Microsoft Zune music player confirmed

After a month of rumors, Microsoft comes clean and has admitted that the MS Zune music player will be released this year to take on iPod.

MS Zune player: What we know

Pics look dull
XBox branding and gaming capabilities may be additional.
Wireless / WiFi will be included

Microsoft has acknowledged that it plans to release a new music and entertainment player under the Zune brand this year itself. We hear rumors of a November launch for the Zune player. Will this belated attempt by MS to catch up with Apple will work, only time will tell.

Though bloggers and several sites had been abuzz for quite sometime about the Zune 'iPod killer' from Microsoft, the company had so far never made any announcement which neither contradicted nor confirmed this news.

You can see a picture obtained by the tech site engadget.com (MS Zune music player picture). From the pictures, it looks really dull. The Zune seems to sport an iPod-like click-wheel, plus a button each to either side of it. Latest reports suggest that the Zune will be extremely customisable - but customise all you want, unless that basic design undergoes some drastic change, the Zune is hardly going to widen your eyes.

Earlier there were reports that the music player from Microsoft would be named as Argo ( as there were reports that project named Argo had been going on at Microsoft), its now official that the iPod killer from Microsoft will be named Zune. Of course, there could be some tie-in with the Xbox name too - no one knows for sure.

As Apple is the runaway leader both in music player industry and digital music store industry, with their iPod and iTunes digital player , Microsoft's Zune music player - as an entirely newcomer in the field - faces an uphill tack of competing with the market leader. According to the research company NPD, Apple dominates the digital music market with more than 50% share in digital media player market and has 70% share of U.S digital music sales.

The Zune digital player will be wireless - WiFi - and may also have gaming facilities, tying easily into the XBox brand. There are rumors about an additional keypad that can be attached to the Zune player for gaming purposes. The induction of some prominent personalities in the gaming field into the Zune project, adds to this suspision. The Zune wireless music player from Microsoft is expected to be out by Christmas.

The Zune wireless digital music player is expected to have high-end features to woo high-profile users and gaming features to capture the attention of casual and professional gamers alike.

Microsoft Zune logo pictures