Microsoft unveiled a "Zune" MP3 player and online store on Thursday to challenge Apple Computer's internationally popular iPod-iTunes personal entertainment duo.
SAN FRANCISCO: Software giant Microsoft unveiled a "Zune" MP3 player and online store on Thursday to challenge Apple Computer's internationally popular iPod-iTunes personal entertainment duo.
"The digital music entertainment revolution is just beginning," said Microsoft vice president J Allard, who was in charge of Zune products.
"With Zune, we are not simply delivering a portable device, 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."
The Zune brand will include a 30-gigabyte media player and an online Zune Marketplace.
The player and the Internet content store would be "available this holiday season in the United States," Microsoft said in a release that did not reveal the Redmond, Washington, technology titan's pricing plans.
The Zune MP3 player will feature wireless technology; a built-in FM tuner and a three-inch screen designed for displaying music, pictures and video. Zune will be available in black, brown and white.
Zune devices were also designed to connect wirelessly with each other so users could share music of play "DJ," according to Microsoft.
"Zune is Microsoft's music and entertainment platform that provides an end-to-end solution for connected entertainment," the company claimed.
"Inspired by the vast and varied community of music fans, Zune focuses on helping emerging artists shape the digital canvas."
Microsoft's challenge to Apple's reigning iPod MP3 players will be built by Toshiba, US regulatory agency filings have shown.
Plans submitted to the Federal Communications Commission by Japanese electronics giant Toshiba showed that nearly two-thirds of the Zune player face was devoted to screen, hinting that it was designed with movie viewing in mind.
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