CrunchGear are reporting that Microsoft have released official details of their Zune ‘iPod killer’ to the press.

The first players will have 30 GB of storage, come in black, white and brown and will have built-in wireless capability as well as support for most major audio playback formats (including WMA locked with Microsoft’s DRM).

The wireless functionality of the Zune is particularly being pushed by Microsoft, as apparently you can share music with other nearby Zune users using the wireless capability. Any tracks you share with others can be played by the other person three times (or stored for up to three days, whichever is quickest). Interestingly this not only applies to DRM’d songs from online stores, but any unprotected content as well.

The ‘Zune Marketplace’, the Zune’s download store, will reportedly feature a normal purchasing plan, where you pay for each song but also a Zune Pass option which will allow unlimited downloads for a flat fee.

This announcement of Zune news comes very quickly after Apple’s announcement of new iPods, but there wasn’t half as much buzz about the Zune information than there was about the Apple event. Admittedly, a lot more was being announced at the Apple event, but Microsoft really could have done with capitalising on some good old rumour and speculation to hype up the press release.

I don’t think Zune will kill the iPod - it will certainly do Apple no favours, but I can’t see it dramatically turning the tides in Microsoft’s favour.

There’s no firm release date or pricing information available yet, but apparently the first Zune players will ship by Christmas.