I thought I would share one of the clips from the Sandisk Block Party I attended in Hollywood a couple weeks ago. More info about this event can be found on my personal blog.

Thanks to everyone that has visited so far! We have had over 1000 unique visitors already. For a new blog, that thrills me! What's pretty cool is 200 visits from Google, ALREADY. In case you didn't know this, we just came online Saturday Night. (The old coverage is from Mobilitysite.com, import for the win!)

No matter how you found us, I am glad you did and I hope to see you around quite a bit!

Thanks!

After the jump, Gizmodo has a short take from reviews from 6 media outlets. The thing is, I don't care what any of these folks have to say. I just don't care much for big media review styles. Having friends that work for a couple of these pubs, I here horror stories about deadlines and/or actual time spent with devices for these so called reviews.

If you don't care either, wait around for some of the user reviews.

Read the rest of this entry »

In an interview with Cool Hunting, Chris Stephenson explains what Zune Originals is about. Zune Originals is a collection of 27 original works by 18 international artists designed to be engraved onto the back of the device. Visitors will be able to customize their Zune by size, color, illustration and with up to four optional lines of text—all free of charge. Let's get to the interview, shall we?
How did this project came to be and what role did your background play in it?
Chris Stephenson: I came out of the music industry. I was at MTV, I worked in fashion, I ran a record label, Ministry of Sound, and I had my own consulting business in music and design. And the thing I was used to was creating. I was into creating, making mistakes and making stuff that really resonates with people.

So, from day one we committed ourselves to authenticity and action, to supporting arts and giving artists the opportunity to express themselves. The first foray was Zune Arts and we put absolutely no restrictions, just asked artists to participate. We thought, 'wouldn't it be interesting to take this love of art to the device.'

It was a way of saying, 'let the consumer get involved let them do the customization.' It's like NIKEiD for the MP3 player. We looked at Nike a lot and we also took inspiration from something as pedestrian as MySpace. That's what the internet is about, it makes readers into writers. It's putting self-expression into the consumer's hands.

What was your strategy in curating this group of artists?
Chris Stephenson: Quite honestly, what we did is we sat down, we have great team of illustrators and designers, and we created a list of 60-70 artists that we love, a wish list.

We realized after the first 12 calls that everyone was like, "Yeah we'd love to do that." So after that we just fine-tuned that to the people that we were really excited about. We had a really high conversion rate. There are some who don't want to have anything to do with anything corporate and we respect and understand that. Others were excited for the exposure and I think we have some of the best contemporary artists and illustrators.

I noticed a strong international representation, how did that play a role?
It was very purposeful. I think it goes back to my years at MTV. Some of my responsibilities were getting the best animations and it was amazing where they came from. They came from Poland, from India, Bulgaria. If they just came from the U.S. and Eurpoe, it'd be different. From day one we said this is our goal. We'd already worked a lot with South American illustrators, we've been global in our aspirations from day one.

What was the directive?
The brief that we had for ourselves and for artists was that it had to be something that would work as a tattoo on the back of a device. But what you create needs to works as line art but also as a poster, because what happens is you get a beautiful poster that you can frame and a set of cards. We wanted it to be a deeper experience.

Otherwise, the directive that we gave was very loose. We have a couple of brand themes that we really believe in and one was sharing and also community, but we made it very loose. When you look at someone like Catalina [Estrada] (pictured top left) she has these great themes so we didn't want to over brief. But some of the Japanese art is playing on vibrant communities. Someone like Kenzo [Minami] (at left), you just love the architectural side of it. His work looks almost like Frank Lloyd Wright in a way. It has that something that you didn't want to lose.

What did you discover along the way as far as trends in art?
The one thing that I'm noticing, not just this particular project, but I think there's been a very clean aesthetic for a long time, in the '90s and with Apple. Now, you look at wallpaper, there's so much Fluer de Lys patterning, paisley—we're seeing much more richness, seeing flocked wallpapers, seeing some great companies like Timorous Beasties and Flavor Paper.

The Apple cult and homogeneous art, homogeneous culture—things are opening up. Look at Artful Dodger, look at some of the clothes hip hop kids are wearing. The quote is, 'were just opening up color again.'

Ami, I have to tell you, I'm sitting in a room right now at Microsoft and on the wall I've got wallpaper with tanks and airplanes and rainbows and clouds that we made. And we live this because we love it and it's very much a part of the culture that we're trying to build there. And it's not a project, it's coming to life in natural, intuitive way. It's really just who we are.

They also posted all the images that will be available for customization, so check it out! It's hard to believe, but Microsoft has just "out-cooled" Apple.

The fine folks over at ZuneBoards made a collection of great looking wallpapers for Pink Zuners.

Hope you like them!

Generation Zune is reporting the following preinstalled content. I hope this stuff is better than the Zune 30 content. The skateboard video was the only thing I could handle.

Music:
Ceu- Ave Cruz
The Handsome Furs- Cannot Get Started
Junkie XL- Dark Territory
Pacha Massive- Don't let go
Barenaked Ladies- Easy
Mexican Institute of Sound- El Microfono
Datarock- Fa-Fa-Fa
John Doe- Golden State
Rosey- It's a Ruse
Sidestepper- Paloma
Andrew Bird- Plasticities (Alternative Mix)
Pop Levi- Sugar Assault Me Now
Bebel Gilberto- Um Segundo
The Avett Brothers- Will You Return?
Great Lake Swimmers- Your Rocky Spine

Videos:
-Robyn Hitchcock- Adventure Rocket Ship
All that Remains- The Air That I Breathe
Avril Lavigne- Avril Lanvigne's Make 5 Wishes Vol. 1
Dntel- The Distance
Pacha Massive- Don't Let Go
Sick Capita- Firt Kiss
CeU- Roda
Low- Hachet
Funky C- Joya
IFC- A Passion For Filmmaking
RedBull BC1
The Format- She Doesn't Get it
Barenaked Ladies- Wind It Up
Zune- 45 Sec Promo

Podcasts:
KEXP Live
This American Life
Using Podcasts (In English and Spanish)

If you are interested in taking a look at the user manuals before you head out to get yours tommorow, here are some links courtesy of Zune-Online.

Zune 2 Guide in English
Zune 2 Guide in Spanish

Tomorrow, consumers ready for a richer, more connected and more personal entertainment experience will have the first opportunity to get their hands on sleek new Zune players, redesigned Zune software, and new online services including the Zune Marketplace and Zune Social, an online music community. The players — along with dozens of accessories — will be available at retailers across the United States, while the new Zune software will be available for free download at http://www.zune.net.

Unique, laser-etched design from noted artist Catalina Estrada on the new red flash-memory Zune. One of many one-of-a-kind creations available for free with Zune purchase at http://www.zuneoriginals.net.

For the first time, consumers also will have the option to customize their Zune player with laser-engraved designs and personal text through a new Web store called Zune Originals. Customers will be able to purchase a Zune player directly from Microsoft at http://www.zuneoriginals.net and choose from a collection of laser-engraved artwork designed exclusively for Zune by 18 internationally recognized artists. Read the rest of this entry »

Jason has gone crazy with the videos... He's got plenty. No worries though, the best video of all of them will be online in the next 24 hours. MINE!

Here is the Zune Thoughts Video Vault

• Zune v2 Promotional Video
• Zune v2 Unboxing Video
• Zune v2 First Impressions Video
• Zune v2 Desktop Software Install and Setup Video
• Zune v2 Desktop Software Use: Music & Videos
• Zune v2 Desktop Software Use: Pictures & Podcasts
• Zune v2 Desktop Software First Sync Experience
• Zune v2 Desktop Software First Sync Experience
• Zune v2 Walkthrough Video (Part 1)
• Zune v2 Walkthrough Video (Part 2)

• Re-reviewing the Zune 30: Firmware changes everything
• Zune 80: The three S's: Size, Screen, Sexy
• Have you ever wondered what a small Zune would look like?