After numerous rumors, bad news and a lot of waiting, today, Microsoft launched the new Zune HD Portable Media Player, or PMP for short. You've seen it, you've known about it for a long time and now you're going to own it. Well, if you live in the USA, that is. The NVIDIA Tegra-powered Zune HD is officially available at major US retailers for the price of 219.99 USD for the 16 GB version and 289.99 USD for the 32GB version. Keep on reading for more very interesting details.

But first a word from Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of the TV, Video and Music Business at Microsoft, “With today's announcement, the Zune business is growing into a comprehensive entertainment service that's no longer tied to any one screen or device. […] Zune lets consumers connect to their music, TV shows and movie content and enjoy it on the three screens they use every day.”

I mentioned very interesting details. Well, the Zune 4.0 software is out and ready for grabs, while older iterations will be getting an upgrade too. Namely, version 3.2 of the software. But back to the Zune HD. Using the NVIDIA Tegra HD processor, it is able to playback 720p HD video files to an HDTV, as well as allowing users to play 3D games with impressive graphics beyond anything you have ever seen possible on a portable device. Though I seriously doubt that will be enough to take on the iPod, due to the Zune HD being a US-only release.

I will be ending this article with a statement from Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret LLC, “Our research indicates that there's strong consumer demand for dedicated media players and Zune HD offers visible differentiation in this market. […] Microsoft is also offering some compelling software and services with the Zune ecosystem that will help Zune HD stand out from other offerings.”


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