It seems as though Microsoft are always playing catch up to Apple. While Bill Gates & Co have always seemed to lead the way when it came to personal computing, they are forever behind in the mobile technology industry, and the iPod consistently outsells the Zune. However is that about to change?

There has been much excitement surrounding the new Zune HD multimedia player. Essentially created to rival Apple’s iPod Touch, the Zune offers some features which the iPod does not:

•    HD Radio
•    HD Video playback
•    OLED display

As well as this the new Zune HD incorporates all of its old features as well. It also supports Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and there is talk of it supporting flash and video streaming through its Wi-Fi.

However one point of contention is its storage capacity. At 32 GB it is well equipped to deal with even the most serious music lovers; however when it comes to high definition things are a little different. If you plan to use the new Zune as a high definition device then don’t count on storing many movies on it as the average HD films is around 4-6 GB in size. As well as this there have been some negative reviews surrounding the size of its screen. At 3.3 inches many feel that it is too small to effectively warrant watching feature length high definition videos, unless you’re near a television and can utilize the video docking station and output it to an HDTV via the HDMI connection.

What do we make of the new Microsoft Zune HD? It is certainly a powerful device. We should have already mentioned that it packs Nvidia’s multicore Tegra processor. It also has a bit of an edge over the iPhone in terms of its ability to transmit HD radio and HD video playback. Also, if rumors are true and it is able to stream online video then this will be another blow to Apple in terms of features and functionality. It remains to be seen how the Zune will be priced, however don’t expect it to be any cheaper than the latest iPod touch.