The Red Zune

After rolling out in brown, black, and white, iPod rival now comes in pink and red as well, hoping an array of colors will help dent iPod's dominance.

Just eight months since its inception, Microsoft's Zune is all red in the face. The Seattle-based software giant rolled out a red version of its Zune portable media player today, hoping that an array of colors will help dent the dominance of the iPod.

The new red version joins the brown, black, and white colors with which the device initially rolled out last November, as well as the pink edition unveiled in April. The Red Zune will be available exclusively at the Target store at Amazon.com starting June 10.

According to first-quarter data from NPD Group, Zune currently stands fourth among all MP3 players with a 3 percent share of the market, trailing SanDisk and Creative, which hold 9 and 4 percent of the market, respectively. Apple's iPod, meanwhile, holds a commanding 73 percent of the total market. The Zune fares slightly better among hard drive-based MP3 players with 10 percent of the market.

Microsoft is hoping that the Zune's wireless capabilities--users can wirelessly share songs and other content for a limited time--will be a distinguishing factor for MP3 player buyers. The $249 Zune, which comes with a 30GB storage capacity, also boasts a 3-inch video screen. In May, Microsoft unveiled a Halo 3-branded Zune, which will be available exclusively at GameStop starting June 15.