Zune HD Now Available for Pre-Order

The news is out! The Zune HD is set to drop on September 15th. Can’t wait to get your hands on one? You can pre-order the new music and video player now at Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and the Microsoft Store. In addition, starting September 15th, you can purchase from ZuneOriginals.net where they’ll have the player available in all five color options which you can customize with engravings from various guest artists.

Already we’ve read several rave reviews about the device and now we know the prices too: the Zune HD 16 GB player is $219.99 and the 32 GB player is $289.99.

In select markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis / St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., you can pre-order the Zune HD on August 22nd and 23rd at any Best Buy store. They’ll also have some devices on hand to play with. Plus, you can “play” with the device virtually online at Zune.net/ZuneHD.

So what’s new in the Zune HD? It will feature the following, according to Zune.net:

• Built-in HD Radio™ receiver. Allows you to listen to higher-quality sound than is available from traditional radio channels, as well as access additional programming through HD2 and HD3 multicast channels from many of your favorite local FM radio stations at no extra cost.
• HD video output capabilities. Supports HD video playback from the device through a premium HDMI A/V docking station (sold separately) directly to an HDTV in 720p, making it easy to enjoy better-than-DVD-quality video on your own big screen at home.
• OLED touch screen. Allows you to easily flip through music, movies and other content. The 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480x272 resolution) offer a premium viewing experience.
• Built-in Wi-Fi. Allows for browsing, streaming or downloading new music from Zune Marketplace.
• Internet browser. Full-screen Web browsing, optimized for the multitouch screen with zoom-in and zoom-out gestures.
• Accessories, at home and on the road. Zune HD and AV Dock charges and syncs players while playing supported 720p HD videos on HDTVs. Play HD Radio, music and podcasts from your Zune HD device through your car stereo using the Zune Premium Car Pack

It’s also worth noting that the Zune HD will use Nvidia’s multicore Tegra processor, one of the most powerful chips to be found in a media player as of yet. The Tegra has two processor cores – one to run the OS plus an additional Nvidia GeForce graphics chip. Even better, the chip uses less than 0.5 watts of power, thanks to it being built on the ARM11 core.

When you’re ready to pre-order, head to Zune.net/ZuneHD and click the drop-down box at the top right of the screen to select the retailer you want to order from.