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I have been a fan of SpinVox since they made their debut in the States.  I even teamed up with the company to give away 1,000 free SpinVox accounts earlier this year. This is the single most useful piece of technology in my administration arsenal, it organizes things better for me than anything else.

You can imagine my intrigue when I read that SpinVox will offer voice updates for Facebook.

Hrm...the greatest productivity tool mashes up with the greatest social networking site.  It sounds like a good match to me.

Every time I put up stuff about Zune I get blasted by the iPod koolaid drinkers.  So have at it, Apple fans. Last night I went to a Zune 2 preview party in Hollywood.  The Zune 2 is slated for release in mid November, so Cesar Menendez from Microsoft if making stops around the country to show off the latest offering. I have to tell you...I'm very excited for this to come out.  Aside from the 80GB "brick" they are offering little 8GB Zunes (I call them "Zunitos").  They come in a variety of finishes and have a Zune pad that is controlled by swiping the finger and clicking.  It is very easy to navigate and is very fast.  It has a speed up feature that, as you scroll through your music, speeds up as you go down the list.  Very cool. Some obvious changes from the first generation Zune are the addition of Podcasts as a top-level service and some neat additions to the "social" (or wi-fi) aspects of the Zune.  Wireless syncing with your computer?  It's there.  I love that.  If you have other Microsoft Products (like an Xbox 360) it will sync content to that.  I also love that. I've written about the Zune Marketplace before, and what a huge fan I am of this service.  The improvements to the Marketplace that coincide with the launch of the hardware are great.  Of course they are adding podcasts, but they are also adding a ton of video selections.  I'm pretty excited about this. The picture on this post is Cesar Menendez holding one of the Zunitos.  It was very low light and they wouldn't let me take hi-resolutions pics, but you get the idea. The bottom line?  I believe this 2nd generation will eat up more market share.  It is clear that Microsoft is not leaving the personal media market anytime soon.  They are in it to win it, and I think the Zune 2 is a step toward that goal.  I will buy one the day it comes out. What about you...are you sticking with iPod or considering a move?

Two great maps to share with you. First of all, check out this Google Maps mashup.  It will give you a frame of reference for the fires that are in SoCal right now.  It's scary how many there are. BTW, On Sunday I took the pic that you are seeing from Woodland Hills, looking toward Malibu...that is a lot of smoke. Second map: Microsoft's new maps are absolutely amazing.  Maps.live.com is a very useful utility.  Want to see my church?? Click here then click "see this location in birds eye view". The picture is about a year old...you can see the construction.

Microsoft has announced the release of the second generation Zune player.  I'm pretty excited about this, and in classic Microsoft fashion they are making many upgrades to the next gen offering.  I know there are many iCult members that read this, but you have to hand it to Redmond for their ability to learn and deploy better products.  Think Xbox and then Xbox 360.

The most obvious change from Zune 1 to Zune 2 is the physical hardware itself.  The 80GB offering is much less "bricky", and the 4GB and 8GB models are closer in size to the iPod Nano.

They have improved the wi-fi so that you can sync the device without the use of cables.  This is a massive improvement and one that I had hoped for.  Goodbye proprietary cables cluttering my drawers and laptop bag.  Another nice feature is "top shelf" billing for podcasting.  This is now a major category in addition to radio, pictures, video and music.  Well done!

Of course my favorite feature of the Zune continues to be the Zune marketplace.  For $14.99 per month I can download just about anything I want.   Yes, it's DRM protected and yes, if I quit paying my subscription the music goes away.  I'm okay with all of that, I really am.  I think the Zune Marketplace is genius.

Will the Zune 2 carry enough improvements to take a bite out of Apple?  (Aren't I clever with my puns?)  That remains to be seen.  I still think that the iPod will hold the majority of the market share, even through this release, but by the 3rd generation I think we'll see an even split.  Bill G is not giving up on this project, and typically when that happens, big market share follows.

I can't wait for the Zune 2!