Microsoft's Zune Now Offers TV Downloads, 'File-Sharing'

Expands online store to include video downloads and lets you share music with other "Zune Pass" subscribers.

Microsoft announced today that it's expanding its Zune video store to include downloads of popular TV shows from Comedy Central, NBC, MTV, NBC Universal, and even Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Each TV show will be priced at approximately $1.99(160 Microsoft Points?) per episode at launch.

Users will able to choose from 800 episodes compared with the thousands of episodes from 600 different shows on Apple’s iTunes Store.

“Partnering with Zune will allow us to develop innovative content offerings for their customers, including flexible pricing and packaging options beginning this fall,” said JB Perrette, president of NBC Universal Digital Distribution. “NBC Universal is excited to offer our hit television shows to Zune customers.”

In addition, a new feature will allow others to view their friends 9 most recently played songs, as well as 9 others flagged as favorites, and to copy them onto their own Zune. However, to play back the tracks, users will need a $14.99-a-month subscription to Microsoft’s Zune Pass service, which offers unlimited access to a library of millions of tracks. Okay, so it's not exactly "file-sharing," but it's darn close if have a Zune Pass subscription.

(Nice PIC right?)

New updates to the Zune online music community include:

• Syncing Zune Cards to a device - Consumers simply drag and drop Zune Cards from friends to a Zune device and get updates on what friends are listening to every time they sync. If the song is available with Zune Pass, subscribers automatically have the full tracks on their Zune while nonsubscribers have full album information and artwork. If consumers hear something they like, they can add it to their collection with one click. Next time the user syncs his or her Zune, he or she will be asked to confirm the purchase.


• Enhanced friends search - Users now have the ability to add their name, location and bio to their Zune music community profile, making it easier than ever to find their friends.


• Instant friends - Follow the music they’re listening to.


• Artist and album reviews - Zune music community members can write and post their own reviews for artists and albums.


• Windows Live connections - Contacts will now be able to see what users are listening.

“Consumers want more than the traditional transactional model of an online music store plus portable device,” said Chris Stephenson, general manager of Global Marketing for Zune at Microsoft. “Zune is putting the strong combination of an online music community together with subscription to deliver a new experience centered on music discovery that’s good for consumers, artists and the industry. This approach exposes consumers to music they might not have otherwise tried, keeps them coming back, and gives them purchasing options that suit their preferences.”

What Microsoft still doesn't seem to be able to do though is harness the wi-fi capability of Zunes - the only real future that seems to set it apart from iPods other than the OS. I mean can you imagine if users were allowed to freely share content from device to device?