Zune 2 (Kinda) Update
Category: Fergie Digital
I recently purchased a zune 30 on of the original released models. My purchase was based on the new features that the "updated" models would come standard with. Microsoft promised that the OS/firmware would be available for the older models. I have been waiting for a few weeks for this day.
As it turns out it was a great idea. Imagine a company releasing updated hardware, and not ditching the old hardware, its rare for most electronics, and absurd for Digital Audio Player (DAP) manufacturers.
Installation was all but a breeze for me. I ended up with some damned 0x80072efd error. What I was forced to do was download another install package and run an install program that ignored the updates. I wasn't sure if installing this software on my work computer was the cause for the problem or not, my work computer is full of security suites and filtered windows updates. Hopefully anyone else had a decent time. Now on to the features.
I am sure you can read along the rest of the internets about what features are included with the newest firmware 2.2. But here is what is important to me.
Updated marketplace - This means you can buy DRM free music to keep forever! Not a big deal for some folks but others hated the zune subscriptions.
Podcast support - This should have been the first on my list, but I am a pirate and I need a cover! Podcasts are now handled "properly" in the syncing software as well as the player; I was previously forced to put silly characters in front of title, artist, and filenames of podcasts, to make them easier to find, use, and remove. Now subscribing is easy and painless, along with syncing them to the device, which can now be done wirelessly.
Wireless sync - This means you can hit a button on your zune, and have it sync all of the prepared or automated types of media, using your wifi connection, and the zune's built in wifi connection, crazy right... it is. One problem I have found is that the power source should be connected to the zune during this sync, the wifi runs the battery down quickly. This means if you are like me and the usb cable is your sync and charge cable, it is probably plugged up to a pc already. I will continue to try this out, but for now it seems to be a convenient feature that may have more important use in the future.
Recorded TV sync - Miss a show and need to see it, or is there a show that you want to catch up on. Well if you have a media center PC, you can record TV on your media center PC and sync it to your zune device. This requires a few things, media center, and a TV tuner, and well a usable TV signal that you can use. I will be trying this out in a few short days to let you know how that works. From what I am hearing on the internets, it takes a fair amount of time to transcode the TV files to send to your zune, so if you record something at night and sync in the morning, the media should be ready for your commute. This is a great idea for travelers. When I travel I tend to skip TV for a few days to catch up in a hotel or plane. This would help out a ton.