We’ll have to wait until mid-November for the completely rewritten Zune Marketplace software and second generation 80GB black Zune ($249.99) hard drive version, 8GB ($199.99) and 4GB ($149.99) flash versions to hit stores. The new Zune portable media players will offer something called a Zune Pad which Microsoft describes as a “an innovative touch-sensitive button for navigating on the device, as well as wireless sync, a feature that allows Zune devices to automatically sync over the device owner’s home wireless network when it is connected to an AC adaptor, in a dock or speaker dock accessory.”

That taken from official press release which also explains the new Zune Social (emphasis):

Launching first in beta, Zune Social, a beta online community Web site, gives people a place to share their music tastes, knowledge and experiences with others. Anyone can create a free, customizable Zune Card that automatically updates to reflect the music they are listening to on their Zune or with Zune software on their computer. The Zune Card shows most recently played tracks and highlights that person’s all-time music favorites. Other members of Zune Social can play samples of the songs a user has been playing directly from a friend’s Zune Card or link to Zune Marketplace, where they can buy or download the music … members of Zune Social can send song links and messages to each other, post comments on a friend’s profile page or on their favorite artist pages. They can discover new music by seeing what their friends are listening to, receiving recommendations from others in the community or by seeing what the top fans of artists they’re interested in are listening to

Sounds a little like a cross between Xbox Live gamer cards, iLike and last.fm (which somehow I haven’t registered for yet. Update 10:12am PST: after further review, I found I have registered for last.fm when it was formerly audioscrobbler).

The biggest news to first generation Zune owners and early adopters is backwards compatibility with the new software and features. Very nice, this ties up my “what about the 1 in 25 who bought a Zune instead of the iPod” concerns on Monday.

Perhaps the best news is yet another DRM-free music store option will be born alongside AmazonMP3. That’s right, the Zune Marketplace is going to start selling over one million DRM-free MP3s. The new Zune Marketplace will also have built-in podcast support, something that they were criticized for omitting from the first release.

And speaking of criticism …

Zune bashers are predictably out in full force this morning
Jay Greene at Business Week makes an early doom and gloom prediction: “The next version of Microsoft’s music player won’t make any serious iPod inroads.” And despite starting his article out with this slam, Mr. Greene never defines what he means by “any serious iPod inroads.” Right now 1 in 25 people buy a Zune. If a year from launch 5 or 10 in 25 people are buying a Zune would that constitute a serious iPod inroad? It’s this kind of cheap shot reporting that annoys me. Microsoft never claimed they’d be a serious competitor to the iPod right away, no more than they claimed to be a serious force in console gaming right away with the Xbox. They aren’t doing too bad with the Xbox 360 right about now.
TechCrunch new editor, Erick Schonfeld, can’t resist blasting the color, stylistic snobbery at its finest: “At least [Microsoft is] getting rid of the Zune brown (a color only a UPS delivery man could love).” I guess the first generation Zune Brown (only $165 at Amazon, affiliate) will become a collector’s item, Erick.

Final Hmm thoughts
Despite the naysayers and pessimists, this sounds like a solid second version upgrade path and my only regret as a happy Zune customer is that it’s not available now like when Apple CEO Steve Jobs announces new stuff it’s typically available the same day.

And like John Gruber suggests, why doesn’t Microsoft rip that page out of the Apple playbook? As commenter Jaxim says at the Windows Connected blog, they should release the firmware and new store now to drive interest in the Zune 2 gadgets ahead of sales. Maybe if enough Zune owners encourage them to do this, they will. Microsoft, you have my vote: release the firmware and new Zune Marketplace ASAP.

• Comparison shopping for DRM-free music online a must these days
• Microsoft Zune unboxed black
• E3: More info on Xbox 360 backwards compatibility
• Zune beats out Wii as CNET users #1 most wanted product
• Upgrading to Zune 2 screenshots and first thoughts
• Backmasking Flash: Satan inspired or not?