Well this is great news for Halo fans. Microsoft will be releasing a limited edition of Halo3 – Zune. This edition will be exclusively available through GameStop beginning this June 15th. You can pre-order here.

The Zune - Halo 3 Edition comes:

• Pre-loaded with music, artwork (over 120 different images), trailers and videos from Halo, Halo 2, and Halo 3
• Custom Halo graphics
• Special edition, customized packaging
• Exclusive episode of Red vs. Blue (only the first six episodes of season 1)

It looks great, see for yourself in the un-boxing video below.

Alright finally we have something to write about which is not a rumor. It’s confirmed and definitely not about the zune phone, or the zune 2.0 or the Flash zune or regarding the Wi-Fi sharing of songs running firmware version 2.1.4 etc.

Microsoft will be manufacturing its own zunes in China, wait a minute isn’t zune from MS? Yes, but its build by Toshiba which is re-badged and repackaged and slapped with the Microsoft logo. So, will MS have any advantage?

The much awaited software update 1.3 is out now. As of 10:00 AM PT yesterday the update is available for download.

Well as I mentioned before, the update includes known bug fixes. For example skipping issue with zune marketplace content, improved device, syncing and software reliability. And a few changes to the FM tuner which prevents the battery from draining in sleep mode.

Now let’s move on to feedback. I just searched around a few blogs and sites to see if this update really helped in fixing the bugs as claimed by Microsoft.

Here are a couple of responses:

Yes, the much awaited firmware update will be released around third week of March. But this update will only fix known bugs in the system and no new features will be rolled out. So, no audible books or podcasting support yet.

Now, what to expect from firmware version 1.3? First the much talked about skipping issue will be resolved. As you know I wrote a post last month highlighting this issue with respect to content downloaded from zune marketplace.

Other features include changes to the FM Tuner so it no longer drains the battery in sleep mode and improved device and software reliability, when it comes to device detection, and improved syncing.

As per zuneinsider zune.net will be updated around 01:00 PM EST today. This update will enable account management from a web-browser, no need to sign into the zune software.

It will enable you to:

• Update, change, or cancel your Zune Pass subscription.
• Buy Microsoft Points.
• Change the password on your Tag.
• Update your credit card info
• View your statement and more.