The confirmation follows reports of a regulatory filing Toshiba made to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that mentions the device and its features. The filing documents can be found here.

"Toshiba is manufacturing the device and the [FCC] report is legitimate,"

a spokeswoman for Microsoft's public relations firm said Friday.


She declined to say if other hardware makers also would be building Zune players, adding that Microsoft will reveal further details of Zune in the next few weeks.


In addition to the name "Zune," the device also is referred to as "Pyxis" in Toshiba's filing. A collaborative service for Zune users, something akin to Apple's iTunes software and service, is called "Argo."


The FCC filing contains photos of what Toshiba's Zune player will look like. The photos, which show a device that looks similar to Apple's original iPod, but bigger, can be seen here.


According to the Zune "user's manual" included in the filing, the Zune device will include 30GB of storage, wireless capabilities and an FM radio tuner.


The wireless capabilities will allow users to search for other Zune devices in range and share music, photos, playlists and other media contents with those devices.


After months of speculation, Microsoft confirmed in July that it was developing a music player and service to rival Apple's iPod and iTunes. If other attempts to unseat the iPod are any indication, Microsoft will have a tough road ahead. Earlier this week, Dell stopped selling its DJ Ditty music player on its website and ended development of its own line of music players.


Related Articles: Microsoft Zune to battle Apple iPod | What's up with iPod? | Zune: IPod Killer? or yet Another Victim?

SanDisk, a manufacturer of memory cards and USB keys, released a new music player Monday that can hold twice as many songs as a similarly priced iPod Nano.

The Sansa e280 has eight gigabytes of memory and can store about 2,000 songs, twice as many as the best-selling version of Apple Computer's iPod Nano.




Both music players cost about $250 US and both use flash memory, but the Sansa e280 also has a memory expansion slot, meaning its capacity can be increased to 10 gigabytes.


Apple's other iPod models use small hard drives for storage and can hold up to 60 gigabytes of music, photos and videos.


SanDisk's player also boasts an FM radio, voice recording and a battery life a few hours longer than the iPod Nano.


SanDisk, based in Milpitas, Calif., also cut the cost of its other e-series music players, which can hold two, four and six gigabytes. All of the models can store music, photos and video clips.


SanDisk is the world's largest manufacturer of flash memory, such as SD cards for digital cameras and PDAs, and USB flash memory keys. It is a distant second in the portable music player market, behind Apple.


Market analysts estimate that Apple has about three-quarters of the market in the U.S., compared to SanDisk with 10 per cent.


Other manufacturers, including Creative Technologies, iRiver, Samsung and Toshiba, are also attempting to chip away at Apple's share of the portable media player market.


Microsoft has announced plans for a wireless media player, called Zune, to be launched later in the year, along with an online music downloading service to challenge Apple's iTunes.


Source: CBC


related Articles: Apple pips its rivals with the iPod that talks | Argo aims guns at more than iPod | Microsoft Zune to battle Apple iPod

The Pros and Cons of Microsoft's Upcoming Zune Media Player



Let's face it: Microsoft's Zune has to be brilliant to compete with Apple's iPod series. Apple has managed over the years to get a huge customer base for their iPod portable media players, and even though there are other alternatives they really don't seem to be making a dent in Apple's stronghold. Will the Zune change that? Depends on just how good it is.

WiFi: This is a big one, something I think Apple should have put into its newest models. Sure, it's not that hard to put in a USB cable, but why would you want to if you don't need it? It also keeps you from having to carry a cable around if you want to sync up with your laptop; one less thing to keep in your pockets.


XM Radio: The WiFi antenna also will help Microsoft to support XM radio on the Zune, something they've been looking into. If Zune is to kill the iPod, they need something big that the iPod doesn't have; this may or may not be it, but they'll need all the firepower they can get. With the iPod lacking even an FM radio, this could be a big advantage.

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Apple Computer’s iPod has been dominating the world of portable media devices since its inception – but it won’t stay in that position if Microsoft has anything to say about it.


The computer colossus is getting set to drop its own portable music device this year as a part of the music and entertainment project Zune. Though Microsoft hasn’t commented on the specifics, the project is set to have both hardware and software to compete with the Apple iPod and iTunes stronghold.


What we do know is that the Zune will have wireless technology unlike the iPod which needs to be connected to your computer to upload songs. The new device will enable users to download songs from wherever they are. It will also allow people a sort of P2P network that will allow you to swap tunes with friends.


But it’s not likely that Apple will sit still while Microsoft tries to encroach on their market. No word yet on what additions and or modifications will be made to the iPod to compete with the new Microsoft device. But one thing is for sure, the two will duke it out to be under people’s trees this holiday season.



Related Articles: Is Microsoft Taking Aim at The iPod? | Microsoft reportedly readying iPod rival for holidays | First Look at Microsoft's New Argo Player