Microsoft Zune is the Windows OS embedded based portable music and entertainment device marketed by Microsoft, with an online social service that pipes to music, video, podcasts, radio and gaming downloads. Released as part of competition against Apple inc.’s line of iPods and these players come integrated with a radio transceiver and other advantages over the iPod line of consumer multimedia. Capable of sharing files wirelessly with other Zune players, and via Universal Serial Bus (USB) with computers running Windows Operating System, and the Xbox 360 gaming console, these players are marketed as being predominantly more social and effective than the iPod from Apple.
There are five variants of the Microsoft Zune line:-
* Zune 4 – 4GB storage on a flash drive, capable of storing up to 1,000 songs or 12 hours of video, available in 4 colours.
* Zune 8 – 8GB storage on a flash drive, capable of storing up to 2,000 songs or 24 hours of video, available in 5 colours.
* Zune 16 – 16GB storage on a flash drive, capable of storing 4,000 songs or 48 hours of video, available in 1 colour (black).
* Zune 80 – 80GB storage on a hard disc, capable of storing 20,000 songs or 250 hours of video, available in 2 colours.
* Zune 120 – 120GB storage on a hard disc, capable of storing 30,000 songs or 375 hours of video, available in 2 colours.
The Zune Software, the iTunes rival is capable of synchronising video, audio and pictures to and from the Microsoft Zune entertainment system. It also transcodes the data so that it fits and plays well within the system, choosing the best codecs available for this translation.
It also streams media from online presences such as YouTube, Vimeo and other channels as well as transforming the computer into a media streaming station via the Zune Network Sharing Service. Using third party software, the Zune can also be converted into an eBook reader.
The Zune is capable of playing a wide variety of audio format containers such as the MP3, AAC, MP4, M4A, M4B, MOV. Video format containers include the proprietary WMA, and MPEG-4, WMV, ASF. For still images, the most commonly used is the JPEG library. The media library with Zune software also allows the user to rip files from a CD or a DVD, apply the necessary tags and sync it with the Zune media player, creating an effective tool to work with the player.
