Filed under: Portable Audio
If anyone's a little hesitant to thrown down the $14.99 a month for a Zune Pass subscription, you count on Microsoft to be doing its best to tempt you to sign up for the all-you-can-eat music service. According to Wal-Mart (not their first bit of Zune-related leakage) Microsoft is set to include a free 14-day Zune Pass trial with each Zune sold, letting you sample the vast Zune Marketplace at your leisure without dropping a cent. Of course, the good times can only last so long, and at the end of your 14 days all the songs you've downloaded will do nothing but take up space until you fork over the cash for the real deal. Wal-Mart also makes mention of Zune.net which, as of yet, is nothin' but a dead end -- although it is, of course, registered to Microsoft.

[Via Zunerama] 
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 ...

Sneak peek at what will undoubtedly be playing during The Daily Show, Adult Swim, and other youth-centric programming from now until Christmas. See the other four after the jump. – Jason Chen
All Videos [YouTube via Zune Insider]

Why dock one thing when you can dock everything? This multi-functional dock from Brando not only docks your iPod (3G and up), allowing it to sync with iTunes and recharge, but there's support for Sony Ericsson phones, Nokia phones, and PSPs.
It's not quite the everything that we had hoped for, but since Brando releases 83 items a week, we're sure they will release a dock that docks your RAZR, Xbox 360, Meizu Mini Player, Dell 2407FP, Sonicare Toothbrush, other docks, HTC phones, your glasses, the USS Enterprise (D, not E), an ex-girlfriend, Charlie White, a boat, ColecoVisions, the International Space Station, Sony's E-Reader and a Lexus.
But not the Zune. – Jason Chen
Multi functional dock speakers [Brando]

A interesting little line popped up on the Zune Walmart.com section. At the bottom of the description it says Receive a free 14 day trial of a Zune Pass subscription with the purchase of a Zune. But with all things comes a catch… It goes on to say that you must purchase a Zune Pass to continue [...]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Wireless
You know how we can't stop whining about the inexplicable lack of wireless sync on the Zune? Well, Silex Technology just filled that void for the iPod crowd with their new wiDock, so it looks like the Zune kids are just going to look that much sillier when November 14th rolls around. Of course, a WiFi dock isn't quite as exciting as the promise of free-roaming wireless sync, but we'll take what we can get. Along with synchronization, the dock lets you charge your iPod, control the unit with the Apple remote, and pipe video and audio from your computer through the dock to your home entertainment system. The wiDock features 3.5-millimeter and S-Video plugs, along with a 3.5-millimeter to RCA audio cable and some SVL software for Windows and Mac to manage your media streams. The unit is 802.11b/g compatible, which should be plenty for SD streams, and you can also hook up to a regular 10/100Base-T wired netwo...

Amazon has put up a little flash add for the Zune. The Zune add is in flash and goes for around 2 mins showing off all the features and the things you can do with the Zune. Nothing special but worth a look non the less. [Thanks evilangelic]

As surprising as it may sounds, ABIResearch's latest poll says 58% of current iPod users said they were "somewhat likely" or "extremely likely" to pick a Zune player over any other player? WTF? We tried to take a look at the actual survey results, but realized they cost $3,000. Yeah, no, that's ok. We'll pass.
The survey also says that the WiFi peer to peer sharing doesn't seem to be a big draw, and that it's critical that Microsoft differentiates itself in some way (apparently not in WiFi sharing). Nevertheless, it's hard to believe that 58% of users would say they'd pick the Zune over the iPod. And without the actual survey results, we can't say anything for sure.
Oh, and if anyone makes the lame/old/horrible/not funny "X% of statistics are made up on the spot" joke, I will personally disable their comment accounts. – Jason Chen
ABI Research Reveals 58 Percent of iPod Users May Choose Zune [TMCnet]
Survey Results [ABIResearch]

Flamebait of the day: A new report by ABI Research asserts that 58 percent of iPod owners would be "somewhat likely" or "extremely likely" to choose Microsoft's Zune when they buy their next portable media player.
"Our conclusion is that iPod users don't display the same passionate loyalty to iPods that Macintosh users have historically shown for their Apple products," principal analyst Steve Wilson said in the news release.
Only 15 percent of iPod owners surveyed by the Oyster Bay, N.Y.-based firm said they were "not very likely" or "not at all likely" to choose Zune when they buy their player. Among that group are the folks who e-mail me sometimes.
A New York Times story today starts off in the same direction as the ABI report, leading with a nice profile of a consumer anxious to buy a Zune. Then it draws on commentary from Zune skeptic Ted Schadler at Forrester Research, and concludes that Apple will maintain its dominance this holiday season.
Wilson said Zu...

If you haven't already, go grab your Xbox 360 Dashboard update now. With it brings 1080p support over component and VGA, HD DVD player support, WMV streaming from WMP11, file playback from external storage, and much much more.
Check out the big list of updates after the jump.
New Features
HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component cables.
Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support.
Stream WMV video from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect.
Play video from storage devices such as USB flash drives, Xbox 360 Memory Units, etc.
Play video from CD or DVD data discs.
Xbox 360 Wireless Headset support, including battery level indicator in the Xbox Guide.
Video support for 50 Hz HDTV modes (DVD and HD DVD only).
Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel support.
Set up automatic downloads of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games.
Support...