Sites give iPod killer name, face

Details continue to trickle in about Microsoft's long-rumored, would-be iPod killer.

Several gadget Web sites today posted a photo of the device the Seattle-based software giant hopes can dig into the massive 80 percent market share the iPod has carved out, and also pointed to a working and go-to-market name for the player.

For starters, the Seattle Times reported that a Microsoft portable audio player is actually just one piece of a whole line of Xbox-branded digital-media products, including a device that plays media, a software media player, and an online media service.

That project has the working name of Argo, named for the huge warship used by the hero Jason in Greek mythology. As previously reported, Argo is being developed within the broader digital media group overseen Xbox cofounder J Allard. The group includes several Xbox developers, as well as people who previously worked on MSN Music, Microsoft's online music service that has never had the traction of iTunes or even that of smaller players like Napster and Rhapsody.

	The would-be iPod killer.

As previously reported, the would-be iPod killer is expected to have Wi-Fi capability, allowing users to transfer music without a physical connection to a PC--a function that would do the iPod one better. The device is projected to hit stores in time for the holiday shopping blitz.

The device itself is reported to have the go-to-market name of Zune, and several sites have posted a photo of it, showing a player that looks a lot like an iPod but with a much larger video screen--possibly as wide as three inches--and a similar scroll wheel and navigation buttons.

Zune is expected to be one piece of a larger digital media assault from Microsoft, one that will also involve a download service, either in conjunction with Urge, its joint venture with MTV, or separate from it.

Such a service, according to engadget, would come with a doozy of a twist: It will let a user download, for free, any song that the user had purchased from iTunes. In doing so, Microsoft would be being paying rights-holders without receiving payment from the user in return, but would presumably take the financial hit to help it make up ground on the vaunted iTunes.

And Microsoft doesn't seem to be training its focus solely on Apple's iPod/iTunes juggernaut. The device will reportedly also target the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), a move to bolster the fortunes of the Xbox itself. The Times also reported that Argo will also include another Allard project--XNA, a new toolkit that helps game developers create titles for multiple platforms.