backtop

Gadgets Microsoft's Zune Priced at $249.99
Brandon Hill (Blog) - September 29, 2006 10:52 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 73 comment(s) - last by mcturkey.. on Oct 3 at 12:02 AM
Zune to launch on November 14 with a $250 price tag

Microsoft has announced that its Zune portable audio player will be available on November 14 and will match the price of the 30GB 5.5G Apple iPod. The company also announced that songs will be available for 99c each and a $14.99 monthly music subscription service will also be a part of the package. “On Nov. 14 we’re delivering not only a device, but a shared, social experience that will be shaped by the collective imagination of consumers. We’re infusing the spirit of discovery and sharing into everything we,” said Microsoft’s Chris Stephenson.

As previously reported by DailyTech, Apple's $249 price tag for its 30GB iPod took Microsoft by surprise. The company, which was expecting a $299 price tag for the new iPod, scurried to come up with an alternative pricing strategy in response to Apple.

Microsoft's Zune player features a 30GB hard drive, 3" color display, limited WiFi connectivity for Zune-to-Zune media sharing and a built-in FM tuner. The Zune will also come pre-loaded with a number of audio tracks, music videos, short films and images.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Zen vs Zune?
By WhiteBoyFunk on 9/29/2006 12:31:37 PM , Rating: 4
Everyone talks about the iPod vs. the Zune, but what about
Creative? Why are they so out of the loop in dailytech?

I own a 30gb black zen:vision m and I absolutely love it. Although it is slightly bigger than the iPod, it's not a stark difference like cordless phones from 1990 and today. It is actually a bit lighter it seems, has been reviewed with a more vivid screen and is lengths easier to manage files with. It has a spot on the screen, but that was an id-ten-t error of mine. :

Someone also mentioned earlier that Apple makes a grip of money off of the iPods (hardware) as opposed to the songs (software) which is something I would contest to the end. One of my coworkers would purchase songs on iTunes everyday. I imagine there are several patrons who do the same.




RE: Zen vs Zune?
By Hacp on 9/29/2006 12:38:06 PM , Rating: 2
Apple only makes a fraction of that 99 cents. And not everyone buys a song every day.


RE: Zen vs Zune?
By Armorize on 9/29/2006 12:39:06 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Everyone talks about the iPod vs. the Zune, but what about
thats because creative is set, their the free spirit of the mp3 world not tied down by restricting content, and their gonna be around for a long time. But their players that are equivelent to zune and ipod are still expensive last i checked.


RE: Zen vs Zune?
By sdsdv10 on 9/29/2006 4:13:00 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
their players that are equivelent to zune and ipod are still expensive last i checked.


Not sure when you last checked, but the Creative 30GB ZVM can be had for $230 at buy.com. This is ~$20 less than iPod or Zune will be. See link

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=20215562...


RE: Zen vs Zune?
By Naustica on 9/29/2006 12:51:02 PM , Rating: 2
Apple makes like a nickel for every song sold on iTunes. Apple has sold something like 1.5 billion songs since the iTunes launch at $0.99 cents each. That's only around 1.5 billion dollars gross revenue and around 75 million dollars net.

By contrast Apple has sold over 60 million iPods since launch. $250 each iPod x 60 million units = $15 billion gross or ten times the iTunes revenue. I can guarantee you that their margin on iPod is greater than 5%.

Of course iPod wouldn't be as successful without iTunes. But Apple is definitely making the majority of its money on iPod and not iTunes.


Battery
By Brainonska511 on 9/29/2006 2:47:54 PM , Rating: 2
Any word on the expected battery-life of the Zune?




RE: Battery
By Murst on 9/29/2006 4:47:47 PM , Rating: 2
12 hours audio or 3.5 hours video.

http://www.zunescene.com/


RE: Battery
By Brainonska511 on 9/29/2006 7:29:25 PM , Rating: 2
I wish these devices would have longer battery life, but I guess most don't feel it is an issue to plug the device into your computer every night.


RE: Battery
By michael2k on 9/30/2006 1:56:30 AM , Rating: 2
That's why the iPod nano has a 24 hour battery.


RE: Battery
By quiksilv3r on 9/30/2006 2:26:49 PM , Rating: 2
How are you even going to TRY to compare the Nano to this?
1. The Nano is flash based, it doesn't have a HDD like the 30 GB iPod or the Zune
2. The Nano has WAY less capacity than the two products that are being compared.

You can't even compare the two, so don't even try.


RE: Battery
By michael2k on 9/30/2006 6:07:21 PM , Rating: 2
Brainonska511 said he wished these devices had more battery life.

There is an iPod, functionally identical in all ways except two (ability to play movies and ability to play games) with a 24 hour battery.

On the other hand if you want to be a stickler, the iPod 60gb, which is smaller than a Zune, has a 20 hour battery if that makes you feel better.


Colors....
By ajfink on 9/29/2006 11:48:40 AM , Rating: 2
I like the brown. If I buy one it might be the version that I buy.

It's got more features than the iPod, I don't get why everyone is knocking it.




RE: Colors....
By Phynaz on 9/29/06, Rating: -1
RE: Colors....
By KingViper on 9/29/2006 12:28:35 PM , Rating: 4
You know all of this? Its not even released but you know its not as easy to use, and that it has a crappy interface, and there aren't accessories?

Nobody will know till its released, and accessories aren't going to be available right now because...oh yea..its not released.

Its almost like you're trying to cut your chickens heads off before they hatch? If I may.


RE: Colors....
By Phynaz on 9/29/06, Rating: -1
RE: Colors....
By KingViper on 9/29/2006 1:30:38 PM , Rating: 5
A little searching on the internet also says I can enlarge my penis up to 5" just by taking a pill, but we all know thats not true. You can't believe everything you read, and even if you can, whether the interface is better or not is an opinion. You stated it as though it was a fact.

No, i'm completly oblivious to the world, I dont know how many accessories their are....

Yes, I realize there are hundreds of accessories for the ipod, and I also realize that probably half if not more are cheap crap. Just because there are more, doesn't mean that its better.

My main point is, you can't draw these conclusions before the thing is in production and we can really see how good it is.


RE: Colors....
By Zandros on 9/29/2006 9:13:05 PM , Rating: 2
Just as long as we can agree on that those who have decided that the Zune is just the right thing for them are equally uninformed. ;)


this is awesome
By l3ored on 9/29/2006 2:43:31 PM , Rating: 1
so basically, microsoft produced a product that they intended to sell for $300, but now for each zune they sell, they make $50 less, thats huge. However, given the feature differences between the ipod and zune, who in their right mind would choose an ipod? zune lets you wirelessly share music with people around you? thats fvcking SICK!! ms is going to have to take a beating this time around, since they lost a lot of their proffit margin, but they will unquestionably gain market share. blah blah blah, buy microsoft while they are having a bad quarter/year, sell when they bring out "zune 2" that dominates the next ipod (maybe). my only complaint is that "zoon" sounds stupid.




RE: this is awesome
By sdsdv10 on 9/29/2006 4:22:30 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
zune lets you wirelessly share music with people around you? thats fvcking SICK!!


Two important points:
1) You can only share with other Zune players (apparently) and not just any Wifi device. So you have to find someone else with a Zune to share with. This will not be that easy early on.
2) The shared song is only available for 3 plays or 3 days, which ever comes first. This is true for both DRM protected and unprotected MP3. Quite limited in some peoples opinion.

Only time will tell how important this feature really is.


RE: this is awesome
By Totalfixation on 9/30/2006 7:51:10 AM , Rating: 2
True, but i have a really big feeling someone is going to be able to hack the firmware and allow others to share with no limitations.


RE: this is awesome
By kelmon on 10/1/2006 5:27:50 AM , Rating: 2
This is exactly my problem with the Zune - the much touted WiFi function is all but useless. Anyone who buys one for this function needs their head examining. By all means buy one because of the software, screen, or quality of the music but, for god's sake, forget this "WiFi" nonsense.

I have nothing much against the Zune (aside from the aforementioned WiFi) and future models will probably do well but any idea of market domination needs to be tempered by the fact that it currently has none and Apple won't stand around and watch it happen.


RE: this is awesome
By mcturkey on 10/3/2006 12:02:24 AM , Rating: 2
Something that has clearly been missed by a lot of people is the ability to use WiFi for more than just sharing songs. It allows you to wirelessly connect to your PC or 360 as well. The player will also allow you to purchase songs directly from it via WiFi. That alone is enough to make it more interesting to me than the iPod.

Microsoft has also stated that if there is enough user demand, they will provide a firmware update to play other formats. They've been great at updating things on XBOX Live to add new functionality (such as 1080P) based on user feedback, so I have no doubt that they will provide similar service with the Zune. Speaking of Live, they're going to utilize the same points system to make purchases on their music service.

I had the opportunity to try out the Zune recently, and was pretty impressed. Compared to the iPod, I find the interface to be more intuitive. Surprisingly, the brown color actually looked really good.