Creative ditches Zen Share WiFi player, X-Fi DAP might be in the works

Creative got some Jello-O knees in the run-up to launching Zen Share, its WiFi-enabled PMP, and decided to quit the project altogether. The company is blaming "technical complications," which we have a suspicion is shorthand for "building the necessary software to make WiFi helpful in a DAP is harder than we anticipated." That's too bad, but have no fear: Creative is replacing the project with a player due in the next two months that will sport an "exciting" design. We know, you're so excited right now. Rumor has it that the player could be an X-Fi-branded DAP with a metal back and X-Fi audio processing. Creative also confirmed that it's moving exclusively to flash memory.

[Via Electronista]

[sam @ May 27th 2008 10:46AM]

xfi is a bad branding, will hurt them. XFI has AWFUL P.R, bad decision, the brand name is tainted.

[gabe @ May 27th 2008 10:58AM]

good morning everyone

[Almighty- @ May 27th 2008 7:45PM]

Good Evening

[got80s @ May 27th 2008 11:55AM]

Dropping the wifi and going exclusively with flash is why I bought a Zune last night instead of a Creative player. I've had Creative players for years and the support behind them is so craptastic I just can't validate purchasing another one of their PMPs.

[Miker @ May 27th 2008 12:16PM]

B*llocks - I've been holding out for this...does this mean I'm going to have to buy an iPod for the first time in my life? Creative's sound quality is sooooo much better, but the touch's interface is a joy to use when you can just flick and point rather than laboriously scroll through your list and then down to your song even if it's on the screen...oooooo, I can't decide...what do you guys think? What should I do?!

I don't want to start a flame war, just post what you like about your respective player, don't slag off the competition.

I read itunes doesn't embed the album artwork in the MP3 tag, so if you move to another non-Apple player you're buggered which is a bit concerning...but I like gapless playback...but itunes tried to "intelligently" sort my albums and totally messed it up, thinking that because there were different artists in the same album they should be separated in the album view and coverflow....so I have loads of the same covers showing!

[surftacular @ May 27th 2008 12:34PM]

if it were me, i'd wait it out. they said the new player would be released in 2 months; if the new player doesn't have touchscreen capabilities like the Touch, they'd be taking a step back. between the Zen Vision:M (Ipod Classic), Zen (Ipod Nano), and Zen Stone/V Plus (Ipod Shuffle), they've matched and bested Apple's offerings; all but the Touch and the iPhone...

[Soar @ May 27th 2008 12:35PM]

Hi there,

I'm also a diehard creative fan, but everyday my 60gb zen gets older without something to replace it from creative that 80gb ipod appears more attractive.

I'm not sure how creative managed to throw this away, but now they have they might as well give up making mp3 players altogether.

[Rev. Felix the Black Cat @ May 27th 2008 2:36PM]

I have a Creative Zen Vision:M, and I ran into that cover art problem. What I've discovered is that iTunes doesn't embed the art in the files when it downloads art, but when you add it manually, it does. So, what I do when I rip a CD, add files, to iTunes etc., is copy the downloaded art to the clipboard, & then manually add it to the files. The art should then be embedded and should show on my player. For your existing library, you could manually add the art to the files you want to put on your player, you could add them to your player as they are and then add the art to the files on your player after the fact, or you could use Windows Media Payer to transfer your files to your player, instead. WMP doesn't embed the art it downloads, either, but Creative's players are designed to work with WMP, so WMP will transfer the art, anyway. I personally prefer iTunes over WMP, which is why I ran into this problem when I got my Zen, but adding the art manually has become second nature to me now.

[cDub @ May 27th 2008 2:38PM]

I jumped on the Creative bandwagon with the ZVM. That was a marvelous little device and got me proudly behind Creative and I could not stop showing off the sweet screen it had. Recently, Creative has done everything to make me hate them as a company. From suing some smart driver coder to releasing crappy camcorders that nobody wants, Creative is consistently shooting themselves in the foot.
I was excited about this ZenShare idea but now it looks like this is the last time I get my hopes up with Creative.

[Can @ May 27th 2008 2:26PM]

If creative makes a player with at least 64 GB flash memory, longer battery life, X-Fi audio quality, and readable on sunlight (using a glass that doesn't reflect sunlight but makes the screen make use of sunlight just like new phones), and if they make it in a slim package with an affordable price, I'd go for it.
Touchscreen would even be better but not essential.
Sound quality and storage are much more important.

[Sheila @ May 27th 2008 2:46PM]

Creative PLEASE add bluetooth to your players, so that I can use a wireless headset.