Friday, October 3, 2008

Microsoft dropped price of Zune to $249


Microsoft’s portable media player, the 30GB Zune, will be released on Nov. 14 with a suggested retail price of $249. This is a $50 drop from earlier reports. According to TWICE, the Zune’s price point is a shot across the bow of Apple, which just announced a new 30GB iPod also priced at $249. Other key differences between Zune and Apple’s iPods/iTunes system include:

  • The Zune has Wi-Fi capability.
  • Zune offers two pricing plans: $.99 per song or $14.99 monthly subscriptions.
  • It comes with a built-in FM tuner.
  • Zune has a sharing feature that beams a song to another Zune player and makes it available for a three-day trial period.
  • The unit is pre-loaded music, videos, film shorts and images.

And because a portable media player can’t survive without accessories, TWICE reports that a selection of speaker and car add-ons will also be released in time for the Nov. 14 launch. Should we consider this as a first useful product from Microsoft ?

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