Zune and 360 Marketplaces – Just Dating

One of the coolest things that was sort of flying under the radar with the new Xbox 360 update today was the convergence of the Zune Marketplace and the Xbox Live Marketplace.  The past couple days I tried to find information about how this was going to work, because what little I knew had gotten me excited.

I have not bought much on the Zune Marketplace in the means of videos but I had bought a bit on the Xbox Video Marketplace so the idea of getting all that content to my PC sounded pretty cool, also the idea of streaming that content from the Xbox servers was also pretty cool, especially when you are a multiple 360 household.  So it was with much excitement that I entered today.

What I’ve found is that these two marketplaces are far from being “converged”.  I knew going in that the Xbox Live Marketplace had MUCH more content than that of the Zune Marketplace so I didn’t expect Microsoft to open up a world of content in a day.  What I did expect was that at least the content that I had purchased on the Xbox Live Marketplace that was available on the Zune Marketplace and that shows in my purchase history would now be available for download, so far this has not been the case as it is not allowed.

After a little test purchase I made I did find out that it does work that way with new purchases for the most part.  I made a purchase of Land of the Lost episode 1, downloaded it to my 360, then downloaded it to my PC afterwards.  I have yet to test the sync to my Zune 80.

The content that I had purchased through Zune Marketplace however was available to download to my 360 without any trouble.  So it does appear to at least work in one direction.  Maybe Microsoft is still working out some of the kinks.

The other thing I thought would be nice would have been the ability to stream content I had purchased already to a different 360 with my account without downloading it, alas for much of my content this is not the case, it will work however for that Land of the Lost episode and the item that was purchased from the PC Zune Marketplace previously.

It does appear that making purchases on the 360 is the place to do it as before you make your purchase it will tell you exactly where your content will be allowed, if it can be streamed, downloaded to your Xbox and downloaded to your PC and Zune.  Content that is not available on the PC Zune Marketplace is evident as it will only say you can download to your 360.  I did not see this on the PC side but I didn’t really try to make a full purchase on that side either so it may be there.

I’m not complaining here as its day one of this convergence and its a big step in the right direction but after spending a little time with it tonight there’s quite a way to go.  I will say that if this convergence comes together a bit better  I will be much more willing to make more purchases.

One last thing I’ll say is that with the new Zune branding everything you ever downloaded shows up in your library now if its on your hard drive or not.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that and I didn’t think I’d like it but in a short time its growing on me.

I like that the Zune brand is now out there more, I’ve been a big Zune supporter for awhile and hope the brand can get more recognition this way as its well deserved.  If Microsoft can continue to work on this it can really be a powerhouse in the future.  No one is ever going to topple Apple and iTunes but today was a step in the right direction.

Maybe an engagement next year with a wedding to come soon after that.  Until then these two are simply just dating.

Living in High Definition

About five years ago my father in law was shopping for an HDTV. I helped him out, the deal was too good, and I bought one too.  That was my first HDTV, it was a 42 inch rear projection LCD.  Its a great TV, still is, but rear projection TV’s have fans in them and I could never get over hearing the one in mine.  So a little over a year ago I replaced it with a 46 inch Vizio LCD.  I had bought a smaller 32 inch for the bedroom prior, which was moved to the living room later, and really liked it.  I really liked the upgrade, but of course it wasn’t perfect.  It was becoming my “thing” with getting an HDTV, nothings perfect.

The Vizio was where I watched most of my TV, the Sony was moved to the “toy” room but it also became where I started to watch a lot of football since September.  About a week ago I got a great deal on a Panasonic 50 inch Plasma I had been eyeing.  A year or two ago my dad got a 50 inch Panasonic Plasma on Black Friday and I’ve loved it ever since, it has such a great picture.

Needless to say I don’t have a lot of TV’s but they are all now High Def.  That 32 is now back in the bedroom as well.  On top of that, where the TV’s are now have lessened their deficiencies. I love the picture  on the plasma, its like nothing I’ve ever seen before!

Its like the DVD player, eventually you knew you’d have one in every room.  I’ll say that although I have a few the prices have always been the reason why.  Of course my wife is still not happy with the much larger TV she has in her living room (and a TV on a TV stand even looks bigger than in an entertainment center) but she’s getting used to it.