Rumor: New ZUNE HD will have HD Radio

April 16, 2009 by admin
Filed under: PC Gaming 
The Zune player has tried to challenge the ubiquitous iPod for a few years now. While the player is rated to be very good, it still hasn’t gained much ground. The new player, called the Zune HD, looks to be quite a player. The 1st and 2nd generation players have always included an FM tuner with full RDS capability. Rumor has it that the new HD player will feature HD Radio. I think that this would be the first true portable HD Radio unit. This could be a major shot in the arm for HD Radio. If it’s true, I will most surely buy one. The rest of the specs look really good too.

Several sources have given the "unofficial" specs for the upcoming Zune player from Microsoft. Here is Neowin’s story:

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/0…-zune-hd-specs

Quote:

Over the last week there has been a ton of buzz around Microsoft’s upcoming device update which we have confirmed will be labeled as the Zune HD. We’ve teamed up with Ryan Rea (aka volvoshine) from LiveSide.net and are going to let the world know what we do and do not know about the Zune HD. We’ve got the green light to go ahead and share the specs that our sources within Microsoft have confirmed to us.

An overview of the Zune HD specs:

3.6 inchish OLED full touch screen.
NVIDIA Tegra powered.
4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 120GB versions.
HDMI Connection to stream straight to your TV.
HD Radio.
Web Browser.
WiFi compatible, with wireless marketplace.
Released, early fall.
International release of the Zune device itself.
Home AV packs, Car packs, Charge packs.

Unconfirmed rumors (A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment or confirm):

Camera?
Company insiders tipped us off with the possibility of a limited edition dock accessory in various colors.
3D Xbox Game Support?
Windows Mobile 7 preview bits included? (Maybe these reports mean an early WinMo 7 beta?)
There has been a tremendous amount of buzz created throughout the past week regarding the Zune HD, with a ton of speculation regarding the device. We were asked by some members of the Zune team to remember, the device is still months away. The specs, UI, and the device form factor itself can change before the launch later this year. We’re excited, just as many of our international viewers are excited.

The entire Zune platform is being completely overhauled, just as Steve Ballmer mentioned back at CES earlier this year. You’ve got the software division and the hardware division. There have been reports and speculation that this could possibly be the last Zune release, however I’m very confident that Microsoft is going to be competitive this time around with the Zune.

As we reported earlier this year, the Zune is here to stay. As soon as more information is available regarding the Zune HD, we’ll pass it on. Remember, take the speculation and rumors with a grain of salt before getting too excited. Keep your eyes open on May 14, your Zune software might just be updating.


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