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SEATTLE, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Underscoring the company’s vision for helping to advance the digital entertainment industry and deliver great music experiences to its customers, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and Corporate Vice President J Allard yesterday unveiled the next generation of Zune(R) portable media players, software and online store. Gates and Allard also introduced Zune Social, a beta online community Web site built around and powered by people’s passion for music.

The two new models of Zune portable media players feature the new Zune Pad, an innovative touch-sensitive button for navigating on the device, as well as wireless sync, a feature that allows Zune devices to automatically sync over the device owner’s home wireless network when it is connected to an AC adaptor, in a dock or speaker dock accessory. Existing Zune owners will automatically receive new software features, the redesigned PC and device software and access to the new Zune Marketplace when everything is released to the public in mid-November.

“Twenty years ago we bet the company on an integrated productivity suite of word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, and we changed the way people work,” Gates said. “Today we're making big bets on games, music, video and connecting these entertainment experiences to help change the way people play.”

“By tapping into customer’s passion for music with Zune Social, we’re starting to change the game,” Allard said. “This lets us start building a new, more
valuable kind of relationship with consumers that, combined with other Zune innovations, will start to drive the entire music industry forward.”

“The time is right to let go of the older business models and recognize that consumers want something different when it comes to music today,” said Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group. “People are looking for simple ways to find great music and easily take it with them wherever they want to go, and Microsoft is not afraid of doing things differently to deliver on this vision.”

Two New Zune Devices Fill Out the Family
Microsoft announced three new models of Zune portable digital media players: a sleek, black Zune 80GB hard-drive model, which has a bright 3.2-inch screen and comes with premium headphones (ERP $249.99; all prices are U.S.); the ultraportable Zune 4GB (ERP $149.99); and Zune 8GB (ERP $199.99) flash models, both available in pink, green, black and glossy red. The new Zune devices feature the Zune Pad navigation button, with its touch-sensitive surface. Consumers can flick their thumbs over the pad to fly through lists of songs or albums or to fast-forward through picture slide shows or videos. For those who need to pause, advance or adjust the volume on the device without looking, they can also navigate the Zune Pad using physical cues by pressing on the four sides or the center of the button to adjust the volume or choose the next track.

Together with the original Zune 30GB, the new devices round out the player family and lets users choose the size, color or price that suits them best. Every Zune device includes built-in wireless features and an FM tuner, and they all have a bright color display that is perfect for showing off album art, pictures, videos and podcasts. All devices have been given distinctive new menus, and it is easy to customize the background screen with a personal picture. Ensuring that existing Zune owners benefit from the advances in this release, all Zune 30GB devices will be automatically updated with all the new features as well as the new device software design this fall.

New features for fall include the following:

— Wireless sync. Zune devices will automatically sync over consumers’
home wireless networks with this helpful new feature, aimed at ensuring
that Zune owners always have the latest podcasts and other content
ready to go when they’re leaving home. Syncing with the collection on
their PC happens via a home wireless network and will start on its own
when the device is placed in its dock or plugged in to charge.
Alternatively, the sync can be started manually.

— Extended wireless sharing. Share select full-length songs, albums,
playlists, pictures and even audio podcasts from device to device.
Consumers can now listen to any song received up to three times with no
time restrictions, and they can now also pass along songs to other
friends who have a Zune.

– Recorded television content to go. The Zune software will now
automatically import broadcast content recorded on Microsoft(R)
Windows(R) Media Center for Windows Vista(R) Home Premium or Ultimate,
so consumers can sync them onto their Zune media player and watch them
on the bus, in their car or wherever they want when they’re out and
about.

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