Microsoft's New Zune Says 'We're No iPod'

Suggestions for music pop up on Marketplace when a PC is connected to the Internet and a synched Zune is playing a user's selection. This feature, called Mixed View, provides a multi-dimensional discovery capability, similar to those provided by Pandora and Rhapsody.

"We program in relational data" on music that shares influences with other sounds, Sohn says. Mixed View is free and some of its software features can be used without a Zune.

Picks and Channels features were also added to the software to analyze a listener's interests and build a specialized music selection based on similar listeners' playlists.