Microsoft
, without doubt, is prepping Zune HD to compete with Apple's iPod Touch portable media player. Last weekend, images of Microsoft's Zune HD were leaked, and now WMPUser has been tipped off about the technical details. The new Zune HD is expected to be launched this September in the US, Canada, UK, France, and other European countries.
Microsoft would obviously like to get competitive by grabbing more market share in the portable media player market. A confirmed list of features include LiveSide and NeoWin.
The new Zune HD will have a 3.6-inch OLED touchscreen with capacitive multi-touch support. Nvidia's Tegra chip will power the Zune HD, and we think it might be the new Tegra 600 series announced in mid-February at the Mobile World Congress 2009. Hopefully, Zune HD's Tegra chip would be faster than Apple's Second Generation iPod Touch's ARM11-based S5L8720x chip clocked at 532MHz.
Microsoft's Zune HD will have a HDMI out for streaming content directly to the television. Again, the Tegra platform, which is HD video friendly, would be helping out in this process. Also, Zune HD has HD Radio, which is not a built-in feature in Apple's iPod Touch but available through Apps from App Store. Zune HD would also be WiFi compatible and capable of Wireless Sync with Windows Marketplace.
Zune HD will obviously have a web browser with multi-touch support. It seems like it will be a showcase for Windows Mobile 7 since rumor mills have been buzzing about Zune's integration with the Windows Mobile 7.
Microsoft will make Zune HD available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB versions with a limited edition dock in different colors. Additionally, charge packs, car packs, and Home AV packs will be bundled with the Zune HD.
