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Microsoft to launch 120GB Zune, but will it be limited to North America?

by Parm Mann on 4 September 2008, 16:54

Tags: Zune 2, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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Despite the fact that Apple is expected to announce a new range of iPods on September 9th at a media event titled "Let's Rock", the web-community has this past week given a smidgen of attention to the other big-name portable media player; Microsoft's Zune.

In the past seven days, pictures of a yet-to-be-announced flagship 120GB Zune have made their way online, followed promptly by rumours of a Zune shake-up. According to various reports, the 120GB Zune will replace the existing 80GB model and be priced at the same $250.

In addition, Microsoft is thought to be killing off its smaller 4GB Zune, leaving its 8GB model as the only flash-based offering.

But is that all? A mild shuffle of its Zune product range will hardly be enough to increase lacklustre Zune sales. If Microsoft still has hopes of dethroning Apple's all-mighty iPod, it'll need something a little more drastic - and that could be a global roll-out of the device which is currently limited to the US and Canadian markets.

Since its launch in November 2006, nearly two years ago, the Zune has failed to make a significant dent in the iPods' market share. Back in June 2007, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer had stated that we could see a European release sometime in 2008. Various reports then claimed that the prospective launch date would be pushed back until 2009, and the only official comment from the Redmond-based giant is the usual "Microsoft does not comment on rumour or speculation."

Although Microsoft's Zune still has a small-but-faithful following, it's going to take something special from Microsoft to rejuvenate the Zune brand - and a European release could be just what the doctor ordered.



HEXUS Forums :: 2 Comments

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Why didn't they go for 160GB? Flash based players are popular nowadays, but for people looking for a HD based player like the one here are probably wanting as much space as they can - and the 160GB iPod Classic has been around for some time already.
TooNice
Why didn't they go for 160GB? Flash based players are popular nowadays, but for people looking for a HD based player like the one here are probably wanting as much space as they can - and the 160GB iPod Classic has been around for some time already.


Using WMV over MP3 means the compression at the same quality means songs take up around 1/4-1/2 less space (depending on song obviously) so using it as WMV means they can fit the same, it not more on

They are great bits of kit, the wireless sync feature is brilliant, come back from work, stick your pc on, play some music with the zune software and while your zune is turned on (not plugged into pc) it updates it