Remember that project Marques discussed a month ago? Well, with a lot of community involvement, namely the fine development skills and willingness of Windows Phone MVP and app developer Shin Ise, Marques’ goal is realized. You can now include marketplace links to a song's album in the full version of the SongTweeter app for Windows Phone 7. If you have not tried it already, and use the Zune software, see what you are missing below by clicking on the link.

How does it work? The app takes the rezults from Zune Links and uses the match in an album name + artist name search. The option to choose a result if the search result does not match is coming. So Zune Nation (who have Windows Phone 7 devices), what are you waiting for, get tweeting! Be sure to send a thank you tweet to Shin Ise along the way.

First of all safe travels. Secondly, thanks to the MVPs, from 5 countries, who contributed songs to this awesome playlist ahead of Monday’s start to the 2011 MVP Global Summit. We have 20 tracks spanning genres from Rock to Dubstep, and featuring artists like Ben Folds and Vybz Kartel. Coming in at just over an hour in length this playlist represents a great way to get ready for all the fun and (two-way) dialog that is the MVP Summit. MVPs, enjoy your creation and thank you for the submissions. Now make sure someone at the MVP party slips this to the DJ, ok?

To enjoy: Download the playlist to your computer, open with the Zune software, and sync with your Zune or Windows Phone. If you do not have the tracks on your PC you will need Microsoft points or Zune Pass to complete the sync process.

[Image Source: Twitter – @TheSeniorOne]

I am sure a lot of the MVPs attending the 2011 MVP Global Summit will make the journey to Microsoft's Redmond campus via plane, train, or automobile. These trips have the potential to be long and bring out the noise-cancelling headphone wearing music lover in all of us. Making a music playlist, hitting shuffle, or even ensuring the right artists are synced to our Zunes and Windows Phones seems like an inevitable part of the travel experience. But what about that special song that gets you psyched for an event? With that in mind I wanted to take a moment and ask all MVPs who are attending the 2011 MVP Global Summit to think about the one song you would play to get prepared for the deep dives, community feedback, and preview sessions. Now, with that song in mind, share the artist and song title via a tweet with the #ZuneTune hashtag or as a comment below. If you are using Windows Phone 7 check out the SongTweeter app made by Windows Phone MVP Shin Ise.

I want to create a playlist everyone can download and use based on the tweets and comments shared. I hope to have it ready on this site by this Friday the 25th. In Zune Nation we call this a Zune Tune Playlist. If you search through the Zune software or on your Windows Phone 7 device you can find a few other Zune Tune playlists generated by user suggestion. You can also learn a bit more about the history of the Zune Tune by digging around this site. So MVPs this Zune Tune playlist is for you, what is the first song you would have your fellow community experts play to get pumped for the 2011 MVP Global Summit? Get tweeting!

Update: The playlist is now available for download.

P.S. If you happen to arrive in Seattle area by Saturday, be sure to check out these two local events:

• GeekGive
  
  Happening from: 7:30 am to 1:00 pm
  At: Northwest Harvest Warehouse
  22220 68th Avenue South
  Kent, WA 98032
  More Info
  
  
• MSMVP: Bellevue
  
  Happening from: 6:00pm to 8:00pm
  At: Microsoft Store
  116 Bellevue Square
  Bellevue, WA 98004
  More Info

Another pearl of wisdom shared by Michael Yaeger today is that you can officially sync your Zune HD with an Apple computer thanks to the Windows Phone 7 Connector app. Previously when using the beta of the Connector software for you had to work some Terminal magic to get the software to recognize your Zune HD, in addition to the default device group, Windows Phone 7 phones. Now, using the fresh-out-of-beta software, DRM-free media can move from your Mac to your Zune HD and back again. Looking at the requirements, the Connector software only supports Windows Phone 7 and Zune HD devices. Mac users rejoice because your Zune HD syncing solution is available now in the Mac App Store.

P Diddy - Bad Boys For Life

As much as some love to hate on Zune, its lack of advertising, yearly release of hardware, fragmented mobile experiences, and all around unpopularity; Zune, as an encompassing service is holding its own. Name three other services that allow you to purchase music and videos (together) that you can play back on your TV, PC, and Smartphone, while including a social component? If there is one product at Microsoft that best embodies this song, would it not be Zune?

Let’s make one thing clear. Zune is not going anywhere. From an interface perspective, Zune moving under the Windows Live moniker does not work. First, Zune does not wave. Zune Live 2011 …really? Second, Zune.net looks nothing like Home.Live.com. There is no mistake, this is a good thing. Activity Feed? Zune did that and moved on. We have talked about the successes and shortcomings of the Social before. Third, if there is one thing we all chide Microsoft on it is consistency. Considering this, the desktop software does not have a ribbon interface emblematic of a Windows Live desktop program. One of the biggest tenets of each Windows Live release is the fact that all the programs tend to look alike. I think we can agree that Zune adding any ribbon, other than a rainbow streak seen along the bottom of older desktop releases, would be a step backwards in the war against chrome. Windows Live is ribbons and buttons. Zune is text and album art. If anything, Live Photo Gallery or Movie Maker could take a page from Zune.

Think for a moment about opposites. What if the opposite of what many are saying is true? What if the best things are under lock and key? Remember how nobody knew the new name Windows Phone 7 Series until Photoshop wizardry was used? Remember how we did not know what the interface looked like until hours before Microsoft surprised the world? What happens if Zune is getting the Windows Phone 7 Series treatment this year? Last year, Windows Phone kept a secret and it stunned everybody. Perhaps this year it is  Zune’s turn. How does that sound pappa diddy pop?

2/15 Update:

My what a day of speculation and gossip. Mary Jo Foley, of ZDNet, was the first to get an answer from a Microsoft representative concerning the potential demise of Zune. But we have a few late in the day statements from Michael Yaeger, of the Zune Team, and Zune on Facebook confirming my earlier thoughts and echoing the response Mary Jo recieved early this morning. Zune is not going anywhere. Be sure to click the link in the second tweet or read Mary Jo's article to get the full scoop.

Today, Nokia and Microsoft announced an agreement in which Windows Phone 7 would become the Finnish smartphone maker's de facto development platform. Nokia has spent years as the world's largest phone maker with most of their revenue coming from developing markets, but on the high end, their Symbian-powered smartphones have failed to make a dent, being blocked out of the US market almost entirely. With this new agreement, we'll begin to see new generations of Nokia smartphones (featuring gorgeous hardware) backed by Windows Phone 7, complete with Office, Bing, Xbox Live, and Zune. In the past, Nokia's produced a few one-off Windows Phone models, but converting over to Windows Phone entirely seems like a win-win to me (although word of walkouts at Nokia HQ is disheartening).

Short answer from the Zune Team, “we’re working on it.” Longer answer read this post.

[Image Source: Flickr – nio_nl / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0]

Zune’s move into international waters has not been without some friction. In particular, some international users, with existing Zune accounts, have issues with accessing all portions of the Zune service. This is because the billing address in the Zune portion of their Windows Live account says they reside in a different from where they actually live. In all, this is not an entirely new problem as Canadians have been wanting access to the Zune marketplace since Zunes were first sold north of the border in 2008. At the time (and still the case) the only way to have a Zune and download music from the Zune Marketplace was/is to have a US-based address for the Zune service within a given Windows Live account. Fast forward to 2011, with the launch of Windows Phone 7, and more Zune services moving internationally, the same problem still exists albeit on a larger scale.

Episode 102 of the Zune Insider podcast addresses this issue directly with the answer of “we’re working on it,” posited by Zune Insider co-host Matt Akers. For context to this answer it is necessary to back up a bit in this podcast as a discussion into prioritizing various fixes begins around 9:10. Here’s a portion (with some editing on my end) of that conversation between hosts Matt Akers and Jessica Zahn as it relates to the issue of switching your Zune billing country. It happens around 15:30 into the podcast:

“Jessica: We can loot at these sorts of things [issues relating to Zune services]. We can look at statistical data and really understand what the scope of the problem is. Even though it totally impacts a person… it doesn’t impact 500,000 people…

Matt: We should stress too that that’s still important to us. Even if one person has an issue, that’s still something we care about… If there's a problem we want to address it. But I think with this country thing… the reason it’s become hot button is because it is so complex, it’s so difficult… and there’s so many moving parts to it that it is hard for us to just do an instant solution. And that instant solution hasn’t happened… I think the key message is we’re working on it, absolutely.”

I should note that while the same problem exists on a larger scale, more problems are solved by having Zune available in more countries. First, the solution is working itself out by insuring fewer people are in a country without Zune (read The Take Away). Second, having Zune available in a home country gets people to use their real address for this part of their Windows Live account. This also helps with issues relating to technical support (how do you send a repaired Zune to a US address that does not exist?). Third, it addresses the issue that has been discussed quite a few times especially by Zune users outside the United States, on Twitter, and in the Microsoft Answers forum by virtue of the fact that new Zune users do not (typically) face with this issue. Realizing the difficulty between servicing a vocal minority and doing the greatest good possible, I think the Zune Team should realize (if they do not already) that the people facing this issue are many of the hardcore users who would line up overnight to be the first into a Microsoft store, were one to open in their home country. At the same time Jessica is right, this is an area of code that is dangerous to be playing with, considering the fact Microsoft Billing (which can be your best friend) is responsible for all 30 million people with an Xbox Live account.

Finally, to an extent I have to admit some responsibility in this as I have advised international users who want the best Zune has to offer to follow the the International Zune User’s Guide. I still recommend it, albeit with caveats relating to content ownership and everything that has been discussed in this post and the podcast. If you want the best Zune has technically, there is nothing stopping you from saying you live in the United States and changing a few settings on your PC. However, know that in some legitimate instances (including if you move within areas serviced by Windows Live, even within Europe) your access to certain parts of the Zune service, including technical support, may get cut off due to billing issues. Lastly, when there are issues that affect you, know the Zune Team does listen and tries to fix your problems swiftly. Still don’t believe me? Ask @ZuneSupport on Twitter.

The things that come up during bed time web browsing can be interesting. Tonight, instead of reading up on the happenings of the day I came across something more interesting than articles on the web, a Bing Mobile site redesign. The above video is a screencast coming straight from my Droid Incredible, using the ShootMe app. It shows what I found to be my homepage when I fired up my browser to visit Techmeme. When I tried to visit m.bing.com on my Zune HD, while on the same wi-fi connection as my phone, I reached the old mobile site.

I believe most of the jerkiness you see is a possible combination of my manually underclocked phone and the app I used as the site performed relatively smoothly on my phone. In making the video I was sure to scroll slowly, as not to exacerbate any issues with choppiness. One point of lag I came across was the loading of the picture grid as I scrolled down for new images. I should note that individual pictures had zooming animations as they loaded from the picture grid. Another slowdown was with the maps section of the site. While the map only got larger without adding detail, when I used the pinch to zoom motion, I can assure you that better quality road maps do load if you chose to have the map pinpoint your location. At one point the site appeared to become unresponsive, when I refreshed the page items loaded again. Not featured in the video is what happens when you enter a search query. That interface has been refined as well. While entering your search auto-suggestions effortlessly pop-up. Similar to the Movies and Weather sections, there is a context aware topic ribbon below the search bar and above the results linking you to relevant searches of your original search in other categories such as news, shopping, and images. If your search does not include any content in any of the aforementioned categories it does not get included as an option you can select.

Looking at the design cues of this new Bing Mobile, the Zune HD experience comes to mind. Imagining a singular device dedicated to search, if I could swipe to a second column featuring items such as my recent search phrases, images, and movies titles I queried, the similarity would be complete. The iconic image of the day still remains. Though, it looks like Bing has departed from its app and desktop web strategy of hiding interesting search boxes along with its image of the day. In a good way white backgrounds and radio buttons give-way black backgrounds and highlighted words to indicate settings. This text-heavy mobile interpretation of its search site is still finger friendly. I would say, and the video does evidence this, the mobile site has become more finger friendly as scrolling and swiping of larger finger targets make selecting a product or image  easier and (if image scrolling speed increases) more engaging. While certain elements of this redesign may already be present the current version of Bing Mobile, the UI has not looked this enticing and unified for all of the mobile site.

Update: I have added some pictures to exemplify the sections not featured in the video. As for mapping, zooming in is a double tap affair, while pinching to zoom simply enlarges the zoom stage you are currently on. Secondly, the image search boxes are still there. You need to tap on the negative space around the mobile site categories to make today’s search boxes appear.