New Zune Hardware, Software Starts Shipping

Microsoft debuted its redesigned Zunes on Tuesday, hoping to make inroads into a market that it has so far little affected.

Overall, Zune players account for around three percent of the entire portable music device market. Up until now, the company only sold hard drive-based devices, which have long since fallen out of favor with consumers.

Now the company has added two flash-based models to its lineup, at sizes of 4 and 8 GB. Microsoft hopes that this will be the answer to its problems and push its device from a niche product to a platform that is more directly competitive with the iPod.

Along with the new players, Zune's online music store has received a facelift. Music videos and podcasts are now available, and Microsoft's promised catalog of DRM-free MP3s have also made an appearance.

Most notably for the device itself, Microsoft has enabled the wireless functionality of the device to allow it to wirelessly sync with the Zune library.

On top of this, Microsoft is hoping its social networking site also lures people. It will aim to connect people through musical tastes, and allows people to discover new music by seeing what their friends are listening to.

"We're trying to blow people's minds with Zune Social by giving them new ways to discover and share music that they haven't even thought about," Zune senior project manager Terry Farrell said.

Microsoft plans to give the user complete control over who can view the page, as well as how they can share their Zune information outside of the site through blogs and other social networks. Additionally, artists may use it to connect with fans much like many already do with MySpace.

"The possibilities are endless," Farrell said.