So we’ve said all along that we are looking at expanding Zune to other countries, but we haven't made any official announcements about timing. Many of you have seen the recent statement re: U.K. availability. It was taken out of...

We partnered with streetwear design kingpins Union, UNDFTD and Stussy to create limited edition Zune devices for an auction: Hypebeast has the details. In other news, I have perhaps seen. . . the greatest video tribute to America, EVAR. I...

Following on from the last post about the 100 pink Zunes out in the wild and one of them being sold on ebay. That auction is now closed and the winning bid was for a cool $761. Thats allota cash for a pretty pink Zune… Seeing as these pink Zunes come in unmarked boxes, some people [...]

As if we needed more confirmation that Microsoft's soon rolling out Zune sharing rewards, here's more news of Microsoft's wheeling and dealing with similar companies like Weedshare. Long story short: Microsoft signed a patent non-assertion agreement that grants Shared Media Licensing the rights to exploit its patent and any patents related to it without fear of legal repercussions. So if Microsoft should roll out a Zune compensated sharing program based on it, Shared Media Licensing and Weedshare already are in a unique position to leverage it for their own benefit. This is pretty great news if you work at Weedshare and Shared Media Licensing, but since you don't, it's just confirmation that you'll get Marketplace points for song sharing soon. – Jason Chen
Me? I'm between jobs until the Zune incentive program rolls out [Good Morning Silicon Valley]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Sandisk, move over buddy, there's a new gun in town. According to NPD's weekly point of sale data collections (which, as we understand it, cull aggregate sales figures from all the top electronics retailers), during the Zune's launch week Microsoft captured a 9% unit share and a 13% dollar share (total cash spent) in the portable media device space. (Comparatively, Apple's iPod range snagged 63% unit share and $72.5 percent dollar share.) Now granted, this figure should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Not because of its accuracy -- since we're quite sure it's totally accurate -- but because a week spent #2 in unit share does not make a device #2 in market share, not by a long shot. Furthermore, those retail figures do not include Apple stores, where droves of customers flock to purchase their iPods, and more importantly, because that's launch week and any new device (especially one so hyped as the Zune) will almost always set its sale...

Despite the fact that the Zune was only #18 on Amazon's sales chart (it's #17 now)—behind 12 varieties of iPods—Microsoft's doing quite well this holiday season. Statistics released by NPD Group says that while the iPod is still number one, the Zune's leapfrogged everyone else and claimed 9% of sales and 13% of total dollar share. Impressive, until you compare it to the iPod's 63% of sales and 72.5% of dollar share.
Looks like Microsoft's 100 million dollar marketing spree is taking hold, at least enough for the Zune to beat everyone else except the iPod. Still, it wasn't enough to let us find a Zune buddy at the airport. – Jason Chen
iPod vs. Zune Update [SFGate via MacNN]

DLO is showing its love for Microsoft with its new line of Zune accessories meant to keep your player juiced from pretty much anywhere. First up is the $39 PowerPack, which comes with all the cables and adapters you need to keep your Zune powered from your home, car, or PC. Next is the TransDock micro.


The TransDock micro (shown below) lets you broadcast your tunes from any car stereo via an FM trasmitter. It's also got an auxiliary input, so you can technically use it to broadcast music from any device, be it your Zune, laptop, or other MP3 player. Nothing extraordinary, but not bad for a car adapter. It'll set you back $69. We've also got a hands-on gallery of some additional DLO Zune accessories coming up for you, so keep it tuned.
DLO PowerPack [Product Page]
DLO Transdock micro [Product Page]

Most entrepreneurs would be pretty happy if they entered a crowded market and claimed second place and 13 percent of sales within a week.
That's how Microsoft fared with its Zune media player, according to a report from NPD Group that should be more useful than all the speculation about Amazon.com's sales rank.
Based on data gathered from multiple outlets for the week ending Nov. 18, NPD concluded that the Zune took a 9 percent share by units and 13 percent share by dollars of the U.S. portable digital media player market.
That put Microsoft in second place behind Apple and ahead of Sandisk, a Flash player manufacturer that's partnering with RealNetworks. During the same week, Apple took 63 percent of the market by units and 72.5 percent by dollars.
"Microsoft attracted early adopters in a successful launch week for Zune, eking out SanDisk as the No. 2 digital audio player vendor," Ross Rubin, NPD director of industry analysis, said in a release. "This was espe...

Filed under: Portable Audio
We aren't exactly sure who's getting the shorter end of the stick in Universal Music's "deal" with Microsoft to extract a set fee from every Zune sold, but now its oh-so-mettlesome CEO is thinking of putting the same pressure on ole Steve. While Jobs has certainly had a rather sour relationship with the labels over the years, and has flat our refused to boost music prices (twice) at the iTMS, this predicament could be a fair bit stickier. Doug Morris is reportedly considering asking demanding a royalty fee from every iPod sold now that he's already won the war over at Microsoft, touting Universal's massive music collection on iTMS as something fairly essential to the program's continued success. But things aren't as clear cut as the previous deal, as the Zune Marketplace was (and still is) in a position trying to grab any sliver of market share it possibly can, while Apple's rendition basically owns the digital download realm already. While it's easy to ...

With the iPod's white earbuds being as much a fashion accessory as the iPod itself—with people even buying them to wear with other players—earbuds must now look good in addition to sounding good. These V-MODA Vibes? Well, they're not only pleasing to the eyes and ears, they feel like butter in the ear canal. Butter made of soft, molded silicon.
Although the expensive Shure-brand earbuds are usually the ones audiophiles turn to for music on the go, not everyone feels comfortable throwing down $400 for something that undoubtedly gets lots every six months. Good news, as the V-Moda Vibe performs as well as $100 earbuds should.
V-MODA touts "vibrant bass, vivid mid-range, and vivacious highs" on the Vibes. My experience? That's actually fairly accurate. The bass wasn't overloaded like in most cheapo earbuds you find for under $50. The mids and highs were also clear; much clearer than the default iPod or Zune earbuds.

But of course how they sound is ...