After weeks of rumors and speculation, Microsoft has confirmed that they are planning to launch a line of portable media devices under the name Zune. These iPod-like players would use a hard drive to store music and feature support for WiFi.
In a brief statement from Chris Stephenson, a general manager at Microsoft, the giant of Redmond, Washington said that Zune will be a new music and entertainment project covering a "family of hardware and software products" and that it will launch in 2006. Zune will use a hard drive to store music and will have a feature that could ripple through all portable music devices: a WiFi wireless connection to download music.
Stephenson also confirmed that a video player version is under development. And there are reports that a new subscription-based music service will accompany the hardware release.
While Microsoft has not announced an official launch date, the first Zune devices are expected to ship by the end of the year. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found DigiTimes.
