Microsoft’s Zune HD

Microsoft has definitely entered the music media player battle with its new Zune HD. Zune HD is a portable media player in the Zune product family which was officially released on September 15, 2009 in 16 & 32 GB capacities. From April 9th 2010 a new variant with a 64 GB capacity has been added to this list. It has a multi-touchscreen interface with a built in accelerometer for navigation and uses Wi-Fi for synchronization, accessing the Zune Marketplace and Web browsing. The new Zune HD uses most of the feature of the Windows Phone 7 mobile OS for its operation. The Zune HD has a Nvidia Tegra APX 2600 chip that allows it to play 720p video through the optional HDMI Zune dock on a high-definition television.

It has a screen size of 3.3 inch (480 x 272 px, with 16:9 aspect ratio) with the material being glass covered capacitive OLED display. The battery of Zune HD is a built-in rechargeable 3.7 V 660 mAh lithium-ion polymer which can play up to 33 hours of audio (wireless off) and 8.5 hours of video. It weighs merely 74 grams (2.6 Ounces) with a size factor of 52.7×102.1×8.9 mm (2.07×4.08×0.35 in). One of the USP of Zune HD is the FM/HD radio tuner that can tune into many local HD Radio stations with crystal-clear digital reception at no extra cost. With the integrated HD Radio receiver songs can be tagged for later purchase. Also it has quickplay feature which gives instant access to all the stuff with shortcuts to favourites, recently downloaded or played music, videos, etc.

The output of Zune HD is Analog RCA & Optical Digital out for which additional dock is required. It can support CBR and VBR audio (up to 48 kHz sample rate), WMA Standard up to 384 kbps (DRM protected files can be played only if purchased from the Zune Marketplace), WMA Pro stereo up to 768 kbps, WMA Lossless stereo up to 768 kbps, Unprotected AAC-LC (.mp4/.m4a/.m4b) up to 320 kbps, MP3 up to 320 kbps. The video support comprises of DVD resolution and frame rate  (up to 10 Mbps bit rate), 1080i HD resolution (up to 14 Mbps bit rate, CBR or VBR for above supported video profiles), MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile up to 4.0 Mbps bit rate, Widescreen Video through 720p high definition video output – HDMI or Composite (additional dock required for both).

On April 5, 2010 Microsoft released a new Firmware v4.5 which includes Smart DJ mix, personalized recommendations, marketplace support for TV and support for Xvid playback. The Zune PC Software can be used for adding apps to the Zune HD. The apps available for the Zune HD includes Facebook, Twitter, Calculator, MSN Weather, and Piano. An extension to the Microsoft XNA framework providing development support for the Zune HD was released on September 16, 2009. The Zune HD  browser features the Microsoft’s Bing search. The keyboard can be accessed by touching a text box, swiping up from the bottom bar of the browser and touching the address bar, or touching the magnifying glass (search) icon on the bottom bar of the browser. The keyboard can also be oriented in portrait or landscape mode, with the keys bulging around the user’s finger when touched. The web browser like the iPod Touch has pinch & stretch for zooming and can be reoriented in any fashion with the in-built accelerometer. As of now, the Zune HD’s web browser does not support flash applications, such as video playback on YouTube.

Microsoft to compete with the iTunes has introduced a very special offer of all-you-can-listen subscription called the Zune Pass which costs $15 per month. This allows the customer to download and listen to as many songs as they want as long as their subscription remains active. The Zune Pass also provides a 10 song credit every month with which the user can purchase songs that can be listened to even after the subscription expires. Songs or videos can also be purchased individually with Microsoft points. The latest Zune Marketplace software includes the SmartDJ feature to automatically generate playlists based on the user’s tastes, also allowing songs to be previewed before being downloaded to a device. Additionally Zune Marketplace allows syncing back and forth with an Xbox 360 via Xbox live.

With all the unique features & Microsoft’s marketing push it seems that they are determined to make this device a first hand competitor to the Apple’s suite of music players & services. As of now the 64 GB capacity Zune HD is selling for approx $350 USD with its variant 16GB selling for $200 and 32 GB for $270.