Fall update brings more features…

Microsoft just keeps piling on the new features- I’ve struck out the ones on the list below that have been addressed.  Keep it coming, Redmond!

(Some of) Our Requests Have Been Filled!

Today, the Zune team released the new firmware for Zune. I’ve revised the master list below, striking out the features that have been addressed, and modifying the ones that have been partially addressed.

This firmware update is a big step for Zune, but as you can see, there are still many desired features left.  Keep it up, Zune team!

Results are in!

We’ve exceeded 100 votes (106 was the final turnout) between the comments here and the votes on ZuneScene. Thanks for voting. And now, what you’ve all been waiting for: The results.

=TOP PRIORITY=

[61 votes] More video codec compatibility- AVI, Divx/Xvid.

[59 votes] Clock

[51 votes] Deletion on the go

[49 votes] Games- Simple games, time killers.

=VERY HIGH PRIORITY=

[41 votes] Removing the 3 day limit on shared content.

[41 votes] Custom Equalizer

[39 votes] Removable drive- (ability to store data files on the zune, use it as a hard drive)

[37 votes] Wireless sync to PC- use the Wifi to wirelessly sync content with your PC

=HIGH PRIORITY=

[31 votes] Gapless Playback- no gaps between songs

[29 votes] Themes- the ability to change font, click sound, etc

[28 votes] More audio codec compatibility- OGG/FLAC

[28 votes] Sleep timer- turn off automatically after a set amount of time, for listening before bed.

[27 votes] Podcast/Vidcast support- differentiate these from other media on the device, allow the Zune to get them from software.

=MEDIUM PRIORITY=

[24 votes] Saving Quicklists as Playlists

[23 votes] Randomize wallpaper- daily, monthly, on startup, etc.

[21 votes] .TXT, .DOC, .PDF viewing.

[20 votes] Alarm- turn on and play a song of your choice or radio at a selected time

[19 votes] Zune to Zune streaming- Allow other zunes in the area to listen songs your Zune is broadcasting.

[19 votes] The ability to send videos to other Zunes.

[18 votes] Support for more/higher resoultion, on pictures and video so they look good via video out.

[18 votes] Widgets- Little web applications usable at hotspots. Weather, RSS, email, etc.

[18 votes] Lyrics support.

[17 votes] Audio bookmarking on non-podcast tracks (for audiobooks)

[17 votes] Radio recording- record from radio, possibly even at a scheduled time.

[16 votes] Internet radio- Streaming music accessible from hotspots.

[16 votes] Customizable menus- Choose what shows up on your main menu.

=LOW(ER) PRIORITY=

[14 votes] Lossless audio support (note: WMA lossless only)

[14 votes] Edit metadata for songs, pictures, movies manually on the Zune (without the software)

[13 votes] Self updating smart playlists on the Zune device.

[13 votes] Mobile marketplace- Connect and buy/download songs from hotspots.

[12 votes] Video Quicklists and playlists

[11 votes] Screen orientation choice- the ability to manually rotate the screen to the orientation of your choice, no matter what media you are viewing. (this includes rotating pictures)

[10 votes] Increased 360 connectivity-being able to use your Zune as a 360 memory card, wirelessly streaming content to 360.

[10 votes] Video thumbnails on the device (in the menus).

[10 votes] Visualizations to go with music- specifically for video out

[9 votes] Radio tagging- tag a song you heard on the radio for purchase or download later.

[8 votes] Don’t interrupt music or video when someone wants to send you a song- just a notification and a beep will do.

[7 votes] The ability to watch photo slideshows while listening to radio.

[7 votes] Mac/Linux support- port the Zune software or open it up to use with other software

[5 votes] Speedier fast forward/rewind depending on how long you hold it down

[5 votes] Search content by keyword.

[4 votes] PPT files viewable/presentable on Zune

[2 votes] Brightness/contrast control when watching movies. This includes being able to turn the backlight off for just listening.

[2 votes] Unicode character support.

What is ZIP?

So what is ZIP? Zip is how I am trying to unite the Zune community in what we want for future firmware upgrades. It started with a thread in the Firmware section on ZuneBoards that I made, where I added together all the suggestions for improvements and features we as users wanted to see in future firmware upgrades. I took the list and sent it to Cesar Menendez at http://zuneinsider.com. Cesar replied and requested that I try and prioritize the list. He also requested that I make sure you guys understand that he’s not promising anything, he’ll just forward the list to the team as an FYI. I also want to be clear that this project is not affiliated with Microsoft in any way. But still, it’s cool to get your voice heard by the people who make the product you use on an everyday basis, right? That’s what ZIP is about. Go to the page that says Your Top10 Wants and follow the instructions there to get your voice heard about what you want the future of Zune to hold. Any updates will be posted here on the main page.

-BRIAN