Zune HD To Compete With iPod Touch
April 30, 2009 by Scott Wharton
Filed under Electronics
Are there really any portable media devices that can compete with Apple’s iPod line? Honestly, I have yet to hear any really great things about Microsoft’s Zune. The software has been for the most part the biggest problem with the product.
Image: Zune Logo
PsyOrg.com reports (with photo) that information on Microsoft’s new Zune HD has leaked.
“The Zune HD will feature a multitouch OLED screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and an HDMI TV output port. The Zune HD will be available in a 16 and 32 GB version. Both versions will have wireless support that will allow you to sync the device with a computer. There’s also some speculation that the Zune HD may use the Nvidia’s Tegra chipset that would support 3D xbox games.”
Of course this is all speculation until it’s all confirmed later, but it sounds like a pretty solid piece if the software holds up and it doesn’t have crashing issues. Then they have to price the thing to be competitive as well. 32 gb doesn’t sound too bad, but I just don’t understand why tey don’t pack these kind of things with more memory. I’ve got 80 gbs for my iPod and that doesn’t seem like much when you own as much music as I do.
No doubt Apple is working hard to in anticipation of the Zune HD’s release to ensure that they have something a step ahead as they usually do.
I heard about this back when zune was first coming out, Their original concept was a portable music player that could be hooked up to the current microsoft video game system, as a kind of controller, but also could do interactive things such as download a arcade type demo that could be played separate from the system. This looks like a step in that direction, though i doubt if they get close to the actual concept any time soon
A little over a year ago when I was looking in to buying a mass music player, I had thought about Zune. After reading a lot of reviews on both iPods and Zune, I decided to go with the iPod after seeing a lot of complaints about the software.
There are a lot of things Microsoft could try to get a step ahead of Apple, I think a lot of people go with i-products because of the simplicity of it. Though iTunes and the Safari browser can feel too simplistic at times.