Microsoft Zune HD

[NoStateofMind]

http://www.zune.net/en-us/mp3players/zunehd/default.htm

# Touchscreen
Get quick and instant access to your content with multi-touch navigation. With a 3.3 inch screen and vivid 16:9 OLED display (480x272 resolution), premium entertainment is at your fingertips.*
# HD Radio Tune into all your favorite stations with crystal clear reception. With an integrated HD Radio receiver, you can access a variety of HD Radio stations at no additional cost. Plus, tag the songs you like for later purchase.
# HD Video Out
Watch supported 720p HD movies, TV shows and videos in high definition on your HDTV through the Zune HD & AV Dock (sold separately). Or take them with you for premium entertainment on the go. Additional dock and HDTV are required.*
# Wi-Fi
Connect, update, and buy content wirelessly from Wi-Fi hot spots. Stream millions of songs over Wi-Fi directly to your Zune HD and turn it into a portable digital jukebox.
# Browser
Surf the web anytime, anywhere you have a Wi-Fi connection. Enjoy your favorite websites with a full-featured web browser including tap to zoom technology, built-in accelerometer, and touchscreen QWERTY keyboard.

Add a camera & phone capabilities and this would be a true competitor to Apple's iPhone.

 

[erwos]

And GPS. But, yes, Apple finally has some reason to be concerned.

 

[tw1164]

It sounds nice, I have a zune 80 now. I guess I'll have to wait to see that the price/size is.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

once again microsoft is late to the party. From the specs and the xbox integration it is a compelling device but I don't think it's an iPod touch killer. Yes a competitor but nothing to be afraid of.

 

[pm]

I'm impressed.

OLED displays are beautiful.
I've always wanted an FM radio on my iPhone - my internet connection isn't usually good enough to stream radio, and even when I do stream internet radio, it doesn't sound as good as real FM radio.
HD video out would be useful - although honestly the non-HD video from my iPhone looks fine enough to me on my 37" LCD (I use the video out cable).
WiFi is fine but they need to expand the WiFi capabilities beyond previous Zunes - the browser will do this though I guess.


Overall, I think it looks intriguing. And, yes, I agree - this will get Apple's attention. It will be interesting to see pricing relative to the iPod Touch - particularly pricing per GB.

The rumors on the release date are "early fall"? So... Sept? That's 3 months away... why are they unveiling it now? To take some steam out of the Apple announments? There's something to be said for the Apple model of product releases where they just unveil it right before you can buy it. This whole "look at what we'll try to sell you in 3-4 months" thing is a bit weird... and a bit irritating to me. I want to go play with this thing in a store today... why talk about something now that you will sell in 3-4 months?

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: pm
The rumors on the release date are "early fall"? So... Sept? That's 3 months away... why are they unveiling it now? To take some steam out of the Apple announments? There's something to be said for the Apple model of product releases where they just unveil it right before you can buy it. This whole "look at what we'll try to sell you in 3-4 months" thing is a bit weird... and a bit irritating to me. I want to go play with this thing in a store today... why talk about something now that you will sell in 3-4 months?

They're probably also trying to get the jump on the Palm Pre. There's also E3 coming up, and if this is Microsoft's attempt to make a "portable capable of gaming", this will have a lot of relevance there. It's actually a clever strategy - pre-announce it so that people don't think it's a pure gaming handheld ala the DS or PSP, but then hype up the gaming capabilities at the conference next week. If it's really using the nVidia APX 2600 chip, it should have some extremely impressive graphics capabilities.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
once again microsoft is late to the party. From the specs and the xbox integration it is a compelling device but I don't think it's an iPod touch killer. Yes a competitor but nothing to be afraid of.

Potentially a nicer screen, HD radio, xbox integration...this does a lot of things the iPod touch does not.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
once again microsoft is late to the party. From the specs and the xbox integration it is a compelling device but I don't think it's an iPod touch killer. Yes a competitor but nothing to be afraid of.

Potentially a nicer screen, HD radio, xbox integration...this does a lot of things the iPod touch does not.

App Store.

Yeah the screen is nicer, but the screen on the iPod Touch/iPhone is already really good. HD radio can be replaced by Pandora or Imeem (both apps from the app store).

Did they go into detail about what it means to have xbox integration?.

 

[KayKay]

The part I'm most curious about is the nvidia Tegra platform. If you haven't seen the demonstrations, the tegra completely wipes the floor with everything else in its class. The questions are: is microsoft indeed going to use this platform, and two are they going to take advantage if its power. One of the worst things would be to waste a promising piece of technology

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

It hasn't even been announced if its Tegra powered.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
once again microsoft is late to the party. From the specs and the xbox integration it is a compelling device but I don't think it's an iPod touch killer. Yes a competitor but nothing to be afraid of.

Potentially a nicer screen, HD radio, xbox integration...this does a lot of things the iPod touch does not.

App Store.

Yeah the screen is nicer, but the screen on the iPod Touch/iPhone is already really good. HD radio can be replaced by Pandora or Imeem (both apps from the app store).

Did they go into detail about what it means to have xbox integration?.

Pandora and iMeem are NOT replacements for HD Radio. The quality difference is huge. Have you heard HD radio?

 

[YoungGun21]

There are some vids up on youtube now if you haven't seen them yet.

It looks to be more responsive than the Touch and much faster. OLED screen is sexy clear.