The Zune chronicles, part 1

By the time Microsoft's answer to the iPod launches late this year, we'll already know the product inside and out. That is, if we're believing all the street talk. Microsoft PR remains mum on the topic.

One thing is certain: I'll give much more credibility to a Microsoft rumor than an Apple one any old day (read: Apple knows how to keep secrets, Microsoft doesn't). Digital Music News has a full-blown report based on inside sources, detailing new developments on the Microsoft-branded portable media device, also known as Zune (and Xpod, and part of Project Argo). The report comes in four parts, no less. Here are some highlights (quoted text is from the report unless otherwise noted):

• Microsoft is aiming to capture 20 percent of the iPod market.
  
  J. K.'s take: The iPod owns about 77 percent (according to NPD) of the US market with runner-up SanDisk holding about 10 percent. Twenty percent is ambitious, even if the player is a winner. Remember that Microsoft has to compete against hordes of players that live in the Windows Media PlaysForSure universe (Creatives, irivers, Samsungs, SanDisks), in addition to competing against Apple.

• Heavy advertising starts this fall, targeting 18- to 28-year-olds. Emphasis will be placed on the Live Anywhere architecture, which might include Wi-Fi-enabled sharing, wireless music store purchases, and possibly communication and gaming features. The same energy that created the Xbox will be behind the new player (or players), and the device will be initially marketed to the Xbox community.
  
  J. K.'s take: Microsoft is after younger consumers who see the iPod as a tired status symbol, and good advertising is key. If you're going after Apple, you have to demystify Apple's effective (but played-out) marketing campaign. If the device has useful Wi-Fi capabilities, it'll open up doors for Microsoft.

• "Sharing can only happen between a maximum of 10 different people within a Wi-Fi range, and the experience centers around streaming content. If a user wants to purchase shared material, tracks can be bookmarked and later purchased when the device is synced to the computer...interesting community aspects will be embedded into the device, including features like friends lists."
  
  J. K.'s take: Sounds a little like the Wi-Fi-enabled Music Gremlin, but mostly not. The Music Gremlin allows for purchase and download of tracks from a music store as well as direct downloading from other subscribers either on a network or ad-hoc. The info provided seems to diminish the possibility of the latter feature. By the way, poor Music Gremlin!