A company spokeswoman confirmed that a filing made by Toshiba for a portable audio player to the Federal Communications Commission is for Zune, due out later this year.

The filing reveals that the device will come with a 3-inch liquid crystal display screen and a 30-gigabyte hard-disk drive and have wireless connectivity.

Microsoft would not disclose any more details, but said more information was coming in the "next couple of weeks." Toshiba was not immediately available for comment.

The world's largest software maker faces an uphill climb in closing the gap with Apple's iPod media player and iTunes Music Store, the runaway leaders in their respective areas.