Zune Service Down Today for Maintenance

Zune users will need to gear up for a small period of “draught” hitting the services that provide content for Microsoft’s digital media player device. According to the Redmond company, the Zune service is scheduled to go down tonight, and to stay offline for no more than a day. In this time, Zune owners will not be able to access Zune Pass, Zune Marketplace, Zune.net streaming. At the same time, Zune video on Xbox will also be unavailable. Microsoft explained that there’s no reason behind the services being taken down other than scheduled maintenance.

“The Zune service will be offline starting at 10 pm on Monday, January 25 and we anticipate all Zune services will be available again within 24 hours. We wanted to get the word out so that you and your readers are not surprised by the pause in service. As with previous updates, we recommend users download any new music, videos or podcasts and sync Zune Pass content they want prior to the downtime, otherwise they’ll have to wait until the service is back up to download new content. Content already stored in their PC or Xbox HDD will remain available during the downtime,” a Microsoft representative told Mary-Jo Foley.

The Redmond company underlines that routine maintenance is the only reason behind the downtime that the Zune service will experience today. Microsoft dismissed speculation regarding preparations set in place for the rumored “Zune phone, for the porting of Zune services on Apple’s iPhone or iPod." At the same time, the software giant made it clear that it will not introduce any new features.

“Once the Zune service is restored, users will be prompted to update their PC software. Additionally, owners with older Zune devices (4, 8, 16, 30, 80, 120 GB) will need to update the device firmware to allow continued connection to the Zune service. Zune HD owners will not have to update the device firmware,” the Microsoft representative added.