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Back on September 14, Microsoft teased the crowd with a lot of information on their upcoming Zune personal media player, but glaringly absent were any details on pricing and availability. That just got fixed:
Today the company announced that the Zune™ digital media player and online service will be available to consumers in the U.S. on Nov. 14, 2006, just in time for the holidays. The Zune device will retail for $249.99 U.S. (ERP) and will create new ways for entertainment fans to connect and share media experiences device-to-device through the use of wireless technology and new software scenarios.
So Microsoft decided to match the new price of of the 30GB iPod that was announced by Apple on Sept. 12.
As for the Zune Marketplace:
• A Zune Pass subscription gives consumers access to millions of songs for $14.99 per month.
• Users can purchase songs individually using Microsoft® Points for 79 points per track. Similar to a pre-paid phone card, Microsoft Points is a stored value system that can be redeemed at a growing number of online stores, including the Xbox Live® Marketplace.
According to the latest exchange rates, 1 Microsoft point = US$0.0125, so 79 points is US$0.9875 which is very slightly less than iTunes’ 99 cents a track. I think the good news here is that contrary to earlier rumors, Microsoft is offering a fixed price per track purchase plan instead of variable pricing, bundling, or a mandatory subscription.
There’s more by following the link including details of the preloaded audio and video content and pricing for the Microsoft accessories.
Update: It’s a price war – Microsoft forthrightly states that this first version isn’t going to be a moneymaker, but they have high hopes:
Microsoft said it needed to put a comparable price on Zune, even if it meant that the company will suffer a loss from the device’s sales this holiday season.
“We had to look at what was in the market and offer a competitive price,” said Scott Erickson, Microsoft’s senior director of product marketing for Zune. “We’re not going to be profitable this holiday but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy.”
The Redmond, Washington-based software giant has said it plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and market the Zune, and acknowledged the investment may take years to bear fruit.
Microsoft had a herd of Xbox 360 announcements today at its X06 event in Barcelona. Topping the list was pricing and availability for the add-on HD DVD player (which had been previously announced in Japan):
Arriving at retailers in North America, the U.K, France and Germany in mid-November 2006, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player will retail for $199.99 in North America (estimated retail price)* and €199.99/£129.99 (estimated retail price)* in the U.K., France and Germany. The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with the Universal Pictures’ blockbuster film Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” on HD DVD (for a limited time) and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.
…
The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player offers up to six times higher resolution than DVD, and as part of the fall 2006 console update all Xbox 360 consoles will have the ability to output native resolution 1080p games and movies. Users can enjoy blockbuster HD DVD releases, with more than 150 titles available by the holidays from major movie studios including HBO, Paramount Pictures, StudioCanal, Universal Studios, New Line Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
I guess that’s one pricing rumor that panned out and the net is that an Xbox 360 with HD DVD add-on is roughly equivalent in price to a Sony PS3 with built-in Blu-ray drive.
Also on the bill were a large number of game announcements which you can see by following the first link, but the most novel was:
A landmark partnership announced between Academy Award-winning writer, director and producer Peter Jackson, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh, and Microsoft Game Studios will create two new interactive entertainment series exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live®. The first series will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next great chapter in the “Halo®” universe. The second series will be an entirely original property targeted at bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment. In addition, Microsoft Game Studios will partner with Jackson and Walsh to establish Wingnut Interactive, a studio dedicated to the creation of world-class interactive entertainment.
The latter seems to be a bit vaguely defined:
Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that it is teaming with “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson to create content for its Xbox 360, in part to get more mainstream users interested in the company’s video game console.
Just don’t call these products “games.”
“I don’t want to classify it as a game. I’m hoping to stretch the definition of interactive entertainment to go beyond the game,” said Shane Kim, a corporate vice president in charge of Microsoft Game Studios.
Kim conceded he’s not sure what exactly these new “entertainments” might be.
“I feel like we haven’t figured it out, to be honest,” he said.
Whatever they are, Kim said they could include deeper plot lines and more interactive drama, or delivering additional content over time, perhaps through the company’s Xbox Live online service.
“It’s about making interactive entertainment a mainstream form of entertainment,” Kim said.
Maybe there’s something there, but an uncharitable view would be that Microsoft went celebrity shopping and just put one on retainer.
I see it’s been two weeks since I last had an update on Microsoft and their customers’ problems with the FairUse4WM crack of Microsoft digital rights management, so it’s time for another episode of Whack-a-Mole:
There will undoubtedly be more episodes in this long running series.
Microsoft Corp. today announced the public beta release of the Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) version 2 at the Storage Decisions conference in New York. The next version of System Center DPM delivers continuous data protection (CDP) for Microsoft application and file servers through advanced technology for enterprises of all sizes. Building on the rapid and reliable recovery, efficient protection, and operational simplicity found in Data Protection Manager 2006, customers will be able to extend these cost-saving benefits from individual file servers to their mission-critical Microsoft applications using fully integrated disk-to-disk-to-tape protection.
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DPM version 2 extends the recovery-centric design of DPM 2006 to Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL Server and SharePoint Portal Server and enhances its file server protection capability. Traditionally, the backup and recovery of an application required the identification and maintenance of various stores of user data, application binaries and configuration data as well as a list of procedures to recover both the data and the application. With DPM version 2, IT administrators help protect and recover all applications or application objects by using application terminology and concepts such as mailboxes for Microsoft Exchange Server or file shares for Windows file servers. Too often, current backup solutions fail because of the incorrect configuration of what data gets backed up or how. DPM version 2 unifies the application recovery process and the application backup process into one highly integrated continuous data protection solution.
The first version of DPM just shipped a year ago and this new version was reputedly developed in India. The net new features are continuous data protection, support of tape, and integration with popular Microsoft middleware. No word on when DPM 2 will actually ship.
