We usually like to give props when one of our own goes out of the fenced-in Gizmodo area for an interview with another news source. For example, Charlie has been interviewed by everyone and their dog. And today is Jason Chen's lucky day. The automobile blog, Jalopnik has decided to interview him. No, it isn't for his expertise on the Zune or anything else technologically related. It is for his expertise of being an Asian-American. Click the link below to see Jason Chen decipher the meaning behind an Asian-heavy Ford ad. –Travis Hudson
Ad Watch: Do Asian-Americans Like To Live On The Edge, Make Bold Weddings Happen Every Day? [Jalopnik]

According to Microsoft's business chief Chris Stephenson, the company is planning on working with retail chains to provide "filling stations" for the Zune. Such classy places as McDonalds and Starbucks would be the idea place for Zune owners to hop in and download a song or two.
Imagine going to your late teens/early twenties clothing store, hearing a great song over the speakers, and being able to immediately download the track to your Zune right there. No need to walk up to the snarky cashier and ask her what the song is. Cool, eh?
This definitely jives with what Stephenson said before about shrinking down Zunes and releasing one with "true" Wi-Fi. – Jason Chen
Microsoft wants Wi-Fi 'filling stations' for Zune II [The Register via Uber Gizmo]

Filed under: Portable Audio
Some folks just don't know when to quit, and apparently, Ruckus Network falls clearly into that category of beings. Looking past the brutal failure at American University and the growing data proving that stipulation-laced music simply doesn't fit in at college campuses across the nation, Ruckus is giving this idea one more go, and this time, it's 100-percent kinda-sorta gratis. While it's not too unusual to hear of indie / unsigned bands being distributed for free, this new deal supposedly offers up "major label bands" without charge to students holding an email address that ends in ".edu." The service will be completely ad-supported, and doesn't require any official "vow of support" from a university itself, and for alumni / faculty registering with their educational email, a $8.95 per month charge will purportedly be levied. The catch, however, is that the "free music" can only be played back on the person's PC, and transferring it to a DAP -- which m...

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
It looks like the same discussion with Chris Stephenson that yielded that 2007 European Zune launch figure also gave up a few more details about the Zune line: apparently we can expect a flash-based Zune for the holiday season later this year (damn they're taking their dear sweet time on that) and apparently Stephenson also hinted at "a truly WiFi-enabled device" at some point in the future, according to Digital Music News. We don't really know what that means, but if it is what we think it is -- a version of the Zune that does all the things with its WiFi that the first version should have, like support over-the-air downloads and unencumbered sharing of subscription music -- then we might have to throw a little fit up in this piece. Zune peeps, we know you're reading this: upgrade the firmware and add the features, don't try to sell us a v2 device that does what the V1 device can and should. That is all.

[Zune mockup courtesy ...

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Although it didn't seem like our European readership was too broken up over reports that the Zune wouldn't hit their shores until as late as 2008 ("I didn't want to buy one of those crappy things anyway, the Americans can keep them," declared one disinterested commenter), we're sure there are at least a couple less vocal readers out there who will be stoked to learn that Microsoft may be inviting them to "the social" as early as the end of this year. According to Marketing Director Jason Reindorp, "The industry moves in this sort of Christmas to Christmas cycle [gee, really? - ed.]...[therefore] our next round of introductions will probably be in time for the holiday of this year." Speaking to attendees at the annual Midem Net music industry conference in France, Reindorp went on to say that Microsoft execs "feel really good about the first steps that we've taken," and that rather than target the iPod immediately, Zune is on a th...

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Thanks to yet another Microsoft antitrust suit in Iowa, subpoenaed emails have revealed a moment of candidness and clarity at Microsoft in 2003 when Jim Allchin (Co-President, Platforms & Services Division, depicted left) and Amir Majidimehr (Corporate Vice President, Consumer Media Technology Group) had an email thread that basically summarized the portable media device playing field then, and for the most part, now. Some choice quites from the email back-and-forth:

Jim: title "sucking on media players"; regarding a current Creative player (probably a Nomad, perhaps a Zen Touch): "My goodness it's terrible... What I don't understand though is I was told the new Creative Labs device would be comparable to Apple. That is so not the case."
Amir: "Now you feel our pain." He suggests giving cash bonuses for partners that come up with decent devices. In the instance that doesn't work: "it is time for us to roll up o...

  In an article by Reuters, they talked with the marketing director of Zune and he give us some hints of the possible timeline for the new releases. He said that Microsoft is happy with the sales in the US to this point. The Zune took a 10.2 marketshare in the month of December according [...]

  A new report from Zunerama indicates that songs from certain artists can not be shared via Zune. The report indicates that of the 50 songs attempted to be shared only 29 of them were successful. That isn’t impressive see that only 58% of the songs were shared successfully.    Apparently, when the transfer between Zunes is completed [...]

OK, and guys too if you're really interested. Elle dropped by yesterday with the socks she knitted for the Zune. All I can say it these are really really cool. Elle, you out did yourself. Rather than just telling you about them, I'm going to give one away. I want you guys to tell me 1. Why you want one and 2. What other fashion accessories you'd like to see. I'll pick a winner in the next week or so.

Filed under: Portable Audio
It's official: record companies don't like you. After all that griping about signing up for the Zune music store -- and keep in mind that these record companies receive monies for selling songs here -- that resulted in Universal Music Group getting some sort of fat royalty check from Microsoft for Zune sales, not to mention whatever negotiations went on behind closed doors to come up with that ridiculously minimal "three days or three plays" sharing scheme, a couple of labels have once again gone out of their way to make life hard on you. It appears Sony Music and Universal Music Group are marking certain artists of theirs as "prohibited" for sharing, meaning that just because you've paid for a song, and even managed to find another Zune user on the planet Earth, doesn't mean you'll necessarily get to beam that JoJo track to another Zune via WiFi magics. In a non-scientific sampling of popular artists by Zunerama and Zune Thoughts, it looks li...