Zune Giveaway

by Josh Rubin

Zune, the new WiFi-enabled, bigger-screened iPod competitor from Microsoft, made its much-hyped debut today and we've got three—one in each color—to give away.

With its non-scratch rubberized case, FM tuner, wireless song and picture sharing (from up to 30 feeet away), DJ/broadcast mode, richer animation from screen to screen and customizable background pictures Zune adds several features that we like. Shared songs, however, are limited to three plays or three days, and are "bookmarked" in your Zune Marketplace inbox for later preview or purchase. Though the main navigation looks like a scroll wheel, it is a "donut" that clicks in four directions as well as in the center. We think they should have made it look more like what it is, as your first interaction invariably leads to attempted scrolling of the wheel. Video is not yet available from the Zune site, but it will be launched shortly and those of you willing to make the effort can pretty easily get video on the device.

Though we can't comment on their iTunes equivalent, called Zune Marketplace, as it's not yet available for Macs (we're a Mac only shop) we're looking forward to that aforementioned inbox feature, along with larger capacity models (only 30G models are out now), that will be launched in the near future.

We think they did a great job with Zune-Art, which draws heavily on the creative community with art from established and amateur artists alike.

To celebrate the launch of the Zune CH is hooking three readers up with a Zune—we've got one in each color. Winners will also get a very limited edition hardcover book that was created for the Zune's launch and was only available at the launch parties in New York and LA. In addition to art from the artists featured on the Zune Art site there are two vinyl records with unreleased tracks (the music is also available on CDs that are also included). To top it off, each of the three winners will also receive one of the 1,000 DVDs we made celebrating Cool Hunting Video's 50th episode. The DVDs were given out at our party and only a very precious few remain.

To win a Zune player, launch book and CH Video DVD, you have to correctly answer the following three questions by midnight EST Thursday, 16 November 2006. Three winners will be selected at random from readers who provide all three correct answers. To enter, follow the contact link at the bottom of the page, select "Zune giveaway" from the pull down menu and send us your answers.

UPDATE: Contest has ended and winners have been notified. Thanks for your entries.

In honor of the three Zune colorways—white, black and brown—the questions are themed accordingly. For each question please state the name of the band and the name of the song or album:

• What band's album featuring black in the title has sold 21 million copies?
• Which artist—the first to smash a guitar onstage—has an album with the word white in it?
• Which musical recently adapted for the stage and currently on Broadway has a song with a title that includes brown?

The 30 gig Zune players retail for $249 and are available from Amazon. A range of accessories are also available.

Good luck!

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Cut & Paste

by Cool Hunting Video

A little more than a year ago, CH sponsored Cut & Paste, the first design competition to square designers against each other in a live tournament-style battle. From the initial sold-out event in NYC, Cut & Paste has grown into a nationwide tour with stops in four cities featuring local designers and judges in each spot. For episode 55, CH joined the party that kicked-off their national series at a Brooklyn warehouse-turned-club to document eight of the best young New York designers duking it out on stage. The video captures the three high-energy rounds, a lively 1200-person audience and an unexpected turn. You'll have to watch to find out which of CH's crew stepped in last-minute to replace a judge who was sick.

Amanda Gilligan

by Lost At E Minor

Sydney-based photographer Amanda Gilligan takes brilliant live shots that make you feel as though you're in the front row, being drowned in a bucket of sweat and copping a backful of shoves from the frenetic crowd behind—as these shots of Brisbane band The Grates and, um, Fiest's legs attest. Of her work she says: "When I'm old and deaf from standing next to speakers for too many years, at least I'll have the photos to look back on. I like details. I try and capture that when I shoot rockstars. Taking just one good shot out of 100 makes me giddy."

James Bond Gadget Watch History

by Watchismo

Though Bond's typically a Rolex or Omega man—and Q-Branch won't be supplying any gadgety watches in Casino Royale—here's a look back at the wristwear 007 has worn over the years. The props featured every gadget from Geiger counters to circular saws (pictured right) and a James Bond Spy Watch produced in 1965 for kids included secret sliding lenses.

Tavares Strachan: Where We Are Is Always Miles Away

by Wendy Dembo

Like historical land artists Robert Smithson and Gordon Matta-Clark before him, Tavares Strachan's "Where We Are Is Always Miles Away" uses the physical environment as a medium. Opening this Friday, 17 November 2006 at San Francisco's Luggage Store gallery, the show features a 56" x 56" piece of sidewalk from Crown Street in New Haven, Connecticut that was removed by a crew from the city leaving no trace that anything out of the ordinary had taken place. Including cement, earth, a parking meter, a street sign, as well as the accompanying air that was collected, the excavated materials were trucked to the gallery where they will be exhibited in a hermetically sealed container that is made to recreate the atmospheric and temperature conditions at the time of Strachan's excavation. The gallery will be lit to with the same level of light from the time of day that the piece was taken from the streets of New Haven, Connecticut.

Where his predecessors Smithson and Matta-Clark mostly worked within the natural environment, Strachnan—whose past work includes the relocation of a block of Alaskan ice to his native Bahamas— utilizes current scientific technologies to explore multiple layers of removal, replacement, repositioning and re-creation while evoking both absence and presence (or non-presence).

Opens Friday, 17 November 2006, 6-8pm
Through 6 January 2007
Luggage Store Gallery
1007 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 map
tel. 01 415 255 5971

Popular Science's Best of What's New 2006: Plug and Play Ultrasound

by Letizia Rossi

Each day this week CH's bringing you one of our favorite innovations from Popular Science's Best of What's New 2006. Today, we take a look at the Plug and Play Ultrasound Probe System from Direct Medical Systems, an inexpensive ultrasound that plugs directly into a computer via the USB port with motors that can run on five volts of electricity. Priced at around $5,000, the Plug and Play costs many times less than standard models, which makes Ultrasound technology more accessible to doctors and reduces the need for pricey specialist visits. Also from Direct Medical Systems, Pups, a veterinary version of the Ultrasound, provides access to high-quality diagnostic imaging systems for animals at affordable prices.