Circle This: Episode #4

• Hosts: Marques Lyons & Neville Williams
• Recorded: Sunday, August 30, 2009
• Running Time: 31 minutes
• Intro and outro music by Shohei Urata
• Server space provided by Travis Pope and Paige Aiden
• Topics covered:
  
  
  • The Mewseum Exhibit at Zune L.A.
  • The Best Buy/Zune HD demo events
  • Marques' adventure this week to PAX
  • Marketplace Recommendations
  • ZuneTune update and how to participate
  
  Link List:
  • The Penny Arcade Expo
  • The official Zune HD page at Zune
  • Neville's Best Buy/Zune HD event videos: Part I / Part II
  
  Marketplace Recommendations:
  • "Walking on Air" by Kerli [zunetune]
  • "Appletree" by Erykah Badu [zunetune]
  • "Daylight" by Matt & Kim [zunetune]
  • "Everybody Raps" by Royal Flush [zunetune]
  
  
  We welcome all feedback. Thanks for listening.

What's a Music Monday without a free download, eh? Well courtesy of Rcrd Lbl here's a free MP3 featuring Del the Funky Homosapien and Tame One (you gotta love that artist name). The track is called "Special". Feel free to listen and download!

 

Above is the second of two videos that I recorded from the Zune HD preview weekend. You see a good walkthrough of the media playback features of the device. You also see a quick view of the apps heading within the Marketplace as well as a peak at what the browser looks like. Mixing Adam Krebs’ account of his Zune HD preview experience with my own, the lack of usability of the Internet, Social and Marketplace is best explained as the features being incomplete or unavailable. Overall though the device is light, intuitive, and fun to use.

Today I got an opportunity to travel up to L.A. and see the Mewseum exhibit at Zune L.A.

Your next question probably is: “Zune L.A.?”

Actually let me answer your FIRST question: No, there were no Zune HDs lying around.

Zune L.A. is a space that Microsoft is using as an upscale hub for industry events, release parties and gallery exhibitions. Ordinarily these events are closed to the public, however the art showing revolving around the group Mew is open to the public. This will run until September 3 so if you have a moment head down there and check it out.

When you reach the entrance, you have to be let in by the person overseeing the gallery exhibit. I would think that it’s because they don’t want people wandering around in the offices – those are closed off while you’re there (darn it!).  Zune L.A is used during the day by a select number of Zune Team members. It is when night falls that Zune L.A. takes on its cultural nightlife persona – except for times like this when it’s being used as more of a art museum.

Zune L.A. has a few floors to it. I only saw the first and the second, but I also saw a stairway leading to another floor. There’s a full stage area for performances and some flash Zune players in display cases. The bathrooms are one of the real highlights because they’ve decorated the bathroom walls with the same off-the-wall artwork that you’ve seen in the Zune Originals, Zune Arts and Zune Journey parts of Zune.

Pretty slick if you ask me.

In the area where the Mew exhibit was going on they have a PC setup and open to the Zune Software. Zune L.A. has its own Zune Social account – unfortunately they don’t have Zune Pass, well it’s either that or The Mew isn’t available under a Zune Pass subscription.

In another room, they have an XBOX 360 Elite, a touch screen computer running what I believe is Windows 7 (didn’t look that carefully) and a Microsoft Surface. This particular surface machine had more on it than the one I saw when I visited Seattle for the MVP summit. This table had a whack-a-mole game which was very responsive to your touch. Since it knows multi-touch playing the whack a mole game against my home girl was pretty damn exciting.

Now, the Mew exhibit was short and sweet. It just offered a few pictures from the group and some footage of their shows. Some lucky individuals will get to see the group perform a special live show on the stage. If anyone out there is already listening to the group, feel free to leave a comment telling us your thoughts about the band.

Overall the space is well designed, bright and has a cool layout. It’s definitely one of those places where you could have a black tie industry event (and they have!). The Mew exhibit was interesting, but it’s mostly my fault for not reading up about the group more before I went. Yet, after seeing them and listening to a bit of their sound, I’ll definitely give them a go sometime this week.

Check out the photo gallery below (Live Photos) for a few snapshots I took (including the ones presented in the course of this article).

1. What type of Zune do you currently own?  
In the past I’ve owned a Zune 30, and currently enjoy a Zune 120.

2. What have you learned from your friends at Zune Social?
I’ve learned that social networking is where the future of all integration. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t buy into the whole, “hey share your music! It’s like Woodstock!” motif that the Zune social was first presented to us as. After using it for a while I’ll admit I was completely wrong, and I think the new motto of my website says it best. “Making music isn’t a solitary experience, and listening to it shouldn’t be either.”
 
3. What made you decide to get a Zune over any other MP3 player?

4. What type of music do you listen to (name as many as necessary -- genres/groups)?

5. What's your favorite thing about Zune (favorite feature)?
Although Zune Pass is by far my most used feature of Zune, one of the most interesting bits about owning a Zune is the reverse syncing. I can honestly say it’s saved my ass eh butt more then a few times including a few months ago when I accidentally formatted my computer. The ability to get your stuff on a media player is always talked about but the ability to get your stuff off just as easily isn’t.

6. Where do you use your Zune? Working out? At the office? 

My Zune is all about listening loud, so where else would you do that better then your car. I’ve got a customized 94 Taurus LX, so in the morning I open the sunroof turn the music up loud and gettin’ down with my bad self. Once I’m at work it’s all about podcasts. I enjoy somewhere around 24 hours of podcasts a week, so it’s really also become my tv too.

7. What are some of your hobbies? What's your life like away from Zune Social?

Well obviously because of my music is a big part of my life. Other than that I am a big fan of clubbing on weekends, reading up on history, being immersed in podcasts, and photography. Oh and politics! I’m a political junkie, there’s just something that feels good about the way the government is run it’s like my personal Olympic sport.

Artist	Kaskade
Song	4am (Acoustic Version)
Album	Love Mysterious (non-acoustic)
#zunetune	Click here to download

As I was listening to music all this week, I was constantly thinking about lyrics. When you really pay attention to the words that some artists spit out some are absolutely awesome, then you have those lyrics that leave you scratching your head or lyrics that have you frantically reaching for the volume control.

Take for example one of my favorite lyrics from the song "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf: "Because when I arrive, I will bring the fire. Make you come alive, I will take you highter!" Now that's quality lyrics folks. Contrast that with "Alright stop, collaborate and listen. Ice is back with a brand new invention" That's quality dreck, ladies and gentlemen -- at least I think so. How the hell do you stop, collaborate and listen, exactly?

There's a hashtag that's used on the Twitter (#lyrics) where people share some lyrics that they think are worth presenting to the world. Yet, I wanted to ask you guys here too:

What are some awesome (or not-so-awesome) lyrics that you've heard in songs?

After having been at the San Diego Comic Con International (SDCCI) for four and a half days, (I went to the 10th Annual Preview Night on Wednesday), I must say renmants of what happend still linger.
Here are pictures from The Con. My sister took most of them. You might want to open up a window for the pictures and keep this along side since I'll be referring to the pictures throughout the post... Its how I'm remembering what happened.

So anyway.. The entire thing is one five day blur to me.
As I sit here, typing my way to carpel tunnel, I shall do my best to recount my experience at this year's Comic-Con:

Preview Night:

• The Wednesday before the official start of The Con and runs for three hours; 6pm to 9pm. Only four-day memberships and volunteers can attend alongside with the exhibitors.
• Most freebies are in full swing and you'd think that the one-day memberships were there, too.


• Since there aren't as many people at Preview Night (amazing but true), my sister and I took random pictures of bright orange carpet at the Nickelodeon booth.
  

First Official Day:

• As my sister and I were doing our volunteer thing, we saw Stan "The Man" Lee, again. He's really old but can still walk upright. He's also hilariously funny. I didn't want to seem like a creep, so the picture I took of him from afar. Its totally craptastic, I know.

After our shift (and a much needed sit down break), Amy and I hit the main hall and run into on of my babies; 2010 Special Edition Chevy Transformers Camaro. Otherwise known as Bumblebee from Transformers movies when he's in car form. *drool*

• G4 had a pretty cozy location in the main hall; way on top of everything. I bet they had a sweet view of the place.
• Met the creator of the Sheldon web comics, Dave Kellett. Nice guy.


• Sideshow Collectibles has a lot of uh.. well collectibles. I love what they do with the Star Wars Storm Troopers.
  
  
  
  

Second Official Day:







Oh how I love my volunteering.

• Went back to Dave Kellett's booth and got an advanced copy of "Living Dangerously with Saturated Fats". I was indeed worth it. More so since I got a free sketch.
• I don't know what four books the shirt is talking about. But apparently, Neville could have done it in four books.
• The guys from Cyanide and Happiness were there. Kris Wilson and the guy in the middle of the photo are very good looking..
• About that giant pink and red thing.. I don't know what it is. However, one of the winners from the raffle giveaway got the card explaining what it is. All I remember is that apparently, there are five of them; each one is different from the rest and each also have a Twitter and a collective Facebook page. Go figure.


• After a rest on the floor (you do that a lot at The Con), we saw Hoops and Yoyo! I thought it was hilariously awesome!! More so when kids walked up to them and punched them.


• A few moments later, I notice an old dude signing autographs. I then realized that it was Edward James Olmos! I freaked out and told Amy to hurry up and take a few pictures. I ended up needing to remind her who he is. Apparently, we weren't supposed to take "candid" photographs of Mr. Olmos. We did anyway.
• Did any of you watch Seth Green on G4? Well, I was there. Kind of. My sister and I were walking through, trying to get to the WB booth so as to be able to get one of the bags they give away. Amy sees Seth Green and banks a hard right while I keep going straight. I end up getting corralled into the line and I get a Chuck/The Big Bang Theory bag. I then set out to find my sister. Turns out, she loves Seth Green and hasn't moved an inch. Amy takes a few million pictures of Seth. Furthermore, I have a difficult time trying to get her to walk away.
  

• Not too much happened. Kidding!
• I can't remember what it was that we were doing, but as Amy and I are walking along, toting a few pounds or so of whatnot, who do I see?? None other than Leonard Nimoy! Amy didn't see him and I tried to get her attention.. I don't know what it was that I stuttered out. The pointing helped, though. Security kept telling us to get pictures a la gangster drive by; take the picture and hustle away.
• Some more walking later, and there's a fat Ronald McDonald and a Jedi Fat Boy. I don't know. Dont' ask.


• Once again by the WB booth and Amy and I freak the flip out. Why? Because John Noble, Anna Torv, and Josh Jackson (Torv and Jackson are pictured) along with the director and/or producer of Fox's Fringe are signing autographs!!!! The queue had been filled and we couldn't get in on the amazingness. But Amy went trigger happy with my camera while I held all stuff.



• A while after we recovered, we went to stand in line for the yearly masquerade (its only Saturday night). We uh were in line two hours before everyone was allowed in. But that's what you have to do. Apparently, "Twilight" ruined Comic-Con.
• After the masquerade, geeky nerds and nerdy geeks (tried to) get it on on the dace floor. If you look at the pictures, you'll see a wannabe Jabbawockee. How do I know he was a fake? Amy looked it up and none of the Jabbawockeez were at The Con.
  

Fourth (and last) Official Day:

• Most of the exhibitors just want to go home and are practically throwing leftover merchandise at you. I'm not complaining, mind you.
• The crowds are still insanely thick and there is still a lot to do and
  see.
• Ugly Dolls are really cute.
• Robot in a loin cloth. Why?
  
  

Day After:

• That last picture in my album doesn't even begin to give the impression of the mess. It looked like Comic-Con puked in my living room, ran around in the junk, and puked some more.
• It took me around eight (8) hours to get everything organized and put in the boxes and ready them to be shipped out. In total, I put together seven (7) USPS Flat Rate boxes for the winners of the raffle and friends that were unable to attend.
• I still had stuffness left over.
  

My thoughts and tips about The Con:

• It originated in the basement of the Cortez Hotel here in San Diego and its been in San Diego ever since; which is why there is a lot of debate going on regarding relocating The Con to one of the following cities: Los Angeles, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Chicago, Ill; or NYC, NY. Some of you would love this, I'm sure. But that's like having the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Phoenix, or moving Bourbon Street to Montana. Talks about the moving The Con elsewhere will begin early to mid 2010. The San Diego Convention Center contract with SDCCI expires in 2012.. you have until then to make it to San Diego for The Con.
  
• You living "far away" is a sorry excuse to not make it so San Diego. The "International" is in the name of SDCCI quite literal; I've met people from Japan, Korea, France, Spain, Mexico (and no, I don't mean my own family), Portugal, and even Ohio. None of them complain about traveling to America's Finest City. Only people from the OC complain saying that the drive down to San Diego kills them. No, I don't, mean you Marques or any of the readers. LOL.
  On-site registration is not an option due to capacity limits. One can purchase the four-day memberships or single day memberships online only. If you want to go to you must pre-register online!


• Yes, you can dress up as your favorite cult classic movie character. Or favorite manga, Anime, comic book hero, TV show character, etc. Just don't make it too vague. Also, be prepared to be the center of attention for your duration there.
  Which reminds me, if you're claustrophobic in the least, I seriously do not recommend you attend at all.


• Be prepared to stand in lines. Long, long lines.


• BYOF; the convention center food is HELLA expensive. Just make a few PB&J's and bring a couple bottles of Gatorade. And snacks.


• Oh and plan everything in advance.


• Also, the convention itself has grown and spilled out of the convention center (which is why They want to relocate it). If you want to experience EVERYTHiNG, you'll need to venture out in to the Gaslamp District and downtown San Diego. Avoid petty cabs. It won't kill you to walk.
  
  

Things I've learned from this year's Con:

• Non-social butterflies (hardcore geeks, nerds, gamers, etc) can be taught to use deodorant. Or at least shower more often.
  
• Said people can also learn to say "Excuse Me" and not be so pushy.
  
• The so-called recession (face it, its a depression) has impacted everyone. SLG's booth was half the size its been in years past. Amy and I were very surprised. Also, TokyoPop's booth was a quarter the size I've ever seen it. And they didn't even have any freebies this year.


• Every geek, nerd, gamer, techie, etc and their dog has an iPhone. I haven't ever seen so many iPhones concentrated in one place before in my life. Which is probabyly why Comic-Con made a free iPhone app to keep up with them.
  
  
  

I had a lot of fun and cannot wait until next year.

Which reminds me.. a lot of you that entered the raffle said that you've always wanted to go yet haven't. Check out the official Comic-Con website periodically. Hell, subscribe to their RSS feed. If you honestly want to go, you can make plans now to attend in 2010. Worse comes to worse *insert deep sigh similar to that of not wanting to divulge a well kept secret* do what I do: volunteer. One volunteers for three hours and you get free admission to The Con for that day after your shift. And you get a limited edition shirt that cannot be bought. That way, all you have to do is get here and find a place to sleep. However, it is hard work and if you want to see a panel or a screening, you cannot abandon your shift and sneak in. That. Is. Low. Comic-Con staff deeply value their volunteers. And they let it be known.

Volunteering also takes around four hours out of your day; the three volunteering and one to rest up and eat, so that's four hours less in the main hall, panels, etc.

Regardless of how you get here and what you do, plan in advance. Hotels sell out months prior the convention and the single-day memberships sell out weeks before hand while the four-day memberships sell out along the same time as the hotels.

Neville (Solar257) traveled to Best Buy for the Zune HD demonstration events. In the following video above, the first of 2 videos to share, he proceeds to do an unboxing of the materials (sans Zune HD) that you get when you receive the device. Check it out.

1. What type of Zune do you currently own?  
I am a proud owner of a Zune black 30 GB that I bought on November ’06 and best part is I have used like every day and it’s still rockin hard!!!!

2. What have you learned from your friends at Zune Social?
That music could represent different things to people but in the end and what matters the most is the way you enjoy it. Zune not only lets you enjoy but also share, that’s the best part. I have discovered more artists / songs that I really like in the past 12 months than in the past 12 years of my life: awesome!
 
3. What made you decide to get a Zune over any other MP3 player?

4. What type of music do you listen to (name as many as necessary -- genres/groups)?

5. What's your favorite thing about Zune (favorite feature)?
It’s from Microsoft and it‘s not an IPod, LOL.

I really love the Zune Pass (millions of songs at your fingertips for only $14.99 a month! I have really expanded my music universe), the Zune Card (I love the way it shows the world what I’m listen to) and the whole Social concept. Oh! And don’t forget about the background personalization.

6. Where do you use your Zune? Working out? At the office? 
Mainly at my car while driving, I even have some kind of schedule: Monday is for podcasts and channels, Tuesday is shuffle all, Wednesday is new music, Thursday is for “Favorites of the month” playlist and Friday is for my most played songs. Weekend is free will.

I also use it at the office, when I need to concentrate I use the headphones otherwise I use my speakers.

7. What are some of your hobbies? What's your life like away from Zune Social?
I’m a Computer Systems Engineer currently working for Citigroup (been there for 3 years). My hobbies are music, movies (I can enjoy almost any type of movie but prefer sci-fi or suspense), playing Xbox (Gamertag: MythicLordSerch), Formula 1, Ferrari (I like to collect this stuff and hope to add a real sized car in a couple of years) and everything related to Ancient Egypt (I love the NY Met collection).

Linkin Park's MC/Frontman Mike Shinoda is presenting the 2nd installment of Glorious Excess, an art exhibition he showed (as a 1st installment) last year. I was able to check out this with friends and I can tell you that he has great talent beyond what he does with Linkin Park.

Glorious Excess is Mike's interpretation of status, celebrity and success. It's about society's obsession with the celebrity culture. If you're in the Los Angeles area, this will run from August 30 - October 4, 2009. For more information on the exhibit, and the Japanese-American National Museum, follow this link.

Artist	Dannii Minogue
Song	I Begin To Wonder
Album	I Begin To Wonder (Single)
#zunetune	Click here to download

So this weekend, people will be able to get into select Best Buy locations  (PDF alert!) and check out a demonstration of the Zune HD. Folks are also able to pre-order their Zune HD devices after the demonstrations are done. I'm almost wondering how the demonstrations are going to be done: Will they be done like the GDGT event where people gather and watch a guy do all of the demos with limited hands-on for the public or will they have a few Zune HDs on hand and let people get some hands on time?

I would think that having some hands on time would allow people to fully realize if the Zune HD is indeed a device that they want. This is one of the positives of the Apple store, the chance to get hands on with pretty much everything (I wonder if the Microsoft store will offer the same kind of hands-on experience).

So for those of you who are able to make it to one of these demonstrations, feel free to leave a comment about your experience(s). Did you pre-order at the demo? How many people in the audience, do you think, didn't know about the demo event beforehand and just happened onto it? Did anyone stand up and ask if the Zune HD is a government plot to kill Grandma? Did anyone demand to see the Zune HD's birth certificate?

Feel free to speak up and let us know how it went for you.

So here we are with all of the Cinemash episodes released. The idea of Cinemash was to take some of your favorite celebs and have them do a re-telling of various scenes from popular movies. It's an original series that is the collaboration of Zune and Mean Magazine. Having seen all of the episodes in the series, personally, I found it hit or miss. Like I really liked the "Training Day" and "Point Break" episodes, but the "Tron" left me wanting more and the "Oldboy" I totally couldn't understand for the life of me.

But what about you? What did you think of the Cinemash series? Which one did you like most? If you could do a Cinemash who would be the celebs and what would be the scene? Maybe this will give Zune some ideas...

Sound off about Cinemash, folks!

Billboard not only has an article up with an interview of Smokey Robinson, but they are also showing off his newest video "Don't Know Why". So here we've decided to embed the video for you to check out, but if you want to read about what Smokey has to say about Motown, The Miracles and the power of song, check out his interview at Billboard.

Ariel Publicity has always been representing some fantastic artists. Every time I visit their site I come away with some awesome music (much of which I end up sharing with you guys in one way or another). Well let the love fest continue.

Over the weekend, I managed to snag some music by a group called Megaphone. Are they loud like a megaphone? Sure, if you turn the volume up. I've found them to be a great rocking band and I've enjoyed listening to their music. Per usual, I'm able to share one of their songs with you.

The song "Making Sense" is the one that I've had on constant repeat since I started listening to the group. Now you, too, can download it and check it out. Should you like it, go ahead and add it to your music collection.

The song comes from their latest album "Exit Silent Mode", available at Amazon.

Artist	DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Song	Summertime
Album	Homebase
#zunetune	Click here to download

From CNET’s FCC post, this is a picture of the heart of the Zune HD, Nvidia’s Tegra chip. There’s one problem. Which Tegra chip is it? Nvidia has quite a few to choose from and each have slightly different strengths and capabilities. Check out Nvidia’s Tegra-centric Zune HD product page.

AeroXperience has put up a guess about the capabilities of chip is inside the device. Ars Technica has gone so far as to say it’s the APX2600. CNET also has a new article discussing some of the finer points of Tegra’s hardware. It’s interesting to note that the article does confirm that the chip is capable of running Flash, and in a May 27th interview, Brian Seitz did not rule out the prospect of seeing Flash on the device before launch.

So, looking at the picture I am seeing NV (C/Q/0, 6/8) 51029. The ones in parentheses are the two characters I’m unsure about. It could be the 650. Above that is the clear phrase ‘Eng Sample’ so model numbers could change. Either way, care to toss your hat into the arena and guess which Tegra chip brings the Zune HD to life? Check out the specifications tab of both the 600 series and APX series pages to know what chips you are deciding between.

Show Notes:

• Hosts: Marques Lyons & Neville Williams
• Recorded: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (Recorded prior to Pre-Order announcement)
• Running Time: 48 minutes
• Intro and outro music by Shohei Urata
• Server space provided by Travis Pope & Paige Aiden
• Topics covered:
  
  
  • Some recent developments around the Zune HD, features discussion
    
  • The Zune Friends Facebook Application review
    
  • Marques experience around cleaning out his music collection
    
  
  Link List:
  
  
  • The Zune Friends Facebook application
    
  • Check out the newly refreshed Zune HD product page
  • Watch Brian Seitz' interview with CNET on MP3 Insider
  • Become friends with Inside the Circle on Facebook
    
  
  Marketplace Recommendations:
  
  
  • "I Don't Wanna Know" by Tre Williams [  zunetune ]
  • "Million Bucks" by Maino [ zunetune ] 
  • "There's A Party" by N.A.S.A. [ zunetune ]
  • "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston [ zunetune ]
    
  
  Bonus Track (Free MP3) - See podcast feed:
  
  
  • "I've Got Your Number" by Clarissa Cupero
    
  
  Here's the cover art for the free MP3 in case you need it:
  
  We welcome all feedback. Thanks for listening.

• Do you #ZuneTune?
• Are you excited about Zune HD?
• Are you on MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, show your support for the playlist that changes everything and the player that will rock your world by tinting your avatar to the Zune colors.

Also, if you want your chance to win a Zune HD, say so. Throughout our podcasts Marques and I have been asking you to send us your suggestions and thoughts about Zune. Now, thanks to the Zune Team, you have the chance to get rewarded for speaking up. From now until September 15th, there is a contest going on across three social networks designed to get you to speak up.

If you let the Zune Team know what new feature you are most excited about with the arrival of Zune HD, you are entered to win a… Zune HD! Now, there are three ways to to get your message of excitement to the Zune Team, and those roads lead you through MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. All you have to do is use one of those social networks and tell the Zune account on the respective network which feature you are most excited about with the new Zune HD release. While welcome, comments posted here, about your favorite new feature, will not enter you in the contest to win a Zune HD. For more info, check out the contest rules.

Finally, if you missed our earlier post, for those living in select urban areas (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle or Washington, D.C.) be sure to check out Best Buy’s Zune HD mini-site for a list of stores in your area that will be showcasing the Zune HD on August 22 and 23rd.

So #ZuneNation, show your support and share your thoughts about your most anticipated new Zune feature. And, when the time comes, check out the Zune HD in person.

This summer has been a big one for Zune, and its third generation media playback device known as ‘Zune HD.’ Let’s review what we know. We confirmed the Zune HD exists. We showed you the first shots of a black Zune HD. We know the device will sport a Tegra SoC and will also provide Unicode support.  You may have heard, or seen, earlier this week, some places talk about the Zune HD possibly being available for pre-order. Others are postulating about potential street release dates. Now, we can talk definitively about this and much more.

Starting today, through Zune HD’s product page, you can pre-order the Black 16GB and the Platinum 32GB Zune HD from one of five retailers; Best Buy, Amazon.com, the Microsoft Store, and Walmart. If you visit Newegg directly you can preorder from them too. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, or regularly read Gizmodo, you will know that some Best Buy stores already had their pre-order cards out on display. Confirming what you may have seen/read, the September 15th release date seen on the front of the card is true. Pre-order online today or pick-up in store September 15th.

One cool thing to note is that starting on September 15th, you will be able to order the Zune HD through Zune Originals and customize your Zune with one of ten new engravings, in one of five different colors.

Throughout the summer, you may have seen the Zune HD at various points on Amazon’s website . Most recently, ZuneSpring captured a shot of the ERPs for the two models stating that the 16GB would cost $219.99 and the 32GB would go for $289.99. The prices you saw on Amazon are indeed the estimated retail prices. However, before you purchase your Zune you will have a chance to see it in action in select Best Buys stores on August 22nd and 23rd. If you live in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle or Washington, D.C., be sure to stop by your local Best Buy to get an early sneak peek demonstration in person.

Finally, the specifications of the Zune HD. The device is expected to get up to 33 hours of music playback and 8.5 hours of video playback with the wireless off. Some points of reference show Apple’s iPod touch to claim 36 hours of audio and 6 hours of video playback while Sony’s X Series Walkman says it should have 33 hours of audio an 9 hours of video playback on a single charge. The Zune HD should charge in three hours when hooked up to your PC; two if hooked up to a wall outlet. Format support remains unchanged, with the exception of the inclusion of Unicode. Even with the arrival of Windows 7 and its native support for recording from HD sources, the Zune HD will not support these file formats. A scratch resistant glass protects the the 3.3 inch OLED screen. There is no mention of any oleophobic properties being attributed to the glass.  There’s definitely more to be known, and soon. You know who to follow.

I actually got to see Nitin Sawhney perform live about a year and a half ago with some friends at a club in Los Angeles. I thought he was awesome in his performance. So the folks at Rcrd Lbl are offering up a free MP3 so you can get a taste of what he's all about.

The song is "Last Train to Midnight". Feel free to give it a spin and, if you like it, download it and make it part of your music collection.

Hey, folks. Listen up. The next Club Social event with SFX-360 has been rescheduled to Saturday, August 22nd at 6:00pm PST. A couple of scheduling conflicts have resulted in the event getting moved back another week. This at least gives me time to start playing more Gears again so I can get back to prime condition -- I shall not have a repeat of my awesome fodder performance at the Halo 3 event :-)

Thanks for everyone's understanding.

It's a simple question: Zunes have always had pre-loaded content on them, so what kind of preloaded content do you think would be on the Zune HD? What would you use to show off the features of the device?

Artist	Colette
Song	Think You Want It
Album	Push
#zunetune	Click here to download

Here's what I mean? You have this ability to sync your friend's cards to your device. This allows you to get a taste of the music that they are listening to. I sync quite a few people to my Zune and I try to diverse the list. Like for example I have Skipdeez and Jetherealz synced because I know I'll get to hear some interesting hip hop and electronic respectively from them.

But what about you? Do you use the friend's sync feature and how many friends do you typically sync? Have you ever added a song to your collection because of this feature? Are there any improvements you would make?

1. What type of Zune do you currently own?  
On Christmas 08/09 I bought a Zune 4. I figured if I wanted bigger, I could buy bigger later on. But right around I was at the “Hey, I think I need a bigger Zune” time, The BSG Zune 16 contest started here. After a long wait, and several people not responding (sucks for them, haha), I won. Now isn’t that just awesome? Since I got it, It became my main PMP and I lent my brother-in-law my Zune 4, Because he’s looking to upgrade from his IPod Nano 2gb.

2. What have you learned from your friends at Zune Social?
Hmmm, Good question. I.. don’t really know.

3. What made you decide to get a Zune over any other MP3 player?

4. What type of music do you listen to (name as many as necessary -- genres/groups)?

5. What's your favorite thing about Zune (favorite feature)?
Hmm, it’s a tie between the software, firmware, and XNA. I love me some user-made games. Ever since I got my Zune, I started using the Zune Software to listen to my music and watch videos. It’s been my default player since then.

6. Where do you use your Zune? Working out? At the office? 
I try to bring my Zune everywhere I go. It’s just a little thing so it fits good in my pocket, and it’s easy to get out and use whenever. The main place I use my Zune is at the Humane Society, Where I volunteer at. It’s wonderful for when I’m folding laundry by myself.

7. What are some of your hobbies? What's your life like away from Zune Social?
I guess my hobbies would be just hanging around with family. I prefer my dad’s side a lot more than I do my mom’s side, as I get to do A LOT more with them, than I do with my mom’s side. I also enjoy tinkering (does anyone use that word anymore?) around with tech stuff. My grandparents (on dads side) are licensed Ham Radio operators, and they get to help out with the town parades, and stuff like that. I know a lot of people think Ham Radio’s are for “nerds” but I enjoy helping out, so I guess I’m a nerd! And a proud one at that!

Thank you all so much for entering this giveaway! I honestly expected 10-30 people to enter. So 134 is amazing!!

1.) Comment #48: Tawanda from PA.
(Sorry for the misspelling!)


2.) Comment #75: Sherry from AR.


3.) Comment #13: Jeremy from the OC, CA.


4.) And last but not least, comment #12: Joe from ID.





If you want your cut of 30 pounds of Comic-Con stuff, email me at: SoCalChica05@gmail.com with your mailing address by Monday, 10 August 2009. If you do not respond within the time frame given, another winner will be chosen in your place.

Rcrd Lbl keeps bringing em and we'll keep mentioning them. They have a free MP3 from John Legend called Everybody Knows (The RAC mix). Go ahead and check it out here and, if you like it, download it from their site and get it into your Zune collection.

Show Notes:

• Hosts: Marques Lyons & Neville Williams
• Recorded: Sunday, August 2, 2009
• Running Time: 48 minutes
• Intro and outro music by Shohei Urata
• Server space provided by Travis Pope & Paige Aiden
• Topics covered:
  
  
  
  • Marques offers general 1st impressions of the XBOX Live update preview
  • Marques and Neville discuss the Microsoft MVP Program
  • Pick up some more music recommendations in the Zune Marketplace

Link List:

• Microsoft MVP Program: Official Site
• See the listing of current Microsoft MVPs 
• Microsoft Connect
• Zune Social: Marques’ Profile | Neville’s Profile
• The Zune Forums
• Follow XBOX Live’s Major Nelson on Twitter 
• Follow Drea Avellan (Pinksage) on Twitter
• Visit Marques' favorite record label OM Records
  

Marketplace Recommendations:

• "Rise" by Samantha James [  zunetune (original) | zunetune (2nd Mix) ]
• "Universal Truth" by Andy Caldwell [ zunetune ]
• "Official Dope Boyz" by Greg Street [ zunetune ]
• "The Joker" by The Steve Miller Band [ zunetune ]

We welcome all feedback. Thanks for listening.

Artist	Slum Village
Song	Climax
Album	Sex
#zunetune	Click here to download