Over at CNET, they had a look at a recent build of the Zune HD. Apparently the device is getting close to a final product. The hardware received some praise as well as video playback and a the music player, which has been refined. They really liked the Zune HD’s browser and found it to be excellent.

It was built by the IE team, which is good news for prospective Windows Mobile 6.5 users, and it’s comparable to the iPhone in features as well as speed. You get pinch to zoom, accelerometer-based reorientation, and a decent onscreen keyboard. No Flash though. All in all it sounds fairly awesome.

There’s a select group of people living among us that make no sense at all. Like this guy, who is willing to endure a painful and permanent tattoo in order to win a Palm Pre. Hell, just buy the phone. It’s not nearly as painful and in a few years you’ll be on to the next big phone.

Obviously the dude wanted his fifteen minutes of fame. It looks more like 15 minutes of lame. This guy and the Zune guy need to get together and talk about their next project. They would make quite a team.

Peter Bale, executive producer of MSN recently spoke to the Telegraph and announced that Microsoft will launch a streaming music service “imminently”, by the end of July. Bale said the service will be similar to Spotify, a streaming music service that offers both an ad-supported listening option as well as a premium subscription service with no ads. Bale also added that Microsoft is considering extending the service to the Xbox 360, but he didn’t give any other details.

They are still examining a business model. Apparently the service would let users stream tunes for free as long as they listen to ads every half hour or so. It will be interesting to see how this initiative will tie-in with the company’s Xbox 360 and Zune.

It’s official. Zune HD will be powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra processor, making it the first PMP in the world that can claim that honor. NVIDIA confirmed it themselves. The all-in-one processor offers hardware acceleration of video and can consume just 150mW of power at full speed, giving it a battery life like a regular media player in spite of the demands of 720p video playback.

The new Zune is likely using an APX 2500 or 2600 processor, which combines an ARM11 processor with a GeForce-based graphics core and controllers for memory and output. It has just enough performance to display 720p at full resolution when using HDMI and also supports 3D rendering performance much faster than most handheld devices.

Here’s some more Zune/Windows Mobile rumors. According to Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet she has specs for Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1, the heart of that rumored “Pink” smartphone. Here’s the rundown.

Chassis 1 phones will all have 3.5-inch or larger multitouch displays with ARM v6+ processors and OpenGL ES 2.0-compatible graphics hardware, 256MB or more of RAM and 1GB or more of storage, as well as at least a 3 megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, compass, and accelerometer. And a 3.5mm headphone jack is required. Get this. NVIDIA’s Tegra platform is specifically listed as meeting the core CPU requirements, as well as TI’s OMAP 3 platform and “Qualcomm 8k,”.

Another Zune phone rumor has surfaced. If it all pans out we may have a Zune phone this June. It all started with a Twitter update from the Microsoft Office 2010 team that stated, “June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers”, followed by another tweet mentioning “New product launch, that’s all I’m allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre. ”.

That suggests that this is more than a new Zune portable media player. Something to do with E3? That’s about all we know at the moment. At any rate, looks like it will be Zune this June.

It’s been long overdue and at long last Microsoft has redesigned the Windows Mobile interface. No doubt users will like the honeycomb layout and the Zune-like feel. There’s more to like with no-waiting voice mail, cloud-syncing MyPhone online service, and a new app store. Hey, where have I heard this before?

Things are not only meant to be finger friendly, but are designed to be used with one hand. The design on some of the screens has clearly been inspired by Windows Media Center and much of the information can be accessed by simply swiping up/down, left/right.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.
You can’t make this stuff up. It doesn’t speak very highly of Microsoft’s Zune, when this thief takes everything on the desk, spots the Zune, unplugs the earphones and takes them, then throws the Zune back onto the desk before leaving. Yeah, that’s not a ringing endorsement for the device.

Check out this pair of iPods that have been turned into iPod speakers. The original iPod scroll wheels were removed and replaced with a pair of speakers. This particular DIY project is a bit expensive at around $100 (he needed to replace both the front and back panels since the old ones had too many scratches to count), although I don’t see why a smart shopper couldn’t do it for a bit less.

IPod speakers for an iPod. Makes sense. Let’s not go crazy though. We don’t need to see Zune speakers for Zunes and iPhone speakers for your iPhone. I’m just kidding. We love any and all clever mods, even when they get a bit redundant.

We covered the Zune Pink project rumor regarding a Zune phone by Microsoft; however, the latest rumors indicate is that the mobile arena isn’t looking at a single Microsoft branded mobile handset, but an instead an entire software and services platform.

The news is that Project Pink may include Zune Mobile support, which may render into a Zune Mobile software package for Windows Mobile that could well be more robust media support than any previous Microsoft powered mobile phone, and could also predict a mobile downloads store.

It’s a rumor that refuses to die. The Zune phone. We last speculated about it back in July. Now the Zune Phone is looking very likely. A legitimate news organization, CNBC had something to say about it. Jim Goldman says that according a “good source,” Microsoft is “ready to give a major facelift to the company’s Zune music player that could mean its evolution into a new smart phone from the company.” It’s codenamed “Pink” and “will combine the company’s Zune and technology from Microsoft’s purchase of Danger Inc.”

Are you excited? Microsoft has dropped some hints that it wanted to combine Danger’s consumer-friendly OS expertise with the Zune. It makes sense. A ZunePhone made by Danger might be a Microsoft smartphone that is actually worth the wait.

Many of you are eagerly awaiting news on a Zune phone. Until that actually happens, take a look at this. Designed by Adam Huffman, the new Zune Contact concept comes loaded with a new user interface, a lickable super slim body, a 5MP digital camera and a full touch screen display. Unlike the 120GB Zune, this one is only a concept so don’t ask where you can buy it. You never know, we may see it’s like some day in the future.

Accordng to iLounge, this year’s iPod nano will have a larger screen than the current generation offers and will be more like a Zune. It will have the same 1.5:1 widescreen aspect ratio that the iPhone and iPod touch enjoys.

Something obviously needs to be done to fit that screen in right? That’s why they are giving it the shape of the older models, which will seem really weird at first glance. It seems like a step backwards, upping the size, but what they are after is usability.

It was inevitable that more rumors of a possible Zune phone would begin circulating. It makes perfect sense. Microsoft has got to want a slice of Apple pie. Why wouldn’t they be planning a Zune phone to go up against the iPhone?

It’s expected to be a touchscreen based smartphone. One of the rumors has the Zune phone running on a special version of Windows Mobile 7, with key functionality built around Windows Live Services. We’ll find out one way or another. Hopefully a Zune phone would fare better then zune Vs. iPod.

Here’s another look into a possible future where hair dye and colored wigs and gadgets go hand and hand. Yesterday we told you about the 2010 Wii. Well, here’s another item from T3. This one sports a dame with pink hair and big…dreams, if you’re interested in clicking through to see.

It’s an XBox 360 and a Zunephone in one compact package that leaves us drooling. But you know how it goes. Unfortunately, there is no real Zune phone. It’s going to have to remain in fantasy land, where brightly haired babes play with them.