Microsoft Announces Zune: Its Answer to iPod/iTunes
Posted by Anne B. McDonald | Friday, July 21, 2006 3:22 PM PT
It's official. Microsoft will release an iPod rival this year, according to our colleague Elizabeth Montalbano of IDG News Service.
She tells us that Microsoft today confirmed it will ship competitive offerings to Apple's tremendously successful iPod and iTunes digital music products sometime this year.
In an e-mailed statement, the company said that under a new brand, called "Zune," it will deliver "a family of hardware and software products" that will "bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together."
Microsoft did not give specific information on exactly how the new products will work together, but said it plans to help build a community for connecting customers to new music and other entertainment in addition to offering new hardware and software.
Speculation has been brewing for some time that Microsoft was planning an iPod "killer," but the company had remained mum on the subject until Friday.
Microsoft did not give specific information on exactly how the new products will work together, but said it plans to help build a community for connecting customers to new music and other entertainment in addition to offering new hardware and software.
"It?s probably safe to say that this project will place Microsoft in path with iPod/iTunes at some points, but Zune is a much broader, holistic project," the company said via e-mail.
UPDATE: The company has
set up a Web site where users can sign themselves or friends up for a newsletter providing information about Zune. The site features a short animation set to a song called "Us" by Regina Spektor.
Microsoft also declined to say whether it will design and sell the hardware itself, as it does with its Xbox game consoles, or use a third party.
However, Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, in San Jose, California, said the company will indeed design and sell the initial Zune hardware, which he said will be "a music player with a large video screen." Microsoft also will allow third parties to license Zune technology so they can offer their own hardware as long as it is consistent with the original user experience.
Enderle also shed some light on what that experience may be. According to him, Zune will be "artist-driven," so recording artists will have a lot of freedom in designing the user interface for their music.
But until Microsoft fully reveals Zune, which he expects the company to do in September, October or November, it's hard to tell exactly how users will interact with Zune, Enderle acknowledged.
BetaNews has some more interesting
info on Microsoft's plans, including codenames of the various pieces Microsoft's plans and a guess that August is when the public will get serious details and October for a full product line launch.
Why would I? Am I supposed to throw away the iPod? How many devices do I really need, especially if one works well? Competition is good, though. Maybe prices will drop? Ho Ho
ipods suck, maybe zune wont.. but i doubt it
Anything Microsoft makes always pakes in comaprison to what Apple makes.....
If it wor5ks anything like Windoze, users can look forward to apps hanging up, reloading apps due to corruption, virues, the main OS getting corrupted, having to run file corrupotion correcdting programs, etc, etc etc....
Or, you cna just get the Apple product, whose users are at least as smart as dogs, as when it comes to writing viruses for our own OS, we refuse to dump excrement where we sleep.
I'm sick of a culture in which Microsoft and mediocrity dominate- so I hope Zune zucks, which I zink it will.
I love my iPOD but if MS can come up with a cheaper toolset that others can better afford then great!
But I suspect the iPOD will remain the quaility product.
Microsoft won't hurt us they love us and only want the best for us. Oh my God what happened to my brain. The same thing that happened to computing when windows hit the scene. IT DISAPPERED
WHY SHOULD I INVEST IN zUNE WHILE I CA STORE ABOUT 3000 SONGS IN MY NEW MOBILE PHONE
i agree. Microsoft is an idiot for thinking this willl work. Oh, and James, the ipod was one of the most revolutionary inventions in the last ten years.
I'm not a Microsoft cheerleader by any means, but I am a realist. I'm not ready to predict that Zune (or anything else for that matter) will bring about the demise of the iPod.
BUT, those of you who might know a little history will find some strong and eerie similarities between what you are saying about Zune and what people said about Windows (vs MacOS), Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Microsoft Mice (and keyboards), Microsoft Money, XBox and Passport.
The ONLY thing the talkers have been right about so far is Passport. Say what you will, but the facts of history have shown that Microsoft has an uncanny ability to get people to simply stop using their competitors' products.
the ipod may be revolutionary, it was a great start for online music, but im sorry, someone could do better, and I hope that microsoft does, which will also make apple respond with even better products. I've seen lots of quirks and quality problems with the ipod (including my very own nano).
"I'm sick of a culture in which Microsoft and mediocrity dominate- so I hope Zune zucks"
The ipod sets the gold standard in mediocrity in my mind. Ever been to a college campus, "o what is that you have?...o an ipod?....wow amazing...3000 other people have white ear buds hanging out of their ears too right now" Too me the ipod is now about as exciting and common as something like a Toyota Camry, which is not very.
Personally I want something different. I want a quality music player, I want a music format that is not restricted to one piece of hardware and and music store, and I want a music store that is first rate. Maybe Zune can deliver. Only time will tell.
The IPOD is hardly a revolutionary product. its a copy of another persons idea..and then made trendy but yuppies, and teen magazine. that about sums it up
One true regret i have in my life is not investing in Apple when the IPOD first came out. It truely was a unique and innovative device. Apple created a need where there was none before, unfortunately innovation isnt something that is synonomous with Microsoft. Therefore that translates into failure for the less innovative Zune.
i wish the zune will be battery operated, not proprietary lithium ion like the ipod
it is so much more convenient to use rechargeable batteries
IPod...rubbish..crap battery..no radio...only mp3 files. Should be easier for Microsoft to beat and...people will buy it just to be different .will be a resounding success
Why is that crappy drawn looking rabbit being petted by a crappy drawn man? To a bunch of weird music no one needs to hear?
Why I Hate Apple Ipod (Nano):
1. Internal Battery and Average Battery Life.
2. Overpriced Accessories.
3. Forced to use iTunes.
4. Limited file format.
5. One Way Sync.
6. No charger included!
7. No Radio!
I'm not a Microsoft or Apple fan, just pointing out the truth.
This will be good for the consumer. iPod will respond by lowering prices on the low end iPod products and bring out new products on the high end - voice activation/selection, larger screen, customization & better batteries.
Capitalism at its' best - everybody wins!
I've used an ipod for the past year and a half, and I am just so sick of it for its lack of features. Let's all be honest, it does lack a lot of features other players have, such as FM radio, voice recorder, fm recording, etc... The only reason the ipod is what it is today is because of good advertising.
I also don't like being locked into using one software and hardware. I'm currently looking into a new player and an Ipod is not one of them. If anyone is looking for a hard drive based player, look at the Creative Vision M or the Toshiba Gigabeat. Both are great players which cost the same as the Ipod, but have more features/functions, better specks, especially a better screen.
By the way, for those who make the argument that since Ipod are used by the majority of people, it must be the best player in the market. Well then, if you follow that logic, Window's and PC's are the better operating system and computers since majority of people use those.
Go Microsoft!!!!!!!!
Which one is better?
No Accessories or "Overpriced" Accessories?
At least you can buy SOMETHING to enhance your iPod made by 3rd parties.
The ipod was not revoluntionary. People just think it was. The original hd based mp3 player was the PJB-100 by Hango in 1999. The more popular creative jukebox came in Jan of 2000. Then archos came out with 2 models, THEN apple decided to copy a Creative design (creative actually sued apple for this) and created the Ipod in late 2001. So the only reason the ipod was "revoluntionary" was because despite it's lack of features and poor battery life, it became popular through advertising and who knows what else. Also because it's easy to use, and in my opinion designed for the average American as opposed to other models which have more features, support more file formats, and are a little more complex to use.
And another thing. Everyone loves the new "video ipods", but they weren't the first either. Actually one month after apple release the ORIGINAL ipod (5gb), archos released a 10gb media player with video playback AND recording with a color display almost the resolution of the current video ipod. I admit the battery life, and speed weren't as fast as the current video ipod, but the idea was created by archos in 2001, and then Ipod was actually one of the LAST companies to make a video mp3 player in 2005. I do agree that ipods changed the way people listened to music but NOT because they were the first (not by far) but because they were hip, and the thing to have.
the apple ipods are too expensive and they suck. they ruin too much. i know many people whose ipods have just stopped working including mine so im hoping this microsoft mp3 well be better.
Frankly, i have two mp3 players, neither are iPods...it's just too popular with the crooks...two of my cousin's friends got robbed of theirs at knifepoint in broad daylight...it was the earbuds that gave them away...i'm pretty happy with the players that i already have, so Zune will have to present a few new features that i actually would need for me to think of buying yet another one...i just hope it never gets as popular or come with white earbuds...
I think a cell phone that squirts mustard will be better than this...Tim Crawford
Of course there are problems with iPods, as with any product ever invented; always room for improvement. That the horribly-named 'Zune' will provide that improvement is doubtful.
You simply have to compare Microsoft's clunky, ugly OS with Apple's OS X Tiger to see that Apple makes appear easy what Microsoft struggles so hard to achieve; a smooth, integrated user experience based round a beautifully designed product.
How a product looks and feels, as well as functions, counts.
Microsoft is the ugly, fat chick shoveling on make-up for the prom. My prediction? The Zune will look awful and function worse, despite perhaps trumping the iPod with some features like FM reception.
Maybe they should put the effort into making Vista not such an inferior OS X rip-off.
There are more problems with the Ipod then pretty much every other mp3 player. It does have ease of use, and simple features, but they hide all the problems. Aside from the small battery life, the ipod supports only one video format, i think 2 audio formats, and doesn't have a single feature most other hd based mp3 players have. For example line-in for both video and audio. Archos developed a video hd mp3 player similar to the video ipod a month after apple released the FIRST ipod in 2001 with inputs.
It's odd to me that it took 5 years for Apple to make a video mp3 player, it being the last company to do so.
Also itunes is just horrible. The new video and photo features suck. The biggest problem is that it's only one-way. So EVERYTHING you have on your ipod you HAVE to keep on your computer or itunes gets real confused. For example in addition to keeping all the photos you upload on your ipod, itunes creates a pretty big "photo cache" and hides it to take up even more space on your hd. And you can't just put videos on your ipod then delete them off your comptuer or itunes will give you missing link errors. There are ways around this, like fooling itunes, or turning off auto update, but that just messes up music updating features.
And in regard to Microsoft being the "fat chick shoveling on make-up" i hardly think that is the case. My mother just bought a 3200 dollar mac book pro because she's a photographer, and they're "supposed to provide better color schemes". I recently just built a PC for 1800 dollars, and it outperforms her mac book pro in every single benchmark i've ran, both in windows (on the mac book pro) and in photoshop filters in Mac osx. I've also used the highest end Macs at my school in the graphics department, and it's slow and sluggest compared to running the same programs/filters on my pc (half the price). When i click on an application i want it to come up before i even finish lifting my finger off the mouse button. OS x is just too slow, and Windows xp is more compatible, and so much faster.
I know this may seem odd, but after years of working with both, the ONLY people who complain about PC's are the ones who hardly know anything about computers, and let thier hd get filled with spam, and viruses. I've never had a single virus or spyware on my computer, and windows has never slowed down for me. I agree if you want a computer and don't want to have to think to use it, get a mac, if you want to get involved in the computer process and learn to maximize it's performance go with a custom built pc, which if optimized will run faster than any Mac. I mean Apple STILL only has 4-5 percent of the PC market, and now that they've switched to the intel chip, the only real difference is the OS, considering they use the same chips, GPU's, etc...And it's funny that Mac is giving money to Microsoft now, because they allowed XP to be installed on thier new Intel machines, so people are just going to go out and buy copies of XP to use on thier Apple, (maybe a gamer for example, or a graphics designer that wants to run SolidWorks (won't run on OSx)) So it's fine with me that Apple has provided another way for Microsoft to get money.
This is simply just my opinion coming from 2 years in school as a computer engineer, and another as i switched to mechanical engineering. I don't mean to offend anyone, but this is just how i see it.
At least get your facts straight before you distort them.
The 17" Macbookpro costs $2800, not $3200.
It is not just "supposed to provide better color schemes" that drives graphicartists/photographers to the Mac, it is Colorsync - the ability to get "true" colors on any imaging device easily.
Comparing the performance of a laptop to a desktop is, at best asinine, especially if you are comparing photoshop filters in ppc run through Rosettas on a coreduo, with photoshop filters in x86 run on an x86. Many techsites (anandtech, ars, etc.) have shown the coreduo to be much faster than any other mobile chip.
"So it's fine with me that Apple has provided another way for Microsoft to get money." So you own MS stock?
The iPod has HAD it's day...
Am I the only one who thinks its retarded that you can't download music to your harddrive from your ipod, as in I have several computers in my house and needed to get 3rd party software to transfer music I ALREADY PAID FOR to another computer, only a problem with the iPod and not with any other mp3 player I've owned / own -
or that the thing frequently won't turn on and you have to reset it and lose your presets just to access your music files?
There is a LOT of room for improvement here. A LOT - as someone who owns one with all its problems and iTunes (which I've deleted) I would tell anyone thinking about buying an mp3 player to definitely wait and see how the Zune performs.
Why is it that Microsoft always seems to be like the 2 year old in day care that has to have ALL the toys. Bill Gates just can't stand to see anybody else have a successsful product. Hopefully, his cure for his own i-Pod envy will be short lived.
I find the best way to use the iPod/iTunes interface IS to turn off auto-update. I use iTunes Music Library Manager; I only have a few GBs of music on iTunes on my laptop (my main computer) and around 60 GB on an external hard drive iTunes library. iTunes Music Library Manager lets me switch effortlessly between them.
With my 3rd generation 15 GB iPod, well, do the math. Not possible to have everything on my iPod, but then, I don't intend to get stranded on a desert island, so not a problem.
Only thing I auto-update are podcasts, contacts, and schedules, and those always sync flawlessly.
And we all know that there are many simple programs that take care of one-way loading onto an iPod. It's fast and easy to transfer music back to a computer. ANY computer.
My 3rd generation iPod has played perfectly with over three years of heavy use. I find audio quality good, esp. with Sennheiser PX 100 headphones.
Can't quite see the point of these 'the iPod sucks' arguments.
So I'll still take money on the Zune being buggy, clunky, and, yup, just plain ugly.
I'm lookinf forward to this. I HATE apple and I don't really like MS so mcuh, but it's better than apple. MACs suck!
I need too see it first. I like the ipod because of its simple design, I hate the battery life and how you need to use itunes to load music into the ipod. I hope Microsoft's Zune is simple and has a long lasting battery. I hope they release some pictures on the design soon. Zune sounds interesting.
MP3 Player? I'm looking for a media player. Mp3s suck and are not even close to cd quality. A true audiophile would never buy a stupid Ipod. What a stupid name. What are we insects?
The zune will most likely allow us to move our music around as we see fit and not have our hand held by Snapple. Also, hopefuly it will allow for windows lossless format instead of the old and obsolete mp3.
First of all we don't really know about zune and what its capabilities will be.
Second I also own an iPod Nano and have not had the problems stated. Third for accessories you can google iPod Accessories and find a great many accessories that are reasonably priced (that is what I did and found a reputable dealer who I purchased an iPod Nano value kit including case, car and home adapter as well as a dock for a reasonable price).
Fourth you can get music off your iPod (the music files are hidden but there is software to make it possible to move music off your iPod see playlistmag.com for details)
People get all worked up about any device that threatens the Ipod. I love Apple products and I love my Ipod(I'm still happy with it). But if another device comes along which is superior to the Ipod, I will definitively considered it.
Zune will probably never be as good as the Ipod, but I will definitively make the Ipod a better product. Competition is good, it stimulate innovation.
Lastly, If Zune turns out to be a good product, remember it is made by an American company and not foreign. I'm all for American companies doing well.
That's an interesting spin on it, JOG....good post...but it's also true that competition could become a bad thing for Apple if they don't stick to their original game plan after the introduction of Zune...sometimes competition can force unnecessary changes to be made to good products while forcing bad products to become better...you could suddenly have Apple adding new features that defeat the ease of use that many users enjoy...'flawless functionality' should remain the watchword for the next generation of products...
HHHMMM... WHAT'S WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU GUYS ?. MICROSOFT AND APPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT US !!!. EVERY SINGLE YEAR THEY APPEAR WITH "NEW" ELECTRONIC STUFFS, WHAT'S THE POINT ?...YOURRRR MOOOONEYY !. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE ANSWER WHEN MR. GATES AND MR. JOBS GET TO THEIR HOMES AND THEIR WIFES ASK THEM ...HOW WAS YOUR DAY MY DARLING ?...
WONDERFUL HONEY...TAKING MONEY FROM MILLIONS OF STUPID PEOPLE THAT BUY EVERY YEAR OUR "NEW" TECHNOLOGY... OHH YEAHHH.!!...LET'S GO SWEETY TO HELP PEOPLE IN AFRICA...I'M BORED OF MAKING SO MUCH MONEY EASYLY !!...HUHUHUHUHU...
I'm still using my 3rd generation 15 GB iPod from 2003. Personally, I find the idea of watching even a 48 min TV show on a 2.5 inch iPod screen less than optimal. iPod is primarily a music player.
So I guess I agree with you, Dolly. Without the shouting.
By the way, people who 'hate' Apple products have no eye for design. Apple generally produce 'cool' objects. Of course that they often function better than the competition (reliability, user experience) is the crucial point.
"By the way, people who 'hate' Apple products have no eye for design. Apple generally produce 'cool' objects." by Jake B.
That's a trivial and blatantly false comment, to imply that someone's dislike of Apple design is somehow correlated to their innability to perceive good design. I work as a freelance graphic/interface designer, and based on my observation Apple design is based on incredibly basic design principles. There is actually a book called "The Universal Principles of Design," by William Lidwell Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler, which outlines many of these principles, it's practically a step by step guide on how to create Apple design. I'm confident that most freshmen college design students are capable of creating designs at the same level as Apple, actually probably much better.
Apple wins because of its product, and not its design. By eliminating any severe variability, as in using an array formats, denying component exchange or self-assembled PC systems, strict brand identity, it allows itself to optimize everything it creates, for something to not work flawlessly on Mac would constitute to slow performance of a game on an arcade machine, all the requirements are set in stone, they only have to create products that work on those solid requirements. That is the true battle between the microsoft and apple model. Microsoft has a massive multi-industry to support with what it does, everything that worked on a previous system has to be compatible to the new system to the maximum extent, compatibility is Microsoft's satan. Compatibility is actually why it took soo long to make Vista, and not any other semi-factual theory that makes people seem like revolutionary thinkers. Microsoft is essentially piling up on itself. Frankly, I think the Zenu will establish itself as either second to the iPod or absolutely annihilate it like Microsoft is historically prone to doing. Honestly, I prefer to use Linux.
I am root.
What is considered 'cool' is only a matter of opinion and is completely subjective...20 years down the line the iPod and the Zune will be considered ugly relics by future generations...so who will be right, them or us? the answer is both, since these descriptions are just reflections of our personal opinions and tastes and have no real weight outside of our own collective minds...
In response to testyaol, the mac book pro was around 3200 dollars after taxes and a ram update. I don't remember where i got "color schemes" from, but it's hardly different from color sync. Under the color settings on the mac there are various color schemes (RGB..Adobe somthing) i can't remember. Color sync wouldn't technically be correct because you're applying a close color scheme, and you're not really syncing it with anything other then your eyes (as various digital monitors differ). And i also know that Adobe has not released a native version of photoshop for OSX with the intel chip. So hopefully the native version will be a little faster. Because it's slower then on my 3 year old dell laptop.
I agree, Artur, that Apple's designs are based on basic design principles. Objects such as the iPod or the MacBook Pro have a streamlined, uncluttered look that not just I, but millions of people find aesthetically pleasing.
Yes, other companies can also produce good design -- Canon's much imitated Digital Ixus range comes to mind. Microsoft and their hardware partners do not.
Canon's Ixus is also the product of 'basic design principles,' no doubt.
Maybe that's the secret of Apple's and Canon's success.
Can anyone seriously argue that a Dell has better design than an Apple?
I do agree that Apple goes with a simple basic principle that many people find appealing. But on the other hand some people like a "hardwareish" looking piece of equipment. For example Dell's new line of XPS desktops look amazing. I'd rather have one of those than a Power Mac G5. Probably because i'm not too fond of white computers (I like the new black MacBook, only if they had a Black MacBook Pro)
But then again i wouldn't ever buy a desktop, considering i could build one with the same components for cheaper, and pick any case i want from Antec or Thermaltake.
That's another thing that turns me off from Apple. Everything is compact. On my new desktop i have a dual boot of both XP and Suse Linux (been trying various distros), and i really like the fact i can 1. build my own machine, and 2. decide what OS to put on it. Maybe if Apple sold a version of OSX that i could install on a dual boot on my machine then i would be willing to work with it some more.
But i'm just turned off by the whole idea of selling a computer with the software burned into it. Now i could buy a new intel mac and dual boot that with xp, but then i couldn't build my own machine and i'd be overpaying for componants i could get cheaper. This is one reason why Apple only has 5-6 percent of the computer market.
I also understand that there's a certain percentage of the market that wants to buy a hip-looking, almost-error free computer for general use without swapping mobo's or getting a new CPU, or even trying out a few different OS's, but i'm not in that part of the market. So we all just have to understand that certain computers fit certain needs and wants.
At NC state in the engineering department we have either Dell's running XP or Sun systems computers running unix in most of the labs. But also in every dorm/building lab we have 1-2 Apples for those students who "are computer illiterate" as my Java professor once said. I don't agree with him, just thought it was funny, considering i know plenty of programmers who love working on their macs. They just occasionally run into trouble hooking up to the network or using a VPN client.