If you're in the tech industry, and you're hauling in huge profits with little real competition, you can bet Microsoft will be a player in your market soon. Apple had a great run, but now Microsoft is launching the Zune, a player that I think will give the iPod a run for its money. It's about frickin' time. Any time Microsoft enters a new market, it's news. But this time I think it's actually good news.

The reason: Windows-based music players just aren’t that exciting. Sure, there are some very nice players out there: the SanDisk Sansa E260 and the Creative Zen V Plus and Vision M come to mind. They look good and work well, but they just can’t touch the iPod when it comes to ease of use and hardware/software integration. And a lot of that is Microsoft’s fault, and anyone who looks at Windows Media Player alongside iTunes will see why.

PC Magazine has tested every music player on the market against the iPod, and nothing quite matches it. This is not good. Apple has never been a lazy company, but 85 percent market share is hardly a recipe for innovation. What we know about the Zune, at this point, is precious little. Microsoft announced in Billboard magazine (Billboard? lose my email, guys?) it will build and sell an iPod-like player designed to work with an iTunes-like music environment. The company calls this a “holistic” approach. The first device will reportedly have WiFi, which is nice, but that is nothing that Apple can’t offer itself.

Most of the vendors I've talked to admit they have little chance of gaining significant market share on the iPod in the current environment. The margins are so thin already that to gain share, they would have to take significant losses by cutting prices. Instead they keep pumping out products that are little more than placeholders in the market and waiting for the next technological disruption.

The real losers here are companies like Creative, iRiver, and Samsung. They'll be left selling products that are essentially commodities without any of the benefits of sophisticated service integration. Of course, that's pretty much what they're selling now.

PC Magazine audio analyst Mike Kobrin has taken some flak in the PCMag.com forums for saying he was “cautiously optimistic” about Microsoft's chances in taking over the MP3 market. I am just cautious. I doubt that the Zune, however wonderful and innovative it turns out to be, will dominate the market anytime soon. Apple has too many established and loyal users. (Although the plan to let current iTunes users export their entire libraries for free would go a long way toward winning converts.) Still, the Zune will light a fire under Apple and ensure it keeps pushing out new, improved models. And I am all for that.

I'm not saying Microsoft can actually build an easy-to-use device, and an attendant software ecosystem, that truly rivals the iPod. But I really want to see them try.

Dan Costa is a senior editor at PC Magazine; check back every Thursday for his take on the world of consumer electronics.

Do you long to fling plastic discs during dusk? No need to pack it in after the sun goes down: Just bring out the Aerobie Skylighter, available from numerous e-tailers but pretty inexpensive on Amazon, at $12.95. It's got LED illumination on the underside of the disc. And as I've said here before, I'm truly fond of gadgets that light up.

I haven't tried Aerobie discs before, and they are NOT Frisbees. They're larger, heavier, and have a different kind of lip, so they're a bit harder to throw (and catch). But the company's claim is that these suckers can fly much farther than any other flying ring toys. On Aerobie's site is a story from 2003 about a guy who threw an Aerobie 1,333 feet: over a quarter of a mile. We tossed it around in our hallway, though, so no one really was going for that kind of distance. But maybe you can set the record for longest throw in the dark.

There's nothing like thick, juicy slices of watermelon in the summertime. But how do you know when it's ripe?

Thanks to University of Arizona agricultural and biosystems professor Mark Riley, we won't have to guess. He says that "consumers often buy peaches, pears and melons they can't eat because they're under-ripe or overripe." Consequently, he decided to develop RediRipe stickers that can detect ethylene gas, which is said to be released by fruit or vegetables as they ripen.

The RediRipe sticker will turn from white to blue to indicate that it is ripe. However, it takes about 24 to 48 hours for the stickers to change color because a fruit can't ripen instantenously.

However, Riley has walked into some walls while developing the stickers. "The stickers do not change color to reflect an overripe or rotten piece of fruit. Also, not all fruit produces enough ethylene to be detected by the sticker."

Currently, the stickers have been tested at an apple orchard and will expand to other field tests this fall. Each sticker will cost growers and grocery stores about a penny.

[All quotes from USAToday.com]

The future is here with a keyboard from ThinkGeek that's not really quite there. The Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard is a tiny device (only 3.5-inches high) that projects a virtual keyboard onto your desk (or any flat surface) using a red diode laser.  How cool is that? You even get the key click sounds when you type so you're not too discombulated, and people won't think you're crazy. Why is that guy trying to type on his desk?

You can pair the device with any Bluetooth-enabled PDA or cell phone, and type away on this full size QWERTY keyboard, so it's great travel accessory. The rechargeable battery will last about 120 minutes, so it's really meant for "on-the-fly" use. An AC adaptor is included.

It's compatible with PalmOS 5, PocketPC 2003, Windows Smartphone, Symbian OS, and Windows 2000/XP with limited Mac OSX Support. Mac users unfortunately won't be able to set keyboard preferences like brightness, key-repeat rate and sensitivity. It sells for $189.99 at ThinkGeek.com.

Who knows? Maybe Jack Bauer will be using it on next season's 24.

Thanks to my geeky buddy Maude for bringing this to my attention.