Microsoft filled in some of the last remaining details about its Zune digital music strategy today, saying its portable media player will hit stores November 14 and cost $249.99.

Zune, in three colors.

The announcement puts the 30GB, Wi-Fi-ready Zune player in line with the 30GB iPod, for which Apple lowered the price tag to $249 earlier this month.

That means that Microsoft isn't looking to wage a pricing war with Apple but instead hopes its additional features, such as users' ability to wirelessly send other Zune users music that they can listen to temporarily, will lure customers.

The Zune will also come preloaded with content and boasts a wider display screen than the iPod, although it will not be video-ready out of the box.

Microsoft also said today that its Zune Marketplace will sell individual songs for about 99 cents each, matching prices in Apple's iTunes store. But unlike iTunes, Zune will also offer a monthly subscription, whereby users pay $14.99 a month for unlimited rental access to all of the music in the Zune catalog.

"We had to look at what was in the market and offer a competitive price," Scott Erickson, Microsoft's senior director of product marketing for Zune, told Reuters. "We're not going to be profitable this holiday, but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy."

Zune will follow the same payment strategy as its Xbox Live online video game service, letting customers without credit cards buy prepaid cards at some retail stores.

Shares of Microsoft were recently up 5 cents to $27.49; Apple shares were up 47 cents to $76.88.