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Note: The below article was my orginal view of the Zune before many problems came to light.  I no longer have the positive view of the product as in the following review.  Read, The Music Industry is Stupid, to learn more.  I have left the original review to show how I was very much wanting Zune to be a success as I think this makes my current criticism more creditable then the many Apple loyalists that just seem to want to bash Microsoft and Zune.

A lot of bloggers and news sources are downplaying the new Microsoft Zune player just officially announced with full details on the 14th of September. I, as you can tell by the title think they have a home run on their hands. I think before I go any further I need to define what I consider a home run. To me a home run means that the new product

1. Will take some of the iPod business. Note that is said “some” not all just enough to become profitable at Apple’s expense. The product does not need to be an “iPod Killer” to be a success in my book. To put it another way how would you like to have a 5% share of the current iPod business?

2. Has at least some features that the iPod does not that may for some users be attractive enough to make up for what the iPod does “better”.

3. Demonstrait to users that Microsoft is just taking a first shot at the market with plans for new versions and firmware upgrades.

4. Provide a music download service that offers some advantage over iTunes. This again does not mean it is “better over all” just that there are some unique value adds that are missing on iTunes.

5. Get Microsoft into “the game” with a product that can stand on its own beyond just carrying the Microsoft name.

Now who knows that may or may not be what the folks at Microsoft will consider a success but to me if they pull off those 5 points well with their first product then to me they have indeed pulled off a successful "market entry", and that is what needs to be remembered the first generation is only the initial market entry for Microsoft. It is not meant to be the end all be all Microsoft portable media players.

So how did they do? Well here are the products highlights strait from the Microsoft Fact Sheet,

Wireless Zune to Zune music sharing. Zune lets you spontaneously share selected full-length sample tracks of your favorite songs, homemade recordings, playlists or pictures with friends wirelessly, device to device. You can listen to any song you receive up to three times in three days. And if you like a song you hear and want to buy it, you can flag it right on your device to easily find it later.

Your own personalized Zune. Zune is easy to use and easy to love. You can choose one of three base colors, each combined with a distinctive double-shot finish created by the overlay of one color on another. The player also can easily be customized with your favorite pictures.

Large color screen. Zune comes with a bright 3-inch LCD video screen that works in portrait or landscape mode. Your music, video and pictures never looked better.

30GB player. Zune stores up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 pictures or 100 hours of video. You can make playlists on the go and watch a slide show while you’re listening. Watching video in landscape mode gets the most out of the vivid display.

Zune Pass. Downloads or a subscription? It’s your choice. A Zune Pass subscription gives you “all you can eat” access to discover and explore the Zune Marketplace.

Built-in FM tuner. With the built-in FM tuner you can listen to local FM radio stations or tune in to programming while you’re at your local health club, for example. Advanced tuning capabilities allow you to see the name of the song currently playing on selected frequencies.

Accessories. You can choose from a full line of accessories to outfit your Zune. Three Zune Accessory Packs provide complete solutions for Zune in your car, in your home or while you travel. Individual accessories are also available.

Online music store. You can browse the huge selection of music designed to work seamlessly with your Zune in the Zune Marketplace. When you find new music that you love, it’s simple to buy it and sync it on your player. The Zune Marketplace works with the Microsoft® Points program so you can purchase music online without a credit card.

Import your music. Zune software can automatically import your existing music, pictures and videos from iTunes and Windows Media® Player in a variety of formats, including your existing play lists and song ratings, as permitted by the online service from which it was purchased.

Software Updates. As Zune evolves, your device can be easily updated. The Zune software on your PC will let you know when updates are available for download. And with built-in wireless capability in each player, the future is filled with possibilities.

I am not going to say too much about the accessories, music store and software for the moment as I would like to go more in-depth on them in future posts. Suffice to say I really like the fact that you can buy music permanently from the store and you don’t have to keep a subscription to continue to play the music. Of these features I think there are two that help to really make the Zune an alternative to the iPod.

First the ability to share and beam songs and pictures to other Zune users is really cool. This feature has been downplayed as being nothing new and people have pointed out that Palm devices have been beaming data for many years. That may be true but I can’t do it with an iPod, let alone what happens if I DARE TO PLUG MY IPOD INTO YOUR PC. iPods and iTunes are simply set up to prevent sharing of files even the ones you own personally, the Zune is designed from the get go to be a sharing tool (at least with your personal content) and I think that is a great differentiator in the current music market place. While music purchased from the Zune Marketplace will only play three times, if it was ripped from a CD in your personal collection, you can import it all including your playlists, album art, ratings and play counts.

Who knows, may be someone up in Redmond Washington read my article about SpiralFrog? Second is the FM tuner. While many competing MP3 players have this feature and it was again met with a yawn by some bloggers, again my point is while other players do have an FM tuner, the iPod does not. According to Microsoft, Zune is really designed at first entry to compete the 30 Gig iPod mostly used for music not the new 80 GB iPod Video Player. If my choice is between the Zune and the 30 Gig iPod the radio tuner indeed could be a decisive factor.

While either will be great for a podcast if I want to listen to live radio the Zune will let me and the iPod won’t. To me this is a really great feature if it could record audio from the radio broadcast it would be even better. My guess is that in time a firmware upgrade will allow for that too. Of course you can still play videos in many formats on your Zune it is just important to understand the market where the Zune is to compete if we are to judge its’ potential for success.

My Conclusion I would have to say that the Zune is going to be a real success for Microsoft and I have already told my wife that a Zune Player in on the top of my Christmas list this year. I personally feel the first generation of the Zune will only be scratching the surface for what is coming long term. I also think there are a few features Microsoft would have preferred to have with the new Zune’s release but would guess it came down to releasing for Christmas of 06 or late spring of 07 and Microsoft made the right call. The prominent mention of “firmware upgrades” tells us there will be more to come even from the initial release.

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