Creative announces Zen Mosaic, looks like bad Mondrian

Creative's got yet another on the way: the Zen Mosaic, which will have a 1.8-inch display, 2, 4, or 8GB capacities, FM tuner, speakers, MP3 / WMA / WAV / Audible codec support, and 32 hours of battery life. They're apparently starting in Singapore and working their way over, but they shouldn't top $200 when they're eventually announced for the US.

[Thanks, Rube]

Read - Announced details on the player [Via EpiZenter]
Read - First hands-on

[Prezzie @ Jul 24th 2008 2:18AM]

I've been a long-time Creative fan...but...wtf?

[Tonicboy @ Jul 24th 2008 3:40AM]

It's quite simple, you see. Creative realized that they were losing way too many sales to their Zen V, so they came up with this. They're hoping to capture 100% of the Creative media player market by the end of next quarter. Madness? Bah, you just didn't go to the right business school.

[avester @ Jul 24th 2008 6:18AM]

I've been a long time Creative fan too, but I still think that the wheel solution found on Muvo TX FM is the best control solution.

[Cal @ Jul 24th 2008 6:51AM]

"I've been a long-time Creative fan...but...wtf?"

Pretty much how I feel =(

Why can't they just make a true successor to the Vision or the Vision: M?

[Timmy @ Jul 24th 2008 9:07AM]

This looks like one of those slide puzzles, where you move the pieces so you can see the flag, meh.

[Joe @ Jul 24th 2008 9:45AM]

I'm only a former creative fan (back when I used PCI sound cards, in the way back when) but I think that at least this device looks nice. The varying shades work nicely and should provide some subtle context clues so that you can use it with a little less effort. Of course this all depends on the software, but there's promise.

However, I doubt it will sell well when the same $200 would get you 8GB storage and a whole lot more from Apple. Maybe it will sell well to those who just hate Apple.

[GiF @ Jul 24th 2008 11:12AM]

Still, compared to the nano, it really... sucks.

I'm not an Apple Fanboy. I have been with Creative Nomad for 1 year then I went to Apple iPod Mini then Creative Zen V then Apple iPod Classic.
I guess you could say I'm divided.

I would still get the nano over this, cause it's aluminum, and isn't plastic trying to be aluminum, like the Stone.

[Limezor @ Jul 24th 2008 2:22AM]

They're going to have to make something a lot less ugly than this to attract people away from iPods...

[Chuckles McGee @ Jul 24th 2008 8:11AM]

Looks like the buttons were assembled from a pile of refurbished Zens of yore...

[PeterF @ Jul 24th 2008 2:23AM]

I just don't understand. Why can't these companies come up with something to compete with the iPod other then price? Is it really SO hard to make a decent looking music player?

[tekdroid @ Jul 24th 2008 7:18AM]

Are you suggesting that competing with iPod is all about looks?

[Kamokazi @ Jul 24th 2008 8:14AM]

Looks are all a matter of opinion anyway. I think there are many players that look better than the iPod, to me (especially the original white plastic one...I thought that was hideous). In this case, Creative's ID and Marketing teams clearly had opinions that differed from most Engadget readers. This thing is fugly.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 24th 2008 8:13PM]

I agree. I'm continually baffled by the fact that it seems even enormous companies with billions of dollars of revenue each month can't even get CLOSE to competing with Apple on industrial design and software interfaces. Seriously, I've seen a lot of EXCELLENT design work, both in interfaces and especially Industrial design, but it appears that none of these creative people get hired! Or at least the companies are too idiotic to let them actually create something unique. I know the human resources are available, so where are the products?

forget iPods, Look at recent cellphone interfaces! Nothing compares to the iPhone. Microsoft makes billions of dollars of PROFIT each quarter and yet they can't hire a decent design staff for Vista/Zune/etc? It's really odd....




Looks are all a matter of opinion anyway. I think there are many players that look better than the iPod, to me (especially the original white plastic one...I thought that was hideous). In this case, Creative's ID and Marketing teams clearly had opinions that differed from most Engadget readers. This thing is fugly.

[heshmati4 @ Jul 24th 2008 2:37AM]

I guess Creative ran out of ideas??? I thought Creative was creative??? No?

[who? @ Jul 24th 2008 2:40AM]

Never.

[El Taco @ Jul 24th 2008 3:24AM]

nada

[tekdroid @ Jul 24th 2008 7:11AM]

http://sg.creative.com/products/product_CreativeStore.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=17897

This is all a smokescreen for lack of codec support :)
http://flac.sourceforge.net

Seriously tho: How do you get noticed in the market with its chief competitor getting all the hype? Make it look different. That they have done. I quite like that it has a scratch-resistant sorta-rubbery finish (if the 'hands-on' link speaks the truth). It's also matte, as god intended. It also has a built-in speaker, to annoy u on the train (I jest).

Creative can innovate, and should. Their codec support is really "what everyone else is doing" and the battery is not removable, neither is the storage. Not that most of their competition is doing much different, but you'd think with the money they have to innovate, do these guys WANT to actually compete or are they happy with largely superficial offerings?

I'm being a tad rough on them tho, coz there's so little innovation with most companies in the audio realm.

We have virtual upstarts from China and Korea adding FLAC and Ogg Vorbis, for instance. Creative continues to look the other way.

Removable batteries and storage? In some models, maybe. But c'mon, time to try a bit harder.

[lukas88 @ Jul 24th 2008 2:40AM]

I think it looks good

[ZSX @ Jul 24th 2008 2:48AM]

I also think it looks good, and I am sure it will sell well in its home market, as well as those of its east Asian neighbours. The pink one is especially sweet.

The new Creative players are now all moving to a 9-button input system - for T9 input like their X-Fi player?

[jed @ Jul 24th 2008 4:50AM]

creative x-fi doesn't have t9 input, according to a recent video review. i agree with other posts, there is nothing new with this thing.

[tekdroid @ Jul 24th 2008 7:21AM]

I quite like the matte finish and rounded corners (far more comfortable in the pocket and hands, IMO). Can't say I am crazy about the superfluous mosaic design but I've seen a lot worse - and a lot worse functional.

[GiF @ Jul 24th 2008 10:58AM]

I also think it looks good and rotating the screen isn't pointless like on my Zen V. It has a square screen so whatever you do to the orientation doesn't matter on the V. I like this one cause it looks like the more matte finish won't get as much fingerprints as my Zen V and the buttons actually look kinda cool, if you know where they are it shouldn't be a problem.
The should make them in different colors than that and use different tones for the buttons. I think the matte finish looks more like pebbles than the V's "pebble like design".

[Ruben @ Jul 24th 2008 2:42AM]

You guys should take a look at the First Look by kingone from "Nothing But Creative" first, before you judge based on this photoshopped image.

It looks pretty decent, and it's actually a successor to Creative Zen V Plus. And it's good to see that it's no longer that plastic-ky style, instead it has a rubberish feel to it. What's more - it's scratch-resistant! All I can say is that it's totally unique for sure, though it is shaped like Sony candybar phones. It's fairly slim too.. Should work pretty alright with the Asian market, targetting the fashionable youths. Haha.

[Limezor @ Jul 24th 2008 2:42AM]

Also: I think that all these BMP/GIF looking GUIs need to be fixed and look nice (iPod Touch is pure eye candy).

[rahul @ Jul 24th 2008 2:42AM]

Who designs this stuff?

[tekdroid @ Jul 24th 2008 7:13AM]

Mr Mosaic Square.

[Goofster @ Jul 24th 2008 2:45AM]

Super offtopic, but just FYI, Mondriaan is written with two A's. I appreciate the dutch reference though ;)

[Rex @ Jul 24th 2008 2:59AM]

haha i laughed at the Piet Mondri(a)an reference when I read the title.

[Ruben @ Jul 24th 2008 2:49AM]

I believe if you want to compare with Apple products, the only one that seem appropriate would be iPod Nano still. In any case, it's a successor for Zen V Plus. Like Zen Krystal for Zen Stone. And Zen X-Fi for Zen.

For me, all I need would be a player that plays music, videos, photos and has built-in FM. And most importantly, is that it's cheap! :) Don't want to have f-up problems I had last time with my iPod. Zzz.. Service and service. Waste of time and trip. And that iTunes is soo.. Zz..

[Rex @ Jul 24th 2008 3:08AM]

I like Creative. The Mozaic is a farcry from their usual minimalist design, but it looks different. And it shows that they don't want to be saturated in the PMP market with the usual boring and recycled designs from other manufacturers.

[Can @ Jul 24th 2008 3:16AM]

What I still don't get.
You put the video feature etc, but still offer 2, 4, 8 GB models. I mean come on, Even that crappy iPod has 8 and 16 with 32 coming soon. We are in 21st century, what the f**k is 2 and 4 GB???

[El Taco @ Jul 24th 2008 3:26AM]

not everyone needs to watch entire movies or has 1000 songs

[Ruben @ Jul 24th 2008 3:53AM]

Are you refering to iPod Touch? Once again, another wrong comparsion, considering the price range and size as well. iPod Nano comes in both 2GB and 8GB only, and it plays video as well. Just a quote from Press Release for Creative Mozaic, "Available later in August 2008 will be the 8GB model at S$169.00 and the 16GB model at S$249.00 in black colour." So yes, 16GB model is coming as well.

Being in 21st Century doesn't mean everyone just dumps all their music into a player. Some people are willing to give up disk space for player size like iPod Nano and Zen Stone....

[OpenBear @ Jul 24th 2008 5:44AM]

@Ruben

>> iPod Nano comes in both 2GB and 8GB only

Wrong, look at the Apple store. The Nano comes in 4GB (for $149) and 8GB (for $199).

[Ruben @ Jul 24th 2008 6:52AM]

@OpenBear

Opps! Wrote it wrongly.. Was looking at the Shuffle as well, and got mixed up but my explanation still stands valid. :)

[El Taco @ Jul 24th 2008 3:20AM]

But does it do what my avatar does?

[A.C.E.R. @ Jul 24th 2008 3:52AM]

Suck? Yeah, it does.

[Jubei @ Jul 24th 2008 3:56AM]

Still, compared to a Zune its much more pleasing to look at. Looking at a Zune players only brings memories of a heavy set individual who is famously associated with all things Zune. Which usually makes most people queasy if not completely ill.

[Haikibutsu @ Jul 24th 2008 4:22AM]

Actually, no, this is ugly.

Now, this will sound like a fanboy thing, but honestly, if you look at the marketing and style, this obviously appeals to those "hip" type teenagers. The ones who want to be "chic" and "in style". Obviously, the iPod, whether you like it or not, is the player that dominates this market. And frankly, this is ugly and gimmicky in design.

Now, get me lowest ranked.

[yui @ Jul 24th 2008 4:30AM]

A truly copycat. Idea copied from KDDI's infobar, of which already being chosen as collection of MoMA.

[no, thanks @ Jul 24th 2008 4:52AM]

KDDI is more CREATIVE

[metecus @ Jul 24th 2008 5:32AM]

The thing is it is great for average joe. Picture view for phots and FM is all you need extra. 32h is great. The small screen size is the only bad thing about it. Around here (japan) i would expect a 4Gb to sell in a couple of mounts just under 100 usd in order to compete with. the gigabeat T401 from Toshiba (same T9) and the similar Creative Zen still on sale.

[rita hainsworth @ Jul 24th 2008 5:32AM]

Finally someone did something with my mothers bathroom.

[whitebear @ Jul 24th 2008 6:35AM]

looks like ketupat

[James @ Jul 24th 2008 9:06AM]

I think it looks better than good. It looks original. Anyone remember how weird those first few all white ipods were but they definitely caught your attention. Creative seems to be going for the same effect. For kids and teens only though.

[Redbeaver @ Jul 24th 2008 9:16AM]

lol ketupat. man, living in canada i miss that stuff. ketupat and opor ayam.

but i kno that design will appeal to certain crowd, if not bestsellers on some younger south-east asian crowd... yknow, the trendsetter crowd :p

[Evan Rodgers @ Jul 24th 2008 9:32AM]

that is the UGLIEST gadget i have ever seen.

If I were creative and my baby came out looking like this, I would throw it on the spartan heap of babies to die.

[jed @ Jul 24th 2008 9:59AM]

so let me get this straight.

2 years ago:

zen vision m;
holds 30 gb
2.5 inch screen, plays audio, video, radio, photos
200 dollars

6 months ago (approx)
Zen
Holds 16 gb
2.5 inch screen, plays audio, video, radio, photos
179 dollars

Now:

zen mosaic
holds 8gb
1.8 inch screen, plays audio, video, radio, photos
200 dollars

am i missing something? is it the weight? i have the zen vision m, and it weighs less than my keys or wallet, and i go running with it, is that honestly a big deal for anyone? and if it is, the Zen weighs only a few grams, why would anyone get this?

[Appel @ Jul 24th 2008 10:46AM]

It is Mondriaan, not Mondrian. too bad u folks dont know about our Dutch pride :)

[Michael @ Jul 24th 2008 11:58AM]

According to the ever wonderful Wikipedia:

"In 1912, Mondrian moved to Paris and changed his name (dropping an 'a' from Mondriaan) to emphasize his departure from life in the artistic backwater of Holland."

Sir, you have been pwnt.

About the player, I wish Creative would just create true competitors by improving the Zen V, the Zen X-Fi, and then by creating a Zen Vision: M replacement....and then ditching the rest of their product line.