Zune will be Microsoft's answer to iPod. There have been lots of speculations about it for the past few months. Putting an end to these speculations, Microsoft announced the launch of its own music player, Zune.

The general manager of Microsoft, Chris Stephenson announced that the company is working on a new entertainment and music project called Zune. A number of software and hardware products will be launched by Microsoft under this brand name. The first product is likely to come in the market soon, probably by the end of this year.

The music player will have a hardware which will be used for storing music. It will also have a wi-fi. The general manger said that this device will use new technology so that people can enjoy music all the more.

However Microsoft's competitors Real Networks and Apple have so far not made any comment on this. However Napster had few things to say about this new product. The company said that they do not fear the launch of Microsoft's latest product. Napster spokeswoman said that the company has held its position because of MSN and many other things and they have no reasons to worry.

People in the industry are also not sure as to whether Zune will be able to match the combination of I-Pod and iTunes or not.

Apple has been the leader in the music industry for years. Its music player has always been number one in the market and so has been its downloadable music business. The company has so far sold more than a billion songs and over 58 million iPods.