Zuneboards' PityOnU and the rest of the Hacks & Mods team have just
released some very interesting research:
Many people (including myself and the rest
of the H&M Team) have complained about the apparent lack of
services offered by the Zune program. But, is this really Microsoft's
fault? Are they really missing? I do not know if it is Microsoft's
fault, but the services definitely aren't missing. In fact, there are a
number of awesome apps already coded into the Zune software.
How do I know this? Well, being on H&M kind of makes it my job to
know this. And after working with this program for some months now, I
have found A LOT of things that Microsoft has locked away in there.
Have a look:
Zune Codecs?
I myself have heavily noticed the lack of supported file types by the
Zune software (so much that the H&M team made a mod to get around
it
HERE ), but from the evidence I have found, it was not
supposed to be this way. If made to do so, the Zune program will
convert and sync to your Zune an amazingly large amount of file types.
In the Zune program files, there is also the coding for this:
What is it? Well, its a dialogue box used for
downloading and installing plug-ins and codecs for the Zune player. It
looks a lot like (and is probably the same as) the dialogue box used to
download codecs in WMP11. The Zune program would definitely benefit
from being able to play and sync more types of media, so why is
Microsoft holding back on this one?
Podcasts On Zune?
I found the lack of podcast support in the Zune
program to be a very stupid move by Microsoft. Why, when trying to
establish a customer base of iPod users, would you leave out this very
popular iPod function? Well, guess what? They didn't:
This is another dialogue box found in the Zune
program files, eluding to Podcast support. Why is it locked away if it
is already coded into the Zune program? The answer for this one is
pretty easy: it was probably a threatened lawsuit from Apple. That's
probably the reason for the next thing, too.
.AAC Support?
It surprised me to find while working with the Zune
that the Zune device itself has the ability to play .aac files! It's
actually coded into the firmware! Take a look:
The above screenshot is of system information taken
directly from the Zune device. After seeing this, I thought to myself,
"Finally, Microsoft did something smart." Not really. After looking
into the Zune program files, I was surprised to find that that the Zune
program will not pick up and/or sync any .aac files to the device. Why
would Microsoft make it so that ex-iPod owners would not be able to add
any of the songs they purchased from iTunes onto their Zunes,
especially when the Zune device itself would play the files? I have no
clue. I would assume that it has something to do with Apple owning the
.aac format, but I'm not sure. Either way, this is a HUGE screw up by
Microsoft, and this should be fixed ASAP.
Microsoft Live Spaces Integration?
This is my favorite of all the hidden features. In the Zune software,
there are MULTIPLE references to things such as 'Friends', 'IM', and
'Profiles'. Here is one of them:
Shown above is one of the menus coded into the Zune
program but for some reason or another cannot yet be accessed. There
are a large number of things like this, including more menus, dialogue
boxes, and strings, that indicate Zune compatibility with IM programs
and/or some sort of online blog. There is also evidence that would
indicate that people you pick up on you Zune would be saved, picked up
on your PC, and automatically added to your friends list. I would
assume that it would use Microsoft Live Spaces and Microsoft Messenger,
but I can find no solid evidence of either. The fact remains, Microsoft
seems to be going big time for the 'social' aspect of the Zune, and
since this is already coded into the software, you can expect it soon.
Song Play Counts?
There is already coding in the Zune firmware that
counts how many times the user has played each song (possibly for the
3x3 rule), proven by the below screenie:
All Microsoft would have to do would be to add some
coding to retrieve these numbers off of the device and they would be
good to go. A lot of people use this feature, too, so I have no idea
why they have not yet done it (after all, the Zune has been out for 6
months now).
Overall, the Microsoft's Zune project could be an
AMAZINGLY successful one, but until Microsoft (or us hackers) take the
initiative to unlock all of its hidden features, it will continue to be
an underdog to Apple's iPod, which has already established a strong
foothold on today's market.
Hacks & Mods Crew
ZuneBoards.com
P.S. - If anyone has any .aac files they could post, the H&M team may be able to unlock the .aac part of the Zune program.
P.P.S. - By us finding these 'hidden features', it in no way signifies that we are able to 'unlock' them.
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