Zune 3.0 ... We Likey!
This week we launched Zune 3.0 -- some new hardware devices, but MOSTLY this release is about updating the software and service that brings Zune to life. We've added lots of great new stuff:
- "Channels", so that your Zune device is just as good as a high-quality radio, with no commercials and skipping! It's a great way to have fresh, new music all the time.
- "Mixview" in the Zune PC software -- a fun way to browse around and discover new artists, albums, or people to connect with and listen to
- Buy From FM .. hear a song on the device's FM radio you like? 2-clicks and it's yours.
- And much much more.
If you're interested, just download the software and try it yourself. it's free-- and right now you can get a 14-day free music subscription, to download as many songs as you'd like at no extra charge. Oh... and please don't take my word for it... Here's what a few of the most respected reviewers in techdom are saying...
Wall Street Journal, Katie Boehret (who writes for Walt Mossberg’s “the Mossberg Solution”)
Fresh 'Discoveries' From iPod, Zune
After using the music-discovery software from Apple and Microsoft, I felt like Apple's Genius tool still had a lot to learn. …Though I didn't happen to have as much time to use Zune's software as I did Apple's Genius, I got more out of my Zune experience”
Gizmodo.com
Microsoft Beats Apple’s iTunes Genius with Mixview
They must be making popsicles in hell now, because Microsoft has come up with a much better way to expand your musical horizons than Apple iTunes 8's Genius in their new Zune software: MixView.
New York Times, David Pogue
Upgraded Zune Moves Away From iPod’s Long Shadow
…Microsoft, it turns out, has added something truly new to the Zune: differentiation. The Zune has become a sensational music-discovery machine.”
Microsoft hasn’t made much effort to match the iPod’s universe of functions… Yet for hard-core music lovers, it’s a gem. The Zune blows the iPod off the map in music discovery and downloading.”
…if anything can make subscriptions look enticing, it’s the new Zune software.”
[Buy from FM is] addictive, awesome and completely natural. What better way to discover new performers and songs than listening to the radio?”
Oh ... and I also did an interview with CNET as well as part of the launch. If you're curious, this will give you a sense for what we're thinking here. yep, my new job is fun. :)
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