Zune HD confirmed to use Nvidia Tegra chip

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97
Staff

There has been quite an amount of buzz surrounding the Zune HD in recent months. Although Microsoft has already confirmed the device’s existence and some of its features, many were left wondering exactly what would power all that promised high-def goodness. Citing unnamed sources within the company, Neowin revealed back in April that the Zune HD will use Nvidia’s Tegra chipset for its 3.3-inch OLED touch screen and 720p HDMI output, and now Ryan Shrout from PC Perspective has corroborated this info from the other side of the fence.


According to Shrout, he actually learned this in early June from some Nvidia staffers over at Computex, but just didn’t realize how “news worthy” the information was – even though it represents the first deal to use Tegra in a major product. Not much in the way of new information was revealed, only mentioning previously disclosed characteristics like the chip’s ability to decode a video stream using just 150mW of power and output audio at only 20mW.

Tegra is built around an ARM11 processor and includes an ultra low power GeForce GPU, HD video and audio processor and all the chip architecture needed for a complete SoC solution. Microsoft’s choice of hardware potentially gives it an advantage over Apple's iPod touch, and indirectly supports rumors of the Zune HD doubling as a gaming handheld.

Permalink to story.

 
WOW! that actually sounds impressive! I would laugh if it takes the market by storm! it would be nice to see apple put back in its place since I can't but the new iphone with out having an insane price tag on it (32GB iPhone 3G S £500+) and I am happy to place money this won't be as much as that!
 
the real question is how much battery charge will this thing take up. No one is going to buy a product where the battery will last only a matter of hrs.
 
I'll stick around and wait for the Nvidia Tegra 650 to come out. Apparently they're supposed to carry a much smaller price tag than the iphone, blackberry, and any other smartphone. The Tegra 600/650 will be able to play music for 25 days (not hours) on a single charge and up to 10 hours of HD video playback.

Look up user TegraByNVIDIA on youtube for more info about it.
 
Because they opted to use the OLED display it could potentially have superior battery life since it doesn't waste power with backlighting.
 
As a user of a Fisrt gen Zune 30GB there are quite a few things MS needs to change for me to get a new Zune or the HD.

Ditch MTP, make it drag and drop so I can use it as a removable storage device.

Get rid of the Zune software, just merge Zune and WMP. I wouldn't mind if the Zune software was better than WMP, but I prefer WMP for listening to my music and watching video. I only use the Zune software when I wanna syc my Zune device.

Use a standard USB plug, companies using proprietary is soooo freaking annoying. Most of the time I don't leave home with my Zune cable. I wanna be able to charge my Zune at a friends house or work, somewhere which is most likely to have a standard usb cable or two lying around, but not likely to have a Zune cable.

Release it globaly. They are planning to do this with the HD I understand. But as someone who disslikes iPods, the Zune was the best alternative I could find at the time of my purchasing. I was lucky to find one on eBay in Australia.

Fix the shuffle feature. Seriously it's crap! I wan't a proper random shuffle!

Apart from that, the Interface and the actual device are really good IMO. I think my disslikes with the Zune could be easily fixed. And I'm sure even just making the original Zunes usable as removable storage would of sold A LOT more units.
 
Anyone know how much space the HD will have, I had the 120gb zune, but someone stole it out of my car, sad story, anyway, if anyone gets an update, let me know. I have 38,000 songs on my zune player and I try to put as much music on my player as possible.
 
Standalone music players are so last decade. Seriously, what's the point microsoft. Make an all in one device like the iPhone. At the very very least make an app store, give Zune WiFi/3G so you can download files, vidoes, games, movies and music from the App Store wirelessly.

So one wants just a standalone music/video player that does little else anymore. We want an all in one device that we can do everything we need to with, from recording video to making phone calls, to GPS, to downloading music and movies and watching them right then and there. But I guess being behind the curve is what microsoft is all about.
 
Agree with all points, especially going to WMP and removable storage device compatibility.
 
Obviously you don't know anything about this chipset. It's touted to be able to handle DAYS not hours worth of music playback on a device. See here - http://www.zuneboards.com/?p=vB43372
 
the real question is how much battery charge will this thing take up. No one is going to buy a product where the battery will last only a matter of hrs.

Obviously you don't know anything about this chipset. It's touted to be able to handle DAYS not hours worth of music playback on a device. See here - http://www.zuneboards.com/?p=vB43372

Sorry for the double post mods..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back