Zune Brings Powerful New Entertainment Features to Every Zune Portable Media Player With Software Release
Internet access
provider Wayport enables wireless music downloads for Zune customers in Wi-Fi
hot spots at more than 9,800 McDonald’s restaurants.
REDMOND, Wash. —
Sept. 16, 2008 — Zune, Microsoft Corp.’s end-to-end music and entertainment
service, today released its much anticipated free software update that will
bring new features to every Zune portable media player. Revealed last week, the
new software will allow Zune users to wirelessly stream and download music from
the Zune Marketplace store on the go; tag and purchase songs directly from the
built-in FM radio; and tap into new, personalized music recommendations and
programming. To allow customers to take full advantage of the new wireless
functionality, Zune today announced that it is working with high-speed Internet
access provider Wayport Inc. to deliver Zune users free, wireless access to the
Zune Marketplace from more than 9,800 participating McDonald’s®restaurants
across the U.S.
“Wayport is pleased to be working with Microsoft to make it
easier for Zune users to access music on the go,” said Dan Lowden, vice
president of business development and marketing for Wayport. “Our ability to
enable and manage applications and devices over converged networks creates
exciting new opportunities for our clients to attract new customers whose
digital lifestyle extends beyond their home and office.”
More Colors and
Custom Designs
Zune Originals, the online store designed to let consumers
customize their Zune player with laser-engraved art and personal text, now also
offers exclusive color combinations. In addition to the recently announced Zune
16 and Zune 120 available in black at retailers nationwide, Zune Originals (http://www.zuneoriginals.net) also will
offer the Zune 16 in blue, red, pink and green as an online exclusive. In
addition, Zune Originals is refreshing its collection of custom artwork with 14
eye-catching new designs from artists such as Rolito, MWM (Matt W. Moore),
Ippei Gyoubu and Aya Kato to give consumers more options to personalize their
Zune experience.
The Digital Content
Consumers Want
In addition to launching Zune Channels, which push new music
to subscribers’ collections each week, and personalized music recommendations,
Zune Marketplace also offers editorial features such as the Zune School Music
Masters Program and the Xbox Gamer Central pages, as well as Instant
Collections playlists to help consumers explore specific themes and genres.
Zune Marketplace now offers more than 4 million songs, 80 percent of which are
available as digital rights management (DRM)-free MP3s; 8,500 music videos;
3,000 episodes of popular TV shows; and more than 6,000 audio and video
podcasts.
Zune customers have a choice in how they acquire music —
they can pay per track or choose a Zune Pass subscription. Zune Pass
subscribers can download or stream music from their Zune or computer
interchangeably, all for a flat rate of $14.99 (U.S.) per month. To give people
a chance to experience Zune Pass subscription, Zune is offering a free, 14-day
trial to all new customers. More information is available at http://www.zune.net/setup.
Zune also now supports audiobook content from leading
distributors including Audible Inc. Zune users can now explore more than 50,000
books, magazines and newspapers from more than 600 publishers and content
providers at audible.com and sync it to their Zune. To commemorate the addition
of audiobooks, Audible is offering all new and existing Zune owners a free copy
of “Black River” by bestselling writer Dean Koontz.
New Software and
Firmware
The Zune PC software is a free download that provides rich
discovery and media management capabilities to help consumers make the most of
their existing music collections in addition to providing access to the Zune
Social and Zune Marketplace so they can add to it. To experience new features
such as Buy from FM, wireless music downloads, Zune Channels, Picks personal
recommendations, games and more, the new Zune PC software and device firmware
are available for free download at http://www.zune.net.
Estimated retail pricing for the Zune device is as follows:
- 120 GB: $249.99 (U.S.)
- 80 GB: $229.99 (U.S.)1
- 16 GB: $199.00 (U.S.)
- 8 GB: $149.99 (U.S.)
- 4 GB: $129.99 (U.S.)1
More information on Zune and related images is available at http://www.zune.net/press.
About Zune
Zune is Microsoft’s music and entertainment brand that
provides an integrated digital entertainment experience. The Zune platform
includes a line of portable digital media players, elegant software, the Zune
Marketplace online store, the Zune Social online music community created to
help people discover music, and the ZuneOriginals.net online media player customization
store. Zune is part of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division and
supports the company’s software-based services vision to help drive innovation
in the digital entertainment space. More information can be found online at http://www.zune.net/en-us/press.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide
leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses
realize their full potential.
1 A limited number of 80GB and 4GB devices remain in the
channel, and those remaining will be available at this price.
