Microsoft Thursday revealed plans for a new line of portable music players, starting with "Zune," which allows users to share tracks wirelessly.
The device, which will be available
later this year, will allow users to download digital songs and also send songs wirelessly to other Zunes. Songs that are shared can be listened to three times or for three days--whichever comes
first. The player has a 30GB capacity and can play music and video, as well as display photos.
Microsoft also is launching a digital music store, Zune Marketplace, which will offer millions of
songs--but not video--at launch, the company said Thursday. While Microsoft is not disclosing pricing, some analysts anticipate that songs will cost at least 99 cents per track. The devices will also
come pre-loaded with music and videos from studios including Astralwerks Records, Virgin Records, Ninja Tune, Quango Music Group, Sub Pop Records, and V2/Artemis Records.
Microsoft shared details
about Zune two days after Apple Computer's Steve Jobs unveiled several new iPod models and a
new iTunes movie store.
Apart from its shareable songs, the Zune doesn't have much to set it apart from the market leader, Apple's iPod, said JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg. "It's
definitely not an iPod killer--it's probably not even going to give the iPod a headache," he said. "But it's a very respectable first offering from Microsoft. Microsoft's challenge is to continue
refining the device."
But Gartenberg added that the market for media players is still young. "This is a marathon--it's not a sprint," he said. "You don't have anything close to market
saturation in terms of iPod sales, even with their dominant market share."