So, did you see that the new Zunes are out? There are two notable features of the new Zune. First, the Zune now has a DRM-free music store, which is definitely a step in the right direction, and one that conusmers will applaud (and hopefully use, to kickstart a good trend). Second, MS made the new firmware available to existing Zune owners. That’s right – if you own a current Zune, you can do a firmware update to get features that have been added to the 2.0 versions of the players, greatly extending the useful lifetime of their players (hopefully this trend will continue).

There were also some, for lack of a better term, expected upgrades. They increased the capacity (80 gigs max) and reduced the footprint, while kicking out a bigger screen. There are also now flash models available.

Now, let’s compare what the market leader, Apple, is doing in the same space. It’s hard to have a real apples to apples comparison (yes, pun intended) here because the best product to compare the new Zune to is the iPod Classic, not the iPod Touch/iPhone, which is the tech pinnacle of the iPod line right now. Does this mean that Microsoft is a generation behind in the space? It’s arguably so.

The iPod line is more extensive than the Zune line (the Shuffle, the Nano, the Classic, and the new Touch/iPhone). The real kicker, though, is that the iPod appears to be trying to break out of the mold of a traditional media player. This is evident with one feature that is sorely lacking on a Zune – wireless internet access. Think about how much value is added to a wifi-enabled device (which the Zune is, by the way) by including a gateway to the internet.

The internet is the platform of the future for the bulk of common tasks. Rich browser-based apps are common nowadays, which means any device that has internet access and a relatively competent browser can enable users to be powerful and productive anywhere a wireless hotspot is available. Apple isn’t afraid of this – Safari is standard on the iPod Touch/iPhone. Think if Microsoft had thrown in a wireless N adapter (the G just ain’t cutting it anymore), and a mobile version of Internet Explorer on the new Zunes! I’m guessing that single move could have doubled their market share. Ever since the Touch was announced about a month ago, I can’t think of possibly spending any significant amount of cash on a player like the new Zune, even if the barrier to entry is a bit lower.

The lack of an internet browser, by the way, is my biggest complaint with the XBox 360 as well. Why is Microsoft so reluctant to add such a valuable feature? It would be one thing if they had to design a new browser from scratch. However, that definitely isn’t the case – they happen to own the most popular browser on the planet!

Oh, and bring back the brown! I’m the proud owner of a brown 30Gb Zune, and the color rocks!