Software Sleuthing : Zune

You Don't Need a Zune to use the Zune Software (aka "yet another free media player")

joshpoley — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:29:00 GMT

With the release of version 2.5 of the Zune software, I thought I would point out a fairly obvious, but not widely know, fact. Anybody can use the Zune software to manage and play their media files on the PC. You don't need a Zune device in order to take advantage of the Zune media player.

Go ahead, check it out, the Social awaits.

Zune Floor Mat == Coaster

joshpoley — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:15:00 GMT

So if you get the "Zune Car Pack", then it comes with a cool little floor mat, which can be used as a nice no-slip pad to place your Zune while driving. Unfortunately for me, there wasn't a good place to put the mat in my vehicle. Not wanting to waste such a nice piece of sticky rubber, I threw out the old piece of paper which was acting as my office's beverage coaster, and started using the Zune floor mat.

I bet that wasn't one of their test cases.

Zune-Arts + Valentines = ?

joshpoley — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:06:00 GMT

The newest artist expression over at Zune-arts throws in some Valentine's Day craziness.

View at your own risk.

Zune Combos

joshpoley — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Because nobody reads the (online) manual anymore, I've collected the some of the common "keyboard" shortcuts for the Zune device and software. May this page provide you with a happier Zuning experience.

Device

Power On, Wake (while the device is off)	Press Play
Quick Sleep (while the device is on)	Hold Play
Full power off	Hold Back and Down
Return to the main menu	Hold Back
Reset / reboot (while the device is on)	Hold Back and Up
Device Recovery (reformat)	1. Hold Down and Back to power off. 2. On a 2^nd generation device (Zune 4/8/80): Hold Back, the Center pad button, and Play. 2. On a 1^st generation device (Zune 30): Hold Back, Left, Center, and Play. Note: Afterwards, your device will need to be attached to a PC to initialize and download the latest firmware. Disclaimer: Use only as directed by support etc., etc.

Notice: The information here pertains to current devices with firmware version 2.3; other versions (past or future) reserve the right to change these combos.

PC Software

Toggle Shuffle	Ctrl+H
Toggle Play/Pause	Ctrl+P
Stop	Ctrl+S
Toggle Repeat	Ctrl+T
Mute	F7
Increase Volume	F9
Decrease Volume	F8

The extra media buttons on some keyboards also work for keyboardizing stop, play, pause, next track, and previous track.

More PC keyboard shortcuts can be found on the Zune help site here.

Zune == 1337 + 1

joshpoley — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:40:00 GMT

For all you music fans, we just launched an updated Zune player, which you can either get from Microsoft Update, or directly from the Zune site: http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunesoftware/download.htm

And if you haven’t seen it yet, we are offering a new line of custom art etchings just for Valentine’s day, plus a red 80gb Zune; all on https://zuneoriginals.net/. So if you aren’t sharing the love yet, now is a great time to join the social.