Microsoft will release two new Zune players later this year. The information came from a chance encounter from a blogger from ZuneScene and an employee at Microsoft.

“When I asked the guy where he worked he said Microsoft. That got my attention so I asked what he did, the answer was: Zune. He gave his name and title which I will withhold. So I gave him a barrage of questions and here’s what I found out… ”

One of the new Zune players will be the next generation Zune and the other a Flash memory-based player with the original but improved double-shot finished (perhaps a blending of several colors).

The Flash-based Zune will be very slim measuring 76.2 x 31.75 x 6.35mm. It will have WiFi and will be video ready. Zune users will not be worried about capacity, since this Zune will be filled top-to-bottom filled with the Flash memory. Zune 2.0 will be a thinner hard-disk player. It will not use a Toshiba hard disk and some parts of it will be manufactured in China. Apparently2.4 million Zunes will be ready before Christmas this year.

[via generationmp3, source]