Zune HD Confirmed!

[clubdirthill002]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/may/27/microsoft-zune-marketplace
New Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/may/27/microsoft-zunehd




* Since this is British, they probably would not focus the article on US-Only hardware.
* Surprisingly, only the Marketplace would be going international. No hardware yet. Perhaps the opposite of what we have heard.
* There WILL be a Zune Pass for Video
* There are ~5 million Zune's sold!
* Goes on sale NEXT MONTH!
* Many of the Zune HD rumors have been confirmed.
* The Guardian probably broke NDA by reporting on this. But, regardless, it seems reliable and Chris Stephenson is a real person. Also, the Zune MVPs have been hinting at something recently. So, this is no Volvoshine rumor, these are paid professionals.
* The article was published at EXACTLY midnight London Time. They are six hours ahead of us, so expect the US NDA to end at midnight here as well.

What do you all think? Should this be classified as fact or rumor?

[ljtj28]

Also http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10249364-56.html

What I found most interesting: Microsoft plans to continue selling its hard drive-based model, which will have a software QWERTY keyboard, but said it plans to eventually discontinue its other flash models in favor of the Zune HD.


That suggests a web browser might be coming to older zunes.  I wasn't sure if they'd be able to pull that off but it appears it will be happening.  

Other interesting stuff: " Microsoft said. It is based on Windows CE and will use a version of Internet Explorer customized for its touch screen, Microsoft said."

And lastly: "The Zune HD, which will be available in the U.S. only starting this fall"

[Zune-Meister]

"One of the big unanswered questions is what sort of gaming abilities the Zune HD will have. There has been speculation on the topic, but Microsoft refused to comment ahead of E3 saying it had no details to share at this time."

Hmmm...I hope it does more than the itouch, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Dellis]

Engadget says Fall, but confirms the most recent round of rumored specs:

• 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display
• built-in HD Radio receiver
• HD output (through a dock)
• touch interface

They report no current confirmation on capacity, though:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/26/zune-hd-is-official-heading-your-way-this-fall/

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Engadget says Fall, but confirms the most recent round of rumored specs:

• 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display
• built-in HD Radio receiver
• HD output (through a dock)
• touch interface

They report no current confirmation on capacity, though:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/26/zune-hd-is-official-heading-your-way-this-fall/

RUBBISH RESOLUTION !!! and SCREEN SIZE!! W_T_F!!!
I will try to wait for the European version with better resolution than that.. (at least the LCD is OLED)

hey, MS. You have billions of dollar in the bank, why the heck you can't pay Samsung to cut 3.6in 800x600 OLED screens for your DAP ?

[ljtj28]

Yeah, the resolution is a bit of a let down.  Considering the iTouch packs 640 x 480.....

I'll have to see it in real life to judge though

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Yeah, the resolution is a bit of a let down.  Considering the iTouch packs 640 x 480.....

I'll have to see it in real life to judge though

I think it is 480*320 or something like that. Looks like MS didnt want to pony the money for the huge OLED LCDs or what ?

[clubdirthill002]

iPod Touch resolution is 320X480. You are measuring TV-OUT. By that standard, the Zune HD has a resolution of 1280X1024.

New pic! It comes in black!

[TekDragon]

So since Volvoshine was pretty much right on with this, does he get credit (even though he was wrong on other things?)

[andre]

figured i'd comeback from the dead...man to i have gadget lust! but i have 35gb of music...what shall i do.....

better yet....i need a new phone as my iphone contract is ending in october..

[Zune-Meister]

figured i'd comeback from the dead...man to i have gadget lust! but i have 35gb of music...what shall i do.....

load only about 30 Gigs of music, unless by some miracle they make one with 64...but I doubt it.  Still, that thing looks pretty sick. 

[clubdirthill002]

With an increased focus on streaming, Storage space will become less-and-less of an issue.

[andre]

load only about 30 Gigs of music, unless by some miracle they make one with 64...but I doubt it.  Still, that thing looks pretty sick. 

looks like i'll have to go back to managing my music again (like i did before i upgraded to the 80gb from the 30gb) say goodbye to the best of barry manilow the ultimate collection!

[ljtj28]

So since Volvoshine was pretty much right on with this, does he get credit (even though he was wrong on other things?)

Was he right?  I thought what happened was someone leaked the pictures of the ZuneHD to engadget and the volvoshine said he "confirmed" it with his source...I don't consider that him being right

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Volvoshine was so wrong with some of his specs...
- OLED: correct
- Resolution: incorrect
- Screen size: incorrect
- HD radio: correct
- HD output: correct

I think they will make/respond with a 64GB version after the 64GB iPod Touch is ready for release.
http://www.zune.net/en-us/mp3players/zunehd/default.htm

edit: I see a volume slider or something on the official site. top of first side view.