Microsoft Zune - Ipod killer?

The soon to be released Zune Player from Microsoft is targetted to kill the Ipod monopoly. Will it succeed? Before making any judgements, lets look at the specs...

Battery Life: 12 hours audio, 3.5hours video
Space: 30gb
Colours: Brown, black or white
Features:

• Wireless Zune to Zune sharing
• Large Colour Screen (3 inches)
• Zune Pass (Allows full access to the Zune Marketplace)
• Built-in FM tuner

So there we have it. Since its not released yet, there is no known price and also we're not sure if it will reach malaysia that fast. One thing interesting and has been talked alot is the Zune to Zune sharing.

It seems that if I have a file, I send it to another Zune, that receipient can only play the file 3 times within 3 days. After that, it will no longer be playable and even a resend would not work. It somehow encrypts it with the Microsoft DRM thingy to block the song from playing.

So, someone posted a question. Supposed, he composed a song and wanted to impress his girlfriend with it or serenade it to her. So he sends it to her and she listens it but after 3 times she can't hear it anymore. Microsoft claims that since they can't tell whether the user is sending a protected or an unprotected file, they therefore encrypts all files sent by the Zune player. Microsoft also said that if the girlfriend likes it, she will come to you within 3 days.

Well that makes sense but I think for now, it cannot breach or break the Ipod monopoly with DRM stuff. The Creative Commons License is broken whenever they encrypt files under the CCL as the CCL does not allow their files to be locked by any means. This might spark some lawsuits but we'll see how it goes. And personally if you ask me, I think they should allow all files to be sent without being locked by the DRM nonsense. Thankfully, they allow the player to play unprotected MP3's.

So there you have it, a short review on the new Microsoft Zune player. Before I sign off, here's a picture of what the player looks like