Zune getting Audible

No, not audible as in the ability to be heard from beneath the strain of a million screeching iPod fanboys. Rather, the Microsoft Zune is about to be Audible book capable. At least if you believe Paul Thurrott (which we do) and others who have received confirmation from Audible Amazon that the Zune will be AudibleReady "before years end." Of course, it's not official until Ballmer shouts it out in a sweat splashing rampage across stage... but it's close.

[Via ZuneBoards]

[jatin_76 @ Apr 21st 2008 8:17AM]

and I love it.....

[nxtiak @ Apr 21st 2008 8:18AM]

I personally don't care about Audible, but glad it's going to be supported by the Zune.
There are tons of people not buying one because it doesn't support Audible.

[furquanatique @ Apr 21st 2008 8:24AM]

Did I read this right? Did Engadget use the word fanboys? How is this possible? This must be a mistake! In any event, audible sounds good.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 21st 2008 2:51PM]

Whoa, the puns in your last sentence was too much for my brain in Monday morning mode.

[roole @ Apr 21st 2008 8:30AM]

What's a Zune?

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 9:41AM]

I found your comment most useful and intriguing. I would like to subscribe to you newsletter if at all possible.

I await with eager anticipation.

/saturated with sarcasm

[Josef @ Apr 21st 2008 9:42AM]

What's a roole?

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 9:54AM]

Roole (pronounce Roo-el): The chances of this person being an apple fanboy is extremely high. Activites include, but are not limited to bashing a popular mp3 player with better functionality than the apple iPod (not ipod touch, different category), in every respect, purely for the reason that it is made by a corporation (read: MS) that for some reason they dislike.

Warning, opinions are 100% biased and non-sensical, and give no positive input to a discussion other than giving others the pleasure to low rank them.

Just one more definition for you all, but I can't be bothered, I'l paste the link here for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwned

I am done.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Apr 21st 2008 11:00AM]

This is a Zune. He represents all the other Zune users out there. I can't wait until he gets his name changed. He'll be the largest capacity Zune there is. All power to the Zune.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/10/zune-guys-name-change-endeavor-is-back-on/

[fanman @ Apr 21st 2008 11:11AM]

Perhaps he isn't from north america, the only place were zunes are sold?

I gave him a high rank anyhow.

[roole @ Apr 21st 2008 2:55PM]

Ooooh...... Zunies sure are iPod touchy.

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 5:32PM]

My primary mp3 player is an jailbroken iPod touch.

Fail x2 multiplier Combo.

You're on a role!

[MrGutts @ Apr 21st 2008 8:46AM]

/whack's roole

It's the thing that can survive when you drop it on the ground, unlike a i-touch that will shatter into a billion pixels..

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 21st 2008 9:10AM]

What's an itouch?

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Apr 21st 2008 9:29AM]

@swingin' dick hero: It's the first two words in the title of a 1990s pop song by the Divinyls, of course!

And remember, MrGutts, if anyone i-touches you in your private place you should tell your parents immediately.

[Josef @ Apr 21st 2008 9:44AM]

He fingered my click-wheel!

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 21st 2008 9:55AM]

Sorry I'm not familiar with the Divinyls, but maybe I should check them out since they seem to have a special place in your heart.
Also I would like to make a small correction on that: "if your Parents i-touches you in your private place you should tell Anyone immediately."

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 9:56AM]

He fingered my glov... oh wait....

[Zeus.:God @ Apr 21st 2008 10:18AM]

The iTouch is what the iPod Touch was originally going to be called- much like the iPhone.

Its also much shorter than typing "iPod Touch".

[manfesto @ Apr 21st 2008 10:54AM]

"It's the thing that can survive when you drop it on the ground"

Unlike it's owner, at about 0:42 seconds in :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5QiqbHp5Q8

//As a multimedia person, I totally dig the Zune's current ad campaign and commercials

FWIW, I've dropped my iPhone a few times (yes, I'm a clutz). It's perfectly fine, save a few scratches on the back (the front never scratches - my friend keeps his iPhone in the same pocket as his keys). I'd imagine the iPod touch to have a similar level of durability.

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 21st 2008 11:33AM]

Was it really going to be called iTouch? Never heard that Apple considered that.. Though I would like to read any article that confirms this since I always believed it only was the name non-iPod-users called it by.

[James @ Apr 21st 2008 8:53AM]

I was wondering why zune didn't have this to begin with but I'm glad they're pushing audio books over TV shows and movies. It makes more since for an mp3 player.

[Jeff @ Apr 21st 2008 12:55PM]

I disagree that it makes "more" sense, but i am glad they're finally getting around to supporting it - the Zune is a total no-go for me without Audible... (i'll still take an iPod over a Zune, but is this is true, i can finally start recommending the Zune to my family members that are more intrenched in the Windows world)

...but then again isn't Paul Thurrot ALWAYS wrong? ...he seems to be a sort of anti-indicator, generally anything he says, the opposite comes true... but Audible support seems so obvious that he might just be right this time.

[Bloodjun @ Apr 21st 2008 9:48AM]

F YES! I just recently got an audible account to for... RON AN FEZ NOON TO 3 ON XM 202... and this was my only complaint about the Zune. Very happy that I won't have to strip the DRM off every single time now!

[Craig @ Apr 21st 2008 10:36AM]

You mean there's a PMP other than the iPod? Do tell.

[Sam Zebian @ Apr 21st 2008 10:48AM]

Yea and this one's been out since 2006! You must have been in a coma for a few years (I hope you got it by someone punching you in the face and knocking you out, thus making you fall from your roof, or something like that...)

[Jeff @ Apr 21st 2008 12:57PM]

just for the record, Sam is an idiot. (and a violent one at that.)

[Craig @ Apr 21st 2008 10:52AM]

@Sam Zebian: I hear they sell sarcasm-detectors on ebay for the humor-challenged. You might want to look into getting one of those.

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 11:01AM]

I'm a repair man for them! Check out the lazer post above!

[Sam Zebian @ Apr 21st 2008 11:08AM]

Hey, you were the one pointing out the lame ass joke from last year... just saying, get with the times.... Oh, and here on engadget, we reply using the reply button... The @:username thing is from gizmodo, not engadget...

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 11:25AM]

Ha ha h... what?

[Eric @ Apr 21st 2008 11:04AM]

Welcome Zuunies.

Seriously.

This is great for Zune users. I love Audible. Lots of books way cheaper than at iTunes. I have the two book a month plan and I never run out of great books to listen to as I run my four miles to whip myself back into shape.

And if you don't have a digital player now, Audible has plans to sell players with $50 rebates for signing up.

(I have no affiliation with Audible, and they used to piss me off for not supporting Safari, but overall, I highly recommend them.)

[Ed @ Apr 21st 2008 11:08AM]

I can check Audible off the list of problems I have with my Zune. For me having a subscription based music service is a must, but why can't MS look at the iPod and say we need to do that:

- Audible support (MS will fix this in the next half year)
- Clock
- Sleep Timer
- Wide range of hardware support options
- Auto Playlists

It should also have easier transfer of video from Media Center HD to the Zune.


Well, I hate to say it (being an MS fanboy) but if there is a subscription based iTunes, I will buy a new iPod (I am already waiting for a 3G iPhone since they will have Exchange email support).

Microsoft needs to wake up here... the Zune is great, but the only things it has over the iPod is a music subscription and a better screen. If it could meet the features of the iPods, I would stick with the Zune.

[Che @ Apr 21st 2008 11:25AM]

Well, my iPod Touch has a clock, but it's always wrong, so that's not much of a selling point.

If your PC has been in a sleep or hibernate state since the last time you started iTunes, iTunes will helpfully set the iTouch clock wrong every time you sync it. Apparently iTunes is just too clever to rely on the (correct) time that your computer keeps and instead has its own special (like the Olympics) clock that stops every time the computer goes to sleep. I assume this doesn't happen on Macs, but it's been a problem on PCs ever since the iTouch came out. With all of the new software versions Apple puts out in its efforts to block hackers, you'd think they could bother to fix this.

I love Audible and might have bought a Zune if it was Audible compatible 6 months ago.

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 11:26AM]

Doesn't it also have fm radio?

[lt.milo @ Apr 21st 2008 3:39PM]

I own a zune, but I am thinking of selling it if I can't get linux and mac support by the end of the year. I'm suprized people don't care about these issues very much on engadget.

[computer.dude.28 @ Apr 21st 2008 8:16PM]

I don't see a clock as any sort of selling point to me at all. I can understand that some people would prefer to pull an MP3 player out of their pocket, occasionally having to turn it on, and find the time, but I still think it's much easier to just wear a watch.

[jhaks @ Apr 21st 2008 9:57PM]

The the features you want are pretty easy to implement. Hopefully they do it in the next update. As for the auto-playlist feature you should check out Microsoft Research Music Steering. It intelligently tags and categorizes your music library programmaticly and then can generate playlists based on what you want to hear, your mood or your situation. It is currently only a research project but hopefully it gets implemented into a product.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=388038

[justin @ Apr 21st 2008 11:26AM]

Engadget loves to mess with the Zune kids' heads by mentioning an iPod somewhere in the article. Well played Engadget. I hope you go to a Microsoft keynote and talk really loudly on your iPhone during a presentation. I WANT to see how that goes over.

I have an idea how it would play out, but it involves SCSI drives and the phrase: "Don't RAID me bro!"

[Rob Schoenfeld @ Apr 21st 2008 12:06PM]

Dear MSFT,

Thank you for providing Audible support for my Zune hardware. However there are a few things I believe should be a higher priority in the Zune Marketplace. As I do enjoy the Zune hardware very much, I find the Zune market place experience to be laching.

1. I would love tighter integration with Windows Media Center.
2. Please please please let me edit my ID 3 tags right in the Market place.
3. I would also love the ability to play my Zune subscriptoin music in my Win Mob device.
4. Please consider eliminating WMP al together and allow for MP3 support in the Zune Marketplace (Subscription Music excluded of course).

Any that's my to cents.


Good Day

[tcc3 @ Apr 21st 2008 2:30PM]

Amen brother. Love my Zune, hate its crappy software.

The rationale for not using WMP was supposed to be so the Zune team could update and improve and not be tied to WMP slow product cycle.

At this rate well see WMP 12 before we see real Zune software worthy of the device.

[wixostrix @ Apr 21st 2008 11:59PM]

If you use windows media player you can put your subscription music on you WinMo device. I do it all the time with my Tilt.

[PGP-Protector @ Apr 21st 2008 12:57PM]

Sweet I love Audible, but hate that I can't just throw my books onto the Zune without first trying to convert it to CD then to MP3

[Sy @ Apr 21st 2008 1:25PM]

Whats a zune again?

[Esat Dedezade @ Apr 21st 2008 2:10PM]

Silence.

[roole @ Apr 21st 2008 2:59PM]

Just want y'all to know that 'Sy' and I are not the same person.

[Nick @ Apr 21st 2008 1:32PM]

good thing its already fm radio ready

[sinai @ Apr 21st 2008 1:33PM]

LOL WUTS A MAC?

[Decoy @ Apr 21st 2008 3:59PM]

A Personal Computer.

[plush arcade @ Apr 21st 2008 2:18PM]

I'm really interested to see how Zune combats other mp3 players in the market. (The FIRST thing they need to do is add a very well-integrated Mac support, imo. Then bump up their advertising, since so many people loved the ads they released last year.) They've been doing an OK job, so far: Zune isn't the Whipping Boy it was in 2006. Granted, it's only been out 1 1/2 years, so it still could either plummet or fly... especially if they limit the device.

The marketing is interesting, though: It's not as mainstream as the iPod, but not very "faux indie" either - somewhere in the middle. Metaphor: Whereas iPods are the Walmart/Virgin Megastores of music; the Zune is making an attempt to be the Amoeba Records. (Zune/iPods are a bit too corporate to be your home-grown local record store.) It shows as iPods use U2, Feist and Black Eye Peas in their commercials when Zune uses The Shins, Rogue Wave and Hot Chip. However, mainstream sells way more.

They've also built an interesting image in that most (Mac-using... hint hint) designers/animators I work with would give their left arm to work on a Zune Arts project. You'd be surprised how much those Arts videos are passed around motion graphics and animation studios!

Hmm... oh wait, I'm supposed ot be talking about Audible, not pondering their advertising! Sorry, obviously I work in marketing. :)