The first Microsoft Zune products will hit U.S. retailers in time for the busy Christmas holiday season, with a 30GB digital media player and a Zune Marketplace online service the first to reach consumers, Microsoft said Thursday.

The details of what Microsoft is offering with its Zune product line -- which will compete with Apple' s iPod device and iTunes software and service -- sound similar to what Apple already offers, with a couple of exceptions. In addition to allowing users to play music, videos and photos on a screen, the Zune player will include wireless technology and a built-in FM radio tuner. So far, iPods lack either radio tuners or built-in wireless technology.

Zune' s wireless technology will allow users to share songs, playlists and photos between Zune devices, Microsoft said. A user can listen to any song they receive up to three times over three days, after which they must purchase it from the Zune Marketplace if they wish to continue listening.

The Zune Marketplace, like iTunes, allows users to purchase media and manage their own media libraries. Users can purchase music tracks individually or buy what is called a " Zune Pass," a subscription service allowing users to download as many songs as they want for a monthly fee.

The Zune device will come in three colors -- black, brown and white. In addition to viewing media on the 3-inch screen, users also can customize the screen with personal photos or themes, Microsoft said.

In another deviation from Apple' s plan, Zune devices will come preloaded with content from record labels. Labels that are teaming with Microsoft to provide music for the players include TS, EMI Music’s Astralwerks Records and Virgin Records, Ninja Tune, Playlouderecordings, Quango Music Group, Sub Pop Records and V2/Artemis Records.

After months of speculation, Microsoft confirmed in July that it was developing a music player and service to rival Apple' s iPod and iTunes.

If other attempts to unseat the iPod are any indication, Microsoft will have a tough road ahead. Recently, Dell stopped selling its DJ Ditty music player on its Web site and ended development of its own line of music players.

Still, iPod market share has fallen in the past year, leaving room for rivals in the market. At one point the music player had more than 80 percent market share by analysts estimates, but the latest reports give the iPod a little over 70 percent market share.

In addition to the devices and the online service, Microsoft also will offer three Zune accessory backs that will be sold separately and will be available at the same time as the Zune devices.

The Zune Car Pack includes a built-in FM tuner with AutoSeek and the Zune Car Charger. The Zune Home A/V Pack includes five products that integrate Zune with a television and music speakers: Zune AV Output Cable, Zune Dock, Zune Sync Cable, Zune AC Adapter and the Zune Wireless Remote for Zune Dock. And the Zune Travel Pack offers five products for traveling with the Zune device: Zune Premium Earphones, Zune Dual Connect Remote, Zune Gear Bag, Zune Sync Cable and the Zune AC Adapter.

Like Apple, Microsoft also is working with accessory manufacturers to provide more add-on products for Zune devices. Among the companies with whom Microsoft is teaming are Altec Lansing, Belkin, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, Dual Electronics, Griffin Technology, Harman Kardon and JBL, Integrated Mobile Electronics, Jamo International, Klipsch Audio Technologies, Logitech, Monster Cable Products, Speck, Targus Group International and VAF Research.

....you know that feeling when your pop tries to dance?...

hmm I wonder how good is the sound quality, cause it seems like I won' t be buying any MS hardware for it' s design at least not in my lifetime.

ORIGINAL: ]GaNgStA[

hmm I wonder how good is the sound quality, cause it seems like I won' t be buying any MS hardware for it' s design at least not in my lifetime.

Lol...Is it coming to europe aswell I kinda like the brown looking one.

Definitely not as sexy as the iPod but better looking than most of the other portable music players out there.

Well, I difinitly won' t get it this year, but if they can integrate my 360 Acrade Games on there, have a decent battery life, then... maybe Spring or Fall of next year...cause it would be time to upgrade from my current iPod nano.

Definitely not as sexy as the iPod but better looking than most of the other portable music players out there.

What does that have to do with anything? I' m glad to see something will finally come along and crush the goddam iPods. If Zune is user fiendly and allows for drag and drop, I' ll buy a case of them.

ORIGINAL: Agent Ghost

Definitely not as sexy as the iPod but better looking than most of the other portable music players out there.

What does that have to do with anything? I' m glad to see something will finally come along and crush the goddam iPods. If Zune is user fiendly and allows for drag and drop, I' ll buy a case of them.

It' s called an opinion based on observation.

Aesthetically speaking, I don' t think it looks as good as an iPod but is better than most other media player monstrosities out there. Feature wise it probably wins against the iPod but I didn' t want to comment on it as I don' t actually own one and can' t really form a valid opinion of it.

I understand that but still, I don' t care if if looks uglier then a chiwawa' s asshole, if the features are better then the competitions (which shouldn' t be very difficult) then then Zune should be worthy. I like my MP3 players the same way I like my guns it doesn' t matter if it' s ugly as long as it fucking works.

It' s going to feature Live Anywhere functionality...

*edit*That' s what I hear anyway... don' t quote me.

its ugly but hey it might have some cool features but its still ugly

I like how it looks! nice and sleek!

ORIGINAL: Agent Ghost

Definitely not as sexy as the iPod but better looking than most of the other portable music players out there.

What does that have to do with anything? I' m glad to see something will finally come along and crush the goddam iPods. If Zune is user fiendly and allows for drag and drop, I' ll buy a case of them.

Yup i' m hoping it' s user friendly i' mn to really fussed too much about the wireless transfers (even though that might be good). Also I find that as ' ' sexy' ' as my ipod is just like my phone it spends a lot of time in my pocket anyhow... especially when i' m out and about in london.

It' s hardly FUGLY. Microsoft are probably the only people who could hope to challenge Apple in this market too so it' ll be interesting to see how this goes.

Well it kinda reminds me of toshiba' s gigabit which I think is quite clunky but the people I know with it all seem non-phased by the size...and for toshiba it actually looked kinda ok.

I like how it looks. It definitely could be better (mainly the big circle pad in the middle which sadly isn' t even touch sensitive) but I think it looks as good as an iPod. I really like the large screen as well.

The software seems ver user friendly. Teamxbox has some videos of it on their site.

wow so Zune has 30 gb,and 360 just 20 gb?

...that' s the last time i rely on google for an image search.....

wow so Zune has 30 gb,and 360 just 20 gb?

..yea... ....and the newly announced 5th generation ipods are 80gb...

Definitely not as sexy as the iPod but better looking than most of the other portable music players out there.

What does that have to do with anything?

...everything actually.... ...you see before ipod, mp3 players weren' t much more than an oddity... ...then ipod came and made mp3 super trendy-mainstream...

...my point is that ipod' s success is mostly due to the perception of it being a must have, cool music player... ...functionality whilst important, isn' t necessarily the main point of owning an ipod...

....now if microsoft are to stand a hope in hell of it' s Zune being a serious ipod rival, Zune would need to somehow, ' out-cool' the ipod...

If i was a fan of microsoft though, id probably feel increasingly peeved with how ' mainstream' they seem to have become recently.... ...first they say that their biggest priority with the x360 is Japanese support and success in Japan (how many PC gamers prefer Japanese games??).. ...which, if you dare to be truthful, IS an attempt to emulate Sony' s market leading brand...

....and now this Zune... ...which to the majority of people generates initial thoughts of " ipod rip-off" ..... ...i' m no student of marketing but, surely any product which copies the market leading brand too closely, is guaranteed to fail miserably?...


Edit:
....oh yeah, Zune was designed by the same Microsoft team responsible for x360....
..i wonder what it' s physical dimensions are......

ORIGINAL: Bishonen

....oh yeah, Zune was designed by the same Microsoft team responsible for x360....
..i wonder what it' s physical dimensions are... ...

If you look at THIS page from TeamXbox, it has some videos that will give you an idea (looks about the same as an iPod. Go figure!)

Wait...

From what I heard Zune wasn' t supposted to be able to play videos. So what am I going to do with 30GB of space? Sure, Live Anywhere and games would probably take a little...my music is about 1.1GB on my current iPod...so thats less then 10GB at max.

GREAT IDEA from the Ninja!!!
You could save your games on Zune...that would be sweet!

ORIGINAL: _Ninja_Protocol_

Wait...

From what I heard Zune wasn' t supposted to be able to play videos.

What are you talking about? That' s the point of the huge screen. It' s for videos.