Microsoft will hold a event on Tuesday in Redmond to herald the second generation of Zune music players, Bandwidth Blog has learned.

According to sources close to the situation, both Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Design and Development chief J Allard will be on hand for the event. The main part of the announcement will center around the players, which will include the first flash memory based Zunes.

About 2.4 million next-generation Zunes will be manufactured during the 2007 holiday season, according to reports. Two-thirds of these players are expected to be flash-based, showing that Microsoft is indeed aware of the much higher popularity of flash players, which are cheaper.

Currently, Microsoft sells approximately one Zune for every 25 iPods but the company is committed to increasing their market-share.

Other Zune news:

Zune phone to come - iZune?

Microsoft get it wrong with the Zune

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