We shall see, but these are two things that an online retailer called B&H seem to be indicating.

As the tip from Zune Thoughts shows us, B&H has preorders available for not just the 120 GB Zune, but a blue 8 GB Flash Zune. There are no photos, so not sure what shade of blue though.

So yes, it looks like my Blue Zune might be a reality, although in a size Zune I won't use. It also looks like the Zune 120 is going to be onehelluva good value at $249.

With the rumors and leaks popping up everywhere, I thought it would be a good time to solicit feedback for the Zune Team last week. A couple days later, fellow Zune Fanboy and a super friend, Jason Dunn posted his "State of the Zune Union"...

More Video & Audio Codecs: It's great that h.264 is supported, but there's a lot of content out there in Divx and Xvid formats. Add support for these formats directly on-device. Extend audio format support to include OGG and FLAC. If this is really a music-lovers device, support all the common formats that music lovers use, especially those crazy audiophiles. Apple is a format bigot when it comes to video, you have a real opportunity here

This article is a great read, but to be honest, I disagree with Jason on a couple bullet items. Battery life... Ugh, sure the iPod Classic does a little better, but 20+ hours is plenty of battery for most. I would like them to innovate in other ways. Over the air downloads? Yep... that would work.

Read the rest of Jason's article at Zune Thoughts!

PS. You can keep the features, just give me a damn blue Zune!!!

I had a great 3 day weekend and hope you guys all did to. I tried to stay disconnected most of the weekend but I failed. I did have a great time practicing baseball with my son. His 1st game is tomorrow night. He hits awesome, but throwing is lacking. Anyhow, Happy Labor Day!

Since the 120gb Zune has been confirmed by Cesar as being in the works, now would be a good time to think about requests for future Zunes. It might be kind of late, but we've provided plenty of input so we can hope that these make it into the upcoming version's plans.

What do you want to see changed with Zune?

My biggest request is for a Zune to be available in the blue color that you see in the closest sidebar to this post. Kind of a aquamarine/teal color.

Microsoft has given the Zune team a green light when it comes to allowing them to customize Zunes for companies, events, etc. There have been several "branded" Zune 2 runs out there so far, including a Gizmodo branded Zune for their meet up on the snow earlier this year. Now it appears that the Zune Team has gone all political. Something I don't mix is politics and gadgets.

Microsoft's just slapped together a pair of special edition Zunes for both the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions and they look pretty damn great. The one for the DNC is awarded for the winner of the "Green Delegate Challenge", which is contest for delegations that "demonstrate the highest level of commitment to offsetting their carbon footprint from attending the Convention.".

Source: Gizmodo

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Thanks to Zac Altman for the tip. He shared a post on I Started Something that shows that a 120gb Zune seems to have passed through the FCC's Doors. Of course this isn't released or even announced and is subject to change as it's not even official, but hey... Zune is moving on up.

Source - FCC

Thanks to Ace over at Zune Boards for this find, and oh boy what a find. A mere $88 for a PINK ZUNE!

You should head over to New Egg fast, before they are sold out.

I don't know, but I am going to find out. I have had my zune in the car continuously playing for 2 weeks now. I have taken it inside to sync once, but other than that, it's been sitting in my car attached to the Zune car kit playing continuously. It started off because I forgot to take it in, then I got busy, then I forgot, now it's a science project. How long before it dies?

It's taking some nice Alabama heat during the day, so this might play into it's life expectancy, but I am going to just let it keep going until it dies. Might be next week, might be next month, or even next year. We'll see.

Right now, it's sitting at 2 weeks 1 day. I'll update here and there on the status. My Black Zune 80, Bigdaddyzune, is protected well with an Incipio flip case and I keep it covered with papers when I am at work to keep those walking by from getting tempted.

Wish BigDaddyZune the best of Luck.

Jessica at Zune Insider is soliciting feedback on the Award system. I don't even know if I have any badges. You know why? Cause I don't need no stinking badges, but you might. Take a moment to answer the poll to help Jessica out.

As I look to expand the system, I’m considering a number of things.

Should there be a maximum number of available badges? Or should we create badges as ideas occur to us, constantly expanding the ecosystem?

Should there be other rewards that go along with badges? Maybe we could get an artist to provide a special download to everyone who has earned a Gold Power Listener badge for that artist. Would that be cool?

Are we going to try to change users’ behavior, or just reflect it? If we try to change it, in what ways are appropriate to maintain a healthy community, and will users try to game the system to get a badge or reward?

Thanks. Head over to Zune Insider too.

Well, it's shipping. This is the one that a couple sites got their hands on early some liked it, some hated it. You can now be the judge yourself...

iHOME RELEASES WORLD’S FIRST CLOCK RADIO DESIGNED FOR ZUNE DIGITAL MEDIA PLAYER

Zune Owners Can Now Wake to Music Stored on Their Device

iHome, a leading provider of innovative speaker solutions today announced the release of the first offering in a new line of speaker systems developed exclusively for the Zune^â„¢ digital media player.  The new ZN9 Dual-Alarm Stereo Clock Radio features the great sound, high quality and array of features that define the company’s extensive product catalogue.

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