesting bit is that they’re streaming audio podcasts directly from the web. No Zune required. No Zune PC software required. No login required. Just go to the site, find the podcast you want to hear, and hit the play button. For instance, here’s one of my favorites, The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe. There’s nothing to download. Yes, it works in Firefox (I didn’t even try it in IE, for that matter).
This is in contrast to the music, which you have to be signed in (and maybe a Zune subscriber?) to listen to. For instance, if you follow this link to 21st Century Breakdown, the Play buttons don’t work unless you sign in.
I think that’s pretty cool. The Zune marketplace has a pretty good library of video and audio podcasts, and it’s growing steadily. The ability to instantly and easily play any audio podcast right from the web is, frankly, a nice handout from the Zune folks. They could have easily put this behind a wall to, as marketing likes to say, “add value” to the Zune Pass or some such nonsense. Apple requires you to access its podcast directory, and for that matter its music directory, through iTunes. But podcasts are out there all over the place for free. A tip of the hat for getting this one right, guys. Are you paying attention, Apple?