Zune HD Handy Tips

Use these handy tips to get the most from your Zune:

• To restart a crashed or frozen Zune, press and hold the On/Off button for 10 seconds.
• If you want to completely erase all content from your Zune, press and hold the Home and Media buttons until it restarts.
• To add a favorite item to the main menu (up to 10), press and hold on an item and then select Pin to Quickplay.
• To quickly shuffle all music, simply press play beside the Music icon on the Home screen.

Click here for more power user tips.

Zune HD brings new experiences

Microsoft’s new touch screen portable media player is the new kid on the block of the ever popular touch screen based PMPs. But what makes the Zune HD stand out and what are its shortcomings? Check out this thorough startBlue review.

The first thing one notices is the design. Extremely industrial, it is available in either Black 16GB or Platinum 32GB which consists of a brushed metal back and a glass OLED touch screen. The second thing that catches your eye is the clarity, detail, and colour of the OLED screen. Unlike many of its competitors, the Zune HD innovates with the newest in screen technology. Unlike traditional displays that have one light bulb that is filtered by a liquid crystal display, the Zune HD contains thousands of light emitting diodes or tiny light bulbs. The result is a stunning display.

Beneath the outer hardware exists some impressive internals. It is the first PMP to have HD Radio. HD Radio allows you to not only listen to FM radio but also HD stations, giving you a larger selection and higher clarity. Bringing it all together is the 8 core NVIDIA Tegra Processor which allows for handling of HD Video, a slick graphical UI and games all together with powerful battery savings. Each core has a unique purpose so by selectively turning them on and off, the Zune increases your ability to save energy.

Read full article here:
http://www.startblue.net/technology/reviews/zune-hd-brings-new-experiences.htm

Lucky Zune fan gets his Zune HD early

Loveandhatejw over at ZuneBoards posted a picture of himself (that haircut is a mess lol) and the black Zune HD he grabbed at Best Buy. Unfortunately the player his unusable without the Zune 4.0 software which is supposed to unlock the device.

Yea well I picked mine up from a buddy at best buy today. It’s useless
out of the box but here is my pic with it from webcam. Sorry for crappyy q
uality in advance. I may or may not upload more pics.

Got the software?
Out of the box no software is included.

Two days is a long wait, how’d you get yours?
There’s was someone I new at best buy, they have helped me before.

Source:
http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2009/09/14/lucky-zune-fan-gets-his-zune-hd-early/

Zund HD is Born - CNN

After three years, Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s Zune music player will no longer be available to be purchased once current stock is depleted. Fortunately, Redmond already has a successor in place to take up the slack, the Zune HD, according to a report from The SuperSite Blog.

The current crop of Zune hardware -- the Flash Zune 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, as well as the model with hard drives of 80 GB and 120 GB -- start around $80 and will be sold until there are no more left in stock. The Zune HD will be available on Sept. 15 and start at $220.

The Zune HD 16-GB model will offer up to five hours of hi-def video and 22 hours of standard video. The 32-GB model ups the HD playback to 10 hours. To further round out its video capabilities, the Zune HD is able to support HD video playback through an HDMI docking station.

And of course the Zune HD has a 3.3-inch OLED touch screen with a 16:9 wide-screen format display and 480 x 272 pixel resolution.

Read more:
http://www.crn.com/retail/219501176;jsessionid=JNMAH3RTKSBY5QE1GHOSKH4ATMY32JVN

Zune Source Interview from Neowin

The official confirmation was more or less a "let's get this out of the way for E3" move. Microsoft wanted to be sure the Xbox 360 and its Natal controller would be the star of the show.

Like all journalists, I tend to be wary of news tips from people I don't know. Such was the case when I was contacted way back in March by someone claiming to have inside info on upcoming Zune hardware. The tipster told me that the new Zune would be a full touch screen device. I thought this was interesting, so I passed it along on to Twitter much to the delight of my followers.

So to clear up any lagging questions about the Zune HD , I sat down with my source -- we'll call him "TK" -- to get him to answer a few more questions.

RR: What is your title at Microsoft?
TK: Software Engineer

RR: How long have you worked for Microsoft?
TK: 2 years.

RR: What kind of projects do you work on for Microsoft?
TK: Windows Kernel

RR: Why did you decide to talk about the Zune HD?
TK: Because I love Zune...It's just an all around better product then the iPod & I wanted it do better in the marketplace.

RR: Was it approved by execs higher up, or did you just go ahead without Microsoft approval?
TK: I went ahead without any approval from any of the higher ups.

View Full interview here:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/06/25/interview-with-the-zune-source

ZuneHD: The Overview

Zune has made extensions on its capability as a device as they launch the Zune HD equipped with Touchscreen 16:9 OLED display with multitouch functionality. As Microsoft’s response to iPod Touch Zune HS has a 3.3 inch with a Touchscreen 16:9 OLED display with multitouch functionality that can indeed make a difference to your audio and video experience. As an additional feature Zune HD will also be integrated with Microsoft’s Xbox Live which they claim will entirely create a new gaming experience for the consumers. This by far makes Zune HD the portable media player which has an HD radio receiver with supreme video capabilities and Wi-Fi enabling capabilities.

As Zune HD will team up with Xbox Live to expand its platform this will also bring an advantage over the availability of choices on a large number of music and video files including shows and television that can change the way consumers will be able to get a good multi media experience. As Zune HD expands to the Zune HD portable media player this not only showcases an impressive Touchscreen 16:9 OLED display with multitouch functionality but this so far goes a lot more better also when it comes with High Definition Multi Media Interface that works as an audio visual docking station but is sold separately.

If you are looking for an amazing viewing experience you should try Zune HD as it promises to provide you with this feature on Touchscreen 16:9 OLED display with multitouch functionality. This is just one of the new features that are integrated on this site along also with a built in HD Radio receiver which gives you the comfort of listening to high quality sound with additional channels that are offered in radio stations that are multi casted in HD. With a highly compatible output this also brings and supports HD movies and other shows with convenience. Aside from this you can get a full screen internet browsing capability which is built in to cater its multi touch functionality. With its integration to Zune HD, video services will be extending its service to Xbox live where game lovers will also be able to get a hand of the offerings for Zune HD.

With Zune HD’s Touchscreen 16:9 OLED display with multitouch functionality thus allowing the users to navigate with ease at the contents. This has definitely brought a new change in the entertainment aspect with these new functionalities. As these becomes an integral part in the creation of one of the best portable media player device with multi media functions, it will become easier for consumers to navigate the other features and get access to a lot other offerings and services that are offered in Zune HD as well as in Xbox Live.

Unicode support for ZuneHD

When ZuneHD is released it will feature Unicode support.

Wikipedia: Unicode
"Unicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's writing systems."

For anyone who listen to music with a lot of non-English text which is better for albums and track listings. This will be nice because there won't be a bunch of unknown characters on their player.