As expected, the next gen of Zune was announced tonight: three new players timed to hit stores in mid-November: two flash models—4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) - and an 80GB ($249) hard-drive model. The current 30GB model launched at $249 list.

Chief among the new or enhanced features: wireless syncing via WiFi from PC to Zune, more expansive wireless music sharing, and—perhaps the most important from our perspective—automatic import of TV shows recorded to the Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Windows Media Center baked into most editions of Vista. Still no video sales in Zune Marketplace but the company is adding 1 million DRM-free songs to the market place. Not clear at this point: how much of this will be available to current Zune users through firmware or software updates. (Note: For first-gen owners like me, AP says first-gen models will get a software update this fall; amount of added functionality still unclear.)

Reuters: J Allard, the Microsoft corporate VP responsible for Zune, addressed the market share issue (sort of): ““The market share thing is the easy thing to discuss and write about, but it’s such a bad measure. Talk to me in six or seven years about market share. Talk to me this year about the experience we are creating.” The company is still talking about a 3-4 year window for Zune to gain scale and isn’t expecting a short-term profit.

Also in an interview , Allard explained why Zune is steering away from wireless songbuying for now—in part, to get around spotty WiFi—but said “we’ll get it though. It’s just a matter of when.” So far, the Xbox guru doesn’t see a reason to add games to the Zune.

AP: The flash models will come in pink, green, black and red. The hard-drive version is in black. (Sounds like Zune brown may be retired.) Microsoft has sold about 1.2 million Zunes, respectable but not close to Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) iPod numbers. Gartner analyst Van Baker says the company should be able to retain the distant #2 slot: “Maybe next year they can make an aggressive push against Apple.”

—Microsoft moved away from Toshiba, going deeper in-house for design and software rebuilds. It’s also added a Zune Pad, a touch-paddish control.

—Finally trying to capitalize on the networking potential, Microsoft will launch a social net site this fall. The name: Zune Social.

More details from the release:  The wireless, hobbled from the start, is truly being extended. Full-length songs, albums, playlists, pictures and audio podcasts finally will be sharable from device to device. Notice the lack of mention about sharing video, though.

—Zune Social: Launching in beta, the Zine Social site encourages creation of playlists called Zune Cards that update based on what the user is playing on his or her Zune or Zune desktop software.

—All Zune 30GB devices will be automatically updated with all the new features and the new device software design this fall.