Thanks to everybody who came out for Zune and Soup last night. Matt from Crunchgear was there and wrote a quick recap. Check out the slideshow they made: (features music by Speaker Speaker) That's me in the video, with a...

Filed under: Portable Audio
If there's anyone better than U2 frontman Bono at playing both sides of the fence in the OS wars, we haven't met them yet. One day this guy is hanging out with Bill Gates and sleeping over at his cushy pad, and the next day he's convincing Steve Jobs to release a special (non-U2) iPod and donate 5% of the proceeds to his HIV / AIDS charity. Well, at least that's the word from AppleInsider, who's claiming that the rocker was at the Apple Store in Chicago today filming a promo spot with Oprah Winfrey to prepare for the device's debut on her show tomorrow. This iPod nano Red (artist's rendition pictured above), as it's being called, will supposedly be yet another addition to the rainbow of 4GB 'Pods first unveiled at last month's "Showtime" event, but unlike the U2 models, this one will cost the same $200 as its multi-colored brethren. Each DAP sold will reportedly net PROJECT RED $10, which will then be re-donated to The Global Fund to help Afri...

Our old pals at CrunchGear got their hands on a trio of Zune players yesterday, coming back with some cool close-ups and a Ken Burns-style video, too. No user interface shots yet, though—we're told that's still under wraps 'cause it's a work in progress. For that, we'll have to wait until November 14 when we plunk down our 250 clams.
If reader interest is any indication, the buzz level of the Zune is up into the stratosphere, that heady place where only the iPod has gone before. On a scale of one to 10, it registers an 11 on our HypeModo Meter. – Charlie White
More photos and the ultra-revealing video, after the jump.






CrunchGear Gets Up-Close and Personal with Zunes [CrunchGear]

Filed under: Portable Video
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That must be the corporate mantra at Sony these days, where the former undisputed king of portable audio is still playing catch up with current market leader Apple, doing everything it can to pry consumers away from the iPod's loving embrace. At today's official unveiling of the NW-S700 and NW-S600 series' of flash-based DAPs, Senior EV Hiroshi Yoshioka let slip an even more tantalizing bit of info: Sony is developing a "video Walkman" that will go head-to-head with the 5.5G iPod and Microsoft Zune. No details were revealed regarding the specs of this upcoming device, but what's interesting is the fact that this will actually be the company's third foray into portable video players, following 2003's GigaPocket PCVA-HVP20 (pictured) and 2004's HMP-A1. For those of you that can remember back that far, you'll recall that these 20GB models offerred fairly attractive features for their time, including MPEG-1/2/4 ...

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

While iPod speaker docks are a dime a dozen, third-party Zune docks are still mysterious little vixens with only the HiFi-esque Octavio as yet semi-revealed. Now this from Altec Lansing which is touted as one of them "designed for Zune" accessories, but looks exactly like their "Made for iPod" M602 only in a color scheme designed to swaddle the Zune in earthiness. Well, at least now we know what they meant by a "universal MP3 cradle." So go ahead, ogle this one for a bit, no need to feel ashamed... or jaded. Still, smart move on Altec Lansing's part dontchathink?

[Via Zune Insider, Thanks lt.milo] 
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Despite looking a little bit photoshopped, this Altec Lansing dock for the Microsoft Zune seems promising, in a "now the Zune will have a thousand accessories too" sort of way. No other details yet, but it should be released around the same time as the Zune.
We'd like to see some accessories taking advantage of the Zune's WiFi, wirelessly streaming music to all rooms of the house. Can we get on that, Microsoft? – Jason Chen
Surprise!!! [ZuneGuy - Thanks Don!]

Filed under: Announcements, Media PCs
Aight everybody, it's October, which is known around here at the office as Halloween-month. More specifically, the month where we solicit you, our dear, faithful readers, to dress up like the consumer electronics devices, mascots, etc. of your choosing, for which we'll reward you with all manner of prizes. Yep, it's our second annual Engadget Halloween costume contest, and we want to see your best gadgety Halloween costumes. Here's what we've got to give:


First place gets a VidaBox SLIM Windows Media Center PC (MSRP $2,200), courtesy of VidaBox.
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor 1GB of DDR-400 RAM 500GB of VidaSafeT protected storage VGA, component, and S-Video outputs TV/FM Tuners: Dual ISF certified Analog TV Tuners w/ coaxial or S-Video/RCA-audio in; FM antenna(s) included Dual-layer DVD burner Dual TV tuners w/ coaxial, S-Video, and RCA-audio Wireless keyboard, Media Cente...

Zune Accessories guy Bill posts a photo of a new Zune accessory. A speaker dock from our friends at Altec Lansing: (more sizes here) Enjoy, audiophile types....

Another big player manufacture, Altec Lansing, a company known for their high quality audio devices has started making accessories for the Zune which is to be out November 14th. No specs on it as of yet, but you can probably expect it to be very similar price and specs to the iPod version.

Filed under: Announcements, Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video
Ok everybody, we have the winner for the third Zune on Engadget -- as well as some runners up in the Zune design contest! As you know, the winner snags a Zune, but we're gonna throw t-shirts out to the first and second runners up. Thanks again to everyone who sent in their Zune redesigns, this one was tough to decide! So, on to this week's contest. First up, the prize: a Zune. As you may or may not have heard (and we do sincerely hope you fall in the first camp), that's Microsoft's new vertically integrated portable media player device (and platform) centered around "connected entertainment." You should know by now where to go for all the specs and details, but it's a 30GB portable media device with built-in WiFi for sharing music with your pals and interacting with media on the go. Engadget's hooking up a few very lucky people with a Zune. Want to be the first among your friends -- hell, among the first ever --...