Zune HD 64GB Release 11-2010
The 64 GB Zune HD is not all about storage capacity, as it will supposedly be able to store massive amounts of media, such as 16,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 20 hours of HD video. It will also offer consumers a colorful 3.3-inch touchscreen with multi-touch capability, integrated Wi-Fi, a web browser, free HD radio access, and more.

The 64 GB Zune HD will initially be available for purchase via the Zune’s online store, ZuneOriginals.net. It will be priced at $349, with various color schemes to choose from, such as platinum, blue, red, green, and magenta. A few months after its release, most likely by summer of 2010, the 64 GB Zune HD will be available for purchase from other online retailers in a simpler black color scheme. As of right now, Microsoft plans to limit the sale of the player to online merchants, rather than typical retail venues such as Best Buy.

If you do prefer to do your shopping in person, however, the 16 GB and 32 GB versions of the Zune HD are available in retail stores, and Microsoft announced that the two will have their prices cut by $20 to $199 and $269, respectively. These price cuts are undoubtedly aimed at the competing iPod Touch from Apple, whose similar capacities go for $299 and $399. With the smaller capacity 8 GB iPod Touch costing the same as the 16 GB Zune HD, Microsoft wins the price war versus Apple.

Since the iPod name is etched into the minds of so many consumers, the Zune seems like one of the red-headed stepchildren of the portable media family. Sure, the product could be magnificent, but to many it will not matter, as the Apple iPod branding and the reputation it has built over the years could be too much for Microsoft to overcome.