How unfortunate, i was really hoping that I could enter the Digital Dorm Room $10,000 giveaway but for those of you that are residents of your educational institution good luck and feel free to share any extra items you don't want with your friends here at GotZune.   So does this mean other cool giveaways are around the corner? Hey I will take an XBox360/Zune combo pack any day.

For all the college students out there, are you tired of tripping over old empty pizza boxes and squeezing by your dorm roommate?  Well, Zune can't help you there you slob, but Zune is trying to make your life a little easier with up to $10,000 worth of gadgets from Zune and Dell!  It's called Digital Dorm Room!  As long as you have an email address that ends with .edu - you're in.  (BTW - even if you're not in college, but older than 18, Click HERE to enter to win a new Zune 120!)

The top prize for the Digital Dorm Room is:

• Dell XPS 1330 notebook computer
• Dell XPS 730 H2C Desktop PC
• Dell Crystal Monitor
• Velocity Micro NetMagix Server
• Dell Laser 2130cn printer
• Sony Bravia 32" television
• Altec Lansing speaker system
• D-Link wireless router

• Zune 120GB media player
• One-year subscription to Zune Pass
• Altec Lansing speaker dock
• Xbox 360 with controllers
• One-year subscription to Xbox Live
• Suite of games for Xbox 360
• Xbox 360 wireless adapter

Hit the Jump for further details.

[SOURCE: ACE from Zunited: Do up your dorm room right with Zune!]

Yes, I know you have heard this already, but we got a demo of those two games as well...

Why doesn't the Zune Team through us a few parties?  Has anyone been to a Zune party or visited Zune L.A.? I'm sure market share will increase if we can drown the masses with product exposure instead of vague trippy music commercials that leave us wondering what exactly is being sold.  Or there is the Zune Pass commercial where the camera flies over a table of LP covers with messages... Huh?  "Keep it simple, clear, and concise!"

Check this video about Friday's launch in Canada:

In addition to the new Canadian artists in Zune Originals, now you can buy Zune accessories via Zune Originals - check it out!

Zune Insider

Yes, you read right, the Zune is coming to Canada! Our lucky neighbors to the north will be getting the Zune 4/8/80 models. The 4 and 8 will be available in red, black, and pink. The 80 gets red and black. Prices range from $140 to $250. Canadians can download the Zune Software from Zune.ca.

source: http://www.zuneboards.com/zune-news/zune-arriving-at-canada-on-june-13.html

Hey, I am off to work though, I thought I would have time to get it loaded up and play a bit before I left for work, but... I woke up to my office being quiet. That meant all my machines were powered down. We must of took a power hit last night.

So I get powered up and pop up the software, no problem. I SEE A VIDEO TAB!!! All of a sudden, Internet Explorer starts to start a new window over and over again. 20 new windows later, I had to do a restart to stop it. I left for work. I'll deal with it tonight. I am not sure what caused it, hope it's not Zune 2.5.

Talk to you all later. Work Calls.

So, tommorow you can try it all out, but just off reading all this info pouring in about tommorow's launch, what do you think? Come on, Gapless... Autoplaylists, cool features for the Social... you have to have some opinions, right?

I'll share more about my feelings tommorow after I get to see it on MY PC live.

In case you like reading all the goodies from a press release, I decided to throw you a bone here... Read on for the press release...

Zune Expands Beyond Music to Deliver Integrated All-in-One Entertainment Experience

New software updates bring popular television shows to online store, enhancements to online music community and subscription service.

REDMOND, Wash. — May 5, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Zune, the company’s all-in-one digital entertainment brand, is adding new software features and content to the Zune online store, music community and Zune Pass monthly subscription service. Zune is expanding its video store to include downloads of popular television shows from COMEDY CENTRAL, FUNimation^® Entertainment, MTV, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, Starz Media (including Magna Entertainment), Turner Broadcasting, Ultimate Fighting Championship^® (UFC) and VH1 that consumers can sync to their device and enjoy on the go. In addition, by further integrating the Zune music community into the core experience, the new software makes it easier for people to find and listen to the music they want, share it with friends, and take it with them wherever they go — whether they choose a Zune Pass or a la carte MP3 downloads. Zune Pass subscribers can now set up automatic, real-time feeds of the music their friends are listening to and add those songs to their collection or Zune device.

(more...)

This is one of the nicer additions to the Zune Social with Spring (Zune 2.5)...

We’ve created a new page designed to give a comprehensive overview
of the music your entire circle of friends is playing. This “My Social� page
acts as your new home page, displaying an animated mosaic of artists
and album pictures automatically refreshed by the selections your friends
are playing. This dynamic view includes great artist images along with the
ability to sample tracks on your friend’s cards. Just mouse over images to
see who’s been listening to what.

(more...)

This release that should go live tommorow morning will include a ton of new features, Fixes, etc... Most of the in the Social, but some big ones that you all have been asking for. Video Store, Gapless Playback, and Auto Playlists.

Here are some feature highlights...

• Auto playlists.
• Browsing videos.
• Editing album and track information.
• Organizing collections.
• Gapless playback.
• Syncing groups.
• Zune reminders.

There are tons of new Social Features today too...

• Syncing Zune Cards to a device.
• Enhanced friends search.
• Instant friends.
• Artist and album reviews.
• Reputation badges.
• Windows Live connections.

Hang tight, I have more info coming soon. I had a chance to see this in action last month and it's nice so far.

So, we've known for quite some time that the Canadians would get a Zune launch eventually. Now it seem that it's getting closer though. Engadget today posted a story about jobs that came up on craigslist Canada and a link to a promo page on Microsoft Canada. They are calling this launch potentially a "limited lineup". I don't really understand that considering that the Red Zune was just announced as going to retail and the Zune 30 is an old legacy gen 1 device. It's still a good Zune, but I don't think they are in production anymore.

 
Screen grab from Engadget of the Microsoft Canada Promo Page.

Just hold on a little while longer, Canadian Zune-lovers -- it seems that your wait is almost over. A job listing just popped up on the Vancouver Craigslist, looking for a "Microsoft Zune Program Coordinator" who will "represent our client Microsoft on their launch of Zune in the Canadian marketplace." The job calls for applicants to be available between May 12 and June 20, so if it's legit -- and we hope it is, just because we prefer to believe no one is sad enough to fake this -- it looks like the Zune will finally roll into Canada in just a few weeks.

Go Canada, at least you know they are coming!