Feature

The Zune HD: more than an iPod touch wanna-be?

Microsoft's Zune HD is notably more competitive with Apple's products than earlier Zune generations and even one-ups the iPod touch in several areas.

By Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor -- EDN, 10/22/2009

The latest iteration of Microsoft's portable-multimedia-player series started shipping just a few weeks ago. Notably more competitive with Apple's products than was the case with prior Zune generations, it even one-ups the iPod touch in several areas. How did Microsoft implement these accomplishments?

1. The Zune HD marks the first notable design win for Nvidia's Tegra CPU, specifically an APX2600 running at an unknown (at press time) clock speed. Integrated hardware acceleration blocks handle video decoding, graphics processing, and other tasks that would otherwise notably burden the ARM 11 core and would consequently lead to both poor performance and degraded battery life if implemented solely in software. The Tegra CPU contains dedicated still- and video-image processing logic, but Microsoft did not include a camera in the Zune HD design.

2. This particular unit contains a Samsung-sourced K4X1G323PE-8GC6 1-Gbit, 32-bit mobile DDR SDRAM specified to run at a 166-MHz (CAS latency=3) memory clock rate. A teardown published by iFixit reveals a DDR SDRAM supplied by Hynix, however, thereby suggesting that Microsoft is buying memory at open-market rates instead of securing a single-supplier deal.

3. Nonvolatile storage in the 16-GByte Zune HD showcased here comprises a single Hynix NAND-flash memory; the unpopulated PCB site next to it is for a sibling IC in the 32-GByte product variant. Again, iFixit's analysis of a 32-GByte Zune HD revealed Toshiba-fabricated NAND devices, suggesting that Microsoft decided that day-by-day best-price bargain shopping was preferable to a single-vendor lock-in. Also notable on this side of the PCB is Kionix’s KXSD9 accelerometer.

4. Wireless connectivity is exclusively supplied by an Atheros AR6002 IEEE 802.11g transceiver. Unlike Apple's iPod touch, the Zune HD doesn't offer Bluetooth capabilities. And unlike Apple's latest fifth-generation iPod nano, the Zune HD's Wi-Fi is not of the 802.11n variety. In fairness, though, the iPod nano is currently only 802.11g as well; the Broadcom silicon potential is not (yet?) fully unlocked by firmware.

5. Other notable ICs on this side of the PCB include a Wolfson WM8352 power-management device with integrated two-channel audio codec, an Atmel AT88SC0808CA (PDF) 8-Kbit CryptoMemory EEPROM, and a Phison PS8006 NAND-flash-memory controller. The need for the PS8006 is unclear because the Nvidia Tegra CPU's specifications claim that it already offers “enhanced NAND-flash support.”

6. The “HD” portion of the product moniker references two distinct characteristics. First, the Zune HD can output 720p high-definition video to a tethered display through the device's dock connector. Also, the Zune HD is the first multifunction mobile player to support HD (that is, “hybrid digital”) radio capabilities, referencing the technology's ability to gracefully degrade from digital to traditional analog radio reception in “fringe” environments with low SNR (signal-to-noise ratio). SiPort's SP1010 terrestrial digital broadcast receiver IC implements the hybrid digital function. Users are even able to tag tracks they're listening to on the radio for later acquisition from Zune’s purchase and subscription-rental content options.

Not shown are the 3.7V, 2.45-Whr, 660-mAhr battery or the Samsung-sourced 3.5-in.-diagonal, 480×272-pixel, widescreen AMS326FA05 OLED display. The OLED’s high image quality is notable in dim ambient lighting, less so in daylight and other brighter viewing conditions, and its operating lifetime versus that of a traditional LED-backlit LCD is also yet to be determined.