Microsoft today officially announced Zune HD, rumors about which had recently been posted on all significant sites and blogs. And it seems that Microsoft is preparing the competitor for the iPod Touch, since the new player will be equipped not only with touch screen technology “multitouch”, but the web browser.
So, Zune HD will exactly be equipped with OLED screen with a diagonal of 3.3 inches (8.4 cm) with a 16:9 ratio and resolution of 480 × 272 pixels. As I wrote above, it will have touch screen technology multitouch.
The combination of HD letters in the name of the player can put you on the idea that it would support the video format 720p. Well, the things are a bit more complicated. Obviously, the screen resolution cannot play the video in HD, but when you connect to your TV … Yes, the player will be able to give a picture in HD, but only on the external screen with a special docking station, which is sold separately.
Basically the same applies to HD radio. Zune HD supports HD radio, which should give the opportunity to listen to best quality music, while receiving detailed information about the song and artist.
Wi-Fi support has always been one of the Zune company’s «chips» (how this all worked is another question), but in a new player, this opportunity will be in more demand. Zune HD will initially have a mobile browser based on Internet Explorer.
Zune HD sale is scheduled for «early autumn» which means that in the upcoming months we can expect technical details and first images of new user interface. Unfortunately, all this is the official information from Microsoft.
During the two months Microsoft was regularly informing about the upcoming new model of Zune media player. And now, finally, it happened: Microsoft officially introduced the Zune HD. Will the new model to compete with iPod Touch? Yes it will!
What does the media player start with? Of course with a display! Zune HD has touch screen 3.3 display with 480 × 272resolution. The minimum HD-video resolution is1280x720, so Microsoft’s marketing specialists turned wise enough to use “HD” in the title of the gadget. However, this is partly justified. First, the Zune HD is a first gadget that has a HD radio, through which the student receives additional information about the artist and song while listening, but the quality of the sound is”much better” in comparison with conventional radio. Secondly, the media can really play HD-video, and not onliy in one but mass resolution. Also, with the help of an optional docking station, you can play any video on the external screen by connecting it via HDMI.
Separately, it is worth mentioning that the Zune HD display uses OLED-matrix, which means areduced resource consumption and longer battery life without recharging.
Zune HD is equipped with a built-in accelerometer, but it is rather a simple standard than an outstanding feature.
Zune media players were always intended as devices to connect the internet via Wifi, and the Zune HD is not an exception. Using a browser of a new gadget will be even easier thanks to multi-touch technology. The integration of Zune HD from Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace is offered, and this will allow users to download videos (movies) directly from the Internet, and for music fans there is a Zune Music store with 5 million tracks.
By focusing on the functionality of Zune HD, Microsoft PR specialists did not inform about the main thing: the media player’s memory and its value, and date of release is very vague – “the beginning of autumn.” Well, lets wait!
