You might ask yourself, what good could a Microsoft-branded MP3 be, and what improvements could it bring? It probably isn’t the best thing, but it has some new features; it certainly is a very good start.

The basics are not so different. It has photo- and video-friendly 3-inch (4:3) screen, and it within an iTunes-like closed Zune Marketplace ecosystem. But besides that, it is pretty different than any other MP3 player. The bad thing is that it’s not backward compatible with WMA-DRM9 (Zune utilizes WMA-DRM9.1), but it features an integrated Wi-Fi chip, which allows it to seek out and be seen by other Zune-sters. That means that if you are in the same room, you can share music, but not video.

It measures 4.3×2.5×0.7 inches and weighs 5.6 ounces. It fits in your hand and it’s available in several colours. It’s resistant and will probably resist a fall or even a big bump. It doesn’t have any buttons on the sides; you can find only a hold switch and an earphone jack on top and a proprietary USB/accessories port on the bottom and also three control buttons. They are all easy to use and you will probably have no problems getting around it and operating it. It has a three-inch screen which may not be too big, but it’s enough to view photos or even watch some videos, if that’s what you really want. You can see up to 10 songs per page.

There are no videos available to purchase but the Zune Marketplace debuts with more than two million songs (that are not compatible with non-Zune devices) and will include a ZunePass, but not for free. The battery life is rated for 14 hours of audio playback. It has good performance and the interface is nice and easy to use. The Wi-Fi capability is a good improvement, but it’s pretty limited. It will probably be improved soon. The maximum capacity is 30GB but it has good FM radio with RDS. Price is $249.99.