Will Zune HD save Microsoft’s Zune brand? Judging from the current buzz going around the blogosphere, it just might. However, many aren’t too sure.
Of course, Zune HD is an impressive piece of hardware. To start things off, it gets a 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen with 480 x 272 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio, playing the center attraction on a sleek and stylish chassis. Powered by the Nvidia Tegra, it gets the full benefits of the single-chip all-in-one platform.
It features 720p video processing (output is done via an HDMI dock), HD radio, Wi-Fi connectivity, a full HTML browser and third-party apps support. Because Nvidia’s hardware fits in an 800MHz processor, GeForce graphics, HD video capabilities, audio processing and an imaging unit all on a single package, the Zune HD manages to keep its slim lines while offering tremendous capabilities.
Microsoft is pegging that it’s considerably better than the iPod Touch. Based on those specs, there’s not even a comparison. But there, however, lies the problem.
As a device intended to go head to head with the iPod Touch, the Zune HD is going against a piece of hardware that’s over two years old. If Microsoft seriously thinks that’s the battle it needs to fight, they just might have another thing coming.
Fact is, there’s a good likelihood that Apple will release new iPod Touch units this year too. Most likely, it will be in September, around the same time of the Zune HD’s launch (scheduled for the 15th). If the new iPod Touch mirrors even close to the same hardware as the iPhone 3GS (minus the cell phone receivers), the Zune HD will suddenly find itself in a very different battlefield.
Obviously, it’s not time to declare the Zune platform as “officially revived” just yet.
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