REDMOND, WASH. — Microsoft took the wraps off its second-generation Zune digital media players Tuesday, showing three models that bring the software maker’s offerings more in line with Apple’s market-leading iPod.
One model – available in black – has an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a 3.2-inch screen. It’s slimmer than last year’s Zune, which had a 30-gigabyte hard drive and a smaller screen. Microsoft also will sell a smaller, flash-memory-based Zune, similar in shape and size to the iPod Nano, in pink, green, black and red with either 4 gigabytes or 8 gigabytes of storage.
Like the original Zune, the new models include an FM radio tuner and the ability to wirelessly share songs with other Zune owners.
The latest generation sports a new navigation button Microsoft calls the Zune Pad, and the gadgets use Wi-Fi to sync music, movies and photos wirelessly and automatically with users’ PCs.
The new Zunes are to go on sale in mid-November. The 4-gigabyte Zune will cost $149, the 8-gigabyte $199 and the 80-gigabyte $249. The prices match those of Apple’s iPod lineup.
To get its first-generation Zunes to consumers quickly, Microsoft linked up with partners like Toshiba Corp. and MusicNet for the design of the device and the underlying software.
This time, the company bulked up its own staff to include industrial designers and rebuilt the software for the device and the linked computer from scratch.
Microsoft tweaked the look of the new Zunes’ display and menus and added the Zune Pad, a combination mouse-button and touch pad that lets users scroll down a long list of songs with a few flicks of the finger, then click the button to select tracks or change the volume.
Zune users can set up their devices to connect automatically to their home Wi-Fi network and sync music, podcasts and video while the devices charge. Users can connect more than one Zune to a PC without having to separate the music libraries.
