Vendor: Ihome

Price: $99.99

In this review I'll be taking a look at Ihome's new Radio/Audio system for zune. At the moment it's the only product of it's kind for zune, being the only zune alarm clock on the market, and one of the few Zune audio systems. Overall testing this product out was an enjoyably experience, with just a few annoyances. Enjoy!

Meet the new ZN9, the world’s first clock radio for Zune. The ZN9 features several innovative solutions, including wake and sleep to your Zune™ music or AM/FM radio presets, a 7-5-2 feature for separate weekday and weekend alarm times, and an extra large, backlit LCD display with dimmer.
With our Reson8 speaker chambers, you’ll be able to enjoy stereo sound around the clock. The new ZN9… treat yourself and your Zune right.

• Wake or sleep to Zune, AM/FM Radio or buzzer
• Charges Zune while docked
• Auto-Set Clock sets itself
• Programmable Snooze
• High-fidelity stereo drivers in specially designed Reson8® speaker chambers deliver astounding clarity, depth, and power
• Gradual Wake and Gradual Sleep increase/decrease Alarm/Sleep volume so as not to startle the user
• Clean contemporary design complements the look of the Zune
• Dual alarm with AM/FM presets
• 7-5-2 feature for separate weekday and weekend alarm times

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Eliot Van Buskirk from Wired.com has has recently had a sneak preview of the new zune software, and wrote an interesting article comparing it to Apple's Genius. Apparently the new Mixview function makes Genius "look like a blast from the digital music's past."

While iTunes serves up a text list of recommended songs within your library and from the iTunes store, adding to the more basic recommendations its MiniStore feature used to make, Zune reinvented the recommendation concept by collapsing artists, albums and fans into the same recommendation engine, more accurately mirroring the way people think about music.

He goes on later to explain,

Granted, I'm not referring to the accuracy of one system's algorithms versus the other's; there will be plenty of time to compare them on those merits once the new Zune software is released. But in terms of breadth, layout and social utility, Zune sends Genius back to school.

To read more, check out the full article here.

It seems as though the zune team really got this new function right, and I don't know about you all, but I'm quite excited to give it a try in just 3 more days!

Well, Fry's has done it again! And thanks to Harvey from  Zunerama for pointing  it out. This go around the leak is in the form of online orders, as they are taking orders for the Zune 8 blue and Zune 120 black. Now, not only have they just revealed pictures of the Zune 8 blue, but there is also some new and interesting information under the "Key Features and Benefits" section. From the looks of it, the zune team has added 3 new features. Read after the break for all the info!

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Well, it just looks like Zune may be taking a slightly different turn than some were expecting. Matt Rosoff from Cnet has some knowledge about the zune future plans, and gave us some hints with this little blurb in one of his recent posts.

As iPod fans will no doubt note, 120GB is still short of the 160GB offered by the top-capacity iPod Classic. I can't say much, but I've seen what Microsoft's planning, and befitting its status as a software plus services company, the real advances aren't going to be in the Zune hardware, but in the Zune software and associated services. Apple makes great devices, and so far iTunes has remained ahead of the Zune software, but Apple has sometimes fallen short in the services arena. Microsoft has a huge challenge taking on the iJuggernaut, but they are far from giving up. That's good news for us--competition means better products from all sides.

This obviously still leaves room for speculation, and only time will tell what we end up seeing. In my opinion though, the software always has been the obvious weak point, so putting extra effort into making it better,(and maybe speeding it up a bit..) is quite important. Hopefully we'll have some more news soon.

       Well, it's official. Cesar Menendez himself has just confirmed the zune 120 to be real(if the FCC photo didn't quite satisfy you). However, not only has he confirmed that, but he's mentioned a bit more than just a new capacity, here's the message Jason Dunn received:

"You've probably all seen about 120GB @the FCC- and just wanted to send you a note to confirm that is indeed part of the plan. There's definitely more details coming in the way of new software and hardware, pricing etc." -Cesar Menendez

The good news is this sure keeps the hopes alive for a November 2008 release of Zune 3, and more updates for Zune 1-2 users. However, the question is, is 120 gig enough to compete with apples 160 gig classic?

Cesar Menendez over at Zuneinsider has just announced a new audio and video podcast that is available in the marketplace for free. Here are the details:

Podcasting guru Rob Greenlee and I will be producing a weekly audio and video podcast, where we’ll cover everything Zune: software, devices, cool content in marketplace, accessories, events and more. Have a listen to the first episode by subscribing in Zune Marketplace, or you can just download the MP3 from here.

Here is the direct RSS feed link: http://zuneinsider.feeds.zune.net/rss

And of course, here's the deeplink to Zune Marketplace:

If you have ideas for topics to cover, or people to talk to, whether in the blog or in the podcast, drop a comment!

I already listened to the first episode, which is more an introduction to the podcaster's, and what the podcast will be, but it's good stuff. I'm excited to see what this podcast will bring, and I think it definitely has some potential.

www.DarkZune.com joins the celebration as it, like Zunited(even if it is just 1/2 year) and Zunerama,  is celebrating it's anniversary. To celebrate they're first full year many contests/giveaway's have been put into action, and more will come soon.  So head over to the DarkZune forums to take a chance at scoring one of numerous zune 4/8 cases, or download newly added sets of wallpapers for your zune.

However, they're anniversary is not the only big news. DarkZune has announced their work on an all new pokemon game for zune. Even though this may not interest the older generations, this could be big for the younger zuners. Pokemon is quite popular, and if this game is completed, and released, it could draw quite a few people to zune.  This is not in fact a remake of any previous game, the staff makes it clear that it's an all new game. What we've seen so far looks promising, just hope they can keep up the work to get this would be massive XNA project completed.

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Vendor: Incipio

Price: $12.99

This review covers Incipio's first zune 4/8 silicone case, the dermaSHOT. Incipio currently has a much more vast selection of leather based cases, but i'm glad to see they've branched to silicone as well. The review for this case will be fairly simple, being it's a silicone case, but i'll try to cover just about everything you could need to know.

Tight fitting anti-slip case for your Zune. The Incipio dermaSHOT silicone case is curved to the shape of the Zune so that you can access all the device's features.

Features

• High density silicone.
• Play-through design for full function while in case.
• Anti-static coating grips the device, not your clothes.
• Shock absorbing silicone helps protect against damage.
• Cut-outs give easy access to controls and inputs.
• Backed by Incipio's Lifetime warrant

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... at least according to Jasmine France in her recent article, "Best MP3 players for podcasts"

This article highlighted the pro's and some con's, of different MP3 players and their podcasts. The Microsoft Zune was proudly positioned as #1, followed closely by the Ipod Touch in the #2 position. This is the blurb about zune podcast support taken from the article:

Microsoft Zune: A fantastic podcast option, the Zune even ekes past the iPod for the top spot. The software is excellent for podcasts: You can manage how many episodes you want to sync to your device on a subscription-by-subscription level, meaning you can update three episodes of Buzz Out Loud, but only one of MP3 Insider and so on. You can also unsubscribe from podcasts directly from the player, and there's an option to wirelessly sync new podcasts when you charge your player at night. The Zune also offers accelerated fast forwarding and passive bookmarking to automatically remember your spot in each podcast.

Zune clearly does excel with podcast support, but their is still room for improvement, and many other aspects Microsoft needs to put more emphasize on to get a stronger foothold in the MP3 industry. Always glad to see zune on top though(at least at Cnet).