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Its Zune player will soon have access to around 800 shows, including programmes from NBC, which currently refuses to deal with Apple.

Microsoft is also introducing new software designed to make it easier to find new music, including Zune Cards which let users download information about what their friends are listening to.

Other new features will be familiar to iPod owners; support for syncing multiple players to one computer; smart playlists; video browsing; multi-selection editing of track and album information, gapless playback; and sort by genre.

The lack of such features can only have hindered Zune's progress. Even now, Microsoft's players are at best third behind Apple's iPods and SanDisk's Sansa range in Amazon's sales chart. There is still no word on plans to release the Zune in Europe.