Investors Not So Attuned to Zune Debut

Microsoft (MSFT) launched its rival portable music player on Tuesday, the Zune, throwing down a glove to the reigning digital-music king, Apple (AAPL).

But after weeks of hype, the debut had little effect on either company's shares. Microsoft dipped 16 cents in Tuesday trading to $29.09, and Apple, meanwhile, was off 13 cents to $84.22.

The Redmond giant is selling the 30-gigabyte device for $249 in three colors: black, white and brown. Like Apple, Microsoft touts its own music store, the Zune marketplace, where music shoppers can download songs a la carte, a la Apple, or for $14.99, get a monthly subscription for unlimited music, as long as the customer keeps paying the fee.

The ability to share songs wirelessly between Zunes -- something that iPods cannot do -- is one of the features Microsoft is touting, though a neighbor can only listen to the song three times within three days, but cannot purchase the song on the device itself.

The Zune also has an FM tuner and a larger screen than Apple's video iPod.

"Zune is all about changing the game to make music more social, and at launch we are just scratching the surface of how wireless technology is going to enable social interaction in the future," Bryan Lee, corporate vice president of Microsoft's entertainment business, said in a statement.