Aug 23

Zune HD’s “Apps” menu item spotted in the Marketplace, still short on details

Posted in: apps, AppStore, Microsoft, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

At Best Buy’s Zune HD preview today a certain Matthew Arkin on Qik was able to shoot footage of the “Apps” item that resides within the “Marketplace” section on the device. It’s still incredibly unclear what Microsoft’s plans are for that functionality — they’ve long admitted its existence, but have waffled on the name and have been reticent to show it off in meetings with us. Microsoft so far has only promised to have applications on par with the games currently available for Zune, but there’s obviously a lot of implied competition with Apple’s App Store that the word “Apps” on a touchscreen device conjures up. On video (embedded after the break) the rep is asked if there’s an SDK, and apparently Matthew got a “yes” offscreen, but we’re not really sure of the veracity of that statement, or what it means for developers at the moment — hopefully good, freedom-ey things.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Zune HD’s “Apps” menu item spotted in the Marketplace, still short on details

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Zune HD’s “Apps” menu item spotted in the Marketplace, still short on details originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 22

Zune HD box spotted?

Posted in: Microsoft, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

According to one tipster, the Zune HD was a no-show today at both of his Houston-area Best Buys, so hopefully this little tidbit can make it up to that loneliest of all Zune fans. According to CrazyphoneGuy of Twitter and his prodigious Twitpic account, the picture above is of the Zune HD’s new box. It looks quite a bit like existing Zune boxes, but that’s certainly no slight. Anyone else track down the Zune HD at a Best Buy today, or was NVIDIA just fooling with us?

[Thanks, Brayan]

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Zune HD box spotted? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 21

Zune HD getting previewed at select Best Buys this weekend

Posted in: BestBuy, Microsoft, NVIDIA, preview, tegra, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

Now that NVIDIA is totally free to chat up its Tegra involvement in the Zune HD, it’s wasted little time in publishing a list of Zune HD preview locations where you can witness the magic for yourself this weekend. The tour is fairly limited to the big urban hubs, but peep the PDF and see if your friendly neighborhood Best Buy is represented.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in. Warning: PDF link]

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Zune HD getting previewed at select Best Buys this weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 17

NVIDIA confirms Tegra processor within Zune HD, details it real good

Posted in: Microsoft, NVIDIA, PMP, processor, tegra, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

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.

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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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Aug 15

Zune HD’s HD Radio breaks through the FCC as well

Posted in: Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

Can you feel it? The Zune HD is really really real, and the FCC just rubber stamped another internal component: the onboard HD Radio. With a September 15th release date already on the books, it’s not exactly a surprise that the wireless insides of the device won’t fry your babies, but it’s still a comforting thought. And check out that sexy label! Totally worth the second trip to FCC land.

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Zune HD’s HD Radio breaks through the FCC as well originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 14

Zune 4.0 software won’t play nice with HDTV Media Center recordings

Posted in: dvr, Microsoft, Today's Chili, windows 7, Windows7, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

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.

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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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Aug 14

Engadget Podcast 159 – 08.14.2009

Posted in: Apple, engadget podcast, EngadgetPodcast, feature, Features, keynote, Microsoft, podcast, samsung, tablet, Today's Chili, windows 7, Windows7, zune hd, ZuneHd

Get ready for a wild one, folks — we recorded this week’s Engadget Podcast with a live (chatroom) studio audience, and things got a little rowdy. Join Josh, Paul and Nilay as they run down the new Zune HD, Windows 7, two new Dell machines and three new Samsung cameras before finally — at the urging of the crowd — tackling the Apple tablet rumors. Definitely a fun show — we’ll have to do more like this in the future. Until then, what are you waiting for? Get downloading!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Powerglove – Tetris

Hear the podcast

00:03:23 – Zune HD lands September 15th, up for pre-order today
00:19:55 – Windows 7 review
00:23:45 – How-To: Install Windows 7 and live to tell about it
00:28:05 – Dell’s Zino HD crams desktop parts into miniature enclosure
00:38:46 – Dell’s slim new Inspiron Z family is totally carb free
00:47:02 – Dell Mini 3i smartphone captured in pair of spy shots
00:54:20 – Video: Samsung’s TL220 and TL225 cameras add a LCD in front to help with your self-portraits
00:55:20 – Samsung’s new compacts in person: front LCDs, GPS and WiFi don’t go to waste
00:59:50 – Samsung crams WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth 2.0 into well-specced CL65 point-and-shoot
01:08:15 – Apple might be planning keynote for week of September 7th, might have new products on offer

Subscribe to the podcast

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace

Download the podcast

LISTEN (MP3)
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Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget

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Engadget Podcast 159 – 08.14.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 14

iPhone devs offered cash to code for the Zune HD?

Posted in: developer, developers, iPhone, Microsoft, rumor, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

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]

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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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Aug 13

Zune HD specs fill in the blanks on video format support, battery life and more – Update: now with more, better!

Posted in: 720p, charging, Microsoft, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

Now that everything Zune HD is official and available for pre-order, Microsoft has seen fit to loose official specs, putting to rest — at least until we can do a full hands on — questions about what to expect from the OLED touchscreen packing device. From dimensions (52.7 mm x 102.1 mm x 8.9 mm, 2.6 oz) to battery life (24 hours for music with wireless off, up to 4 hours of video) and charge time (3 hours, 2 hours to 90%.) While the offical site (incorrectly) currently lists max video res at barely-better-than-DVD 720 x 480, we contacted Microsoft and received the official specs on video support, and if for some reason you needed to hear it again: the Tegra chip is a beast. Ready for HDTV playback when it’s plugged into the AV dock, the Zune software supports up to 1280 x 720, 30 frames per second at a max 14 Mbps bitrate for WMV HD and h.264 sources. Confirmed still a bummer? No wireless video streaming from the Zune Video Marketplace, though the specs do indicate that purchases and rentals will work across all three screens, PC, Zune and Xbox 360. Check the corrected specs after the break, now all that’s left is getting some alone time with one.

Update: Microsoft has hit us with the corrected & updated spec list with a slight change to battery and charge specs: 33 hours of life playing music with no wireless, up to 8.5 hours of video. 3 hours to charge from PC, 2 hours via AC adapter. Hopefully that’s long enough to cover your one man rave in the woods far away from A/C outlets. Check the PDF for yourself, but beware, as Microsoft has informed us one typo remains, as the Zune HD can hold up to 22 / 48 hours (16GB / 32GB) of video optimized for the device, no matter what the official sheet says.

Continue reading Zune HD specs fill in the blanks on video format support, battery life and more – Update: now with more, better!

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Zune HD specs fill in the blanks on video format support, battery life and more – Update: now with more, better! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 13

Zune HD color options revealed in pre-order email

Posted in: Microsoft, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

We already knew that the Zune HD would be available in five different colors, and a just sent out pre-order email has now given us our first (very small) glimpse of the options available. In addition to the standard black and silver (or platinum, as Microsoft calls it), it seems you’ll also have your choice of blue, lime green, and a red / maroon color, each of which can also be adorned with your choice of 10 exclusive Zune Originals designs. From the looks of it, however, folks pre-ordering are limited to the two less colorful options.

[Thanks, matthew]

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Zune HD color options revealed in pre-order email originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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