Microsoft has confirmed plans to release an MP3 player on the market. The hardware and software packages will all be launched under the brand name Zune. Microsoft said it will use a hard drive, wi-fi and owners will be able to buy tracks that are downloaded direct to the device.

The first Zune player will appear in late 2006.

The vacuum valve is back, revived for the iPod era in the i-Steroid amp and 2.1 speaker combo.
Distributor offering two versions: one black, other white, though the black model’s red trim makes it more suitable, perhaps, for the U2 iPod than the regular midnight-hued model. There are three types of i-Steroid, offering either 28W RMS output or 50W. The 28W model comes in two forms one with and the other without an FM tuner. All three ship with a universal iPod dock and a pair of remote controls: one for the iPod, the other for the i-Steroid.

The i-Steroid line is available now, prices range from around ?130 to ?200.

Reports from around the Web suggest that Microsoft is moving a secret internal project on which I’ve been briefed into the product development stage. If true–and I have no reliable information to suggest it is–Microsoft will go head-to-head with Apple’s iPod in the portable MP3 player market as soon as this holiday season. Here’s what the rumors reveal.

A report in the “Seattle Times” says that Microsoft’s MP3 player is codenamed “Argos” after the ship that Jason and the Argonauts used to pursue the Golden Fleece. It’s being developed by people from the Xbox team, and led by J Allard, an Xbox team cofounder. According to Times reporter Brier Dudley, Microsoft is firmly behind the new player and has committed “hundreds of millions” of dollars to its development and marketing.

Various reports say that Microsoft’s Argos player will be in the market as soon as this holiday season, which is amazingly aggressive since my own sources tell me that the software giant was using it internally as a reference design for partners until fairly recently. It will allegedly include Wi-Fi capabilities so that users can download content from the MTV URGE online service without being connected to a computer, a large widescreen display, a simple iPod-like user interface, and possibly even video game features.

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