Product Code Database
Zune was a brand of digital media products and services that was marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until it was discontinued in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, a music subscription service known as Zune Music Pass plus Zune Marketplace for music, TV and movies, streaming services for the Xbox 360 game console, and the Zune Software media player for Windows computers which also acted as desktop sync software for Windows Phone.
Zune started and revolved around its line of portable media players (PMP) created in cooperation with Toshiba. Microsoft aimed to challenge and beat Apple, whose iPod line held an enormous market share. Three hard disk players ranging from 30 GB to 120 GB were released, alongside six flash memory players. However, its overall market share in the U.S. remained low, well below Apple and also lagged behind the SanDisk Sansa and Creative Zen. Microsoft discontinued all Zune hardware in October 2011. Zune digital content distribution continued until 2012, when it was replaced by the Xbox Music and Xbox Video brands.
The Portable Media Center platform was also a predecessor of Zune, based on a specialized version of Windows ce.
At midnight on December 31, 2008, many first generation Zune 30 models froze. Microsoft stated that the problem was caused by the internal clock Device driver written by Freescale and the way the device handles a leap year. It automatically fixed itself 24 hours later, but an intermediate "fix", for those who did not wish to wait, was to drain the device's battery and then recharge after 12 noon GMT on January 1, 2009.
The first generation and later Zune devices included a number of social features, including the ability to share songs with other Zune users wirelessly. Songs that had been transferred over Wi-Fi could then be played three times over three days.
Zune devices feature games developed using an early version of XNA Game Studio 3.0, released in May 2008, allowed developers to work on games for Zune devices.
The second and last wave of the second-generation (Zune 16 and 120) released in September 2008, coinciding with the release of the Zune Software 3.0 update. Included in this firmware update was the ability to tag and later purchase songs heard on FM radio, channels which can be customized to deliver suggested songs for the user, the games Hexic and Texas Hold' em were added, support for from online stores such as Audible.com and others that support OverDrive media files, a clock, and changed quicklist functionality. The ability to purchase songs from Zune Marketplace on the device while connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi was also introduced. To help push this feature, Microsoft partnered with Wayport to allow Zune devices to access its network of over 10,000 wireless hotspots, including those at McDonald's restaurants.
Zune Pass customers in the United States could also now download 10 tracks to keep per month in addition to the existing subscription-dependent unlimited music downloads.
The second and last wave of the third-generation (Zune HD 64 GB) released in April 2010. The same day, desktop and firmware updates introduced SmartDJ and codec features. The firmware update brought picks and improved the TV-out experience on the Zune HD.
In a summer 2010, United Airlines started to offer Zune in-flight audio by means of 21 playlists that were similar to the Zune Channels offered on the Zune Marketplace. Each channel offered up to three hours of unique programming ranging from classic rock, contemporary pop, opera, electronica, piano jazz, and others.
On October 3, 2011, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of all Zune hardware, encouraging users to transition to Windows Phone. Later, the announcement was removed and a Zune Support Team member posted on Twitter that the discontinuation page was added to the website in error. Finally, despite previous denials, the original announcement of the Zune hardware's discontinuation was restored to the Zune Support site.
Microsoft announced and released new versions of the Zune devices once a year until 2010. In March 2011, Bloomberg.com published an article claiming that Microsoft would stop introducing new versions of the Zune music and video player. The article has been widely quoted over the Internet and by news agencies. However, a Microsoft representative for Zune business development denied this rumor saying that the Windows Phone platform introduction should be considered to be the annual Zune update for 2010.
All Windows Phone devices include capacitive multi-touch screens, FM radios, Wi-Fi, and certain other features included on the Zune HD. The user interface of the Zune devices, particularly the Zune HD, served as the inspiration for the user interface of Windows Phone. Microsoft refers to the design language of this user interface as Metro and continued to use it across their major products moving forward, such as with Microsoft Band and Band 2, Microsoft Kin, Windows Phone 7, Windows 8, and Xbox One, until it was eventually succeeded by the Fluent Design System.
On October 11, 2010, Microsoft released Zune software v4.7, which supports syncing of Windows Phone 7 devices with a Windows PC. Zune software was then succeeded as a desktop sync app by the Windows Phone App for Windows Phone 8.
The Zune 80 was announced on October 2, 2007, along with the smaller Zune 4 and Zune 8 to compete with Apple's iPod nano line. These were to be known as the second generation of Zune devices. The Zune 80 featured a 3.2-inch screen, while the Zune 4 and 8 come with a 1.8-inch screen. Both come with a new touchpad-style input device ("squircle") and new software. Additional file support for H.264 and MPEG-4 formats was also included, whereas the older Zune 30 requires these formats to be transcoded to WMV prior to sync. The ability to sync wirelessly (automatically if connected to a power supply), podcast support, and an upgraded song-sharing licensing became available on all models. The new software also allowed a Zune device to communicate with other Zune devices to share pictures and songs. A free firmware update added the new software features to the original Zune 30, and was released on November 13, 2007. The Zune 80 came bundled with a USB connection cord and premium headphones. The Zune 4 and 8 come with a USB connection cord and basic headphones.
The Zune 30, the original Zune music player, has a 30 GB hard drive, 3-inch screen, and a simple directional pad for menu navigation. The second generation of Zune devices includes the Zune 4, 8, 16, 80 and 120. The Zune 4, 8, and 16 are smaller in size and have 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB of flash memory respectively. All second generation Zunes have a Zune Pad instead of the original directional pad that was included on the Zune 30. Microsoft released an upgrade to the software/firmware for all Zune models, including the Zune 30.
On May 26, 2009, Microsoft announced the Zune HD, the first Zune with touch screen. The Zune HD has HD Radio and the ability to display video in high definition through a docking station (sold separately). The screen is multi-touch enabled and uses gestures such as swiping and pinching throughout the player. The device comes with 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB of flash memory. The screen is OLED, 3.3 inches, and has a 480×272 16:9 resolution. Also included are Wi-Fi, a custom Internet Explorer browser, and an accelerometer.
Among the firms that made Zune accessories were Microsoft, Altec Lansing, Belkin, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), Dual Electronics, Griffin Technology, Harman Kardon, JBL, Integrated Mobile Electronics, Jamo International, Klipsch Audio Technologies, Logitech, Monster Cable Products Inc., Speck Products, Targus, Kicker and VAF Research.
The operating system for the Zune devices is based on the Windows CE kernel for ARM architecture and uses a distribution similar to the Portable Media Center found on the Gigabeat S. Zune's native file compatible formats are:
The graphical user interface (GUI) (called the "twist interface" by Microsoft) has sections for music, videos, pictures, social, radio, podcasts, marketplace, games and settings. It is said to provide "two-dimensional navigation" for scrolling through items with its d-pad. In the music section, users can add songs to a quick playlist without reconnecting to the desktop software. In the picture section, the background can be customized using any image stored on the device (for viewing) as wallpaper. In the radio section, users can receive and play FM radio internally, with North American, Japanese, and European tuning ranges, and display Radio Data System information (usually artist and song) when available. When artist/song information are available, the device can search for the song in the Zune Marketplace for download or purchase. In the social section, users can broadcast the user's profile and recent activity to others nearby.
The first updates to the firmware added sharing features (send, community, list nearby Zune users) as described in FCC filings. Firmware 1.1 allowed the device to inherit sharing capabilities described by codename Pyxis. Early firmware releases patched . About a year later, the much anticipated 2.2 firmware release added support for DVR-MS (Media Center Recorded TV) files, lossless playback, added wireless syncing, and GUI interface improvements.
Zune supports the Windows Media DRM digital rights management system, which is not compatible with other DRM systems and is not part of the PlaysForSure platform or program. Multimedia content is transferred through Media Transfer Protocol (MTP); however, its proprietary MTP extensions ("MTPZ") place an interoperability barrier between the Zune and previous MTP-based software.
The Zune software organizes the media in its library and allows users to add to the library by ripping from CDs, syncing with a Zune device, and downloading from the Zune Marketplace. The Zune software also allows one to organize song metadata. It can automatically download album art and metadata tag data for content in the library.
Any file in one's Collection that has a non-Zune compatible format is automatically transcoded into a compatible format upon syncing the files to a Zune compatible device. This feature still works as of the release of Windows 11, however, in Windows 10 and 11 the ability to convert videos, specifically, is broken.
On the PC, the Zune software Streaming media files to other PCs, the Xbox 360, and other compatible devices. The Zune software also connects with the Zune social and keeps track of files swapped with other users.
The Zune software runs only on 32-bit Windows XP or 32-bit/64-bit, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not supported.
Zune Software was succeeded by the Windows Phone App as a desktop sync service for Windows Phone 8. Windows Phone 7, Kin, and all previous Zune devices will still use the Zune software, which is still available for download on the Windows Phone website.
The Zune Marketplace was an online store that offered music, podcasts, TV shows, movies, music videos, movie trailers and mobile applications. Content can be viewed or purchased on Windows PCs with the Zune software installed, Zune devices, the Xbox 360, the Microsoft Kin phones, or Windows Phone phones.
It offered a selection of 14 million songs and the Zune Pass music subscription service.
Additionally, Microsoft launched an attempt at viral marketing with its comingzune site, complete with several videos in succession. Along with ZuneInsider, and several other ad hoc events, Microsoft hoped to generate buzz for the product outside of the normal marketing avenues, and market its product as a part of a social construct.
The choice of branding and distribution were part of the Zune as a decision of "two strategies in the market right now: cross-brand ecosystems... and singular brand ecosystems... The former is gaining in share and units sold, but the latter has enormous share and won't give that up easily."
Microsoft normally follows a platform (cross-brand) strategy, as exemplified by the PlaysForSure system. However, its Xbox division has gained some experience with the vertically integrated strategy in which it controls everything end-to-end from the hardware to the online store. With Apple dominating the audio market with its vertically integrated iPod system, the Xbox division won permission to try the same approach, separately from PlaysForSure and PlayReady.
Microsoft also wanted to go beyond Apple's efforts and promote the tagline "the social" and wireless sharing as key differentiators. Chris Stephenson, leader of Zune's marketing and manager of Global Marketing for the Entertainment Business, said, "we see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together." New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker agrees that the Zune's "community and togetherness seem like a reasonable counterpunch to iPod's supposed attraction as an individuality enabler that allows owners to wallow in their own tasteful personal soundtracks." But he also sees the Zune as having gained appeal as an individualistic statement against the omnipresent iPod: "The most salient feature of the Zune seems to be that it's not an iPod".
MySpace has added the feature to label music players on personal profiles to Zune-themed or a red Zune 8.
According to Bloomberg Television 1.2 million Zune 30 players were sold between November 2006 and June 2007, surpassing a milestone.
On May 6, 2008, Microsoft announced that it had sold just over 2 million Zunes. Roughly one million of those were sold since the second generation Zunes launched in November 2007.
On May 22, 2008, it was reported that GameStop "has decided to stop selling Microsoft's Zune players at its stores due to what it sees as insufficient demand from customers." A statement issued by Adam Sohn, Zune marketing manager said "We have a set of great partnerships...Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, and others."
In January 2009, Microsoft's quarterly earnings filing with the SEC indicated that Zune sales had fallen $100 million from 2007 to 2008 during the fourth quarter of the calendar year. The Wall Street Journal estimated that sales appear to have dropped from about $185 million during the holiday period in 2007 to just $85 million in 2008. This may be due to the company's decision not to substantially update the Zune hardware in the fall of 2008.
Zune market share decreased to 2% in the first half of 2009, according to the NPD Group. From January to September 2009 in the U.S., Microsoft only held 2% sales share, compared to Apple's 73%, SanDisk's 9%, and 3% for Sony's Walkman line.
The Zune 2.0–3.* firmware does not support non-romanized fonts other than Cyrillic. East Asian characters used in Chinese and Japanese, for example, show up on the Zune device as mojibake instead of characters. Users have improvised ways to downgrade the firmware on the Zune device to older version that support Asian characters (V1 Zunes can be hacked to display Asian font). This is, however, not recommended by anyone.
Had Microsoft brought the first Zune to market at the same time as the iPod, or even the Zune HD at the time of the iPod Touch, it might have been a serious competitor to those players. Manjoo wrote: "By that point, iPod had become the world's de facto digital entertainment device," he recalled. "To beat it, Microsoft needed to offer something that would make Apple's device look pitifully old-fashioned. The Zune HD didn't do that. Its design marked it as being different from an iPod, but that was pretty much the only difference. There was no reason to buy the Zune unless you wanted to stand apart from the Apple cult. And there was a cost to standing apart from Apple: Because of its popularity, there were millions of apps and accessories for the iPod. As good as it was, the Zune HD couldn't match Apple’s sheer market power." Nevertheless, it was an effective enough product that Manjoo had started using it as his backup music player ("when my iPhone's battery dies").
Like the Edsel, to which it has sometimes been likened, Manjoo said the Zune's failure may have led the way to eventual success with other products. The HD's user interface, he noted, was the first such Microsoft product to rely on text rather than icons, and it would form the basis for Windows Phone, Windows 8, Xbox and all of the company's web-based services. The Segoe typeface that is now used in all of them, as well as Microsoft's current logo, was first used on the Zune.
Business consultant Simon Sinek discusses the Zune in his 2019 book The Infinite Game, describing the Zune as a triumph of design but a failure of long-term strategic thinking. Microsoft was focused on beating Apple's portable music player, while Apple was behind the scenes focused on the iPhone that was introduced a year after the Zune's debut and, to a large extent, rendered obsolete handheld MP3 players by popularizing .Simon Sinek (2019). The Infinite Game. Portfolio,
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