Patrick's space

We interrupt your regularly scheduled music blog for some breaking Zune news (again, my apologies Loganarchy).

Since 2006 many Zuners have been eager to see more Xbox integration from Zune. With the recent announcement of the ZuneHD, came information of tighter integration between the two platforms.

Today at E3 was the first demonstration of Zune’s integration to Xbox Live. Through the Zune platform, video playback is near-instantaneous and will allow for streams (depending on your connection) of up to 1080p with 5.1 surround.

With the Zune Video service, your video playback can start off in a lower bitrate, to allow for fast download time, and then seamlessly switch to the higher bitrate for full HD. So all videos can be seen in 1080p with 5.1 surround (if your set up supports it).

This service is international and will launch in the Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland markets. Last week, the service was already announced for US, Canada, UK, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

After months of rumors (some true, some WAY off) the Zune HD is now officially announced and is on the way!

Some quick specs on the device:

Screen: 3.3 inch OLED Touch Screen; 16x9 res (480x272) and HD compatible output (720p) with HD Dock (available separately).

Radio: HD Radio Tuner (this is awesome if you’ve never experienced HD Radio). HD Radio (just like HD TV) has multiple channels of programming on the same frequency…simply awesome.

Extras: Full screen Internet Browser with Multi-touch capability, as well as a built-in Accelerometer, Tap-to-Zoom technology and a touch screen QWERTY keyboard.

The device is completely Wi-Fi enabled, so you can stream content directly to the device. This browser also allows us to get around those annoying login screens for some Wi-Fi hotspots (I’m lookin’ at you Borders!!!)

XBOX Live: Zune will now be your first choice for content in XBOX Live, which means all XBOX users (not just in the US) can now access Zune Marketplace content from their XBOX. This will take place in the Fall.

Zune HD teaser site: http://www.zune.net/zunehd

After months of rumors (some true, some WAY off) the Zune HD is now officially announced and is on the way!

Some quick specs on the device:

Screen: 3.3 inch OLED Touch Screen; 16x9 res (480x272) and HD compatible output (720p) with HD Dock (available separately).

Radio: HD Radio Tuner (this is awesome if you’ve never experienced HD Radio). HD Radio (just like HD TV) has multiple channels of programming on the same frequency…simply awesome.

Extras: Full screen Internet Browser with Multi-touch capability, as well as a built-in Accelerometer, Tap-to-Zoom technology and a touch screen QWERTY keyboard.

The device is completely Wi-Fi enabled, so you can stream content directly to the device. This browser also allows us to get around those annoying login screens for some Wi-Fi hotspots (I’m lookin’ at you Borders!!!)

XBOX Live: Zune will now be your first choice for content in XBOX Live, which means all XBOX users (not just in the US) can now access Zune Marketplace content from their XBOX. This will take place in the Fall.

Zune HD teaser site: http://www.zune.net/zunehd

After months of rumors (some true, some WAY off) the Zune HD is now officially announced and is on the way!

Some quick specs on the device:

Screen: 3.3 inch OLED Touch Screen; 16x9 res (480x272) and HD compatible output (720p) with HD Dock (available separately).

Radio: HD Radio Tuner (this is awesome if you’ve never experienced HD Radio). HD Radio (just like HD TV) has multiple channels of programming on the same frequency…simply awesome.

Extras: Full screen Internet Browser with Multi-touch capability. The device is completely Wi-Fi enabled, so you can stream content directly to the device. This browser also allows us to get around those annoying login screens for some Wi-Fi hotspots (I’m lookin’ at you Borders!!!)

XBOX Live: Zune will now be your first choice for content in XBOX Live, which means all XBOX users (not just in the US) can now access Zune Marketplace content from their XBOX. This will take place in the Fall.

Zune HD teaser site: http://www.zune.net/zunehd

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