Reuters reports that Microsoft has announced its pricing stategy for the Zune music player (Photos) which will go on sale November 14th 2006.
Microsoft is pricing the 30GB Zune at $249.99 which is essentially the same price as the 30GB iPod. Meanwhile, songs will also be sold through the "Zune Marketplace" at $.99/song similar to the iTunes Store. Pricing the Zune at this price, however, means that Microsoft will be losing money on sales of the player at the start:
"We had to look at what was in the market and offer a competitive price," said Scott Erickson, Microsoft's senior director of product marketing for Zune. "We're not going to be profitable this holiday but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy."
Zune has additional features over the iPod such as wireless connectivity and an FM tuner. Zune users will reportedly be able to beam songs and photos with each other. At launch, the Zune Marketplace will only sell music (no videos) but will also provide a $14.99/month unlimited subscription option as well.
The music player is reportedly only the first step in a line of portable devices, and a Zune phone is said to be in the works. Zune, of course, provides no Mac compatibility.
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern.
As usual, the event is expected to take place in the first half of September.
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In a short demo, a man holds a book up so the camera in the AirPods can see the title. "With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," says the voiceover text.
Here ...
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"iPhone Ultra" supply will be very limited when the foldable device is first released later this year, according to Fixed Focus Digital, a known leaker on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The account also claimed that the iPhone 18 Pro's A20 Pro chip will be up to 18% faster and up to 30% more power efficient compared to the iPhone 17 Pro's A19 Pro chip. The A20 Pro chip will be the...
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
