Zune 3 is all the buzz and its hard not to come across it [news] in some variation or another. One of the new features to be offered in the new version is the ability to tagged music from the radio for later download. Microsoft has been somewhat proactive in assisting with the adoption of Radio Data System / RT+ data feed by working with 9 of the major broadcasters. Hopefully, the Feds don't decide to switch radio over to HD radio as with the February 2009 television cut-over.
Users of Microsoft's Zune music device and the related service of the same name will be able to tag songs they hear on the radio and then purchase them via wireless hot spots.
Buy From FM, debuting this coming Tuesday, is the result of a partnership between Microsoft and stations from nine big radio groups: Beasley, Bonneville, CBS Radio, Citadel, Clear Channel, Cox, Emmis, Entercom, and Greater Media. Altogether, over 450 stations are participating.
Microsoft said the new service was designed to make it easier for Zune users to download new music they come across on the radio, citing a survey which found that 61% of the population discovers new music primarily through that medium.
[SOURCE: MediaPost - 9 Radio Broadcasters Tag Songs for Zune]
5 More Days and we all get to enjoy the new start screens!
7 Responses for "Microsoft ensuring Zune product features work for its consumers"
Sounds great. I can’t wait to use wireless marketplace.
I wonder if the update will play well with the games i have installed.
I don’t expect there to be large changes in the architectures so everything should be fine. The goal is hopefully to add and not dramatically change or take away from functionality.
with the 3rd generation ipod nanos the zune had them beat and the ipod classic but idk if u guys have seen the new nanos but they’re pretty sweet. they have a built in accelerometer and to shuffle u shake it which interests me lol
I can hardly every get a radio signal with my Zune and its not like I am in some rural area. I’m in Southern CA lol!
i know its asking for too much but i wonder when they will have the wireless marketplace for videos.
either way i’m very happy and pleased with Zune. so far i’ve got 3 of my friends to go with zune instead of ipod. slowly but surely!
Well Austin I will admit that it could be a cool feature but only available to flash-based players since shaking a hard drive is a bad idea. And we have a long way before we see solid state drives go down in price or flash drives get to the 120GB point.
Euphoric: I have a question for you. Are you using the Zune in a docking station or with headphone? A problem you may encounter (like I have at work/all concrete and metal) is the really poor reception I get while plugged into my docking station. To fix the problem I plugged some headphones into the jack, which acts as an antenna for the device, allowing to get a better reception.
Vacantskies: I wish it had a digital television tuner built-in but where would you identify or mark videos for wireless download? The radio-to-marketplace function is possible because it will pick up metadata (song tags) from the air and download from the marketplace. However another idea would be to allow you to tag radio songs and choose whether or not to download just the song or the music video (this is possible). Glad your happy with the Zune and helping others drink the Kool-aid.
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