There are so many MP3 players in the market that it is quite difficult to select one. The leader in the market is Apple iPod. Microsoft didn’t want to stay behind and launched its own portable digital player called the Zune in 2006.
Microsoft’s Zune has come cool features but it didn’t succeed in raking in sales. Statistics show that Zune accounted for only 2% of portable player sales in the first 6 months of 2009. On the other hand, Apple’s iPod accounts for 73%.
Microsoft has now launched the Zune HD, an upgraded and feature-rich version of the Zune. The Zune HD comes with many improvements. It comes with a touchscreen, can play music, videos and display images and connect to the Internet using WiFi.
The Zune HD is available in two variants: a 16GB version for $220 and a 32GB version for $290.
It features a high-definition radio can play high-definition video in 720p resolution. It can also be connected to HDTVs using a docking station. The Zune HD’s screen uses OLED technology to give crystal clear display. Additionally, the graphics are powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra HD GPU.
On the whole, the Zune HD is very easy to use and feature-rich. However, the software that has to be installed on a computer to connect to the Zune HD is a bit slow even on mid-range PCs.
In order to download music into the Zune HD, one has to sign for its $15/month subscription service. This allows unlimited downloads. Unlike Apple’s iTunes store which is per download, the Zune Pass is per month. Users can download unlimited number of songs, however they don’t own them. The songs expire if the subscription is cancelled.
To conclude, the Zune HD is definitely an improvement over the Zune. It works well and looks good. However, the software and online services that come with the Zune HD definitely lag behind and need improvements. Apple definitely is way ahead in this regard and Microsoft needs to improve these if it wants Zune HD to offer stiff competition to the iPod.
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