After our post two weeks ago on the Argo, we haven’t been giving the whole concept much attention, since swiftly thereafter the info started to leak that the codenamed project was in fact Zune, a non-Xbox related music player. There may be some connections still though, so let’s round up what we know today.

First things first: Zune’s official. My buddy Cesar at Gamerscore Blog announced this weekend he is moving to the Zune team, writing on Zune Insider blog now, and the announcement of the product itself was made official. Cesar summarizes:

So what’s Zune? It’s Microsoft’s new, holistic approach to music and entertainment. And yes, this year, we’ll be releasing a device as part of the project. Under the Zune brand, we’re looking to build a community for connecting with folks, all to discover new music and entertainment.

That’s a “this year” folks, as further confirmed by BBC folks researching the subject. Zune won’t just be the music player though, it’s the whole thing from music service, to devices, to the software used to play the music itself, seamlessly integrated together for perfect cooperation.

Analysts are split on whether Microsoft stands more than a whelk’s chance in a supernova against fancy gadget giant Apple and its holy army of iPods. According to the latest figures, Apple holds a 50% market share of the portable music player market, and a whopping 70% market share of the music download market with their proprietary iTunes service. With Zune almost certainly being entirely incompatible with Apple’s DRM software, Microsoft is going to be having a tough one penetrating this market in which they don’t have a usable foothold yet.

Other analysts foresee good chances for Microsoft though, seeing that this is not a full frontal attack on the iPod but a flank attack trying to get into the same market rather than battling it out directly with their rivals. Those who need to fear most from Zune are ironically as a matter of fact the smaller manufacturers currently using Microsoft software for making portable music hardware. It will most definitely be interesting to see whether the Zune strategy will turn out successful with the approach taken, as one analyst put it: “The strategy is brilliant, but the question is can they execute?”

This is where MS wildcard J Allard drops into play. The man that previously led Windows into the Internet era and cofounded the Xbox platform, which achieved 25% market share in one generation against dominant gaming mogul Sony, is currently the driving force behind at least the Zune project. Also heavily involved in the XNA and Live Anywhere programs, it’s the bald executive enforcing all available technologies to be used to their full strength. Engadget confirmed that the WiFi-sporting Zune devices will indeed be part of the Live Anywhere network, together with Xbox 360 and Vista users.

Microsoft is aiming for the first Zune machine to be available in the United States this November, with the 30GB model similarly priced as the 60GB iPod, although the latter obviously has far less functionality and no networking facilities whatsoever. A global launch should follow “somewhere next year”.

Thanks to RyKn0w1 and Studley for submitting parts of this news.