Zune AReviews

Zune Hacks

 

It's really interesting to hear about people hacking their great new toys to do what they want.  It's also fun to do, especially when you can put in features on it the manufacturer didn't want you to have.  Iphones have been seeing that lately, being cracked open for other networks that Apple didn't want the world to have other than their partner networks. I find a lot of iPhone hacks and cracks as soon as it appeared in the market.

The iPods had their day.  This time it's the Zune.

So what is it with Zune, hackers have their hands itchy?  Quite a handful actually. 

One of the things I find very useful with some cellphones with flash drives in them is that they are immediately seen as an external drive by my PC.  Loading music and video files in them is a snap.  That is basically how all flash drives are seen.  I just have to wonder why Apple and Microsoft insist to have proprietary software to get those files loaded.  I can understand that DRM stuff.  But really now, no one really likes the idea.  Talk about making life difficult for consumers and presuming them to be criminals before being proven otherwise.  I thought it was the other way around.

Anyway, it can be a blessing to hear that there are hackers who can make life a lot simpler to gadget freaks like me.  I know for a fact that Zune can be hacked to make it appear just like another hard drive to the PC.  No more fancy software to launch to load your favorite music and video files.  Just straight loading to a drive.

There's also a hack to make shared music files last forever.  Now, I am not entirely going gaga over this. And unless you like those music types that came with your Zune, go ahead.  And there's even a Google Video downloader for the Zune to play those flash video files.  It's really amazing. 

I hope Microsoft sees this in a positive light.  They really should make their products more open.  To some extent, I find it flattering for the maker that his product gets hacks. That means there's a strong demand for it.

IPhones hackers have not ceased to bring iPhones to more people around the world. Apple, with its restrictive selling policies wants to have the phone attached to their favored network. The growing popularity of the Zune has caught the attention of hackers who find it quite restrictive in its use as well.  But it's clear, hacking only makes the product more attractive to the market.

I guess for as long as there are hackers around, no product is really safe.  But at least, whether openly or in the underground markets, the Zune will find its way to more markets knowing you can go around its restrictions.