We pretty much already knew that on May 26, 2009, Microsoft officially announced plans to release a touch-screen version of the Zune portable media player, with attempt at killing the iPod franchise. This is the Zune HD.
The Zune HD goes on sale September 15 in 16 GB and 32 GB variants, priced at $219 and $289, respectively. And now both the 16 GB black version and the 32 GB platinum model Zune HDs can be pre-ordered from Microsoft's Zune site or from retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart.
Though this new Zune HD MP3 player is drawing mixed reviews from online shoppers, such as some think 32 GB is not enough for many of Zune's loyal users. Still the Zune HD is shaping up to be a true iPod Touch competitor.
Now let’s have an overall understanding of this new Zune HD. Zune HD offers the full range of features including:
- Wi-Fi internet access
- Full-featured web browser
- OLED touch screen
- Widescreen display (16:9 aspect ratio, 3.3 inch screen)
- HD video out
- Stream or download music and video content
- Digital radio
- High-capacity storage (16 gigabytes/32 gigabytes)
- Accelerometer / motion-sensor
- QWERTY touchscreen keyboard
- Tap-to-zoom
- Nvidia multicore Tegra processor
If you are already Zune users, you will easily find the long-standing Zune features, such as a photo viewer, games, podcast management, and Zune Pass music subscription integration; will continue to be supported, as well.
Well, compared with the old Zune player, we will surprisingly find some amazing spotlights. The Zune HD will be the first Zune to include an Internet Explorer Web browser, complementing its other Wi-Fi features (song sharing, Channel streaming, and Zune Marketplace browsing). The Zune HD's browser is optimized for the touch screen with an onscreen keyboard, but there's no word on whether it will be capable of streaming Flash media (used by sites such as YouTube and Pandora), a capability that is currently lacking in the Safari browser for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
And compared with iPod Touch, this new Zune HD offers several features not found on the iPod Touch, including an OLED display, HD radio, and high-definition video playback (using an optional dock accessory). Like iPod Touch, the Zune HD uses a touch screen, but the hottest part is its OLED display.
This is superior technology that boasts brighter colors and a crisp picture quality. The touch screen itself is capacitive and responds very well, making it easy to switch and move through menus. The screen also has a 16:9 widescreen format display; if you want to enjoy your favorite movies, TV shows, videos on your Zune HD, you can select to use a DVD to Zune HD to turn your movies, TV shows and videos stored on your PC into Zune HD supported video and enjoy them on the go. Or you can easily plug it into any HD TV to watch supported 720p HD movies, TV shows and videos in high definition on your HDTV through the Zune HD & AV Dock (sold separately).
The Zune HD also comes with an HD radio receiver, giving the listener an even better listening quality than traditional radio. And, of course, HD radio is free. Of course, the Zune HD also comes with all the features that have come to be expected from this grade of music players. These include an internet browser, WI-FI connection, and access to an online product store - for Zune, the Zune Marketplace.
Like Donald Bell from cnet.com said about Zune “It's not going to crush the iPod Touch--a product that for all intents and purposes is more mobile computer than media player--but it's safe to say that the Zune finally has the power to make good on the promise of delivering one of the richest music experiences on a portable device.” It is believed that this new Zune HD will bring us more entertainment experiences.
We recommend software: Cucusoft Zune Video Converter Suite