Microsoft launches its Zune à ‰ to United States
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Business - Coupled with a platform to download Zune installs itself as a competitor of the couple iPod-iTunes Store. Main differences: unrestricted access to the catalog for $ 15 a month and can be exchanged between portable titles.
Microsoft has started marketing its Zune, in 30,000 retail outlets, this November 14 to à ‰ United States. A great show to launch supported by free rock concerts in six cities, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers in New York.
But the Redmond company is silent on the figures: we know neither the number of players on the market, nor the marketing budget to launch.
Sold $ 250, Zune share in competition with Apple's 30GB iPod. Main difference is the leading market: the ability to exchange audio files through Wi-Fi to another Zune. The recipient can then read each piece three times within three days.
Another argument put forward by Microsoft: a color display of 7.6 inches diagonally, 1.3 inches more than the iPod. The videos can be viewed horizontally on the screen in landscape format. Finally, it includes an FM tuner, then you have to buy an accessory to get this radio feature on the iPod.
Coupled to the player, the Zune Marketplace download site currently offers 2 million music tracks and a thousand hours of video content such as movie clips, TV shows and movies such as V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue.
Why to own his music?
à € comparison, the catalog of Apple's iTunes Store contains over 3.5 million music tracks over one hundred films, 220 TV shows, 5,000 music videos and 65,000 podcasts.
The Redmond company has developed two forms of access to its music catalog. Besides the classic buy to act to 0.99 dollars a piece, the user can also subscribe to an unlimited download for $ 15 a month. Already proposed a formula for à ‰ United States by Napster or Yahoo.
Downloaded files remain readable until the user is subscribed to the service, stop the subscription results in blockage of files via the Microsoft DRM. A trade policy that was never used by Apple.
 "We believe that this type of access to music will correspond to a broad consumer demand does not necessarily seek to be holders of fichiersÂ" explains Francois Ruault ZDNet.fr, director of the consumer division of Microsoft France.  "It is better to zap one of several millions of songs without being held, rather than owning a few hundred songs that you do not replay forcément.Â"
The current catalog is expected to evolve in the coming months, said the official. As for the arrival of Zune and its platform to download in Europe, there is no date yet announced. But analysts expect the best in late 2007 or early 2008.
[...] Zune and PS3 will they be to slap Microsoft and Sony? This is certainly a question that may arise, while the press of à ‰ United States strongly critical Zune, while others point the finger at the new Sony console. Then begin this article by The Independent UK, which simply asks whether the PlayStation 3 will not be the new Betamax (PlayStation 3 Will Be The New Betamax?). A question for Sony bit optimistic, but that has already been asked repeatedly in recent months. But what is the Betamax? For the youngest of you, remember that the Betamax was launched by Sony in 1975 in Japan and the United States à ‰. His goal was simply to become the new format of videotape of the planet. Unfortunately for the Japanese, despite the many changes in its format (BII and BIII), VHS JVC, launched in 1976, conquered almost the entire market, after several years of bitter struggle. Thus, according to this article on this topic Belgium, the VHS in 1986 already had 85% market share, against 7.5% for the Betamax. If you want to know more about the Betamax, also speaking Belgian site, you can take a look at the article written on Wikipedia (English). This failure for Sony has become over time an example. The example that a quality product, but suffering from political criticism and a network below its competitors, could suffer a real blow. The PS3 can she make a Betamax? The question concerns the console, but also and especially of course the format flagship, that is to say the Blu-Ray. We have repeatedly discussed the war which opposed to HD-DVD Microsoft and Toshiba, and we will not return it. However, we may ask whether the issue of The Independent is not badly put. One can certainly compare the Betamax to Blu-Ray, although the situations are different, but the Blu-Ray for the PS3 is secondary, as is the HD-DVD for Xbox 360. But Sony's console seems very much in demand by consumers, despite its high price. Its very low sales, whether in Japan or North America are paid only meager stock available, and not to weak demand, as is the case for example for the Xbox 360 at the rising sun . The postponement of the PS3 in Europe, combined with its poor sales, will they all of a Betamax Blu-Ray encore? Answering this question would be worthy of Madame Sun, since if a format should be imposed, it is verified that a few years. Meanwhile, the HD-DVD may well get a head start on Blu-Ray within the next few months. Across the Atlantic, the Chicago Suntimes not asking a question but gives a hint to say the least scathing: avoid that idiot Zune (Avoid the loony Zune). Loony has many meanings in English, crazy to ridiculous, to silly, but to better understand the opinion of the tester, here is a translation of a passage from the beginning of his article:  "" à ‰ Avoid " this is my main message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that is so absurd and so logically immunized against the success that it evokes something akin to pity.  "These strong words are of course linked to defects in the Zune, including its many restrictions, despite its undeniable technical qualities. These defects are also famous circumvented, as you learn this morning via a simple hack, accessible to everyone. This change does this mean the deal? Meanwhile actual figures for sales of the Zune, it does not appear that U.S. consumers are snapping up the player from Microsoft. And while we're talking about a European release as of next year, some do not hesitate to say that the current Zune will just never do the day on the old continent, relying instead on a Zune 2. [...]