As Microsoft gears up for the Oct. 26 release date of its first tablet venture, the Surface, the company is playing every trump card in its hand in the fight to beat Apple, who is widely expected to release its "iPad Mini" just days prior. Xbox Music, a new free Internet music streaming service announced by Microsoft Oct. 16, looks to be a big part of that strategy. However, digging a little deeper into Microsoft's new streaming service reveals one big problem: The claim Xbox Music is "free" is a lie.
Microsoft announced yesterday that buyers of tablets running Windows 8 -- like its own in-house made Surface -- will be able to handpick from a selection of millions of songs and stream them for free as long as they put up with an audio ad every 15 minutes. The offering is currently unparalleled in the music streaming service arena in terms of pure listening experience, and the control it offers users for free. It's definitely a step ahead of the rest of free music streaming players available on tablets.
Spotify, with its ability to share playlists, and Facebook integration, has been a user favorite since its release last year. The service allows track selection and playback on personal computers for free with only sporadic audio ads. However, unlike Xbox music, the service doesn't allow you to pick exactly the song you want on tablets unless you pay a $10 monthly fee for its premium subscription.
Along with its announcement of Xbox Music, Microsoft added that the current 66 million international Xbox users could begin a free trial of Xbox music for 30-days beginning Oct. 16. As it turns out though, that promise is too good to be true.
Not everything is free with Xbox Music. To download songs and save them for playback you'll have to pay $10 a month. The monthly fee is also required if you want to use Xbox Music on the Xbox 360 or on smartphones that use Windows Phone. On the Xbox 360, an Xbox Live Gold membership, which costs $60 a year, is also required.
For PCs running on Windows 8, Xbox Music looks like it should equal Spotify's features of free track selection and playback.
"Free" for the first 30 days
The Xbox Music app has limited functionality for free users of Xbox Live. Unless you have an Xbox Live Gold membership, which is about $60 a year, you won't be able to use what's called the "Xbox Music Pass." That means you won't be able to stream any music. Even if you have Xbox Live Gold, you'll still only be able to listen for a free trial period of 30 days, unless you pay about $10 a month or $100 a year for a separate Xbox Music subscription.
And even if you decide to pay the subscription fee, some features of Xbox Music won't work on Xbox consoles. Unlike on Windows or Windows Phone 8, you won't be able to download music. And Xbox Music won't let you can't play games while listening, unlike the Xbox's previous music player, notes a review on Engadget.
Windows 8 bundle, "free" for the first six months
The free trial period that comes with Windows 8 is a little more generous. The bundled Xbox Music app will let you stream unlimited songs of your choice for full six months. After that, you get only 10 hours per month unless you choose to pay the subscription fee. And you'll be listening to advertising more than you might think. To enjoy the free trial you have to listen to an ad every 15 minutes.
Xbox Music also won't allow you to download songs unless you're a subscriber, and, if its anything like the most popular subscription streaming services, you won't be able to listen to the songs you download if you stop paying that monthly fee.
The extent of the appeal of Xbox music though, remains to be seen, and will undeniably be limited by the expense of the majority of data plans. Most of those plans' cost depends on the amount of data you're using, so the more you use, the more it will cost, which could obviously make streaming music over a cellular network an expensive prospect.
Microsoft Surface tablet features
The RT sports an HD screen, which various sources have reported is anywhere between 1280 x 800 and 1366x768, while the PRO has a 10.6-inch Clear type Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen with 16:9 widescreen.
That means they are among the biggest tablets in the market. If you are not satisfied with the typical 10.1-inch tablet, you can go for the Surface tablet. Along with the touch keyboards with the device, you can turn the machine to a small notebook.
The Surface tablet comes with five Touch Covers. Different from typical keyboards, the Surface keypads provide a smoother typing experience thanks to their touch-based surface.
The Surface tablets mount both front and rear cameras. The front camera, named life cam by Microsoft, makes the tablet ideal for video chatting through Skype or other services. Using the rear camera, you can capture images and video clips.
Microsoft puts forward better memory options with the Surface tablets. The device comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB options. The 128GB is available only with Surface Pro. Further, you can expand the memory using external memory sticks thanks to microSD card slot. That is, you can store enough data including music, software items and video in external clips.
The 3mm Touch Cover can be connected to your Surface tablet with a single magnetic click, so, now you can type text and send messages quite easily.
The Surface's tablet housing features a revolutionary kickstand. Along with fully functioning keyboard and track-pad, the integrated kickstand helps you place the gadget in both portrait or landscape modes.
According to Bloomberg, Surface will only be able to go online using a short-range Wi-Fi connection. This is a stark contrast to Apple's iPad 3, which has a 3G option, and a faster LTE connection.