Zune AReviews

Zune Marketplace

 

The iPod is fast making room for a new player in the mobile gadget market and is called Zune.  I seem to notice the Zune gadget making waves.  Glad to have bought one.  Needless to say, iTunes has to make some room as well.  Apple certainly is frowning these days. And Microsoft should be grinning from ear to ear.

Called the Zune Marketplace, it's everything the iTunes is for the iPod.  And just like iTunes, the Zune software on your PC is an integral part of your multimedia Zune experience. Designed exclusively to Zune owners, it's your one stop shop for everything you need for your Zune toy - a veritable jukebox to manage all your multimedia files.  You can rip and burn CDs, manage your media library and includes a subscription service to access its online store.   

So what can you find in the Marketplace.  Pretty much the same as what you'd see in the Apple iTunes website.  You have management console, various genre navigation, album cover arts and releases, artist names as well as management consoles to handle video and photos.  The Microsoft Zune Marketplace has a library of all these in the format the Zune player understands and plays. You can always venture to browse its music library and listen to each 30-second sample.

The Zune marketplace software is on a CD that forms part of your sales package when you buy a Zune media player.  Unlike the iPod's iTunes which you have to download from the Apple site first. Of course, the same software can also be downloaded from Zune.net site as well.  But why bother, I find the installation CD a no brainer, especially as I am used to those with my cellphone kits. I certainly never encountered any problem installing the software on the PC.  It's quite a breeze and allows seamless integration with my Zune 80GB. 

Of course, you need to have the right windows on your PC to get this installed. You need the new Windows Vista or at least a Windows XP Home or Pro with Service Pack 2, or Windows XP Media Center 2005 with Rollup Update 2 and Oct. 2006 Rollup Update.  I installed in about 30 minutes on my XP Home edition. After rebooting, just like iTunes, Zune will automatically scan your PC directories for music content including any iTunes and Windows Media Player playlist for import to the Zune playlist.

The Zune mobile player actually comes with some MP3 files pre-bundled. At least mine did. You can share them wirelessly with friends. But for shared files, you'll be prompted to make a purchase after three playbacks.  Not bad really. IPods never had that much feature anyway.