Microsoft confirms Zune HD coming this fall

Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed its plans to take on the iPod touch with a new touchscreen Zune that will be able to surf the Web, play high-definition movies, and tune in to digital radio.

The Zune HD, which will be available in the US only starting this fall, features an HD Radio tuner as well as an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touchscreen, Microsoft said. It is based on Windows CE and will use a version of Internet Explorer customized for its touchscreen, Microsoft said.

The software maker did not announce pricing or capacity, though it said the device will use flash memory and attempt to take on Apple's high-end iPod models.
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Battle of the video game DJ rigs: Introducing Numark's Scratch Deck

If plastic guitars were 2007 and drums 2008, then the 2009 plastic-peripheral throwdown of choice is definitely the turntable. Whereas Activision showed off their goods in a Twitter leak a few weeks ago, Genius Products waited to spill the reveal of their Numark-designed rig, the Scratch Deck, until the days before E3. It's the centerpiece peripheral for the upcoming Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. First impressions suggest it's more compact than Activision's plasti-turntable, while also bearing greater similarities to the old Konami Beatmania controller.

The Scratch Deck has a spinning, "touch-sensitive" turntable, as well as a crossfader and five Akai Pro MPC drumpads. It's impressive that the equipment carries the label of a legit music industry standard. Price, however, has not been given, leading us to believe that brand-name design might carry a brand-name tag.
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Zune HD will be a music player, not a super-device

After months of increasingly wild rumors, CNET's Ina Fried got the official scoop yesterday: Microsoft is, indeed, releasing the Zune HD this fall. The device will feature an OLED touchscreen, high-definition video output (with an optional addon), a version of Internet Explorer (it sounds similar to the version planned for Windows Mobile 6.5, which uses the core IE6 engine but adds Flash support, as well as some technology from IE8 to better support JavaScript), and HD Radio.

I spoke to the Zune marketing team this morning, and they didn't have much to say beyond those points. In fact, they weren't originally planning on saying anything until later this summer, but felt they needed to set expectations for Zune customers in light of all the rumors.

Here's why: The Zune HD isn't going to be the super-device that some geeks had been hoping for. It will play games--just like today's Zunes, which ship with a couple simple games--but it won't be a full-fledged gaming device like the Sony PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS.
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Q-Sound's solar-powered Bluetooth headphones

Ready for the Q-Sound? I'm not so sure I am. My idea of a Bluetooth stereo headset has to be extremely compact and portable. Romania-based Shepeleff Stephen's solar-fed concept, on the other hand, packs silicon panels into the headband. Translated, that means over-the-head ear cans in order to fit the solar cells where they matter. What's more, this'll have to be sizeable enough to pack two removable NiMH rechargeable batteries within the headband to store the power. Still, anything eco gets a nod for effort. And who knows, by the time something like this rolls into production, the final release may well be a lightweight futuristic strip you won't even notice.
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An audiobook player designed for the blind

One of the least appreciated conveniences MP3 players have given us is the capability to fit a library of audiobooks in our pocket. For those with vision impairment or blindness, the ease of instantly downloading digital audiobooks is especially liberating, compared with the days of CDs and cassettes. Unfortunately, most MP3 players simply aren't designed with accessibility in mind, keeping the convenience of digital audiobooks out of reach for those who would most appreciate it.

The HumanWare VictorReader Stream digital-audio player isn't particularly slim, attractive, or affordable (US$349), but its unique design is made specifically for the needs of blind and vision-impaired users.
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