Monday, 28 August 2006

Toshiba to Make Microsoft's Zune

Microsoft has announced that Japanese electronics maker Toshiba will manufacture its upcoming 'Zune' portable media player, the software company’s answer to Apple's market-leading iPod.

Toshiba's role was disclosed when the electronics company filed papers with the Federal Communications Commission. Kyrsa Dixon, a spokeswoman for one of Microsoft's public relations firms, confirmed that Toshiba would make the device.
Photos included in the filing show a white rectangular device with a large screen and several buttons. The minimalist feel closely resembles Apple’s iPod.

One feature will allow a person to act as a DJ, sending music to up to four other devices. "Once your DJ setting is on, you don't need to do anything else in order for others to listen to your stream," the manual explained. "If someone tunes in, you will see an onscreen notification that you have a listener."

Microsoft said in July that it planned to launch a series of music and entertainment products that are expected to compete with Apple's iPod player and iTunes music service, with the first expected to be available this year.

Microsoft has also said that Zune is key to the software maker's overall entertainment ambitions and will capitalize on and tie into the company's other entertainment offerings. These include the Xbox video game console; Microsoft's television technology and the media-focused version of the Windows operating system that lets people do things like record and watch live television.

Still, Microsoft is expected to face tough competition from the iPod and iTunes juggernaut. Other hardware manufacturers, including Creative Technology and Samsung Electronics, offer portable media players using Microsoft's software, although they've had little success against Apple.

Microsoft has not disclosed any pricing details about its media player, but Toshiba sells its own 30 GB hard-disk player called the gigabeat, which comes with a smaller screen and without wireless connectivity, for a list price of USD 350.