During their Pre-E3 press event in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced the launch of a new music service called Xbox Music. The new service will likely replace the fledgling Zune, Microsoft's existing music service, which has seen its market share steadily eaten up over the past few years.
This is just another in a string of moves made by Microsoft in an attempt to turn their Xbox 360 gaming console into a vital and central entertainment hub, just as their rival Sony has attempted to do. Xbox 360's now have a music service, Netflix, movie watching, and soon Internet Explorer. Did we mention it also plays games?
Yet while being blessed with the Xbox name, Xbox Music is by no means limited to Microsoft's gaming console, and will also be launched on PC's, tablets, and phones as a complete music service to compete with the likes of iTunes. On that ambitious front, the service will launch with over 30 million songs available immediately.
While few other details about the service have been revealed yet, including estimated launch date or pricing details, the very Metro style user interface was also shown off, and sports a sleek design that should make browsing through those 30 million songs a breeze; just give yourself a few years to get through them all.
If you're already a devoted iTunes or Spotify fan with a playlist of songs numbering in the thousands, this announcement may not be all that exciting for you. But for the legion of Xbox fans who aren't hopelessly attached to their iPods, it's just one more way for Microsoft to bring the world of entertainment into your home, and make it easier than ever to enjoy it.
Expect Xbox Music to launch sometime in 2012.
