Another Zune HD render surfaces, fanboy specs too?

While we broke the news of the ZuneHD to the world as we did the original, we have no way to verify the authenticity of this new image originating at Windows Mobile Power User and now trotting itself around the Intersphere fueled by the adrenaline of fanboy fantasies. We've been skeptically going over it pixel-by-pixel (what is that on the back? A camera, a screw-hole?) as this is the notorious period that always follows a product leak when dubious PhotoShops and fanart begins flooding our tips box. Fortunately, Zunited's sources have stepped up with an assertion that the pic is in fact an authentic ZuneHD. So let's turn an eye to the specs, the glorious, almost absurdly high-end specs that accompany the picture. Zunited's sources won't touch these and we're keeping them at arm's length for now under the it's too-good-to-be-true heading. Click through to see what we mean.

[Via Zunited]

So, if we're to believe the ZuneHD specs that "trickled into" the inbox of Windows Mobile Power User then this is what's coming from Microsoft:

• multi-touch capacitive OLED screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio
• 3D Xbox game support (whatever that is)
• playback of "HD media" available from Zune Marketplace
• TV-out from what looks like a mini-HDMI port on the left-side
• HD Radio
• choice of 16GB or 32GB of storage (not a lot for HD content)
  
• wireless sync
  
• multi-touch "browser" of the Internet-type, presumably (so why nothing shown on the main menu in the image above?)
  
• launches this Fall, "around September" in the US, Canada, UK, France and possibly other European countries.
• likely to be a "showcase" for Windows Mobile 7 when released (Huh? WinMo7 won't be out until 2010. Perhaps they mean early WinMo7 betas expected in November?)

While the rumored specs are impressive they aren't completely unprecedented. Already, we've seen Samsung's massive OmniaHD sporting an HDMI jack and biggie 3.7-inch capacitive AMOLED display stretched into a 16:9 aspect ratio. Thing is, the OmniaHD's display has a less than HD 360 x 640 pixel resolution -- HD in this case means 720p video capture and HD video out. Definitely haven't seen hand-held sized (less than 4-inches) capacitive OLEDs sporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels yet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Saad Rabia @ Apr 15th 2009 6:47AM]

Thank you Engadget for finally posting this. :p

[Thomas Ricker @ Apr 15th 2009 6:51AM]

meh, take your good natured charm elsewhere. ;-)

Thomas

[Saad Rabia @ Apr 15th 2009 6:55AM]

More to come. ;p

[CJ @ Apr 15th 2009 7:09AM]

Yeah, go be contentedly polite at someone who CARES! :D

[absinthe party @ Apr 15th 2009 7:12AM]

Aww, shucks! Group hug, you guys!

[EngadgetFanBoi @ Apr 15th 2009 7:29AM]

/me pukes

Anyways, back to the story - the original render looks totally legit, but these specs are fishy and it honestly just seems like same fanboi took the original render and ran with it. The back looks way too iPhone-esque and the specs seem to high-end for microsoft - who knows to costs low and margins high.

That being said... zomg! this thing looks really nice. Such high resolution, OLED, and most importantly... not an iPod! I swear, if I see one more person walking through nyc with an iPhone or iPod touch...

[Mam00th @ Apr 15th 2009 7:32AM]

What green indicator light on the front? You mean the little CGI sphere on the picture? If you look at the picture when it's tilted, there's no such green indicator light.
http://www.engadget.com/photos/is-this-the-zune-hd/1486869/

[Thomas Ricker @ Apr 15th 2009 7:43AM]

mam00th, true, was looking at a flying square. updated.

[fieldcar @ Apr 15th 2009 9:35AM]

Props to Saad... Zune & Zune pass FTW. If any apple fanboy gave it a chance, they really would like it.

I have no clue whats hard to believe about the resolution, besides it being innovative and not apple.

I can honestly say I'm jealous of the interface and apps on the iPhone over my samsung eternity, but my laptop is tethered to my phone for instant 3g access... and my laptop can play fairly demanding 3d games on it.

Some people just have different wants/needs no reason to hate.

[Alan Strangis @ Apr 15th 2009 10:51AM]

IF this were real:

There's no claim that the resolution of the screen itself is HD resolution, and it very well could be 800x480, which would still be pretty damned nice.

WHY I don't think it's real:

32GB storage capacity seems too low for something being touted as "HD". 64GB should really be the minimum to accommodate a large music collection (debates on FLAC being moot) as well has having room to store a few hours worth of mixed HD/SD video, especially if its marketing is pushing towards HD. I guess I COULD see 32/64GB options, but certainly NOT 16GB on the low end.

But the main reason I think it's fake:

The font stands out like a sore thumb. I can't think of a time when MS has ever used ALL CAPS for their interface fonts. It appears to go against all the style guides that MS has been using and steering towards the past few years with either "Words" or "words", not "WORDS". I doubt even alpha interfaces would have been using ALL CAPS.

[hoopspenguin @ Apr 15th 2009 11:28AM]

@fieldcar
I'm an Apple fanboy and i gave every Zune a chance and they all sucked and i cant imagine this being much better

[bjsguess @ Apr 15th 2009 11:35AM]

@hoopspenguin
I'm a Microsoft fanboy and i gave every iPod a chance and they all sucked and i cant imagine the 3.0 version being much better.

[Patriks7 @ Apr 15th 2009 2:32PM]

YES! Finally a Zune in Europe! Don't give it an absurd price and I'll buy it just for videos!

[CJ @ Apr 16th 2009 3:13AM]

Oh hey, I think I just realised what that dot is on the back!

The photo is at a weird angle, so it's a bit hard to see, but is it possible that that is a Stylus bay?

[poop @ Apr 17th 2009 5:11PM]

Capacitative screen, doubt there's a stylus

[Arjun @ Apr 15th 2009 6:50AM]

Is it wrong that I want it?

[sam @ Apr 15th 2009 7:09AM]

Yes.

Because an iPod Touch is better than these fanboy'd specs, in my eyes.

-Sam

[Wolfticket @ Apr 15th 2009 7:15AM]

@Arjun
Yes, because this is in all likelihood some fanboy's wet dream and not a real product.
@sam
Are you blind, perchance?

[Joe @ Apr 15th 2009 9:33AM]

You're not wrong for wanting something that would live up to our expectations, but I have no doubt the Zune will not live up to expectations.

[MioTheGreat @ Apr 15th 2009 9:45AM]

>Because an iPod Touch is better than these fanboy'd specs, in my eyes.

If, indeed, this is a Tegra powered device, your eyes are worthless.

[Duke @ Apr 15th 2009 10:57AM]

I don't see why you all are screaming fanboy on this issue. Are there really a bunch of Zune fanboys running around? That sounds a little trumped up to me. Someone said it and everyone ran with it. Judge the piece of equipment on it alone and not on your belief in a mysterious group of fanboys.

My wife loves her zune and I like my iphone for music needs. If this device is real, then it looks nice and would make me consider grabbing one too.

[whakojacko @ Apr 15th 2009 1:55PM]

@MioTheGreat

Flame me if you want, but I have a solid Microsoft source who said they were working on a tegra-based device. I just assumed it was a phone, but this is probably it (with the hdmi out)

[CH3BURASHKA @ Apr 15th 2009 10:54PM]

No, for I too would like to rub against its metal cold body. However, judging by the specs (multitouch OLED screen? Full-on 3D games? mini-HDMI port + the hardware required to use it?) this thing will either a) never come out, b) will come out but severely lacking in these specs, or c) will cost on par with a MacBook Air (strangely, more powerful though...)

[jakem @ Apr 15th 2009 6:54AM]

I don't see why the HD in the name has to refer to the screen real-estate. If this thing was based on Tegra it would be perfectly capable of running HD content and even outputting it to an HDTV. Is any other PMP capable of doing that at the moment?

I think it would be quite cool to be able to download a 1080p video from the Marketplace and watch it on multiple devices without having to re-encode it.

[Andrew @ Apr 15th 2009 7:10AM]

You might see it running 1024x600 @ 3.4" though since 1024x600 can be found on a 4.3" screen.

and yes if it's tegra it would be awesome but it would also be slightly thicker than the renders.

[reiththestud @ Apr 15th 2009 7:41AM]

I was ready to believe this was real until I read the proposed specs. That just sounds WAY too much like a dream product to all be true.

[mac @ Apr 15th 2009 11:56AM]

I agree. This sounds way too ridiculous to be real. Especially with "3D Xbox game support". What does that even mean?

[ashan @ Apr 15th 2009 1:51PM]

It means nothing. It won't happen. 3D Xbox games come on DVDs, which are 4.7GB. You would be able to fit three games on a 16GB Zune with little room left for anything else. The 3D graphics processing requirements can not be fulfilled, even with Tegra guts. 1080p output doesn't mean 125 million polygons per second processing throughput, which is what the XBOX can do.

This shouldn't have even been posted, its so blatant. At least it should have been posted as a confirmed fanboy render.

[DeoWulf @ Apr 15th 2009 3:51PM]

The specs are not real, but the render is. However, within the render, the GUI is outdated; they've moved on from that. Anyways... This thing won't play Xbox games for real, more like XNA Game Studio 3d API games. The old Zunes could play 2D XNA games, so this is just a logical step forward. I expect to see 64 Gigs as well...

[Brad @ Apr 15th 2009 3:54PM]

@ashan

Actually, I've downloaded several 3d Xbox games through XBLA, which has a 200mb limit. Also, XBOX (and XBOX 360) games come on DVD9 discs, which top out at ~8.5gb, not 4.7gb.

I don't think anyone was proposing that this little device was a portable XBOX. It's the XBLA titles, and other XNA-series software that MIGHT run on it. I doubt it though.

[dcee @ Apr 16th 2009 10:04AM]

The Archos 5 and 7 can do that, outputs to 720p!

[ArcticFox @ Apr 15th 2009 6:54AM]

If this is sort of based on the Touch HD hardware with 800x480 screen ill buy it in an instant.

[Saad Rabia @ Apr 15th 2009 6:57AM]

Even when you know that it has no phone like the Touch HD? But I know what you mean.

[Gnormie @ Apr 15th 2009 7:03AM]

it does seem that mobile makers are making a habit out of putting HD in the titles then fitting ~4" screens that are 800x480. Though thats not to say i wouldn't like it to be able to play HD content simply so id never have to reencode video for my PMP or could output it to a TV or something.

[Dave Chappelle @ Apr 16th 2009 8:29AM]

Still this thing is beaten by the Onda HD 545 which really kicks ass and does 720P on its 5 inch screen, only reason i don't buy it NO MOBILE. i cannot be bothered carrying a wallet in one pocket and a mobile + PMP in the other.

oh ye and its beaten in the sense that '3d xbox games' is complete bullshit. However i am pretty sure that Onda does not have a touch screen nor HDMI tv out (but it does have tv out) ...

[Premature ejaculation man @ Apr 15th 2009 6:58AM]

Doesn't seem right to me.

[Galley @ Apr 15th 2009 8:11AM]

@Premature ejaculation man: best username ever!

[ButtmanBegins @ Apr 15th 2009 8:40AM]

In combination with his avatar... LOL

[joe23521 @ Apr 15th 2009 9:58AM]

Not to laugh at another man's misfortune, but HAHAHA....

[Jarrod @ Apr 15th 2009 10:24AM]

i love it also

[Hashbrown Hunter @ Apr 16th 2009 8:16AM]

So when you saw this did you happen to, how can i put this lightly..........jizz in your pants?

[TheBaldwin5 @ Apr 15th 2009 6:58AM]

I'm perfectly fine with my iPod Touch 2nd Generation.

[Saad Rabia @ Apr 15th 2009 7:00AM]

Thank goodness. We were all worried for you.

[superhobo @ Apr 15th 2009 9:12AM]

No, screw you, you absolutely HAVE TO BUY THIS!!!!!11 NOW!!!!

[Mike @ Apr 15th 2009 9:19AM]

get an iphone damnit. touch is useless!!!!!!!!!

[Justin E @ Apr 15th 2009 6:59AM]

Are we just going to ignore that the render of the back of the device looks completely screwed up? It doesn't even look like it's the backside of the first image, and the logo is off-center.

[tcc3 @ Apr 15th 2009 7:03AM]

I belive it is centered. Look at the lines toward the edges, I think the back is actually 3 sided. The edges are angled.

[CJ @ Apr 15th 2009 7:11AM]

Yeah, it looks like the edges have a bezel.

[wrabbit @ Apr 15th 2009 7:13AM]

Yep, and that "screw" hole I think is just a "design doohickey", if you look carefully you can see two more on the other side.

[Jonathan @ Apr 15th 2009 7:00AM]

Ugh. Where's the storage?

I was hoping for an upgrade from my Zune 80.