The first thing that caught my attention when I first heard about the Zune was the rumor that it would feature Wifi built into the player. This excited me greatly because I knew then and there that the Zune was the next big thing. Bill Gates called the Zune “future proof”. He is absolutely right! I’ll get into this a little later.

I bought my two Zunes the day they were released knowing that little fact. I purchased a white Zune and a black/blue Zune. The price was great! $249.99 for the next gen media player was right on target to take on the iPod. This pricing ended up working very well, as the Zune in November rated at #2 best selling player right behind the iPod.

As per Jason Reindorp, marketing director for Zune, Microsoft will be rolling out their first software update for the Zune before Christmas.

With all the threads and posts making rounds about software installation problem, connectivity problem and other minor (or not so minor) issues an update was badly needed.

Well the update will not have any major changes. But will definitely include Vista support and fix some minor glitches and add some performance and other improvements.

Reindorp quoted saying. (Source: CNet News)

“It is plumbing stuff, but it is stuff customers will notice and appreciate,”

Well someone mailed me a few days back asking when the release will be for zune in Australia. I didn’t have an answer that time, but I do now.

As per smarthousenews.com.au, a highly successful technology trade only website claims that Steve Vamos, Director of Microsoft Australia has confirmed that zune will be launched in Australia in the New Year.

Even Belkin will get underway its zune accessories with the launch. Guess this decision is a bit of surprise as everyone expected zune to launch in Canada next.

David Caulton from zunester has come up with a great video encoding tutorial for zune. The tutorial is very well explained via screenshots and uses TMPGEnc Xpress for converting videos.

Honestly TMPGEnc Xpress is a very easy and powerful tool to work with. But remember it’s not free and costs 100 bucks. Well don’t wanna spend 100 bucks then you can try SUPER, it’s a free video encoder and a very efficient tool.

Anyway in this particular guide David for example has encoded different file types; a DivXfile, a QuickTime video, an old AVI file, and a DVR-MS file. What else he even setup a zune profile for you to download to lessen your work. Enjoy!

Update: Microsoft recently rolled out a software update for zune, which fixes known bugs in installation process and other minor issues. The update also includes firmware version 1.2. Please update to newer version and see if it fixes the problem before you proceed.

Recently lot of people had issues with the zune software. Like can’t connect to zune or unable to install the software. I even addressed the zune connectivity issue a few days back. But this one is for those who are having trouble installing the zune software.