Zune 80 has been out of stock, for lack of supply or over-demand. If you're interested in the big lug, nestled snuggly between the iPod Touch and the classic in capacity and screen size, Nowinstock.com will email you when they show up on shelves.

Zune MP3 Players In Stock - NowInStock.net

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

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

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

Zune obsessives: if you want to drill down -- and we mean way, way down -- then check out this freshly leaked 47 page Zune support document over at Zunescene. You'll get a sneak at some of the forthcoming features from the bleak lens of those who spend their professional affairs providing technical support.

YouTube - Zune 2 Unboxing - Flash Zune 8

According to ZuneInsider the new DRM-free, MP3, tracks of the Zune Marketplace won't use digital watermarks, although Microsoft is licensing this kind of technology to it's partners. It is used for piracy control reasons to track down information about the buyer or the retailer for any type of media. Read more about this technology after the jump...

Recently Microsoft announced it's partnership with Activated Content and the creation of a platform for free, ad-supported music downloads. In its most simple form a meta tag which contains the buyer's or the retailer's information is added in purchased tracks. If any of them leaks to Peer-2-Peer networks the buyer can be identified and ... told he has been a very bad boy.  This simple form is used in iTunes Premium MP3 tracks where the full buyer's name is written in cleartext inside the track. But this info can be easily removed. 

It gets more interesting when cryptography, digital signatures, spread spectrum and other exotic technologies are used. The information now is embedded in many places (spread spectrum), all over the media file, in an invisible way. Ideally humans cannot understand the difference between the watermarked and non-watermaked media content; no one except the provider can read the hidden information and it cannot be removed without destroying the media file (e.g. conversion to other format or lower quality won't remove it). So when a track is found in a P2P network, depending in the embedded information, the provider can trace the online store it was sold from or even the name of the buyer!

Zune-Online.com | Zune News and Forum - Zune MP3s won't have Watermarks

Altec Lansing was among the first to offer a speaker dock for the original Zune, and it now looks set to accommodate the latest batch as well, with the company apparently nearly a release for its "Designed for Zune" inMotion iM414 speaker system. While we're a bit skeptical of Altec Lansing's claims of "immersive, crystal-clear sound," the system does look to be fairly decent as far as these things go, with it boasting some 3.2-watt speakers with 2-inch neodymium drivers, a built-in FM radio, a remote, and a spare input jack for your other audio gear. It'll also, of course, charge your Zune while it plays, and it'll even hold some batteries if you want to tote it along with you. As they've shown in the past, Altec Lansing hasn't forgotten about SanDisk users either, with the nearly identical inMotion iM413 model for Sansa players also said to be "coming soon," for the same $100 price as the Zune version.

Altec Lansing intros inMotion iM414 Zune speaker system - Engadget

Zune Insider has a little update about specifics of the new Zunes up on their site, with the rather minor -- but interesting -- tidbit that the new Zunes natively support video of up to 720x480 at 30fps, or 720x576 at 25fps. These formats will only play at full quality via TV-Out -- the Zune display is expected to be a regular 320 x 240 affair -- but it's nice to know that you'll be able to lug around full DVD resolution movies on the next Zune, right?
[Thanks, alexsv: via Zune Online]

Tags: Microsoft, New Zunes, NewZunes, TV-Out, Zune

New Zunes support DVD quality video over TV-Out - Engadget

The new Zunes are official so let's get to it: a spec-by-spec scrap between Redmond's new Zunes and Cupertino's formidable iPod foe. Unfortunately, Microsoft failed to mention the all important battery performance of their new gear in addition to a few other minor details. Microsoft fans will tell you that's due to an iPhone-like surprise close to the November launch while haters will jump to the conclusion that this is a definite sign of trouble. Still even without that morsel, there's plenty of data to masticate for comparison.
The Zune 80GB certainly holds its own when pitted against the 80GB iPod classic on a specification table. That's not the case, however, with the iPod touch as long as you're willing to sacrifice the bytes for the touch's bigger display and heftier price tag. It's a tougher call on the flash-based Zune vs. the iPod nano -- just how important is WiFi to you on a 1.8-inch display? None of this, of course, accounts for the oh so important user experience or the ecosystems supporting their respective players. As such, we'll reserve final judgment until we have the new Zunes in-hand. Until then you'd best dig in fanboys, that November release is a long way off. The tables that follow will provide the fuel to fight the flame wars for the weeks to come.

The Zune 80 with its big 3.2-inch display fits right in between Apple's iPod classic and iPod touch models. As such, we'll give you all three in a side-by-side comparison. Since Microsoft is a bit light on the specs, we've plugged in the information we reasonably expect to carry over from the 1st generation Zune -- otherwise, it's To Be Determined:

Read More

Zune vs. iPod specification smackdown - Engadget

As we noted in our Zune launch post, with the new Zune announcements, Microsoft intends to do more than just launch hardware. The Zune crew has apparently done a complete overhaul of the Zune desktop software so it's no longer just a weak rebadge of Windows Media Player 10 (praise the heavens), which Microsoft hopes will help the social to get more, um, social-er, with a number of things to attempting better engage music listeners and Zune customers:

• The Zune Marketplace is officially adding DRM-free music support, launching with over a million DRM-free MP3 tracks. As we mentioned earlier, other details (like which labels, whether there is a DRM-free upgrade path is for users who've bought music with DRM, price differences, etc.) are not yet known.
• Zune Marketplace is also getting podcasts and music videos. (Great, but where's the real video content?)
• Microsoft is also launching Zune Social, a free online music community / social network (great, another social network!) which allows users to create...
• Zune Cards, which are web widgets not unlike Xbox's Gamer Cards. Zune Cards let other users track your most played and recently played music (updated each time you sync back to your host machine). Users can also sample music directly from someone's Zune Card.
• You can now share with others music that was shared with you.
• No, the Zune still doesn't analyze the tracks it shares, so Zune Pass unlimited customers still can't share music without DRM.
• But, at very least the Zune's 3x3 DRM no longer has a time limit. Same three play restriction, but it no longer has to be within three days.

Microsoft beefs up Zune music and community experience - Engadget

We love a good non-mystery around here, and Microsoft's new Zunes are about as un-mysterious as they get. But we also love a good product refresh, and now that the cat's officially out of the bag we can really dig into the new Zunes, which definitely have a lot going for them. There's plenty to cover, so here's what you need to know.
Hard drive Zunes

• It's called the Zune 80 and, shockingly enough, it has 80GB of storage.
• Uses the new Zune Pad -- four way touch-sensitive d-pad (with up, down, left, and right buttons).
• It will sell for $250 (with "premium" headphones).
• Available only in black (to start).
• Screen size has increased to 3.2-inches (from 3-inches).
• Dimensions are 61.1 x 108.2 x 12.9mm (2.4 x 4.25 x 0.5-inches), some 1/3rd smaller than the classic Zune.
• The classic Zune will now be known as the Zune 30 -- it's not going anywhere. More on that in a sec.

New flash Zunes

• Zune 8 and Zune 4 are the names for the 8 and 4GB flash based models.
• Also uses the Zune Pad.
• These will sell for $200 and $150 respectively.
• Both will be available in pink, green, black, and red.
• It will feature a 1.8-inch screen (compare to the nano's 2-inch screen).
• Dimensions are 41.4 x 91.5 x 8.5mm (1.6 x 3.6 x 0.33-inches) -- compare to the new iPod nano, at 69.8 x 52.3 x 6.5mm (2.75 x 2.0 x 0.26-inches).

Everything else

• New Zunes ship in November, date not yet announced.
• All Zunes (including the Zune 30) will have a new, redesigned interface and feature parity. In other words, early Zune 30 adopters will have all the same software features as new Zune 80, 8, and 4 users.
• Additional native video codecs for h.264 and MPEG-4 -- users no longer need transcode those file types to WMV.
• WiFi sync to host computer.
• Podcast support! (Sorry, no over the air downloads -- sync only.) Podcasts can also be shared via WiFi.
• The 3x3 song sharing DRM has had its three day restriction removed, but users can still only play files three times.
• The Zune software is all new and rewritten, and is supposed to actually be more than a rebadge of WMP10 now. Friggin finally.
• The Zune music store is going DRM-free, with over 1m MP3 tracks being made available for download. Other details are not yet revealed.

Accessories info after the break. Official press images, etc. coming shortly, don't wander far! [Image via Rompres]
New Zune accessories

• Zune Home AV Pack ($99.99) - "Home Dock with three faceplates to accommodate each Zune device, wireless remote, AC adaptor and composite AV output cable."
• Zune Dock Pack ($49.99) - "Home Dock with three faceplates to accommodate each Zune device and AC adapter."
• Zune Car Pack ($79.99) - "Redesigned FM transmitter/charger and dashboard grip pad."
• Zune Cable Pack ($39.99) - "Sync cable, composite AV output cable and audio cable."
• Zune Premium Headphones ($39.99)
• Zune Leather Case ($49.99)
• Zune Sync Cable ($19.99)
• Zune AC Adapter ($29.99)

Microsoft's new Zunes: officially in 80, 8, and 4GB sizes - Engadget

Here it is, direct from a trusted source close to the situation -- a Zune 1 running firmware 2.1, which will bring all the Zune 2 software goodies and UI tweaks with it when those bad boys are announced on Wednesday. That's right, we also have confirmation that Microsoft will be making the Zune 2 announcement on Wednesday, which should give the Zune tattoo guy plenty of time to get some new ink before the holidays.

Update: We're now being told that while Microsoft will announce and discuss the Zune 1 firmware update on Wednesday, it won't be available until sometime later -- presumably when the Zune 2s hit the market

Zune 1 running firmware 2.1, Zune 2 coming Wednesday - Engadget

Zune Scene has a leaked image that's supposedly three display units at a "large retailer" for the upcoming Zunes. If these are on target, there's going to be at least a pink and brown flash-based Zune that's smaller than the current one, and a black hard drive Zune that's about the same size as the old one. We can't tell if it's thinner or sleeker from the angle of the shot, but we'll see soon.

Rumor: Zune 2 Hard Drive and Flash Models Leaked? - Gizmodo

Amazon's MP3 store is now in public beta, so you can all have a fiddle around with the DRM-free service &mdash like I just did. First observations:

There are two million tunes available, from 180,000 artists, including tracks from EMI and Universal. Over half of the songs are priced at 89 cents, including the Top 100 tracks, and they're at 256 kbps resolution. Once you've installed the Amazon MP3 downloader you can pick off the tracks you want.

Good news: there's loads of Bowie, Stones, Daft Punk, Kanye. And the even better news is that the only Britney, Pussycat Dolls and Avril Lavigne you can find are karaoke versions, which means they'll be better than the originals. The bad news is that, despite a lot of big names, there's also a lot of filler: a gazillion different Willy Nelson compilations, both clean and dirty versions of Kanye and Fiddy, and hordes of unknowns, all which must eat into Amazon's two million tracks

Mini Review: Amazon Non-DRM MP3 Store now in Public Beta, Easy to Use - Gizmodo

The free fall of Zune's price continues on Amazon, which now lists the White Zune for only $149.99, $100 less than its original retail price back in November 2006. Zune-2.0's "squircle" (still a rumor) effects more and more the price of the current version. I wonder what will happen when v2.0 will be released. And by the way do you know another "squircle" MP3 Player already exists?!...

Zune-Online.com | Zune News and Forum - Zune price free fall: The squircle effect

We have some exciting news on the Zune 2 from our source inside of Microsoft. We can now endorse the image leaked by Gizmodo as a legitimate representation of the Zune 2 players. We have also verified that in addition to the pink, red, and black colors an "Army Jeep Green" color will also be available for the smaller flash Zunes. Although the Zunes in the leaked image appear glossy, they will actually have the same doubleshot surface as the original Zune. The navigation button has been replaced with a new "squircle" shaped button, which is a square with rounded edges. It will not have a separate center button as the original Zune does, but the functionality will be the same. The current launch date is scheduled for October 16th, exactly 3 weeks after the Halo 3 launch. Based on our previous leaks, the memory sizes will be 4 GB, 8 GB, and 80 GB. We covered a lot of material in our latest tipster conversation, and have included the entire phone transcript for your reading pleasure.
Phone Transcript taken Sept 18 2007

ZuneScene: So how are the new Zunes coming?
Source: Good, the Zunes are now in PV
ZuneScene: What's PV?
Source: Product validation
ZuneScene: So do you expect to release in October or November?
Source: October
ZuneScene: Do you have a set release date?
Source: Right now we are gunning for Oct 16th
ZuneScene: What about the pictures leaked on the internet, are they real?
Source: what pictures?
ZuneScene: They show the flash Zune you call draco in pink, red, and black with no chrome  bezel around the LDC screen
Source: sounds right, do they show the squircle?
ZuneScene: What's that?
Source: The new button is like a square or polygon with rounded edges, it's not a  perfect circle
ZuneScene: Yes, the pictures show that.
Source: It doesn't have a center button, but it has a dome underneath so you can push it  from any side, its really cool.  If the pictures show the squircle they are correct.
ZuneScene: Are the back and play buttons positioned like Mickey Mouse ears?
Source: Yes, on the small Zune they are.  On the big one they are on the sides.
ZuneScene: Will there be green along with red, pink and black?  The picture doesn't show  green.
Source: Yes the green looks like an old army jeep green, the pink looks like pepto  bismol.
ZuneScene: What about the big zunes, the scorpios?
Source: Scorpio looks like the original, but with the squircle.
ZuneScene: iPod announced a 160gb model, will there be a 160?
Source: Right now we just have the 80, but more will come later I'm sure.  If you are  into video, you will want a Zune.  The displays are awesome on the new Zunes.
ZuneScene: Is the Zune phone next?
Source: I'm not sure about that.
ZuneScene: So there is no Zunephone?
Source: well, I didn't say that
ZuneScene: well, it's not in production?
Source: it's not in production.
ZuneScene: So there is no decision to make it?
Source: not yet, as far as I know.
ZuneScene: OK, well this is good stuff, thanks!
Source: sure, thanks for the call.

Zune 2 October Launch

Nate from Zune Scene predicts an October 16th date for Zune 2's launch. He also confirms our already double checked Zune photos, making them a surer than sure sure thing. Thanks for the backup, Nate.

Portable Media: Zune Scene Predicts Zune 2 on October 16th - Gizmodo