The Redmond, Washington-based software giant has announced the pricing of its forthcoming models of its Zune HD Portable Media Player - while a 16GB Zune HD will cost $220; the 32GB model has been priced at $290.

About the specs of the Zune HD players - to be launched on September 15 - Microsoft has revealed that these models are powered by Nvidia's Tegra chip and support compressed HD video (.h264) playback at 30fps and a 1280x720 resolution. The devices have a battery life of 33 hours while playing music.

Both the Zune models, introduced with the aim of making a sizeable dent in the market share of iPods, also boast ample storage space - precisely 16GB or 32 GB -; a 3.3 inch OLED touchscreen; up to 8.5 hours of video playback; and support for HD Radio.

Along with the ability to receive regular stations, the Wi-Fi-enabled Zune HD players - to facilitate Web browsing and downloading audio and video - will come with built-in radios that can receive stations broadcasting in the HD format to offer improved audio quality. They can access also digital stations that regular radios fail to pick up!

Moreover, with the use of optional docking stations, the new Zune HD devices will even be able to play HDTV-format videos on a TV set!