Microsoft and Toshiba to play a catchy Zune

Stan Beer
Saturday, 26 August 2006 06:25

Your IT - Home IT

A 30GB hard drive, a 3-inch screen, Wi-Fi capability, and FM radio are confirmed features of the upcoming Zune music player which has now been revealed will be manufactured for Microsoft by Japanese electronics giant Toshiba.

Details of the new device which has been presented by many, including Microsoft, as a credible assault on the dominance of Apple iPod, have been made publicly available because Toshiba was required file details of the player with the US Federal Communications Commission.

Much has been made of the Wi-Fi capabilities which will enable sharing of files and photos, as well up to four users jointly listening to a tracks from one player.

In addition, the mammoth 30GB storage capacity, coupled with a comparatively large 3-inch screen, will give the Zune a distinct edge over the iPod Nano for watching the sort of short videos that appear on YouTube or music video tracks.

Microsoft intends to get Zune in stores in time for the end of year holiday shopping season. What still has not been revealed is Microsoft's content strategy.

Unlike the pure hardware manufacturers, such as SanDisk, Microsoft is developing the other side of the portable music delivery equation, an online music store to combat the highly successful Apple iPod and iTunes model.

It has been suggested that the Microsoft model will be similar to the Apple model, with content from the store protected by Microsoft DRM so that it can only be played on the Zune player. However, since Windows Media Player will feature in both the store and the Zune, it is more likely that Microsoft will allow music from its store to be played on all portable devices which have licensed Windows Media Player and use its conisderable resources to market Zune as the premier portable Windows Media Player device.

The collaboration between Microsoft and Toshiba is an acknowledgement from Microsoft that it needs to use the resources of a quality hardware specialist to deliver a device that can compete with iPod. Microsoft has ties with Toshiba in other hardware areas, including the manufacture of an HD DVD plug-in video player for the Xbox 360, which will also hit stores before the end of the year.

The big issue for Microsoft, which has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the Zune project, will be trying to convert about 60 million iPod users who have already purchased billions of dollars worth of music that can't be transferred to the Zune. There have been suggestions that Microsoft is prepared to subsidise the transfer but this has not been confirmed.