In September, Microsoft released the and firmware update along with its newest hardware, the Zune and models. At the time, Microsoft mentioned that it would be phasing out the older models slowly--but the company didn't say the change would be this dramatic.

As early as yesterday evening, reports of began to surface on Microsoft support forums and gadget blogs. Microsoft with the following acknowledgement: "Customers with 30GB Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!"

We contacted a Zune spokesperson, who confirmed the issue: "We are aware that customers with the Zune 30GB are experiencing issues with their Zune device. We are actively working now to isolate the issue and develop a solution to address it. We will keep customers informed on next steps via the support page on zune.net ()."

We will update this story as we learn more.