Zune HD 4.5 Firmware Update Live and Available

At the end of March 2010, Microsoft announced the imminent release of an update for the firmware of the HD flavor of its digital media player. And although the company gave itself a little elbow room, indicating that the refresh was planned for the coming weeks, it took less than a week for Zune HD 4.5 to make it to end users. Just after Easter, the Redmond giant started offering owners of Zune HD devices a new release of firmware, delivered as the spring update for the digital media players from Microsoft.

Zune HD 4.5 is only a firmware update, and as such, not available for download in a PC version. At the same time, as the official label of the refresh implies, only users of Zune HD devices will be able to access and install the new firmware release. In order to do so, “Connect your Zune HD to the Zune PC software, go to Settings, Device, Player Update. There will be an option to ‘check for updates’ or ‘update,’ click the button, update and enjoy,” a member of the Zune Insider team stated.

At the bottom of this article, you will be able to find a video from the Zune team highlighting the new additions to Zune HD firmware. Microsoft has worked to make ‘Smart DJ’ available not only on the Zune software, where it was introduced last fall, but also on the Zune HD device. Smart DJ is a music-discovery feature that allows users to broaden their horizon, based on their listening habits.

As you will be also be able to see in the video below, browsing and streaming music from Zune Marketplace can now be performed on the TV, as long as the Zune HD is connected to the Zune HD A/V dock. In addition, the Redmond company has expanded the video-codec support for Zune HD, allowing owners to view more content by default.