Microsoft's Zune HD is supposed to be on its way out, but that's not stopping the portable media player from getting a small batch of new apps.

Microsoft has apologised for a "tweet" that has been blasted for seeming like a blatant effort to cash in on the death of 27-year-old British singer Amy Winehouse.

ARN's Matthew Sainsbury is in Washington, courtesy of Microsoft, for the company's World Partner Conference 2010. His reports plus those for IDG's American staff and slideshows are all part of this ARN special coverage of the conference.

Microsoft on Friday started offering a new model of the Zune HD portable media player with built-in storage of 64GB, double that of previous models.

Microsoft's new Zune HD is an innovative media player, but the obvious question remains: Has Microsoft finally matched or even surpassed Apple's iPod/iTunes juggernaut?

Microsoft plans to drop all of its Zune models except for a new high-definition (HD) version that is due out in two weeks, the company confirmed Wednesday.

Microsoft's upcoming Zune HD media player is powered by Nvidia's Tegra computing platform, a source familiar with the device's specifications confirmed on Friday.

A month after many details of Microsoft's new Zune HD player were leaked by blogs, the company finally made it official on Wednesday. The Zune HD will arrive in the U.S. sometime this fall and comes with an OLED touchscreen and HD radio among its main features.

We are just over a month away from the launch of Microsoft's contender to the iPod Touch, the Zune HD. Microsoft has put all its creative forces behind the upcoming Zune HD portable media player, and by the looks of it, the iPod Touch is up for some serious competition.