The 80GB Zune might be hard to come by, but the rest of the family is doing just fine -- and Zune.net user halfcirclepunch is here to unbox his fancy-pants 8GB Zune Original for your viewing pleasure. The device is obviously identical internally to the standard 8GB Zune, but the box contains a fullsize poster of the custom-engraved artwork, and a nice soft carrying case -- and the deep red Zune looks way better in these pics than we've ever seen it before. Peep all the rest of the shots at the read link.
Unboxing the 8GB Zune Original - Engadget
The 80GB Zune might be hard to come by, but the rest of the family is doing just fine -- and Zune.net user halfcirclepunch is here to unbox his fancy-pants 8GB Zune Original for your viewing pleasure. The device is obviously identical internally to the standard 8GB Zune, but the box contains a fullsize poster of the custom-engraved artwork, and a nice soft carrying case -- and the deep red Zune looks way better in these pics than we've ever seen it before. Peep all the rest of the shots at the read link.
Unboxing the 8GB Zune Original - Engadget
November 19
The second version of the Zune rocks. In many ways it is superior to the iPod, on others it is not. The following is my open letter to the Zune.net team for the next version of software and firmware.
- Video Market Place
- Audible Codec compatibility
- Zune Software Mini Mode. For watching music, podcasts and videos smaller than normal video resolution.
- Be able to pin open or close detail pains on in Zune Software.
- Able to set Resume on music or mp3s like you can on podcasts, instead of starting over. This would be great for books on tape.
- Drag and Drop, or copy and paste Album Art
- Stream music from web with Zune Pass, then mark songs for download on your home pc.
- Let Device Name be Social Name. I have several Zunes and when I share I like to have different names show.
- Be able to share video.
- Outlook Contact integration [Not a big thing, but it would be nice]
- TV Out on 4 and 8 Gig Flash models. [ This maybe a hardware thing]
- I like the hearts, but you should give people the choice between hearts and standard 5 stars.
- When you sync multiple Zunes with one PC, and you right click on a song or video, you should get a list of all the Zunes you sync with not just the last one. I have a lot of Zunes. Me Likey the ZUNES!
- Picture Rotate.
- OK this may be crazy, Video Zoom mode. The Zune screen is 4:3 and some video is 16:9. This makes it hard to watch high def content on the the Zune, specially the smaller ones. It would be nice to have a ZuneZoom feature, I just made that up, that would allow you to zoom in 10%-15% to get rid of the bars on the bottom. If you are really crazy, you could allow for your own pan-and-scan with the touch pad. If the action is on the left, swipe left, if it is on the right, swipe right.
- Picture and Video playlists
November 12

Zune 2 and its batch of new features are finally upon us, bringing new players and an entirely new experience. On the device side, there's 4/8GB flash-based and 80GB hard drive-based Zune with fancy form factors and increased storage, as well as new firmware for your old first-gen 30GB players. On the software side, the functionally rich (but somewhat clumsy to use) Zune suite is gone and is replaced by a beautiful, but hollow successor. Read on to find out how Microsoft has managed to change a lot on the one hand, and very little on the other—then see how the Zune stacks up against iTunes and iPod.
Microsoft Zune: Complete Guide to Zune 2's Software and Firmware