Microsoft News Tracker

Zune Scene has a whale of tale about Microsoft’s plans for new models of the Zune media player and they generally confirm a report at The Music Den that had the misfortune of appearing on April 1. In a nutshell, the combined buzz says:

• Zune “1.0″ replaced by an enhanced and thinner version variously called “Zune 2.0″ or “Zune 360″ with a bigger hard disk (40 and 80GB), improved display, and no longer based on the Toshiba Gigabeat. Third party apps will be available (but only via the Zune Marketplace) including a “Pocket Internet Explorer” which presumably means the Wi-Fi will finally get useful application.
• Introduction of a new “Flash Zune” or “Zune 180N” which is Zune’s answer to the flash-based iPod nano.
• Introduction of a “Zune 180″ which is a combined music player and cell phone based on the Sony Ericsson Walkman W880 and presumably a response to the iPhone.

Questions of veracity of the rumors aside, all of these are predictable gambits to chip away at Apple’s hegemony. No specific dates were rumored, but clearly availability for the 2007 holiday shopping season is a given.