Microsoft to Launch Wireless Portable Media Players in Canada

Variety of Zune players, Zune software and Zune Social music community site available to Canadians in Spring 2008

TORONTO, ON — January 6, 2008 — Today at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp. announced that Zune will be available in Canada in Spring 2008. Highly anticipated by the Canadian market, music lovers will be able to experience a richer, more connected entertainment experience with Zune.  The Canadian offering in 2008 will first include Zune players, Zune software and the Zune Social, an online music community, before launching the Zune Marketplace online store later this year.

"We are excited to offer Canadians an alternative music experience with Zune," said Craig Tullett, Group Manager, Zune Canada. "With wireless capabilities and a unique social experience, Canadians can continue to discover and share music in new ways."

Creating a Personal Entertainment Experience

With three Zune models and options for customization at ZuneOriginals.net it will be easy for consumers to find the size, colour and design that best suits their personal taste.  All devices support video, audio and pictures.  They all have FM Tuners, the ability to sync and share songs and pictures wirelessly and to customize the home screen image on the player with any photo. The Zune device family includes:

• Zune 80 GB. The black Zune 80GB has a bright 3.2-inch screen and includes premium in-ear noise-isolating headphones at no extra cost.
• Zune 4GB & Zune 8GB. The slim, ultra-portable Zune 4GB and the Zune 8GB will both be available in a variety of colours.
• Zune Originals. Canadians will have the option to customize and purchase their Zune player with laser-engraved designs from leading artists around the world and personal text options through the Zune Originals online store.

Zune Social: People-powered music discovery

Built around the inherently social nature of music and aimed at helping people discover new music to add to their collection, the Zune Social plays a powerful role in helping people find new music based on what their friends and others with similar musical tastes are listening to. Consumers can easily create and personalize their own Zune Card which automatically reflects the music they listen to on their Zune wireless digital media player and on their PC. The Zune Social also features rich artist pages which reflect what other top fans of your favourite artists are listening to so that, knowing they share your tastes, you can be turned on to the other music they like.  A consumer's Zune card can be placed on other websites such as FaceBook, MySpace, personal blogs, etc. where it continues to update automatically and reflect your musical personality to others around you.

A Richer, Alternative Entertainment Experience

Zune is redefining the digital music experience through its distinctive features:

• Wireless sync.Consumers can set their Zune to automatically sync to their PC collection via a home wireless network whenever it's placed in its dock or plugged in to charge, making it easy to keep the Zune updated with the latest music or podcasts. Consumers can also manually start a wireless sync from their device as soon as they are within range of their wireless network.
• FM tuner.Consumers can easily listen to their favourite FM radio stations when they're on the go or tune into television audio at the gym. Zune will even display the name of the song and the artist, using Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) information from stations that broadcast it.
• Wireless sharing. Share select music, pictures and audio podcasts with other Zune devices nearby. Consumers can listen to any received song up to three times with no time restrictions and even pass it along to other friends with a Zune.
• Zune software.Easily drag and drop music, videos and photos to sync content to a Zune, create playlists, manage podcasts and burn CDs.
• Zune Marketplace (to be launched later in 2008). Zune Marketplace is designed to make it fun to browse. Choose from over 3 million songs and a broad collection of albums, music videos and digital rights management (DRM)-free MP3s to download and sync to a Zune.
• Zune Pass (to be launched with Zune Marketplace later in 2008).For about the price of one CD per month consumers can get flat-rate access to millions of available songs. They also have the option to buy songs, albums and music videos individually.
• Recorded television content to go. The Zune software will now import broadcast content recorded on Microsoft Windows Media Center for Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate, so consumers can sync it to their Zune.

About Zune

Zune is Microsoft's music and entertainment brand that provides an integrated digital entertainment experience. The Zune platform includes a line of portable digital media players, the Zune Marketplace online store and Zune Social, created to help people discover music. Zune is part of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division and supports the company's software-based services vision to help drive innovation in the digital entertainment space. More information can be found online at http://www.zune.net/en-us/press.

About Microsoft Canada

Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Visit Microsoft Canada's web site at www.microsoft.ca.

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Coralie Olson, High Road Communications, colson@highroad.com