Just got an update for your Zune software, didn’t see much of what it did? Neither did I until I started snooping around and found the above “Do More On The Web” option on the device portion of the options. It doesn’t do much more than state “This Feature Works Only With Windows Phone 7″ at the moment… and I’ve not one clue what else has been added.

[ Links: Microsoft, Zune, Windows Phone 7 ]

When Microsoft acquired Danger, the maker of the entry-level “smartphone” Sidekick, nobody knew what was going to come of it. Fast-forward 2 years, and the fruits of that acquisition finally come to light in the form of the Microsoft Kin One and Microsoft Kin Two. Both are aimed squarely at the “Upload Generation”, the teen to early 30′s group that uses their cameraphone and Twitter apps, alongside Facebook and even MySpace to chronicle their daily operations with their peers.

The Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two are now on sale via Verizon for $49.99 and $99.99 respectively after a $100.00 mail-in rebate once you sign a 2-year contract. Despite having questionable “smartphone” abilities, the Microsoft Kin platform does require the Verizon $29.99 a month data plan.

Despite having a somewhat “cool reception” in the blogosphere, these phones do come with pretty impressive numbers on the optics, Zune connectivity and playback, Bing search engine software which has been beefed up to include location aware portions as part of the new “Near Me” Bing functionality… it’s actually not an ugly phone and it’s still quite zippy performance-wise.

Let’s hope this paves the way to an even speedier Microsoft Windows 7 Phone release though. That’s the phone the more serious folks.

[ Links: Microsoft Kin Press Release, Verizon ]

Spanish blog MuyComputer (via Gizmodo) indicates that Microsoft is about to unveil their new Zune phone, co-developed with Nvidia.

The device should be unveiled at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress 2010. According to the leak, the Zune Phone will have a 480 x 272 screen, HDMI video connection, weigh around 2.45 ounces (70 grams), and use Windows Mobile 7. There’s no word yet on any time frame for a launch, or what American carriers the device will work on when it arrives on U.S. shores. The Mobile World Congress takes place between February 15-18, so if you’re interested in a Zune phone, you shouldn’t have long to wait for more detail.

Link to the original article…

Finally, Microsoft Zune HD owners finally have something that they can show off to their Apple iPod Touch mp3 player brethren. Microsoft has updated the Zune Marketplace and added free 3D games like PGR: Ferrari Edition and Vans Sk8: Pool Service that take full advantage of the Nvidia Tegra chipset and the Microsoft Zune HD multi-touch capabilities to show off some serious 3D capabilities.

The update and the games are free from Microsoft.

[ Microsoft Zune ] [ Microsoft Zune Games ] [ Related: Microsoft Zune 4 Quickplay ]

Just like clockwork, Microsoft updated their Zune software to go alongside the Microsoft Zune HD release. This means that the Zune desktop software also got a fresh new update too.

Upon restarting the Zune software, you will now be greeted by an all purpose “home page” named the Quickplay page. You will see a quick rundown of a Welcome message, what’s new in the Zune Marketplace and your playback history – which… didn’t pick up on anything I’ve played in the prior iteration of the Zune software so far.

The side to side scrolling of within this window… seriously Microsoft. The Zune software breaks every last one of your design conventions for Windows applications and guess what… it works so damn well. Keep it up.

All of the past issues I had, sluggish interaction and the inability to hover over one track or highlight it and just click once to start it… gone. The Zune desktop no longer feels as sluggish as it once did. It transitions, plays, changes colors and looks like no other Microsoft product. The playback screens look just like the Zune 3 software initially, but they behave a bit differently.

I’m still playing but so far… I’m loving it.

UPDATE: It seems like the Zune 120 will get updated to version 3.2 (34) from 3.1 (50) – does that mean that we’re not getting the 4.x update for the player that’s on the Zune HD?

According to Zune.net, the fix for the dead Zunes is dead simple:

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:

1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that’s 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

Let’s see if this really works. Good luck to all that’s affected.

[ Zune.net ]

Apparently at 12am, any Zune 30 that had been updated with the most current firmware just stopped working. Mind you, I own a Zune 120 but even so, this might affect my Zune as well.

The following sites are covering the story as it develops:

Engadget: [ 30GB Zunes Mysteriously Begin to Fail ]
Gizmodo: [ All Together Now!: 30GB Zunes Failing All At Once ]

I’ll update this post as I receive updates too. Two friends, two dead Zunes. All hail the Zune-ocalypse!