Microsoft's New Zune Tries to Catch Up

Of course, there's an elephant in this particular room, and it's called the Apple's App Store. Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Microsoft says that more are coming. It promises, furthermore, that they will all be free.

Over the years, mention of the word "Microsoft " has triggered a variety of emotions. Some consider how Microsoft achieved its success and feel anger. Some consider how Microsoft borrows other companies' ideas and feel indignant. Some consider some recent battle with Windows and feel frustration.
But when you try out Microsoft's new Zune HD music/video player, you may feel a whole new emotion that most people don't associate with Microsoft: sympathy.

Why? We'll get to that.

The Zune, which replaces the old models, is Microsoft's version of the iPod Touch -- a gorgeous multi-touch screen dominates the front. Its handsome, beveled metal case weighs next to nothing yet still feels expensive and solid in the hand. It is nearly buttonless: You operate it as you do the iPod Touch -- you navigate by tapping things on the screen, magnify photos or Web pages by spreading two fingers apart, rotate images by turning the player 90 degrees, and so on. The software design is fluid, beautiful and incredibly responsive.

The new Zune has an incredibly bright, sharp and colorful OLED screen (organic light-emitting diode, not that that helps). Finger-grease streaks are an ugly problem, at least when the screen is off.

The Zune HD is narrower and shorter than the Touch, and a hair thicker. It's available in black or silver; online, you can order a Zune HD with any of several fancy artist-designed back panels. The 16-gig model is $220; the 32-gig model is $290. The "HD" means two things. First, like its predecessors, this Zune can tune into FM radio, but now it can tune into HD radio stations, too.

The Zune HD's name also refers to the hi-def (720p) movies that you can buy on Microsoft's online store. The store is a big new push for Microsoft; the same music, television shows and movies will eventually be available for Xbox, Zune and even Windows Mobile cell phones. Buy a movie on one gadget, watch it on another. Alas, for now, the selection is relatively puny. The store offers a choice of six million songs, 10,000 television shows and 500 movies.

The Zune's own screen isn't fine enough to show you hi-def video. But when you set the player into the $90 Zune Dock, you can play your hi-def Zune movies in hi-def on your television. The Dock can also play your photos, music and radio stations through your home-entertainment system. All of it looks and sounds great, and is effortless to control with the included remote.

Music is still at the Zune's heart, especially if you sign up for Microsoft's $15-a-month, all-you-can-download music-store plan. Now, you could argue that those subscriptions are something of a rip-off; the day you stop paying that monthly fee, you lose your entire music collection.

The Zune Pass, though, eases the sting: You get to keep 10 songs a month forever (90 percent of Microsoft's songs are not copy -protected). Better yet, you can listen to your infinite playlist by logging into Zune.net from any Mac or PC, anywhere you go.

The Wi-Fi Web browser, and its accompanying iPhone-style on-screen keyboard, is new to the Zune. When you are in an Internet hot spot, you can call up Web sites, zoom in to magnify text and so on, just as on the iPod Touch or iPhone. It generally works well, though it is basic: You can open only one page at a time, and it can't play YouTube videos, Flash animations or Pandora radio stations. There is no e-mail program on the Zune, either.

Of course, there's an elephant in this particular room, and it's called the Apple's App Store. Oh, the Zune has an app store, all right. As of today, there are exactly nine programs in the Zune App Store. A calculator. Weather. A Space Invaders game. Microsoft says that more are coming. It promises, furthermore, that they will all be free, which is nice. Unfortunately, for now, Microsoft intends to write all of these programs itself -- it isn't inviting the world's programmers to participate -- so the Zune app store will remain relatively tiny.

There are other minor disappointments. For example, adjusting the volume requires a step too many: You have to press a side button to bring up on-screen controls. There are 1.0-style bugs and glitches, as when my PC wouldn't see the Zune until after a couple of restarts. When you're playing a movie, there's no Rewind to Start button. And there is no speaker at all, not even a feeble one. But overall, Microsoft has done a truly beautiful job with this player and its software.

All right, then: So why sympathy? Because, after three years, hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, and, yes, a lot of real innovation , the Zune has managed to claim a measly 1.1 percent of the music-player market.

The problem is the iPod's head start: Its catalogs of music, movies, apps and accessories are ridiculously superior to the Zune's -- and the Zune's reputation as the player for weirdos and losers. Among the under-25 set, "Zune" is a punch line.

It's an outdated joke. The Zune HD player itself is every bit as joyful, polished and satisfying as its rival. The question is whether Microsoft will stick it out long enough to close the catalog gap, the ecosystem gap and the image gap.