Microsoft Zune HD Comining Soon

After a whirlwind of speculations, Microsoft has finally announced Zune HD portable media player's arrival. At last, Apple's iPod Touch rival gets launched officially with a multitouch screen, HDMI port and is expected to be available in U.S. by fall. Last month, Zune HD's images and specifications were leaked out on the web. Microsoft hasn't announced the pricing and world wide availability of Zune HD as yet.

Apple iPod Touch's rival Microsoft Zune HD will sport a 3.6-inch OLED touchscreen, giving 16:9 aspect ratio with 480x272 resolution. The company has clarified that 720p HD video files will be downscaled to fit the 480x272 resolution screen and won't exactly be HD videos. Multimedia content in HD format (songs or videos) can be streamed to HD display via HDMI interface provided on Zune HD.

Also, Zune HD boasts of a built-in HD Radio Receiver that brings radio content with better sound quality as compared with the traditional radio output. However, for listening to HD quality radio content, local radio stations (especially in India) need to offer their content via HD channels.

Based on Windows CE, Zune HD will use touchscreen customized Internet Explorer version for web browsing. The WiFi support will allow downloading music tracks from Zune PressPass subscription service.

For more details, check the official Zune HD page.

At the upcoming E3 conference at Los Angeles in June, Microsoft will announce the new Zune video service for Xbox to replace the existing Xbox Live Marketplace for TV and movies. Additional details like whether Zune will have gaming support or not, are expected to be announced at the same time.

Microsoft, in its press release, mentions that Zune HD will be made available in fall and Paul Thurrott of Winsupersite stated that it will arrive on Sept. 5 this year.