Redmond, Wash. – Microsoft confirmed pricing and ship dates of
its first touchscreen Zune portable media player.
The black 16GB Zune
HD will carry an estimated everyday price of $219.99 and a platinum 32GB version
at $289.99 became available to consumers today for preordering and will be
available for in-store purchase on Sept. 15.
Online preorders can
be made starting today at the Zune Web
site and the online stores of Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart. Preorders can
be made in person on Aug. 16 in select Best Buy stores in Atlanta, Boston,
Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia and San Francisco.
The Zune HD is Microsoft’s first Zune with touchscreen, full Web
browser, HD Radio and HD video storage. Like its predecessor, it offers Wi-Fi
to download and stream music directly from the Zune Web site.
Zune HD will come with 3.3-inch 16:9 OLED multitouch touchscreen
with 480 by 272 resolution and an interface that lets users flick through
songs, movies and other content. The device stores 720p HD video, which can be
output to a TV display via planned docking stations that incorporate HDMI
output. Although 720p video files play on the device, it is downscaled to fit
the Zune display.
With the incorporation of multicast HD Radio reception, the Zune
HD features tagging of songs heard on HD Radio or the embedded analog FM tuner
for later purchase from the Zune Web site.
The video capabilities are powered by the NVIDIA Tegra low-power HD processor.
