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Blue 8GB Zune Confirmed Along with a Ton of New Features [Zune]

A cool new blue Zune was spotted at Fry's today, complete with some new features. The first, ?Device to Cloud,? allows users to access wireless hotspots to update music collections, browse Zune Marketplace, refresh Channels (another feature), exchange favorites, and buy tagged FM songs. "Channels" are custom stations that deliver "personalized playlists" to the Zune, and the cleverly named "Games" feature is, well, about games. Rumor is a few might even come preloaded on this blue Zune. Lastly, the "Buy From FM" feature lets you listen to FM radio stations and tag the songs purchase when you sync with a PC. Full specs and other details down below.

Key Features & Benefits

Buy from FM
o Listen to your favorite FM radio stations and click to tag the songs you like for later purchase when you sync your device with your PC1.
Zune Pass
o Download millions of tracks, whole albums or playlists with Zune® Pass subscription service. Explore new music or rediscover old favorites?then sync them all
to your Zune Extend your subscription online or by purchasing a Zune Pass card.4 Wireless Sync
o Connect to your home wireless network and remotely sync your Zune® device with your PC collection from your dock, AC adapter, or speaker dock accessory. 2
Device to Cloud
o Access thousands of wireless hotspots around the country to automatically update your collection, browse Zune Marketplace, refresh Channels, exchange favorites with friends, or buy songs you've tagged from your FM radio.
Wireless Sharing
o Send your favorite songs, albums, playlists, pictures and even audio podcasts freely between any Zune® devices. 3
Channels
o Zune® Channels are custom programming stations that deliver personalized playlists to your Zune® from a variety of sources you select, such as music experts, celebrities, or top radio stations.
Games
o Games rock on your Zune®. Zune® Players now come with a selection of fun free games to choose from. Play the popular poker game Texas Hold'em or challenge yourself to a game of Hexic, and make sure you play your favorite song from your collection to create your own personal game soundtrack.
Video/TV Shows
o Choose from a growing selection of TV shows now available on the Zune® Marketplace video store. Recorded TV shows or movies from Windows Media Center in Windows Vista can be imported and synced to your Zune.5

Requirements

Specifications section
o Capacity:8GB
o Digital Storage Media: Hard disk drive - built-in
o Sound Output Mode:Stereo
o Supported Digital Photo Standards:JPEG,Audio & Video Playback
o Supported Digital Audio Standards: WMA, AAC, MP3
o Playback Modes: Random play / shuffle
o Supported Digital Video Standards:MPEG-4, WMV, H.264
o Display Built-in Display:LCD-color
o Diagonal Size: X"
o Resolution: 320 x 240
o Battery:rechargeable-Lithium ion
o Headphones:binaural-Earbuds
o Included Accessories: 3 earpiece covers, sync cable
o Connections Type:1 x docking station | 1 x USB | 1 x headphones

[Fry's via Zunerama]

Mod Connects Xbox 360 QWERTY Pad to PSP, Fanboy Heads Explode [Mods]

l0rdnic0, an administrator over at Acid Mods, has video of the unholy union of an Xbox 360 QWERTY with a PSP Slim. While the mod works just fine, as you can see in the video, we worry about the fanboys. Seeing something like this in action must be kind of like how Brendan Fraser's character felt we he woke up for the first time in Encino Man. It doesn't make sense. It can't make sense. Because then everything you've based you life on—every waking moment—was a lie.

Here's some of the tech specs about the mod, courtesy of l0rdnic0 himself:

My PSP?s are running CFW 4.01 M33-2, a special version of piKey and a custom flash on the Chatpad. Text input is a breeze and it works with the Sony OSK (on screen keyboard) and the Danzeff OSK under AFKIM. It does not work with PSPWrite and other ZX-81 applications because they are not compiled to do so but Jean is working on a compatible drive to make them work natively.

Is there any doubt that the PSP is a hacker's dream these days? [AcidMods]

Orbiting Aliens Can Leech Internet Access From ISS Thanks to New Wifi Network [Interstellar Wifi]

There may be a virus aboard, and the crappers were once waste distributors instead of collectors, but the one criticism we can no longer level at the International Space Station is a lack of wireless. That's because it has it now! Let astrophysics tests no longer be confined to the lab—astronauts can now complete them, blogger-style, from the comforts of their bunk.

Further details from NASA Watch:

"After transitioning the JSL (Joint Station LAN) network to the new Netgear wireless APs (Access Points, WAPs) which provide the ISS with WiFi (wireless+Ethernet) connectivity, Gregory today repeated functionality tests, abandoned earlier this week, in three Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) locations from the wireless SSC -11 laptop, and later also in the COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory). Afterwards switching to "Proxim" APs, the new WiFi "Dolphin" BCRs (Barcode Readers) were also tested."

Other random, cool ISS news (at least for this fan of the game): NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff is currently playing six simultaneous games of chess with the six ground control locations that monitor the ISS.

Even cooler? Magnets are a forbidden item for trips to the station, so Chamitoff made his custom lightweight set out of Velcro. [NASA Watch via Slashdot]

Apple Admits British Man Invented iPod in 1979, Uses Him to Win Patent Lawsuit [IPod]

There you have it folks. The real inspiration for Apple's game-changing iPod, courtesy of the world's unluckiest Briton, Kane Kramer, 52 (not including the fifth Beatle). You see, in the dark technological days of 1979, Kramer saw a beacon of light in his IXI. Capable of playing a mind-busting 3.5 minutes of music, the IXI prototype was Kramer's ticket out of obscurity. Sadly, when he couldn't raise enough venture funding to renew the IXI patent in 1988, the device became the Zune of its time, and was largely forgotten. Fast forward to the present, when Apple, fresh from making year-over-year record profits with the iPod, needed Kramer something fierce to bail them out of a lawsuit jam with Burst.com.

Apple called Kramer so he could serve as a consultant for the trial, and so his patents and drawings could be used to settle the suit out of court.

"I was up a ladder painting when I got the call from a lady with an American accent from Apple saying she was the head of legal affairs and that they wanted to acknowledge the work that I had done," Kramer told Daily Mail. "I must admit that at first I thought it was a wind-up by friends. But we spoke for some time, with me still up this ladder slightly bewildered by it all, and she said Apple would like me to come to California to talk to them. Then I had to make a deposition in front of a court stenographer and videographer at a lawyers? office. The questioning by the Burst legal counsel there was tough, ten hours of it. But I was happy to do it."

And now he'd be even happier collecting some of that multi-billion dollar iPod business, but so far all he received was compensation for his time at the trial. The struggling furniture salesman, fresh from another failed business, is now negotiating additional compensation, but says he was happy to help whatever the outcome. Well, as long as it isn't more iPods...

"I can?t even bring myself to buy an iPod for myself," he said. "Apple did give me one but it broke down after eight months." Hmm. Apple products seem to be doing that a lot these days. [Daily Mail]

Fresh Pics of Collapsible, Portable Microsoft Arc Laser Mouse [Laser Mice]

Thanks to tipster Alex, we've got some fresh hands-on pics of the new Microsoft Arc mouse, which we got a first look of back in July. The $60 mouse folds down to half its size for easy portability thanks to what the packaging calls a "strong metal hinge," and the glossy veneer, to quote Blam, is indeed "flip and drool" worthy.

According to Alex, the tiny USB dongle attaches to the underbelly of the Arc when not in use via a magnet, and there's a storage bag for travel purposes. The packaging quotes a 30-foot range, and jumping is non-existent, says our tipster. Thanks, Alex!

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