The Zune HD's big release was today. Microsoft's first touch-screen media device has a lot of promise. With the NVIDIA TENGRA chip in it, it is one of the first touch-screen devices to support full 720p (with video-out for sharing on external monitors/televisions. With an OLED screen, it also lowers the amount of energy so on the user side of things, that means a better battery-life. The big features in the HD are the HD capability, HD radio, internet web-browser, and support for apps/games. It currently comes in 4 colors (Only the 32g. The colors are: red blue green, and silver. The 16g only comes in black) and is able for custom engraving/Zune Originals (from the Zune.com store only). Also, Microsoft promises Xbox 360 integration to come soon. A breakdown of the Zune HD can be found at iFixit.com
The Zune software had a face-lift as well. With 4.0, some very well needed changed came with it. First-off 4.0 has complete compatibility with Windows 7, so for all you Zune users who were worrying about compatibility issues, be assured. Microsoft is one step ahead of you. Some of the new features to the software itself is a mini-player, smart DJ, pinning, and a taskbar player. For all that enjoyed the Windows Media Player mini-player and toolbar, it will be easy to figure out the new mini-player and toolbar as it is almost identical. Having the toolbar is useful when using other applications without always having to switch pages. The new opening screen hosts a few new features. 
With the "Smart DJ" (Microsoft's counter to Apple's "Genius" feature) boxes for up to 5 smart DJ mixes, makes it easy to play entire playlists without having to go all the way into the software (now Smart DJ can have as many mixes as you want directly in the software, it's just boxes for 5 in the home-screen though). They also re-did the "background" page for when you are playing music. But that's just a small cosmetic change. On the marketplace side of things, the release of movies came finally. With a big catalog (and growing all the more), you can find your favorite movies now.
Finally an "app-store" is now built into the marketplace. With a VERY limited amount of apps, don't think this app-store will be the Apple app-store killer yet... It still has a LONG way to go before that. Hopefully Microsoft will come up with a way to submit apps for the store soon so third-party apps can start to be in development.
In summary, the 4.0 software is a really well-designed update. Some of the features were well needed. It's very easy to use, and visual friendly. As compared to the dull design of iTunes, the Zune software does have a lot of eye-candy. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft's future for Zune will be.
In summary, the 4.0 software is a really well-designed update. Some of the features were well needed. It's very easy to use, and visual friendly. As compared to the dull design of iTunes, the Zune software does have a lot of eye-candy. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft's future for Zune will be. 
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