Novas do Zune

«Microsoft is declaring that a portable music player can be a decidedly social experience. Microsoft said yesterday that its Zune player, which it plans to release in time for the holiday season, will include wireless technology to allow Zune owners to share their favorite songs and playlists with one another easily. The company hopes the Zune will help it upstage Apple Computer in the digital music market. “With Zune, we are not simply delivering a portable device,” said J Allard, vice president for design and development at Microsoft. “We are introducing a new platform that helps bring artists closer to their audiences and helps people find new music and develop new social connections.” Yesterday was the first time the company had shown off the device publicly since reports about it began to trickle out in the spring.  With the Zune, Microsoft said, users will be able to wirelessly send other Zune owners a full-length song, which the recipient can listen to three times within a three-day period. After that, the recipient will need to buy the song to play it again. By focusing on the sharing of music, Microsoft hopes to differentiate its device from the industry-leading iPod, which has no wireless or sharing features.  Bryan Lee, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s entertainment business, said in an interview that the company saw digital music sharing as an extension of other social technologies like MySpace and XBox Live, Microsoft’s online game technology that connects players with one another. “It turns people into street teams,” (promoters who try to popularize music through word of mouth), Mr. Lee said. Microsoft declined to be more specific about the timing of the Zune’s introduction and did not reveal its price, saying only that it would be competitive with that of other music players. The various iPod models cost $79 to $349. Microsoft’s announcement came two days after Apple said it would sell full-length movies for download to PC’s and video iPods, and announced iPod models with more storage space and a lower starting price.»

fonte: «Music Player From Microsoft Offers Wireless Song-Sharing», New York Times, By LAURIE J. FLYNN, Published: September 15, 2006