Zune HD v2 Rumors and More Rumors?
February 5, 2010 by ACE
We here at Zuneboards have gotten some delicious news that will require you to first grab and ingest some salt. Got it? Good, let’s continue.
We’re reliably informed that Microsoft is working on the next generation Zune HD complete with Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor, increased storage capacity, and more colors. If that’s not enough, there’s more.
There’s to be a spring update for all current Zunes (which was skipped last year) which is reportedly going to include some gems. First, there is said to be a video pass in the works. For about $10 per month, you’ll have unlimited access to select video content. Details are still being ironed out over what content is going to be available. Also, the Zune Pass and music Marketplace will migrate over to Xbox to allow XBL users access to unlimited downloads. There is also supposed to be an increased amount of supported codecs for Zune later in the year. Want more? Well:
The fabled Zune Phone isn’t really going to be what you may think, but it will be a Windows Phone with Zune AND Xbox functionality baked in. No word yet who the carrier will be, but we’ve heard something before. This may be announced as early as this month in Barcelona.
So what’s the time table for these deals? The spring update should come sometime in March, while the Zune HD v2 is said to be released in Q4 of this year.
One bit of reality - these rumors should remain in the realm of unicorns and leprechauns until some more solid announcements are made, but who can’t live without a little something to look forward to, hrm? We’ll definitley let you know once we hear anything more.
[img of 1st Gen Zune HD via Robert Nelson]
Comments
+rep
(You might want to credit Robert Nelson, who originally posted that on Flickr. Especially since that is licensed with a CC-BY-2.0.)
Build up a solid foundation of software and you can stick all the new varieties of hardware you want on it.
Good to hear some news anyways. Thanks for the info.
Zune HD will do nothing with a dualcore Cortex A9. Better keep the current (cheaper) Tegra APX SoC in this *cough* music and video player *cough* and pass the savings to your customers by lowering the price on the device.
Its firmware will be based on Windows CE 7.0 (which is going to be released by then). The Tegra 250 is dual-core, which means that the firmware would have to be based on Windows CE 7.0 in order to use both cores. It would be a waste to put a dual-core SoC in a device if it can not use both cores.
It will have at least 512 MB of RAM. Currently, there are two (known) versions of the Tegra 250, one with 512 MB of RAM and one with 1 GB of RAM. A second generation Zune HD would likely have the lower amount of RAM, to keep the cost down.
It will be mainly a portable gaming device. The Tegra 250 has graphics capabilities comparable to modern consoles. If Microsoft is going to put the Tegra 250 into a device, they will use that opportunity to enter the handheld gaming market. In the past they said they were planning making a handheld gaming device but they were not ready yet. It seems like it would be the best time for them to do it. However, since the next Nintendo DS is going to have the Tegra 250, I do not know how well that would work. They would pretty much be the same device, but look different.
The last part is more speculation, but the first two points are very likely assuming the rumor is true.
Last edited by Netrix; 02-05-2010 at 10:58 PM..
I am actually interested to see what the video subscription would entail content wise. I am a big fan of netflix's model but they really can't even come close to competing with the quality of xbox streaming. Sad to see according to the price it looks like it would be very limited (tv shows) and not tv shows and movies. I'd pay $35/month to add tv shows and movies to my current music zune pass. (would save $10 dropping netflix)
Last edited by jagowar; 02-06-2010 at 08:41 AM..
Its firmware will be based on Windows CE 7.0 (which is going to be released by then). The Tegra 250 is dual-core, which means that the firmware would have to be based on Windows CE 7.0 in order to use both cores. It would be a waste to put a dual-core SoC in a device if it can not use both cores.
It will have at least 512 MB of RAM. Currently, there are two (known) versions of the Tegra 250, one with 512 MB of RAM and one with 1 GB of RAM. A second generation Zune HD would likely have the lower amount of RAM, to keep the cost down.
It will be mainly a portable gaming device. The Tegra 250 has graphics capabilities comparable to modern consoles. If Microsoft is going to put the Tegra 250 into a device, they will use that opportunity to enter the handheld gaming market. In the past they said they were planning making a handheld gaming device but they were not ready yet. It seems like it would be the best time for them to do it. However, since the next Nintendo DS is going to have the Tegra 250, I do not know how well that would work. They would pretty much be the same device, but look different.
The last part is more speculation, but the first two points are very likely assuming the rumor is true.
And stop complaining. This is the natural progression of technology. If a company just kept on updating old hardware, nothing would progress and evolve. Yeah, it sucks if you just bought a Zune HD, but learn to live with it. No one's gonna make you buy the Zune HD2.