Microsoft Zune HD official

Coming with OLED, HD Radio and 720p support

27 May 2009 6:03 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Microsoft has confirmed the rumours and announced a new Zune MP3 player in America called the Zune HD.

The new player, which will only be available in the US for the time being, will come with a 16:9 widescreen format OLED touchscreen display and will offer a resolution of 480 x 272. However, users will be able to ouput HD content (720p) to an HD-Ready TV via an optional dock that ships with an HDMI connection.

Also new, the Zune HD will feature a built-in HD radio receiver (the US equivalent of DAB) and will be Wi-Fi enabled, however Microsoft has failed to give details about storage sizes or other features of the new player.

Taking advantage of the Wi-Fi connectivity, the music box will offer a "full screen internet browser optimized for multitouch functionality", and the ability to stream to the device from the more than 5 million-track Zune music store.

Microsoft hasn't said however whether users will be able to stream from their own collection from a Windows 7 PC, a feature that is currently only limited to Windows 7 to Windows 7 running computers.

Microsoft has said the new player will be available in the autumn. It has yet to set a price or a UK launch date.

Europeans however don't miss out completely: the company has announced that it will be bringing the Zune service to Europe as an entertainment brand via Xbox LIVE.

Related
Full tags
Audio, MP3 players, Microsoft, Zune, Gaming, Zune HD
UK Shopping
advancedmp3players.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk, play.com, pixmania.co.uk, iTunes, apple.com/uk, ebay.co.uk
US Shopping
Amazon.com, bestbuy.com, ebay.com, apple.com

share Subscribe to RSS feeds email story save story print story pdf

Comments

  • Sooooo sexy. Wow - now apple finally has something to catch up. I have to be honest, this thing looks way nicer than any iPod I've ever seen Posted by Joseph, USA
  • Joseph - "now apple finally has something to catch up"

    Yeah, from their position of owning 70+% of the GLOBAL mobile music player market (and they joined it late remember) Apple really have to catch up and now Microsoft are now launching a player only when Apple are going to deliver a player camera in their new Nano line and the rest of the players will eventually integrate other tech stopping them being just a Music/Video players (admittedly a radio would be nice on apple kit) - M$ are late to the game with ill-thought-out approaches that are going to be obsolete in the US within 6-9 months. Way to go MS. Tie into this the usual mess the software puts you in with legacy systems, the fact that the Zune-Pass is a terrible idea that only your mom would think is a good idea and you start to see through the shiny new design. That's before you even tackle the XP, VISTA, and 7 f-up that will obviously happen.

    And, let's assume that they will do the usual and keep this lemon just for you yanks and you can see why it's never going to be the success that the iPod has been. America just isn't a big enough market to make this thing truly fly in the way MS want it to.
    Posted by spacca, england
  • Nice to see HD Zune has a radio tuner, unlike the Ipod's you have to buy a £40 radio headphones it you want one, Thanks u microsoft. Lets just hope it is all DRM free Posted by Paul, Wales
  • @ Joseph... Sorry but you made me laugh :D In no way do Apple own near to 70% of the "GLOBAL" mobile music player market! If the ratio between ipods and Sony Ericsson branded 'Walkman's was 4:1 in 2007... somehow I doubt that apple have a 70% share in all mobile music players...I wonder what the ratio between all musically capable SE phones and Apple's portable music player would be :O

    How about the addition of all other musically capable mobile phones, heck why won't we include all mobile music players in this ratio? :L
    Posted by John who's right, Wales
  • Haha I mean @ spacca :D Posted by John who's right, but can't get people's names right!, Wales

(Will not be published)

  (Next time sign in to bypass captcha)

Latest in Audio

Latest on Pocket-lint.com

About Pocket-lint

Pocket-lint is your one stop shop for gadgets, technology and consumer electronics, bringing you the low-down on the latest televisions, cameras, phones, GPS and much more. Whether it's learning about what's hot in the world of Apple, finding out about the latest home cinema kit from Samsung and Sony or merely seeing what not to buy, we have you covered. So check out our reviews, news, comment, hands-on photo galleries and videos. Enjoy.

Pocket-lint.com poll

Q. Do you still buy CDs?

Vote YES Vote NO

» LAST TIME
When asked Do you want the Droid by Motorola? 53% said yes and 47% said no

Top 10 Broadband

Compare 50+
broadband packages

Home Broadband »

Top products

tip us on news

Rss feed

Follow us on Twitter