Today the marks the beginning of another key hardware product for Microsoft, the Zune. What the Xbox 360 is for the war against Sony, the Zune is the current weapon of choice against Apple.

Scott Erickson, a senior director of product management for Microsoft's Zune says in a CNET article: "The whole goal behind launch was to build a foundation."

The Zune reviews that have appeared so far are only highlighting the screen and the Wi-fi as
For me the biggest issue is actually quite simply the size. Microsoft goes on the start with a device that is 44% bigger in volume that the latest 30GB iPod video.
So now when you go and show proudly your Zune to an Apple iPod owner, he will smile at you and will tell you that your Zune is bigger than his iPod.
And really it will not matter how many more features the Zune has, or how big the screen is. It will always come down to if it is really cool or not. I have my eyes set on the Zune G2, or will the next generation Zune be called Zune 360?

More details about the Zune can be found on the official Zune site. Amazon is shipping the Zune for $249.99. More Zune offers.