Microsoft has confirmed that they will be releasing the new Zunes: 4GB, 8GB and 80GB model on November 13th exactly a month and 10 days from now. Amazon has already listed them for preorder. They will continue to retail the first gen zune (i.e. the 30GB model) for $199.99 and will release a firmware update 2.1 to make it backward compatible, that means you will automatically get the new features through this update. I guess the only difference will be the new design with a sleek touch sensitive button called zune pad for browsing.

Specifications:

Both 4GB and 8GB flash memory based zunes will have a 1.8 inch screen and will come in black, pink, green and red. The 4 GB version will retail for $149.99 and the 8GB one for $199.99. The dimensions for both are 3.6 x 1.62 x 0.33; Weight: 1.7oz.

The 80GB zune will have a 3.2 inch screen, premium headphones and will retail for $249.99. The dimensions are 4.26 x 2.41 x 0.51; Weight 4.5oz.

Features:

All of these devices will have wireless sync, updated wireless sharing, an FM tuner, updated device UI, lossless playback support and a bright LCD color screen to display music, pictures, videos and podcasts. You’ll also be able to sync your Vista Media Center TV content to your Zune. There’s still no word on the battery performance of the new zunes.

They have also redesigned the zune software and the zune marketplace. The ZMP will now host more than 3 million tracks, thousands of music videos, free audio and video podcasts and over a million DRM-free MP3s that can be played on your zune or any other DMP.

They have also launched something called Zune Social, an online community in beta which extends the connection from device-device to PC-to-PC and allows you to share music tastes, knowledge and experiences with others. This will be possible by creating a personalized profile called Zune Card with your picture, custom backgrounds, biographical information and more. You will be able to browse your friend’s profiles, invite friends, send and receive song recommendations and post comments. Your card will automatically update with the music you are playing on your Zune or with your Zune software.

See Cesar’s post for more detailed information: