Microsoft sets $250 price for Zune, songs for 99 cts
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Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday its  new Zune music player will be sold at a price matching Apple  Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod and, as a result, lose  money this holiday season.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's Zune digital media player will ship in the U.S. on Nov. 14 for $249.99, the company said Thursday, in line with the price of video iPods already available from Apple Computer. MicrosoftÂ announced its Zune playerÂ and the accompanying music store, called Zune Marketplace, earlier this month, but it did not provide pricing at the time. Some industry insiders believe Microsoft had to rethink the pricing after it learned that Apple was about to lower the price of its video iPods, which it recently did. Like the video iPods, the first Zune players will come with 30GB of storage. Microsoft also unveiled pricing for Zune Marketplace. Unlike Apple's iTunes, which lets users buy individual songs or entire albums but does not offer a subscription service, Microsoft will offer a monthly subscription called Zune Pass. For $14.99 a month, users will have access to millions of songs, Microsoft said. However, they won't actually own those songs and will only be able to access them while they have a subscription. Users will also be able to purchase songs individually using Microsoft's points system, which works a bit like a prepaid phone card. One track will cost 79 points -- or about $0.99, which is what iTunes charges per song. At retail, consumers can purchase 1,200 points for $15, 2,000 points for $25, 4,000 points for $50, or pay $44.97 for a three-month Zune Pass. Zune accessories will range in price from $19.99 to $99.99. They include the Zune Car Pack, which offers a built-in FM tuner with AutoSeek and the Zune Car Charger, and The Zune Home A/V Pack, which includes five products that integrate Zune with a television and music speakers. More information isÂ available here.Â  Microsoft is differentiating its Zune player from the iPod in several ways. In addition to allowing users to play music, videos and photos on a screen, the Zune player will include wireless technology and a built-in FM radio tuner. So far, iPods lack both of those. Zune devices also will come preloaded with media content, which iPods don't have. Songs the players will include out of the box are: âWicked Gilâ by Band of Horses, "The Mating Game" by Bitter Sweet, "Alala" by CSS, "At the End of the Sky" by Darkel, "Signs of Life" by Every Move a Picture, "Stay" by Small Sins, "Tell Me Tell Me" by The Adored, "Open Book" by The Rakes, and "A Pillar of Salt" by The Thermals. The music videos included with the Zune player are from several artists on Seattle's Sub Pop Records label, such as Chad VanGaalen, Kinski and the Fruit Bats. The players also will include film shorts on skateboarding, mountain biking and snowboarding. Microsoft didn't provide any availability information for outside of the U.S.
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Microsoft Corp  cut the price  of its Zune digital music player on Wednesday by $50 to $199 in  an attempt to rev up sales of the device competing against  Apple Inc's  iPod.
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Microsoft's Zune music player, a rival to Apple's iPod, goes on sale in the US, receiving mixed reviews.
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Following Apple's recent launch of the iTunes Music Store for the European Union, Microsoft has announced its MSN Music download service is available in eight new countries. Individual songs range from 99 euro cents to 1.29 euros, slightly more pricey than those from iTunes. Microsoft partnered with CDON.com to bring MSN Music to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland; Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland stores were launched through an arrangement with OD2. MSN Music is now offered in a total of 17 countries.
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(InfoWorld) - On the day Apple revealed its first Wi-Fi-enabled, touchscreen iPod, Microsoft's rival to Apple's wildly popular multimedia player got a little less expensive. The Zune device from Microsoft now costs $199, $50 less than its original price tag. Microsoft announced the price cut on its Zune Insider blog on Tuesday, a day before Apple was rumored to beÂ introducing new iPod modelsÂ at an event in San Francisco, which the company did indeed do. Naturally, Microsoft did not mention Zune's archrival in its blog post, saying that the price cut had been in the works for some time. "Itâs part of the normal product lifecycle, something weâve had on the books for months," according to the blog post. "We just got some research back and customer satisfaction with the 30GB device is really high (around 94 percent), and we expect even more consumers will now want to discover the Zune experience at the new lower price." With the new iPods introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in San Francisco on Wednesday, that prediction doesn't seem too likely. The new iPod Touch that Jobs unveiled is the first iPod with Wi-Fi capability, one of the differentiators between the current iPod lines and the Zune device, which was launched with Wi-Fi last November. iPod Touch also is similar in look and feel to theÂ recently launched Apple iPhone, and features touchscreen controls that are making Apple's phone/multimedia device combination a hit with customers. In other bad news for Zune, Apple on Wednesday also has cut the price on its 80GB iPod from $349 to $249, which makes it only a fraction less expensive than the 30GB Zune. It also has introduced a 160GB iPod for $349. According to Jobs, Apple has sold 110 million iPods to date. There are rumors that, to compete more aggressively with Apple, Microsoft will introduce new Zune devices by the holidays with new features and form factors, but so far the company has declined to divulge specific details. There have also been hints from executives that an iPhone rival is in the works. Microsoft has said from the beginning that Zune is a long-term investment, and expects it will take some time before the device will be a worthy competitor to iPod, which has a five-year head start and Apple's brand power behind it.
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Microsoft Corp.  may have  a chance to take market share from the iPod as a Reuters survey  showed 35 percent of those interested in its Zune device would  be replacing an existing digital music player.
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Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new line of computer peripherals, including a $250 wireless keyboard and mouse that are compatible with its upcoming Windows Vista operating system.
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Microsoft's new Zune media player has some features that will distinguish it from Apple's market-leading iPod, analysts said. But whether it's cool enough to rule is an open question.
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Microsoft is celebrating Tuesday, as the company beat its goal of shipping one million units of the Zune music player several days before its June target, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
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Microsoft has decided to drop the price of the Zune in an effort to spur sales, while indicating it hadn't completely ruled out a Zune phone. Effective Wednesday, the price of Microsoft's competitor to the iPod is now $199 USD.
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Microsoft Corp.  forecast on  Wednesday that sales of its Zune music player will exceed one  million units by the end of June 2007 despite a tepid start for  the device.
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Microsoft's music player will hit stores in time for the holidays with an iPod-like price tag. In Gear Factor.
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Microsoft insists its music store differs from iTunes, but the two services sure have a lot in common. The company will sell songs for $1 like Apple, and plans to match the volume of songs Apple makes available to users.
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Tune for tune Microsoft is to retail Zune, its first digital music player, at the same price as feature-equivalent iPods.â¦
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A new technique allows Zune owners to share files of any type wirelessly with other users. But Microsoft could soon close this loophole with a mandatory firmware upgrade. In Listening Post.
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Microsoft Corp.  sees expanding  the digital music market -- and not necessarily video -- as the  priority for its new "Zune" portable media player, a company  executive said on Thursday.