“So sick, so much better battery life, graphics acceleration. This thing is like a mini laptop in your hand, right, it’s so awesome.”

Well, we’ve known from the beginning the Zune HD is going to be something special. According to the podcat, if you want to know more about Nvidia Tegra, go to Bing.com. All right, you can Google it, too or just go to Wikipedia.

Microsoft’s awesome new PMP, the ZuneHD, will come with Unicode support. This means support for non-English text and will make your album and track list a lot better looking. This is a good feature to have in a PMP and it makes us feel that Microsoft is really looking out for every detail in their upcoming ZuneHD. By the way, this piece of news is authentic, coming from a Zune Insider podcast.

[via anythingbutipod]

Now we know, Apple will have to refresh the iPod Touch this year. Zune HD is better than we expected, fully Internet-capable and a gorgeous OLED screen. Now a Zune forum has a more specific launch date for Zune HD. by September 5, the OLED and high-definition goodness from Microsoft could be yours for a yet unannounced price tag. I think the least Apple could do is switch to OLED too.

[via engadget]

Look who’s got a real iPod competitor. I have to say that Microsoft has exceeded my expectation for the Zune HD. It’s still unmistakably Zune-like but the PMP in all its touchscreen glory fits in a normal-sized hand in a much more likable way than iPod Touch. Yes, form-factor-wise, the Zune HD tops iPod Touch. According to Gizmodo, the screen orientation is smoother on the Zune HD and the UI, my God, is actually better. This from Gizmodo! To see how sleek the hardware and software of Zune HD, go to the video after the break…

Zune HD Video Hands On from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

It’s time to say, yes, we believe the ZuneHD will come, but if you’re wondering if it’s going to be a one-word or two-word name, it’s probably going to be the latter. Microsoft will also unveil the details of the Zune HD at the upcoming E3 next week. Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Microsoft Zune, also confirmed the Zune HD will be a straight rival to the iPod Touch. No Xbox on Zune, however, but this will come eventually as Zune Marketplace will eventually replace Xbox Live. The Zune service should be available in North America and key European territories immediately. Microsoft also recognizes that Zune’s FM radio is a very popular feature and now with HD Radio, it will set itself apart from Apple offerings. For now, we don’t know if Zune HD will a full-fledged gaming. A mobile version of Internet Explorer (multi-touch controlled) also means that Zune HD WiFi is full Internet capable, unlike past Zunes. Besides that, it’s OLED, which should get more oomph put of battery life, not to mention better for viewing even if you think the 480 x 272 resolution is too low.

The Zune HD in the Fall will be the flash version. Microsoft is planning to release a hard drive larger-capacity Zune HD with QWERTY keyboard. This should be worth waiting for as well and we’ll see how the Zune’s focus on content match with the iPod Touch and its embarrassment of features.

Also, no Zune Phone.

[source]

The design of the alleged leaked Microsoft device does not help in keeping the suspicions away that this isn’t a fake, and a grainy shot of a supposed unveiling conference of ZuneX is obviously fake, even for a photographic dilettante. But imagine if Microsoft can make a similar, if differently designed device, with the same specs:

• 4-inch 640 x 363 screen
• Intel LV Atom dual core 733MHz (that’s just like 1.4Ghz!)
• Nvidia Blowfish
• 128 MB RAM (trying to lower the specs to make the fake more convincing?)
• WMV, H.264, MPEG-4 and DivX videos
• 32GB storage
• headset Bluetooth support
• OnLive game streaming, ZuneX Originals, Xbox Live Arcade Games
• No price or availability for this fake

The doctored conference photo of the ZuneX unveiling after the break.

[via gizmodo]

The most awaited PMP this year has not been officially announced yet by its maker, but there’s been some pretty convincing rumors  and leaks that ZuneHD it will be launched this year, this latest one the most convincing of all. Not only that, from the same source we get details of a June Zune, most likely a Zune Phone. The Zune HD will be officialized September and I see no let up yet to the rumors that it’s going to be nothing short of amazing.

[via arstechnica]

Which leads us to “Pink”. The new but more reliable rumor from ZDnet provides us with a tasty glimpse of the new Microsoft product, probably not ZuneHD but a smartphone running Windows Mobile 7:

• Powered by Snapdragon and Nvidia Tegra and will be based on OMAP 3
• 3.5-inch touchscreen
• WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, accelerometer, 3 MP camera and a compass (everything iPhone has and the new iPhone will have)

Engadget is saying “Pink” is software (read), which does not discount a Zune phone or a new Windows Mobile phone, but Microsoft like Ballmer had implied several times, is already on the mobile phone business via WinMo and will not a branded hardware to prove that.

[via engadget]

The Verizon iPhone may be a Zune Phone instead. If not a Zune Phone then something else from Microsoft that merits secrecy and a codename like “Pink.” Something big is gearing up at Verizon and Microsoft is involved. It should be a touchscreen phone with multimedia playback as its main feature, besides calling, that is. The unconfirmed report says that it will not be a Zune software but a modified Windows Mobile OS.

All I want to say is that whatever touchscreen multimedia phone MS will release through Verizon, it better have an OLED display.

[via bgr]