Microsoft rolled outs its Zune HD touchscreen media player Tuesday. Beyond playing music, the Zune targets Apple’s iPod with high-definition movie-watching capabilities on an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen that analysts said could reflect the future of mobile TV.
Microsoft called Zune HD a significant step forward for portable media players. It features an NVIDIA Tegra HD processor, HD radio capabilities, and new software tools like the Quickplay menu that gives consumers one-touch access to favorites, last played, and most recently added items to streamline content searches.
“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,” said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of the TV, video and music business at Microsoft. “Zune lets consumers connect to their music, TV shows, and movie content and enjoy it on the three screens they use every day.”
Microsoft’s HD Advantage
While Apple rolled out an iPod model with FM radio last week, Zune is upping the ante with a built-in FM HD radio. The FM HD radio receiver offers higher quality sound on more than 2,000 stations in the U.S. Zune HD users can tag songs they hear on supported HD Radio stations for purchase.
“Apple does FM on one of its new iPods, but Microsoft does it better because you get FM HD, the new format that’s rolling out nationwide. It provides a noticeable improvement in terms of sound quality,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. “The primary reason people buy MP3 players, regardless of the video, is to listen to music. Right now, Zune stands out as having a better quality music experience.”
Zune HD also offers new casual games and applications such as a calculator and an MSN Weather application. Later this year, Zune plans to release free applications…