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The Gear Live gadget blog videotaped a preview of the Zune, Microsoft's would-be iPod killer. Blogger Andru Edwards also chatted with the Microsoft employee carrying the Zune, who says on video that Microsoft is "definitely" trying to make Zune a PlaysForSure product. That contradicts Microsoft's message on the Zune, which says that the player will not be part of the "PlaysForSure ecosystem" guaranteed to handle music and videos with Microsoft's branded Digital Rights Management. (Maybe that's good, since PFS devices can't play songs bought on iTunes.)

But after Edwards posted the video, he says, "we got a bit more information from Zune PR." That's industry parlance for "PR is mad that someone screwed up the official story." The flacks told Edwards that Microsoft is not officially planning to make Zune a PFS product. In other words, of course they want to make it PFS, but they're afraid they won't do it in time for launch.

Gear Live Exclusive: Hands-on With Microsoft Zune [Gear Live]