Microsoft Zune

Toshiba will build the Zune player for Microsoft. As it turns out Toshiba's FCC filing for an HDD portable audio player finally let the secret out. Zune has a WiFi capabilities that require FCC approval. The user manual for Zune gives a glimpse of the features of the player, admittedly the wirelessLAN feature is the most exciting. In an earlier blog I had requested WiFi connection between Windows Media Player and Zune so to play songs directly from playlists on laptops. May be someone at Microsoft read this blog :). The WiFi capability definitely helps differentiate Zune. Users will be able to connect each others Zune players and transfer and/or listen to songs, or at the very least play streaming music (so as to prevent DRM violations).

Differentiation will have to be the trump card if Zune is to succeed against the Ipod. Microsoft can certainly add some of its Windows CE applications to Zune and turn it to something more than an portable audio music player. I am not sure this effort is going to bear high dividends because a number of PDAs in the market already support MP3. So what's the killer application that can set Zune apart from the crowd? My recommendation is that Zune needs to have an embedded MSN Live Messenger and my reasons are as follows:

1. Zune will come with headphones and adding a microphone shouldn't be very difficult. It already has WiFi capability. Why shouldn't a user be able to see his/her friends online through MSN Live Messenger? VOIP is the rage these day. Whenever a user is connected to the internet he/she should be able to make and receive calls to friends. Besides differentiating Zune such a feature will also help grow the MSN Live Messenger user base .
2. Application for application Apple can match anything Microsoft adds to the Zune (they too make an OS ;)). An existing messenger userbase is something Apple cant really match, it may allow other vendors such as AOL or Yahoo to add their messengers to Ipod, but by then Microsoft will have the first mover advantage.

I am looking forward to the next set of Zune features that leak out. Be sure to check this blog for updated comments.

PS: In case someone in Redmond is actually reading this blog (though I highly doubt it), I am a graduate student at CMU looking for a job.