Sunny Man’s Blog

September 26th 2006

(2) Microsoft Zune

Blogging, Misc., Technology

You’ve no doubt heard of the new media player from Microsoft, dubbed Zune. I realised that I hadn’t actually talked about it on here so this post’s objective is to rectify that fact. I’m going to try and acumulate all the things we know, don’t know and suspect about this media player. The viral site at http://www.comingzune.com has been updated twice with some rather mysterious yet encouraging animations. Check it out.

Main Features

It’s been revealed that the Zune’s main selling point is the ability to send songs and photos to other Zune owners using the built in Wi-Fi. But, it was also revealed that those songs sent over Wi-Fi will basically be adverts - the recipient will only be able to play the sent song 3 times in as many days. You decide whether Microsoft are shooting themselves in the foot. On the subject of DRM, don’t forget to contribute to anti-DRM day on the 3^rd October over at DefectiveByDesign. So, even if you’ve made the song yourself, the Zune will apply ‘viral’ DRM to that song so the recipient can only listen to it 3 times.

The Zune will host your music, photos and video and will sport a 30GB harddrive to store this on. Although this is no way near the new 80GB iPods storage capacity, Microsoft hopes that the Wi-Fi fad and it’s larger 16:9 aspect LCD screen will make up for the storage shotcomings. I don’t know anyone who’s used all their space on their iPod so maybe it’s not that bad. There’s been no word on the codecs that the Zune will support but you can expect the usual support for Microsoft’s own formats like .wma, .wmv and the obvious .mp3 and .jpg - but will Microsoft drop a blow and make us convert most of our songs, videos and photos and waste valuable hours? We’ll just have to wait for the official announcement.

The Zune also has a built-in FM tuner so you can listen to your favourite radio station when your 3 plays of that song your friend sent you runs out. In my opinion, this is something that all portable media players should have because it’s the small things that count.

And, the final point in this section, there’s the obligatory software to compliment the Zune. It looks like an iTunes-like program for Zune owners will allow them to purchase songs in two different ways: pay-per-song or unlimited downloads for a monthly fee. This software, dubbed ‘Zune Marketplace‘ will basically allow you to purchase tracks, maybe even albums and hopefully video. Of course, just like iTunes it won’t be a full market straight off. Artists and labels will be added over time, as with video - hopefully even branching into video (I do hope the vidoes available on iTunes will be available for Zune, especially with it’s 16:9 aspect ration screen.

Zune Peripherals

The Zune apparantly has a number of peripherals lined up for it. On the official Microsoft press release, there are details of the first party accessories that are lined up. You can take a peek at them here and also oggle at the lovely press photos of the Zune iteself. There are also a handful of third party peripherals apparantly lined up as well.

Zune Not Coming Zune

Although I’m going on about the Zune, It’s a sad fact that Microsoft has decided to release the Zune this year only in the USA. Unlike the Xbox 360, which recieved a world wide launch (although with severe shortages), the Zune is apparantly going to be phased into other countries during 2007. This could be problematic. The consensus is that the Zune is to be released around the 14^th November in the USA - do you want to get outdated hardware after waiting months to get your hands on it? I wouldn’t. And certainly giving Europe a ’special’ colour Zune won’t make up for the lost time and hardware update. The Zune, in the USA anyway, is to be priced less than the current iPod pricing. This would put the Zune, here in the UK and Europe, at around £170 and €240 (I’m not very good at currency conversions). I mean, if the Zune came out here in the UK in time for Christmas, I would get it to accompany my Wii.

Conclusion

So, it’s both better and worse than the iPod in it’s own rights. Microsoft are entering an already flooded market and I think should’ve tested the Zune on a smaller population (such as here in the UK :P) before trying to crack iPod country a.k.a the USA. Microsoft have already started to get the brand out, giving away free Zunes to middle-aged women on chat shows and getting it reviewed by some well known and respected bloggers. Will the Zune take a chunk out of the iPod dominated market? Probably not. But, it’s got some nifty features and if Microsoft want to really break into the market, they need to rethink a lot of the features as well. They should take the viral DRM away - say no to DRM - and also make sure they support as many popular codecs as they can (OGG, DivX etc.) to appeal to both the general public and those tech savy enough to use other formats. Microsoft, hear our cries (atleast hear them before the European launch)!