Zune Marketplace is the software and online music store portion of Microsoft's low-key effort to beat the Apple iPod leviathan. It works only with Zune MP3 players, such the Zune 120GB, which currently wears our Editors' Choice crown. Since the last time we reviewed Zune Marketplace at the end of 2007, it has seen two major updates. Version 2.5 added TV episodes, gapless playback, and Auto Playlists, and it also integrated social networking more tightly into the Player software. Version 3.0, which was just released in September, added a new Channels feature that automatically discovers and downloads new music for Zune Pass subscribers. It also packs in a Now Playing screen with improved artist graphics, a type-ahead feature for the Search box, a basic recommendation engine called Picks, and a manual sync mode for Zune players. It's an impressive upgrade that adds useful functionality to the service—but as with past updates, it's still not enough to bring dedicated iPod users into the fold.