Microsoft has unveiled its second-gen iPod killer, creatively called Zune 2. Lame or not? You be the judge.
In an attempt to take the fight to Apple, Microsoft today announced an update to its Zune digital media player range, creatively called the Zune 2. The original Zune was released last year with much anticipation as being a product capable of taking the fight to the iPod, however Microsoft has so far only sold 1.2m units and the Zune is still only available in the US. As a point of comparison, Apple shipped nearly 50 million iPods in the same period.
The Zune 2 line features one hard disk based model called the Zune 80 which comes with an 80GB hard drive and the Zune 4 and 8 (also called the Zune Flash), which come with 4 and 8GB Flash memory respectively. All the Zunes compete directly with their equivalent iPod (The 80GB Classic, and the 4 and 8GB Nano) on price.
The Zune 80 comes in black and features a 3.2 inch 320 x 240 pixel display. The Zune Flash comes in four different flavours (pink, red, green and black) and features a 1.8 inch screen. Like the original Zune, both new Zunes also come with an FM Tuner and WiFi.
Zune 2 also features a new input device called the ZunePad which acts as both a track-pad and a button. According to Wired reporter Mark McClusky 'you can scroll through lists by sliding your finger along the pad or by holding down the edge.'
While the hardware is different to the older generation it's the software updates that will be critical to the Zune's success. Zune 2 now supports podcasting, a feature sorely lacking in the version 1 release. The built in WiFi can now be used to sync content wirelessly from your computer, and there are now more liberal usage rights when 'squirting' (Microsoft's hip-funky street lingo for transferring a song to another Zune user wirelessly) songs and other media. Also, Zune 2 adds support for h.264 and MPEG-4 video codecs, which means users no longer need to convert files to WMV. Lastly, you can now import TV programs recorded in Windows Media Centre (Vista only) directly onto your Zune.
The Zune Marketplace is also getting a major visual refresh and will offer over 3 million songs for sale, including DRM and 1M+ DRM-free MP3 tracks. Users can either purchase songs ala carte or sign up for the $14.99 monthly subscription service.
But in an attempt to differentiate itself from Apple, Microsoft is taking the Zune down the social networking path and adding a new feature called the Zune Social. Zune Social will be a website that will keep track of what you listen to, and allow other users to sample and buy that music. According to Wired, 'all that data is collated and aggregated so you can see what's the most listened-to music, which users have listened to certain bands the most.' These data streams will also be available to other social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
With the Zune 2 Microsoft has clearly listened to customer feedback and improved its offering. It finally seem to be 'getting' that the iPod's success isn't just due to a bullet-point list of features but the intangible benefits that come about when you offer your customers an integrated vertical solution.
Also, finally offering a Flash based, cheaper player is a no-brainer. I can't believe it took them this long to do so. Existing Zune customers will be equally happy as they'll receive a firmware upgrade that will give them feature parity with their new-born cousins. If Microsoft had heart they'd even consider compensating those who bought a sewer-brown Zune with partial credit to update to a new Zune.
Will Zune make any headway into the iTunes + iPod juggernaut? Probably not, but it will absolutely put pressure on all the other iPod wannabes in the market.
Zune 2 is scheduled to ship 'mid-November' in the US and with no announcement on Australian availability.