Beginning on December 31st, 30GB Microsoft Zunes around the world began freezing up and complaints flooded in from worried users who were concerned their media device was broken.
The software giant looked into the problem and concluded that the problem stemmed from 2008 being a leap year. The Zune’s internal clock had failed to switch over to the new year, and the software bug caused the devices to lock up.
The problem was ‘fixed’ however yesterday when Microsoft advised all Zune users to let the battery of their device drain out and then turn it on after 7 am on Thursday.
“Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black,” the company said, “Then power up the devices, but only after 7 a.m. Eastern time on New Year’s Day Thursday. No other action is required.”
Users may have to re-sync their devices completely today however, to restore any DRM files that come with
copyright-protected songs.
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Alright, it is the time of the year when I try to wrap up all the major events in digital video and technology that happened during the past year and also to take a quick look at what happened at AfterDawn.com as well.
Blu-ray and the death of the HD DVD
For the good portion of this decade, people following our niche have been anticipating the “next DVD format” to come. That finally happened in 2006, but the eve of the high definition optical video format was partly crippled by a format war. That format war finally ended earlier this year, when Toshiba gave up with its HD DVD format, marking Sony-backed Blu-ray the winner of the war. However, the prolonged development of the Blu-ray and the following format war delayed the potential adoption of the format so much that it remains a mystery whether the format will ever be able to replicate DVD’s success story.
Various net-based video services, such as Hulu have made significant gains in the United States during the 2008. As more and more studios, TV production companies and broadcast channels adopt net as one of their more significant distribution channels, such services pose a real threat to Blu-ray’s future in the U.S. It should be noted that due distribution contracts, smaller market areas and various localization issues, such services are rarity in most markets and in those markets, Blu-ray is often the only reasonable option for high definition video material. As a good example, here in Finland, the most HD channels you can get from any pay TV operator, is currently 10 and none of the major broadcasting channels provide HD material whatsoever. And of course Google is taking major steps into net video as well, specially after the introduction of HD material to Youtube earlier this year.
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According to a DTV transition regulator, the government coupons that help subsidize the price of DTV converter boxes are going to be hard to come by soon, and he recommends ordering one now.
Rep. Ed Markey, the Department of Commerce official who oversees the subsidy program, added that he expects demand to exceed supply in the next month before the government mandated transition in February.
Congress may also need to “pass additional funds” for extra coupons.
The mandatory switch to digital signals goes into effect February 17th, 2009.
To learn more about the transition and what you will need if you are still unsure, please read this very helpful guide here at AfterDawn: Preparing for the US DTV Transition
