AfterDawn: News

Zune HD will be American exclusive

Arstechnica has been in touch with Microsoft over recent rumors that the Zune HD will be a US-exclusive, and unfortunately for those hoping for an international release, the rumors happen to be true.

Says the Redmond-based behemoth: "For the time being the Zune HD device will remain US-only. Right now we are focused on deploying an exciting service in the form of Zune Video to 18 markets. We are looking at potential future hardware experiences for these markets, but do not have anything to announce right now."



The move follows that of the original hard-drive based Zune, which was released in America in 2006 and nowhere else until it hit Canada in 2008.

The upcoming Zune HD device features a 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen with 480 x 272 resolution and 16:9 display. It will also include HD radio, Wi-Fi, and 720p HD output via HDMI.

We recently reported that Microsoft was discontinuing all other Zune models that don't end with "HD," killing off the Zune 8, 16, 80, and 120 models.

Microsoft has had trouble breaking into the MP3 player market, while Apple recently announced iPod market share at 73.8 percent.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Sep 2009 13:36

• Previous article

• Four members of pre-release piracy group face jail time, fines

• Next article

• Sharp creates laser for quadruple-layer Blu-ray discs

• 5 comments

• kikzm33z

  Always wanted a Zune but they don't get released in the UK :(

  11.9.2009 15:11 #1

• Morreale

  Looks Like I'll be cross boarder shopping soon... That or I get the 32GB Creative X-Fi 2, pending review and whichever has the best sound quality.

  11.9.2009 17:02 #2

• akira247

  just pre-orderded my Zune-HD in uk...dont mind no HD Radio..aslong as everything else works ok...im sure there will be an app that fixes the problem with the radio for uk users....if not the pirate hacking team will sort it.. was not into Zune..but this is competitive with apple....thanks!!

  11.9.2009 18:09 #3

• KillerBug

  Hmmm...they won't sell to most of the world, yet they don't have enough customers...how F**king stupid are the marketing execs at microsoft anyway?
  
  Get the creative...save yourself the DRM B.S. and the crummy microsoft hardware...and get a better price at the same time.

  12.9.2009 03:56 #4

• xnmalletx

  I am very interested in the coming Zune HD but I think I'm going to go with the Archos 7 this Christmas. It looks more promising.

  12.9.2009 19:59 #5