Ｍｉｃｒｏｓｏｆｔ　Ｂｉｔｅｓ　ｉｎｔｏ　Ａｐｐｌｅ’ｓ　ｉＰｏｄ　Ｍａｒｋｅｔ

iPod的地位受到挑戰！微軟推出新款播放器--Zune，力撼對手蘋果公司。

Microsoft Corp.s Zune players made a debut in U.S. stores last Tuesday, trying to break the dominance of Apple Computer Inc.s iPod in the digital music market.

“We can beat them, but its not going to be easy,” chief executive Steven A. Ballmer said.

Zune is Microsofts first product in the $4 billion U.S. digital music market dominated by the iPod.

“The market will have two big players for a long time, us and Apple,” Ballmer said. “Obviously were the David* in this one; Apples the Goliath*.”

Zune has a 30-gigabyte hard drive for saving music files and connects to an online music store called Zune Marketplace, which will compete with Apples iTunes. Microsoft adds an FM radio to Zune and also the ability to transfer songs from one device to another.

Zune sells for $249.99 in the United States, the same price as an iPod with comparable storage space, and will compete with video iPods released in September.

Reviews of Zune

Gadget reviewers have criticized the device for being larger and heavier than the iPod, as well as describing its song download service as more complicated than iTunes.

Others like the Zunes larger screen and the hand-held devices ease of use.

Microsoft may struggle to win sales. Apple has sold more than 67.6 million iPods since it went on sale in 2001, including 39.4 million in the past year.

文化鏈接——David and Goliath《圣經·因約》中關于巨人哥利亞(Goliath)和牧羊人大衛(David)的故事：Goliath是傳說中的非利士巨人，他身材高大，驍勇善戰，可勇敢的David憑借手中的石頭和彈弓殺死了Goliath，David后來成為以色列的國王。