Hasta La Gadget!

It’s no big secret that NVIDIA’s potent Tegra chip will be powering Microsoft’s forthcoming Zune HD, but up until now, the former company had been rather quiet about its involvement in the project. Just a few days after the OLED-equipped portable media player went up for pre-order around the web, NVIDIA has stepped in to affirm that its own Tegra processor will be “providing the multimedia muscle in Zune HD.” We’re told that no fewer than eight independent processors make up Tegra’s collective whole, with each one engineered for a specific class of tasks; among them are an HD video processor, an audio processor, a graphics processor and two ARM cores. Each of the chips can work together or independently to minimize power consumption, and the built-in nPower technology is said to optimize system power use and enable extended HD video / MP3 playback time. Sounds good in print, but we’ve got just under a month to find out how it performs for real.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

NVIDIA confirms Tegra processor within Zune HD, details it real good originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the launch of the Zune HD and the CEDIA show just around the corner, we’ve been hoping this could mean an all new integrated future for Windows Media Center and other Microsoft platforms — until now. As a few commenters pointed out yesterday, the corrected spec sheet received from Microsoft indicated HDTV and protected Windows Media Center DVR-MS (the files used by Vista Media center) recordings were not supported. We reached out for clarification and received the following:

“Zune HD, and the forthcoming Zune 4.0 PC software, will support and transcode Windows Media Center recorded TV file formats from Windows Vista or Windows 7 that contain MPEG-2 video, in either the DVR-MS or WTV formats. Support is limited to unencrypted SD and HD recordings. HD Files with AC3 audio are not supported by Zune.“

As you may or may not be aware, at least in the U.S. , and most other countries, any high definition broadcasts you snag from antenna, ClearQAM or otherwise use Dolby Digital AC-3 audio, meaning the Zune software won’t be able to convert them. Current workarounds for bringing Media Center recordings on the go should still be a go, but all we can see is the missed opportunity to tie the two platforms together with easy one click transcoding support. Hopefully Microsoft still has something up its sleeve to pull together Zune and Windows 7 Media Center, but portable DVR recordings ain’t it.

Filed under: Handhelds, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Portable Video

Zune 4.0 software won’t play nice with HDTV Media Center recordings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve all been a bit up in arms about the apparent lack of a push for apps on the Zune HD given the platform’s obvious strengths, but news from Daring Fireball seems to suggest that may not be the whole story. According to John Gruber, after publishing a short story on the ZHD and Microsoft’s seeming lack of developer interest, he was contacted by an iPhone dev who claimed to have been pinged by Redmond to code for the new device. According to the source — a Twitter client-maker — he was asked to port his software to the Zune platform for “a bucket of money,” though he ultimately declined the offer. Details beyond that fact are scarce, though apparently this dev is “certain” the offer was for the Zune. We won’t argue for the benefits of having your application on two high-profile devices (clearly a personal decision), but it is extremely encouraging to hear that Microsoft sees the need to bring more than just basic functionality to a device like the Zune HD. Now, it’s just a question of how smartly they go about it.

[Via The iPhone Blog]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

iPhone devs offered cash to code for the Zune HD? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember just a few days back, when the sadness and confusion surrounded us as every last flash Zune disappeared, leading us to ponder the meaning of life? Well, they’re back! Huzzah! Our suggestion? Get them before they go for good — unless you’re holding out for the Zune HD.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Flash Zunes that disappeared from the Zune site reappear — is someone toying with us? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No need to hide your unabashed love for Microsoft — we know you’ve already plopped down a few bills to pre-order your Zune HD, but did you bother sinking a few Jacksons on high-margin accessories? If not, we’ll have you know that the Zune HD AV Dock (left) and Zune HD AV & Power Pack (right) can be pre-ordered right now from Microsoft’s online store as well as through Amazon, and we suspect most every other respectable e-tailer will pick ’em up soonly. Both devices are expected to ship alongside the device itself on September 15th, with the former including a dock, three inserts, wireless remote, AC adapter, HDMI cable and AV output cable for $89.99. The latter is meant to pipe content from your docked Zune HD onto a TV, as it includes an AC adapter, HDMI cable and AC output cable for $49.99.

[Thanks, Thomas]

Read – Zune HD AV Dock
Read – Zune HD AV & Power Pack

Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Microsoft’s Zune HD AV Dock and Power Pack up for pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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