Ok, this is a really special link to a Zune recommendation. The fact that the writer is smart enough to go to the best college in the USA, The University of Alabama. Anyhow, Laura Pitts of the Crimson White (the University of Alabama's Paper), shares her 5 must haves. What was #1? Zune!

Microsoft Zune - My boyfriend bought me my pink 30 GB Zune last year, and I love it! Not only does it hold 30 GB of music, photos and videos, it also comes in some pretty cool colors. The top three artists in my ears: Jimmy Eat World, Journey and, yes, Hannah Montana.

Read Scene it, Love it and thanks to the tipster. The one, the only, Cesar!

Everyone has their opinion, here is one from Wilson Ng from Sun Star...

Here are some reasons I like the Zune better that the Ipod:
1) The 3.2-inch screen is very clear and the colors are really great.
2) It has a built-in FM tuner.
3) You can synchronize wireless through your Wi-Fi network, especially if you have new videos or podcasts. That means you can synch with your computer in the house every night — without cables.
4) It jives with my network since all of them can now be .wmv files.

The Screen, the FM tuner, and the fact that it's not made by Apple are the reasons I like the Zune more than the iPod.

Read the entire article : The Microsoft Zune

Gina Hughes at Yahoo writes up an article called, "Gadgets Are A Girl's New Best Friend" and talks about Microsoft and Apple's Valentines day offerings...

Playlists have completely replaced the proverbial mixed tape, so it seems Apple and Microsoft decided to help you out this Valentine's Day by releasing special pink and red music players for your lady. Microsoft was the first to announce its special 80GB red Zune that includes your choice of laser-etched artwork on the back. You'll be able to choose between 20 designs, and further personalize the player with special playlists and wallpaper. Apple announced its 8GB pink iPod nano last week, which will no doubt be a big seller even after Valentine's Day.

It's great to see the Zune make it into guides for any holiday, even the Greeting Card Company created holiday, Valentines Day!

Read the rest of Gadgets Are A Girl's New Best Friend.

What is the Zune Social to you? Zune Insider wants to know!

Here is what I had to say on there...

My take is this, the Zune social is a new, hip way of connecting music lovers. If you browse around to a user and see what they are listening to you can accomplish a few things... a) if you already know the music, you can form an idea of the type person they are b) If you don't know the music, you can give it a try and maybe find something you've never heard that you really like. There are tons of lesser known, non mainstream artist that rock.

I can see the social as a way to connect and make new online friends with others that share the same music tastes.

Head over to Zune Insider to post your thoughts. You are welcome to leave them here as well.

OK, I made my 14 year old daughter a deal. I offered her a brand new 4gb Pink Zune 2 in exchange for her green 4gb iPod Nano. She jumped on the deal and loved the Zune. She loved the all you can download concept with the Zune Marketplace. She was thrilled.

Apparently she broke the Pink Zune a couple weeks ago and only recently let me know. She says that some water splashed on it and it quit working, but I don't buy that. My wife thinks she dropped it into the bathtub. Either way, it's broken and despite everything I have tried, it won't power on. She wants me to help her buy another. She has $60 saved up and wants me to get her a green 4gb Zune and take her $60. What do I do? I bought the 4gb Green Zune recently (she doesn't know yet), but I am worried about showing her responsibility.

What would you do?

Here is a good read that Luigi shared with me. It's called "Zune's new tune". He mentioned a couple quotes from the article that he liked...

..."We're developing a brand that is more warm, more welcoming, kind of a smarter alternative," says Jason Reindorp, a marketing director at Zune.

and

"The folks on the cutting edge of that group said, 'I don't want a waify little iPod. I like the colour of the Zune. I like the chunkiness.'"

Check out the article at Theglobeandmail

I don't care how many times it gets reviewed, we are going to post links to them all. hehe

Pros

• Large screen and big font is better on eyes.
• The normal startup time is quick, but a “coldâ€� start--i.e. being off for a while—isn’t too impressive.
• Wireless syncing eliminates the need for another wire.
  • Note: Wireless syncing is great, but it is a battery hog. The thing to note here is that Microsoft’s original intention is to wirelessly synchronize only while the Zune is being _charged_, when battery life is not really an issue.
• You can use your own pictures as the complete background, making the Zune more “you.
• The soft fabric cable for the headphones give it a unique look and fell, and the in-ear design results in an awesome sound.  This material also seems much more reliable than the standard plastic cable.  There is one exception, please see the “consâ€� section.
• Pros of the new Zune software.
  • The new look is excellent.
  • Marketplace will take a little time to catch up to iTunes’ collection but this is definitely a good start.
  • File system monitoring is an awesome feature. I no longer have to worry about files missing from my library because I either moved or renamed them!

Cons

• You are limited to a simple “no heart/heart/brokenâ€� heart rating system.
• Headphones are too good.  So good that sometimes you hear the drive spinning when you switch between songs!  Also, when in low-noise environment, like an office, the soft fabric cable cover produces an audible sound when it rubs against the zipper of your jacket or a shirt.  Obviously, you won’t notice this if you are listening to Papa Roach or Slipknot.
• There is no option to search the songs on the device.  This is disappointing and surprising considering that this is an 80GB model!
• The large screen is great, but Microsoft should have adjusted the resolution accordingly.  As it is, the iPod screen will be smaller, but more crisp, since it is packing more pixels in a smaller screen.
• Zune is not compatible with Mac or Linux.

Head over to read the rest of the review. (hint: the content is in the middle of the page)

Thanks Luigi and the Author of the review for sending this one in.

Not mainstream media, but good to see anyhow!

BIG Screen! Look at the size of this screen. You might be looking at this and think that the screen size is oddly shaped to watch a movie or something, but the video that is played in this plays sideways so that you turn the Zune player to the side and it is like a widescreen view of what you are looking at. You will find that this is one of the biggest screens for a media device on the market. Especially compare the size of this video screen to what you see for the IPOD and there is no comparison!

REVIEW: Zune 2.0 - the best player on the market!

I have been underwhelmed by the lack of ZUNE related news at CES this year for the most part. There have been a couple things that showed up at CES that we probly won't see until Summer 08 though. One of the is the Belkin Podcast Studio.

Hands down, one of the coolest things I’ve seen at CES so far this week is the Belkin Podcast Studio. It’s a handheld unit that you attach your iPod to. Using a pair of swiveling integrated microphones on each side, the device records what they hear in stereo as an uncompressed WAV on to the iPod. You can even control the pitch and volume, as well as the stereo balance.

I agree Matt, one of the coolest things I have seen come out of Vegas this week too. I am glad I passed on it this year.

To bad this thing isn't universal. This would really, REALLY be cool if I could use it. 

Source: CrunchGear
Engadget also got some Hands-on

Actually any music player can if you are stupid and don't look both ways before crossing, but the title was too good to hold off on.

This is a poster for an Australian Public Service campaign to improve awareness of the dangers of pumping tunes into your earhole without hearing what is happening around you.

Source : Gizmodo