zune

Good news for those who reside in Denmark, Norway or Sweden, WiMP is available for Windows Phone and will allow you to stream music for a subscription fee - similar to Zune. Offline listening is available too, just in case you find yourself with little-to-no network connectivity. Signing up to the service will earn you a 30 days free trial to test WiMP out on your phone. Should you not be able to get Zune, this will be a worthy alternative.

You can download WiMP from the Marketplace for free, accompanied by a free 30 day trial.

Seems as though some users are experiencing some issues with Zune, with regards to agreeing to the ToS (Terms of Service). It's been widely reported on Twitter and other social networks with many users feeling frustrated with not being able to login to their account due to an endless loop being present when attempting to sign into an account. In the above image we can see the three screens that are in a constant loop.

While local playback and Windows Phone synchronisation can be achieved, streaming and Marketplace downloading is a flop without the ability to sign into an account. Neowin reports that Microsoft has put up a KB article to help users who are experiencing this problem. Are you experiencing this problem, and has the KB helped you find a solution? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: WPSauce, Neowin

After months of testing, Zune Pass is heading to Australia. Along with voice control for Kinect, Microsoft announced the release of the Zune Pass subscription service during a press event in Sydney.

The Zune Music Pass in Australia will run $11.99 a month and give subscribers unlimited listening capacity on their Zune software, Xbox console and Windows Phones. The Zune Pass will give Australian users access to around 11 million songs at launch.

The Zune Pass is slated for availability in the Australian market on November 16th.

via: Gizmodo.au

You've got to wonder if Mark Twain had the Zune HD in mind when he said, "The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated".  Yep, that's right.  It looks as if the Zune HD is still kicking.

Remember yesterday when we shared the Zune HD support page that said the devices were no longer in production? Where Microsoft would continue to honor warranties and support the devices but were focusing on the Windows Phone as their mobile music and video devices? Well that page is now gone.

You also have a tweet from @ZuneSupport stating that support page was added in error. Just as pulling the Zune HD from sales channels was a publishing mishap?

We still believe that Microsoft will end production of the Zune players. Microsoft may just need a bigger boat to pull the Zune HD off the market. Either that or get the Zune Team all on the same page the next time they report the unfortunate death of the Zune HD to avoid a trilogy.

via: @WP_DownUnder/WP Down Under

Earlier we reported that Zune players had been removed from the Zune.net sales channels. We then were informed by Michael Yeager, a Zune Team member, that such removal was a mistake due to a publishing mishap and that the Zune HD was still listed on Zune.net.

While the Zune HD is still listed and available for purchase (albeit through Walmart.com and out of stock), the Zune support page tells a different story. It clearly states that Microsoft will no longer be producing Zune players and Windows Phone will be the focus of Microsoft's mobile music and video strategy.

Microsoft isn't leaving current Zune owners hanging in the wind. Existing warranties will be honored, devices will continue to work with Zune services, and support sites will stay operational.  Which makes sense seeing that the Zune software is still going strong on the Windows Phone and Xbox Live consoles. 

While Walmart is out of stock, we did find Zune HD units at Amazon.com but BestBuy is only offering refurbs.  So if you want to get your hands on a Zune HD, you better hurry as the device has started it's journey into the sunset.

As we mentioned earlier, the Zune Player was good for what it was but it's time we move on to bigger and better things.

Thanks goes out to Theo and Cori for tipping us on this!

Good news to our friends up north. On October 3rd, the Zune Marketplace is headed your way, hopefully completely unfiltered.

"We are excited to announce that Zune Music Marketplace and Zune Music Pass will roll out in Canada on October 3rd, providing access to a growing music catalog of more than 14 million tracks from all the major labels, as well as tens of thousands of indie labels. Zune Music Pass will also be available for C$9.99 per month or C$99.90 annually and can be used on Xbox 360, Windows Phone, Windows PC, Zune devices and Zune.net."

The deal sounds good to us, especially since up to this point people with Windows Phones up in Canada have not had the full experience. This looks to finally fix this and the pricing seems right about in line with other countries.

In addition, you'll be able to stream "tens of thousands" music videos to your Zune PC and later, the Xbox 360.

Source: Zune Insider

All signs point to tomorrow as a big day for Windows Phone and Mango, so it shouldn't be of too much surprise that those same servers that will be pushing out Mango to the masses have been turned off.

Specifically, some folks are now trying to upgrade to the developer build (7712) or even the security update (7392) for various reasons and they are finding that Microsoft's servers are reporting their phones as being "up to date" even though they were on the very old 7004 (aka pre-NoDo). Users at XDA and WPCentral forums have both reported the same phenomenon of not being able to do any updates.

The speculation is of course that MS is prepping their servers for Mango and therefore have disabled all further updates. We've also noticed the Marketplace has ceased publishing new apps (though old ones are being updated). We're gonna call this a pretty good sign that something big is about to happen and we're not writing it off as coincidence.

Thanks, Ashish Mohta, for the tip!

If you blink, you might have missed it but Zune's desktop software has been updated to version 4.8. The update will allow Zune to communicate correctly with Windows Phone 7.5 (more affectionately known as Mango). So if you're planning to update your Windows Phone, you'll need to update Zune.

According to the update's release, the update has the following features to make the update process go smoother and faster.

• Progressive updates: In Zune 4.8, you only have to click the update button once for multiple updates. Once an update is finished, the software automatically checks for more and repeats the installation process until your phone is completely up to date.
• Streamlined backup: By synching media separately from other phone content, we’ve lowered the overall time it takes to back up your phone. The backup file is also more compact, so it should take up less space on your computer.
• Skip phone backup: If you don’t have enough room on your computer to store a phone backup file, you’ll now have the option to skip this step so you’re not blocked from updating your phone.

The process is painless and takes about five minutes. Just go into your Zune Settings, choose Software and General Category (column on the left). Towards the bottom of the screen you'll see a button to "check for updates". Follow the update steps, accept the terms, then sit back and relax. If you are new to Windows Phones and haven't installed Zune, you can find the updated version here.

Now for the speculation. With Microsoft releasing the update to Zune, could Mango be right around the corner?

source: windowsteamblog

Thanks goes out to Shipwreck, David and everyone else who tipped us on this!

It’s no secret that Microsoft is consolidating several of its brands into the uber-successful Xbox brand. Just last week we reported that the Games for Windows website is moving to Xbox.com. In the last few days, Microsoft phased out Zune original sales on their site. And of course, it’s long been rumored that the Zune brand will split up into several tiny robot lion brands.

That rumor gains more credence thanks to some recently-released screenshots of the upcoming fall Xbox 360 dashboard update. Not only does it look super slick and Windows 8-ey, but it’s also lacking the Zune logo in its music and videos sections. Zune, we’ll always have Paris.

The big question though: How will this matter to Windows Phone, going forward?

Update: Looks like Thurrott may have been a a little quick on the gun. Zune is still listed as an App in the new Xbox hub, as seen above. It's just not named for Music/Music, which may be the area in which you access local media, whereas Zune is for streaming, etc. Read more at They Lyons Den.

Source: Supersite for Windows, Live Side