Got this in my email today.

The Zune service will be down for scheduled maintenance on Monday, September 29, 2008 from 12:01am Pacific Time, for up to 48 hours. During the downtime, Zune Social, the forums on Zune.net, and all of Zune Marketplace will be offline.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you.

Please check back soon. We look forward to sharing our picks, plays, and recommendations with you in the Zune Social and in Zune Marketplace shortly!

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Zune

And, just to note, Xbox.com will be down on 9/29 also.

If I’m reading this job posting right, it looks like the Zune experience is going to expand beyond just handheld portable media players.

Do you want to create one of the most exciting new consumer service from Microsoft? Interested in leading a team from the ground up, working from prototype stage to shipping an experience on millions of devices? Do you dream about having a mobile phone based entertainment experience powered by a unified entertainment service across devices such as Zune, Xbox and PC? If yes, come join the Zune team!

The Zune team is embarking on the mission to create a “Connected Entertainment” experience, realized through the Zune service, that spans multiple devices such as Zune, Xbox, PC and Mobile phones. We are a rapidly growing, V1 product team with great opportunities for motivated individuals who can hit the ground running!

What do you think this means?

As autumn approaches we’ve got a fall-themed wallpaper for your Zune today. Try it out and tell us what you think! Just right click the image and save it to your desktop then add it to your Zune.

B&H Photo in Canada has the following in their online store. Looks like someone jumped the gun and posted sales info a little early. This would also imply the Zune 4 is either getting a lower price point or is going away entirely. Thanks Electronista.

Engadget has the story on what could be more than just storage increases with the leaked Zune 16 and Zune 120.

For those of you concerned that Microsoft’s seemingly imminent updates to the Zune will be limited to some glossy plastic and capacity bumps, lean in, we’ve got good news. Matt Rosoff over at cnet news offers this tease:

"I can’t say much, but I’ve seen what Microsoft’s planning, and befitting its status as a software plus services company, the real advances aren’t going to be in the Zune hardware, but in the Zune software and associated services."

So, what does that mean? Maybe we’ll be able to buy tracks using the Zune player’s built-in Wifi, ala the iPod and Starbucks? Maybe Xbox Live integration? What do you think it’ll be?

Fake Steve Ballmer has the scoop on the Zune 4.0. While it’s not quite what I had in mind, you have to give him an A for effort.

Specifications:
Weight: 3.5 ounces (88 grams)
Single core peryn processor
32 - 64 Gig Flash Drive
3.9-inch color display
Range: Up to 350 feet
JPEG, TIF, WMV, BMP, PNG, FLV
AM/FM/CB
Headphone jack / AV output
RGB / VGA / ZuneVid / HD
Bluetooth
Wifi
Music, up to 64 hours (wireless off); video, up to 9 hours
IE 8 Mobile Built in
25% larger screen
Runs VistaMobile

Jason has posted up a great article over at Zune Thoughts taking a look at things now that we’re nine months into the Zune 2. Be sure and go give it a read.

Overall I’m pretty happy with the actual player but I feel the Zune software has a long way to go. It really surprises me that I can’t “uncheck” tracks from my library so they don’t play. I mean, who wants to listen to Christmas music year round? I shouldn’t have to go to my Music folder and remove all of my Christmas music just to avoid it. There should be an easy way to stop music from playing but leave it in your library.

What do you think could be improved with the Zune overall?

Some lucky turd from Canada got his hands on a 120GB and 16GB Zune. Think I’m kidding? Check the image below. It’s been scrutinized and most consider it to be legit.

Thanks Zunited.

Which Zune do you own now? Will this cause you to upgrade?

Just a note that zunenuze is back. We’ll resume coverage of the Zune on Tuesday, September 2nd.

One for the Dems, one for the Pachyderms.

Thanks Giz.