You may have heard of Zune – the “iPod Killer” that came out in the U.S. in 2006. Many wondered when (and if) this multi-media player would cross the border. Well, now we have an answer: “Some time this Spring,” we’re told, Spring defined as between March and May, so I’m guessing late April.

But what is the Zune? And how does it stack up against its adversary from the Monarchy of Mac? To answer these questions, we sat down with Microsoft’s Craig Tullett this morning and got the lowdown:

Media On The Go
The Zune will be available to us Canucks in three versions: 4, 8 and 80GB (they’re scrapping their 30GB line). The 4 and 8GB models are very small, thin, lightweight (like the old iPod Nano), and have built-in flash memory. The 80GB model is much larger (think iPod Classic) and has a built-in 80GB hard drive. All models feature three buttons: a “back” button, a play/pause button, and a touch-sensitive “Zune Pad” that works both like the regular directional clicker you’ll find on a cell phone, and also as a touch-sensitive pad you can slide or “flick” your finger across to scroll through menus. This is the Microsoft alternative to Apple’s “Click Wheel.”

Meant to be an extension to your personal media library, it plays music (mp3, wma, aac), plays videos (wmv, mpeg-4, h.264), displays photos and graphics, plays podcasts (both video and audio), and even has a built-in radio. All this content is uploaded to the player either through a USB cable, wirelessly from your network, or shared wirelessly from other Zunes nearby (with consent of course). And that’s where the Zune differs from the competition. As its tagline “Welcome to the Social” indicates, everything about the player revolves around the social aspect: Sharing music, graphics and images from device to device (trust me, it’s cool and we’ll be writing more about this soon), sharing favourites through the Zune Social website and discovering new songs and artists by finding like-minded listeners and related tracks.

Think of it as FaceMusicBook
On first impression, it is the social aspect that really stands out. The player itself is on par with the competition (iPod Classic) in terms of price (Canadian price TBA), quality, design, functionality and ease of use. But the “Social” concept could become a major selling factor. Here’s why: In the Zune “Marketplace,” you have two options: Either buy each track or album individually (to own permanently), or subscribe to the entire library (in case it’s not clear, we’re talking limitless use of) for a set monthly fee. In the U.S., this fee is around $14 and one would expect a similar price for the Canadian users. With the subscription in place, you can download as many songs as you want and listen to them for as long as you pay for the service. So when you find an artist you are curious about through Zune Social or any other avenue, you can download the tracks without any added cost and check them out. If you like the songs, you have them on your computer as well as on the go through your Zune. If you don’t like them, it didn’t cost you anything extra. And it’s all legal! For music fanatics constantly on the lookout for new and interesting (i.e. obscure Islandic) artists, this is a dream come true: Pandora without the crappy sound quality. And just imagine what this would do for a house party! Guests can log in, download whatever they want to listen to and then play it!

Now here’s the big “but,” BUT not one that will be an issue for long. Unfortunately the Zune Marketplace (and with it the subscription service) will not be available in Canada until the Fall of 2008. However, Zune Social will be up and running and with it, the ability to discover new artists, share your playlist as well as your ratings and comments, and become a musical trend setter. And in the interim, you’ll be able to purchase tracks from Zune Social through other online music retailers.

Is the Zune for me?
Good question. And we’ll help you answer it! Microsoft was kind enough to lend us two 80GB Zunes to test, and we will. We’re not exactly luddites when it comes to technology, so in addition to us working the new gadget to the bone, we’ll also give a unit to our brand new ‘everyday Jane’ product tester, who will gauge its user-friendliness to the average consumer. We’ll upload music and pictures, watch movies and TV shows on the SkyTrain, share files with other Zuners, stream content to our Xbox 360 and really put the device through its paces to see if this is something you should buy. At the same time, we’ll pressure Microsoft to get the Marketplace – or at least the subscription service – up as soon as possible. So check back here and on our brother site AndNowYouKnow.net to see what we think of our latest toy!

Our Zune 80GB Flickr photos