Beyond Binary

Microsoft on Thursday confirmed several of the worst kept secrets in the industry, acknowledging the pricing, availability date, and capacities for its upcoming Zune HD.

The black 16GB version of the touch-screen media player will sell for $219.99, while a 32GB version in "platinum" color will cost $289.99. The pricing had already leaked via Best Buy and Amazon, while the September 15 launch date was noted as part of a retailer's display, reported by Gizmodo.

Microsoft will also start taking pre-orders for the device and starting September 15, it will be able to be ordered in five colors from Microsoft's Zuneoriginals.net site, with the option of adding one of 10 engravings by guest artists to the back of the device.

Among the device's features are its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display, multi-touch Web browser and the ability to send video in 720p to a HDTV (using a dock, sold separately).

Zune HD hands-on photos

Although the prices put the Zune HD well below Apple's current iPod Touch prices for the same capacity, I would expect Apple to revamp its products for the fall, likely offering the iPod Touch at similar prices and capacities, and perhaps borrowing the video camera and other features from the iPhone 3GS.

If you can't wait until September, here's a video I shot during a brief hands-on demo I got in May (or see our slideshow above).

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft has long talked about a vision in which people can buy content like movies just once, and then watch them on a variety of devices. That vision will finally start to become a reality this fall, Microsoft's entertainment unit president told CNET News on Thursday.

The company's Entertainment and Devices unit president Robbie Bach said there won't be one seminal moment when users magically get the ability to take purchased content everywhere. But, starting later this year, some of that notion will start to take hold.

Bach

"I think you are going to see that steadily happen," Bach said in an interview. "It's not going to be a cut-over date...What it is more going to be is a steady pace. You already see us make some things available in multiple places. You will see more of that this fall. You will see more of that next year."

Partly in anticipation of that, Microsoft is rebranding the movie and TV show store on its Xbox 360 to use the same Zune brand as it uses with its PC-based music and movie service. Over time, Microsoft wants Zune content to also show up on mobile phones.

There are two pieces to delivering on that vision: one is the technology, and the other is getting the content owners to offer the needed licensing. In general, it is the latter that is the harder, Bach said.

"All of the things about what you can buy and what you can buy where have less to do with technology and more to do with rights negotiations," Bach said. "We'll steadily make progress on that. It's generally in the best interest of content providers and it's certainly in the best interest of consumers."

On the Windows Mobile business, Bach acknowledged that Microsoft has seen its rivals move at a faster pace.

"If your point is we haven't advanced Windows Mobile as fast as we like, I think the answer is that's true," Bach said. "You are going to see that change."

He noted that Microsoft has shifted a lot of new talent into that part of the business. "We've made a lot of changes on the team in the last 12 months and that is starting to bear fruit."

However, Bach continued to hold off on providing any details on when to expect the version of Windows Mobile beyond the interim version 6.5 update due out on devices later this year.

"My view on these topics is 'talk is cheap'," he said. "The next thing we are going to show people is Windows Mobile 6.5. There's plenty of innovation in the pipeline."

At one point Windows Mobile 7 was expected early this year, but the product has fallen way behind schedule and is now expected some time next year.

Bach, who demonstrated the company's Project Natal motion-sensing technology for a crowd of financial analysts Thursday, said the technology will help the Xbox better appeal to casual gamers and people who don't even think of themselves as gamers. It will also appeal to the hard-core gamer crowd, he said.

"Even the folks who are hard core Halo or Splinter Cell players, they are also going to want to play Natal games," he said.

The company, which first announced that Natal effort at this year's E3 gaming event, has said Natal will be available as an add-on to the Xbox 360 console. However, it hasn't said when it will be available.

"I'm not planning on being any more specific today," he said.

One thing that will be available this fall is the Zune HD, Microsoft's would-be rival to the iPod Touch. Although I had gotten a brief peek at the product in May, I didn't really get to check out the browser. I played with an updated build of the product on Thursday and was pleasantly surprised to see the browser has the kind of pinch zooming that one finds on the iPhone or in Windows 7. On the down side, I didn't see anything to indicate it will have serious gaming abilities.

As part of my chat with Bach, I did a video interview, which I have embedded below.

One of the features of the Zune HD is its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)

CARLSBAD, Calif.--As D: All Things Digital wrapped up Thursday, I got a quick chance to play around with the Zune HD that Microsoft plans to ship this fall.

The software maker announced plans for the product on Tuesday and released a photo, but this is a product I was curious to see firsthand.

The most striking feature from my brief look was the device's striking organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

I got a chance to see most of the features, but not the one I am most curious to see--the Internet browser. I'm told it's based on Internet Explorer 6, as is the Windows Mobile browser, but the real question is whether Microsoft has made the interface better than that on its phones.

I'm also curious what Apple does with the iPod Touch in time for this fall. If they add a camera and a bunch of new goodies, it could give the Zune's HD Radio and other features a run for their money.

Anyway, without further ado, here's a quick video look at the Zune HD. (Sorry, the video trails off a bit at the end, but hopefully you get the idea.)

As my colleague Donald Bell notes, Gizmodo and Engadget have Zune HD hands-on looks as well.

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed its plans to take on the iPod Touch with a new, touch-screen Zune that will be able to surf the Web, play high-definition movies, and tune in to digital radio.

The Zune HD, which will be available in the U.S. only starting this fall, features an HD Radio tuner as well as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touch screen, Microsoft said. It is based on Windows CE and will use a version of Internet Explorer customized for its touch screen, Microsoft said.

The software maker did not announce pricing or capacity, though it said the device will use flash memory and attempt to take on Apple's high-end iPod models.

"This device is created to go head to head with the iPod Touch," Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Microsoft Zune, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. Zune buyers will also be able to play HD content on their TVs via a dock, Microsoft said.

The software maker also said that at next week's E3 trade show in Los Angeles it will announce details on a new Zune-branded video service for the Xbox that will replace the current Xbox Live marketplace for TV and movies. The company didn't announce details or specifically say that content will be playable on both Zunes and the Xbox.

Currently videos purchased via the Xbox can't be played on a Zune, although both stores use a similar back-end infrastructure to serve up content. Over time, Stephenson said the goal is to move toward a world in which content purchased once can be played on a variety of devices.

Microsoft plans to offer the new Zune video service in a number of European markets, in addition to North America.

Microsoft's Zune HD will be released this fall in the U.S. The software maker has not announced pricing or capacity.

(Credit: Microsoft )

As for the Zune HD, Microsoft is doubling down on its bet on a radio tuner as a distinguishing feature. Stephenson noted that the current Zune's FM radio is its second most popular selling point. Adding support for HD Radio, a free over-the-air digital radio technology, represents both a risk and opportunity.