On April 10th 2009, Engadget posted renders of Microsoft’s rumoured upcoming Zune device which they had uncovered – these may have been mockups for a ZuneHD marketing campaign. A few days later another render surfaces with some specs of which some are later confirmed such as HD Radio, multi-touch capacitive OLED screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio, 16GB & 32GB storage options and a multi-touch web browser. This post rumoured the release as September 2009, which as of writing, remains the most accurate prediction.
After over a month without any further confirmation on the device or its supposed specifications, it is made official by Microsoft that the Zune HD is coming this Fall. The majority of the rumoured specs are confirmed which include the 3.3″ OLED Multi-touch screen (480 x 272 16:9 resolution) and the HD Radio reciever and HD Output through a new dock. Shortly after, Microsoft sent out the ZuneHD press release and make the page available on the zune.net which shows all the announced features.
Within days of the official announcement, Steve Ballmer (Microsoft ceo) demos the Zune HD and some hands on photos are released. Another few days go by before Paul Thurrott (a Windows god) states that he has been “told” that the Zune HD will ship on the 5th September this year and that it will be accompanied by a new revision of the Zune Software (for PC).
A rumour appeared in the middle of June that Zune HD may boast a Tegra chip (Read: What is Tegra?) and was later confirmed on the Official Zune Podcast, ZuneInsider, by Matt Akers (part of the Zune Software team) and announces how it’s “So sick” has “so much better battery life” and features “graphics acceleration“. Five days later and a Hands on Video appears on Engadget who were lucky enough take it for a quick spin.
The 24th June and Gizmodo suggest the Zune HD will be released on September 8th (not the previously reported 5th), the information came from a tipster who found the date on some documents and that it was coming in 16gb and 32gb models. The date also seems more likely as previous Zune releases have been on a Tuesday and 8th September is also a Tuesday furthermore it seems unlikely Microsoft would release Zune HD on a Saturday.
A day later and Ryan Rea (@volvoshine) of Neowin.net was lucky enough to strike an interview with a Software Engineer at Microsoft who told him that the Zune HD will be “16GB and 32GB, Microsoft is considering adding a 64GB Zune later on in the model year“, that Microsoft is “planning to ship the Zune HD” in “early September” and that the “the 16GB will be somewhere in the range of $249 -$280″. He also told that “The Zune team is working hard to get all the licensing agreements in order” for movies on the Zune Marketplace. All of this information tying together previous rumours and leaks into one semi-confirmed interview but only time will tell.