In case you ever wondered what it is like over here in Zune, I decided to take a picture of my cube (yes, we are all in cubes including J Allard and Bryan Lee).  After snapping the picture, I realized that there are some of my "projects" in my space.  See if you can spot any of them (hint- one is under the coat).

The Come Out and Play festival starts tomorrow. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend checking out the real-action games—not to be confused with your perverted Live Action RPGing—played throughout city blocks and parks, using cellphones, GPS, and digital cameras. Some of the most interesting sounding games include Manhattan MEGAputt, a round of mini golf through the East Village, and a live action game of Pong (Um...Tennis?) And if you see that guy in the picture, go ahead and pat him down. He's got a Zune and Wii in his front pocket, and the first person to try and grab it gets both.–Brian Lam
Come Out and Play [Thx Dennis Crowley]

Got our hands on some pictures from the factory where the Zune is being manufactured. So appears testing is over and mass production is well on the way and hopefully Microsoft is going to meet their dead line and have the Zune out on the shopping market shelves before Christmas time.

The thought occurred to me today that I should give a little background about myself.  I've been working on MP3 players for about 8 years.  The first player I worked on was the Rio PMP 300.  I wasn't at MS at the time, but that's a story for a different day.   Since then I've worked on many (too many to count) MP3 players including doing the bizdev for the PlaysForSure efforts (again, a topic for another day).  I've been working on the Zune team since April trying to get you guys some great accessories.  Over the next few days, I hope to tell some of the backstory about this project. 

I was fortunate to be able to visit the factory where the Zune players are being built and they let me take some photos.  I thought you guys might like to see the line and how the devices are put together.

• RealNetworks Launches Rhapsody DNA Platform [eHome Upgrade]
• Former Intel boss slams HP reshuffle [The Inquirer]
• RedOctane Sues Wireless Guitar Controller Manufacturer [Kotaku]
• Zune won't play MS DRM infected files [The Inquirer]
• iTunes nets $1M for Disney in a week [Info World]

The Zune was featured on the Ellen Degeneres Show today which aired in Seattle today at 11:00 AM PDT (KING-5), and was featured alongside The Dixie Chicks. Don’t you just wish you were in that audience as well? All getting a free Zune, lucky them.

If it's not Zune leaks it's Comcast leaks, and this time we're hearing that Comcast is prepping its own music and movie download service. You can select TV shows, music or movies for purchase and download. Once you pay, you watch all content on your Comcast set top box.
Plus, you can even go to the Comcast site and download whatever it is you bought on iPod/PSP/Zune/Whatever format. It's pretty much like the Apple iTV, but without the computer in the middle of the picture. The details are still sketchy now, but we'll update as we know more. – Jason Chen

Filed under: Features, Home Entertainment
For yesterday's give giveaways kickoff we started things off by giving away the first of our Zunes -- which, we'd like to mention is still open to contestants until Sunday. Today, however, we're giving away a Slingbox. Hell, let's make it two Slingboxes. In fact, we're going to give away some Sling gear every week for a few weeks, with progressively more impressive stakes. To be entered to win a Slingbox

One of our moles on the inside told us Microsoft just had a meeting to determine the price of the 30GB Zune. The final tally: $229.99. Microsoft was going to go $289.99 to undercut the iPod by $10, but since Apple dropped the bombshell that they were lowering prices to $249, Microsoft had to scramble to undercut the lower price as well.
As a result, the Zune might be dropping some pre-loaded content that nobody really cared much for anyway. – Jason Chen