Zune 30

From The Zune Wiki

[edit] Zune 30

History and Basic Information

The Zune 30 is the first portable media player developed by Microsoft. It was released on November 14, 2006. It was simply named the Zune. After subsequent versions with different hard drive capacities, the original Zune was renamed Zune 30.

The consumer edition was initially offered in black, brown, and pearl white, which came with a "doubleshot," or translucent glow, in a different color, of blue, green, and clear, respectively. Cases are made from a silicone rubber. Controls include a circular control with four buttons for direction, as well as a middle button to select a song album or menu, a back button to the left, a play/pause button to the right, and a hold switch atop the player next to the headphone port. The words "Hello from Seattle" are inscribed on the back of the case and it features several songs, videos, and images preloaded on the device.

The limited editions came in different colors and artwork and were offered in three consecutive months. Red Zunes were put up for auction in various stores in the Los Angeles area on October 2006. Pink and orange Zunes, in quantities of 100 each, were randomly inserted into Zune boxes along with a numbered certificate of authenticity. Devices in these same colors were given to the Zune team as gifts. They had "Welcome to the Social November 14, 2006" written on the back and came in white packaging featuring Zune artwork then were released on the very same month.

Cesar Menendez from the Microsoft Zune team confirmed Pink Zune availability around mid-May for a limited edition production run of 100,000 units. In the same month, beginning April 13, 2007, the Pink Zune was first available on several online stores.

A Halo 3 inspired Zune developed in partnership with the game's creators Bungie was announced at a Halo 3 event in May 2007. The Halo 3 Zune comes in either dark brown or black, and features a Halo symbol on the back. Both versions are loaded with Halo content, including a custom episode of the popular series Red vs. Blue and were designed to feel like something that came from the game.

Released on October 29, 2007, a Wisin & Yandel custom Zune is available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores. This custom Zune was created for fans of the Latin music group Wisin & Yandel and is pre-loaded with the album Wisin vs. Yandel Los Extraterrestres. Live concert footage, videos, images and other music are also included. The Wisin & Yandel Zune is black with a custom graphic on the back.

Recent Firmware Issues with the Zune 30

At approximately midnight Pacific Standard Time, on December 31, 2008, Zune 30s across the world simultaneously went to the boot screen and stayed there, frozen. Some believe the problem stems from the recent 3.1 firmware update. People experiencing the problem are giving the event many names, among them Z2K9, Y2K9, Z2K, the Zune Screen of Death, Zunepocalypse, and the December 31st 2008 Zune Meltdown.

Microsoft posted a comment on the support front page stating the issue is because 2008 is a leap year, and a firmware clock driver used by the Zune 30 improperly handles the last day of a leap year, causing the player to freeze. The driver is for a part used only in the Zune 30 model, which is why the bug didn't affect the other Zune models. The official fix is to drain the device battery and then recharge after midday GMT on 1 January 2009.

Hardware

   * Volume: 4.4 × 2.4 × 0.58 inches (11.2 × 6.1 × 1.4 cm)
   * Weight: 5.6 ounces (158.8 g)
   * Screen: 3 inches (7.62 cm) QVGA LCD, 320×240 pixel resolution, 65k colours (16-bit color)

   * Hard disk: 30 GB hard disk, form factor short FF 1.8 inches

   * Wi-Fi: Zune-to-Zune song transfer,Zune-to-Zune game connect, Zune-to-PC music library synchronizing, Zune Marketplace Downloads when configured with a Zunetag and Marketplace Account(Firmware 3.0 dependant); 802.11b/g (BB|RF); i,e (MAC)
   * TV out: NTSC, PAL, ACP (Macrovision 7)
   * USB: USB 1.1, 2.0
   * Radio: 76-108 MHz FM, RDS, RBDS

   * Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion, 3.7 V, 800 mAh

  1. Discharge: 13–14 hours music (on-off Wi-Fi), 4 hours video
  2. Charge: 2–3 hours (90%-full)

   * CPU and display controller: Freescale i. MX31L processor with ARM architecture, VFP, IPU
   * RAM: 64 MiB, 16 MB available in XNA games, 512-Mb Mobile SDR SDRAM, 133 MHz, 90 mA
   * Flash memory: 2 MB NOR, 1Mx16 boot block, 3.3 V
   * Bus switch: Low voltage octal FET bus switch
   * ATA driver: 8-bit bus transceiver/driver
   * Audio: 24-bit DAC, 48 kHz (max), 0.9 W
   * Audio and power manager: 16-bit DAC, 44.1 kHz
   * Video: Able to store 100 hours of video

All of this information, along with its many sources, can be found here