RSS RSS feed (blog)
RSS RSS feed (forum)



translate to Spanish translate to French translate to German translate to Italian translate to Japanese translate to English




Popular Zune boards

  • Free Zune Giveaways
  • Tech Support board
  • Zune Download Center
  • Zune Accessories board
  • Digital Media Player board
  • Zune Hacks and Mods board
  • Go to forum...




    Zune forums


    Full Zune 2 coverage from Zunerama:
       Zune 80 review
       Zune 8 review
       Tour the new Zune user interface video
       Watch how wireless sync works video
    Fun stuff:
       Unboxing Zune 80 video
       Unboxing Zune 8 video
       Zune gallery - close-ups and 360o views
    More stuff:
       Zune software install
       Walk through Zune's PC software
       View Marketplace screenshots


    Zune Marketplace

    Microsoft released a significantly upgraded Zune Marketplace in November 2007, with an updated music catalog, music videos, podcasts, and unprotected (DRM-free) music. The new Zune Marketplace is also redesigned, making for a much improved user experience.

    Zunerama's editors point out the highlights and features of Zune Marketplace. Click on any of the screen grabs below, to see a full-size version.

    collection | device | marketplace | social | settings

    Zune Marketplace

    Zune Marketplace is an online service that provides music (including DRM-free music and music videos) and podcasts for your Zune player.

    Music

    From the main music page, you can view music by genre, browse playlists, or view a variety of music charts.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    Remember our story about Zune Marketplace's great search capabilities? Well, it is still excellent, but has changed. Search does not dynamically filter search results with each letter that is entered, as was the case with earlier versions of Zune software.

    Instead, search results are displayed once you press the enter key (or click the magnifying glass icon). It results in a faster search than the dynamic search.

    Happily, the search returns results that include partial matching. So, the "van mor" search above returns Van Morrison in the search results, as you would hope.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    The combinations of charts (top songs) and genres has been expanded, with more genres and more ways to browse for music based on various genres, subgenres, and charts.

    For each track, the right column indicates if the track is already in your collection, can be bought, can be downloaded (if you're a Zune Pass subscription holder), or is available for free.

    Downloading each track or album just takes a single click.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    Clicking on the "Now Playing" icon (lower right corner) throws up a mosaic of album art in your collection. The mosaic changes as your music plays. I like it!

    Zune 2 software

    Marketplace now provides expanded details about music and artists. Pictures, biographical info, and music videos are provided for artists, as well as "related info" that includes related artists and genres, and an "influenced by" list.

    Zune 2 software

    Music videos are now available through Zune Marketplace. 30-second previews are available. Music videos may be purchased for 159 Microsoft Points, or $1.99 U.S.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    Some tracks or albums are flagged with an MP3 icon (marked in the lower left corner of the albums in the screen grab below). Those are DRM-free (i.e. unprotected) tracks, and are available for 79 Points - the same price as protected tracks. Microsoft reports that there are currently about 1 million DRM-free tracks available on Marketplace.

    Podcasts

    The Zune team certainly put a robust catalog of audio and video podcasts available. You can browse by category and subcategory, or search for podcasts.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    Subscribing to a podcast is a one-click action. The process is identical for video or audio podcasts.

    You must be logged in to Zune Marketplace to subscribe.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    Downloads

    The download option under Marketplace gives details on active (in progress) downloads, purchased downloads, or subscription downloads.

    Zune 2 software

    Social

    The Social area is where you can see items that you've received from other Zune owners - for example, through wireless sharing. The usefulness of this may be extended as zune.net/social is rolled out. This area may offer a way to interact with other Zune card holders in the Zune social community site.

    Zune 2 software Zune 2 software

    View menu options for Settings

    collection | device | marketplace | social | settings


    Full Zune 2 coverage from Zunerama:
       Zune 80 review
       Zune 8 review
       Tour the new Zune user interface video
       Watch how wireless sync works video
    Fun stuff:
       Unboxing Zune 80 video
       Unboxing Zune 8 video
       Zune gallery - close-ups and 360o views
    More stuff:
       Zune software install
       Walk through Zune's PC software
       View Marketplace screenshots


    Comments