On November 14th, 2006 Microsoft’s competitor to the Apple iPod, titled Zune, will hit shelves in the U.S.
The Zune has certainly raised interest among consumers because of its wireless capability to connect with other Zune owners and share music, videos and photos. While initially this sounds like a convenient feature, it has its drawbacks. For instance, a user can download music from another owner but can only listen to it for three days, after which they must purchase the song from Zune Marketplace, the equivalent to iTunes. Songs from Zune Marketplace will be the same price as songs sold through iTunes, 99 cents, but additionally offer a Zune Pass which allows users to download as many songs as they want for a monthly fee of $14.99. While Apple does not offer this feature, they’re saying “it is an idea that we are looking into.”
The Zune will be sold at $249.99 as a 30GB digital music player equipped to play videos, hold photos, and connect wirelessly to other users. It will come with a 3 inch screen (viewable in portrait or landscape mode), a rechargeable battery that will play 12 hours of music and 3.5 hours of video, and come in three colors—black, brown and white. While the Apple iPod reaches out to Mac and Windows alike, The Zune software requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista, eliminating Mac owners from the equation. This could certainly be considered a dangerous move since Macs have been gaining more attention in recent months now that they’re able to boot Windows as well. Also arriving in November are three Zune bundles, a $79.99 Zune Car Pack equipped with a car charger, a $99.99 Zune Home A/V Pack that comes with wiring for connecting to televisions and stereo systems, and the $99.99 Zune Travel Pack with remote, carrying case and luxury ear phones.
In the past iPod has blown other competition out of the water. Dell has stopped selling their DJ Ditty and eliminated any future development of the product. Only time will tell what the Zune truly has in store for Microsoft, Apple, and consumers. Analysts are already saying that the Zune is “too little, and too late,” and not as “cool and sleek” when compared to the iPod.
