Cesar from Zune Insider will be showing the Zune today at Souped Up Cafe to the interested public at 6:30 PM onwards. Souped Up Cafe is situated at 7900 E Green Lake Dr N.

So Seattleites, go checkout the Zune today before it is publically available on November 14.

Chris Stephenson of Microsoft unboxed the Zune and shows off the cool packaging of the brown Zune, with FM radio, background-changing, and and other stuff of the Zune on CBS.

Some people are angry that Microsoft should reveal it on Internet first instead of mainstream media.

Engadget recently posted an article about what the Zune’s wireless is good for and mentioned:

You can search for and find other Zunes nearby. You can send songs / albums for the 3 x 3 trial. Songs past the three days / listens are deleted at next sync, but catalogued on your PC for record-keeping should you want to purchase them later. No word on whether Microsoft is going to keep track of which files are traded. You can send and receive image files for ‘unlimited viewing.’ (Oh, so copyrighted images aren’t worth DRMing?) You can’t: Connect to the internet, Download songs directly from the Zune store via WiFi, Sync to your computer via WiFi.”

But I think they missed one thing here. This 3 x 3 trial only applies for songs downloaded from Microsoft Zune Marketplace and not for any other mp3 songs. So Zune wireless allows you to share any mp3 which is not bought from Zune marketplace without any trouble. And I think, this will be a very big plus point for Microsoft competing with Apple iPod.

And yes, we agree that it would have been great if Zune WiFi allowed us to connect to internet or computer wirelessly. But then, what will Microsoft keep for the next version.

There was a confusion in the minds of people about Zune limitations of sharing music tracks for 3 days or 3 times. “Zune allows you to listen to the song your friend sent you 3 times in 3 days. Then you have to buy the song”.

Clearification about that statement:
This 3-plays in 3-days restriction applies only to the song tracks bought from Zune Marketplace by your friend and is sent to you by him/her. This 3-plays in 3-days restrictions does not apply to any other music, songs or tracks. For example, if your friend sends you any other mp3 song (or any other non-DRM song for that matter), then this 3-plays in 3-days restriction does not apply and you can keep that song forever on your Zune and listen to it forever.

That is really a good news. What it totally means is that you can wirelessly share any music mp3 between you (which you have not bought) without any problem. Great news Microsoft.

Will iPod users shift from iPod to Zune? If yes, do they have to buy all the songs they bought from iTunes, again from Zune Marketplace? Hmm… That is a big problem. But it seems Microsoft has found the solution for it.

To attract current iPod users to Zune, Microsoft is allowing the users of iPod to download the songs which they have bought from iTunes, free of cost from their Zune marketplace. It seems, Microsoft Zune Marketplace will scan iTunes store and will automatically add all those songs to your Zune Marketplace account, which you bought previously from iTunes. So all those songs will be free to you from Zune (Though Microsoft still has to pay to copyright holders of the songs.)

This is a very good strategy, though Microsoft will loose a lot of money in it, but switching users from iPod to Zune to gain bigger pie of mp3 players market may be a good strategy. Time will tell.