CreativeZen
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Creative Zen X-Fi3 gets covered in FCC fingerprints
Remember the Zen X-Fi3, that little, bitty portable media player that we spent a bit of hands-on time with, back in September? Well, the FCC has had its crack at the thing, and the agency wasn't quite as kind, ripping pint-sized music player apart and displaying its innards for all the world to see, which might be for the best, really. While the outsides of the device aren't particularly exciting, the player's got some stuff going on under the hood, like built-in Bluetooth, which the company claims can stream high-quality audio courtesy of the apt-X codec. See the X-Fi3 exposed to the world in the gallery below.%Gallery-138461%
Creative's 32GB Zen now only $299
Digging the 32GB of NAND, but not so hot about the $499 pricetag on Apple's latest iPod touch? Creative would like to remind you that it got there first, for less, with the Zen, and has slashed the price to $299 from the original $349 to keep that margin healthy. Sure, the 2.5-inch screen is a bit smaller, and we've given Creative a bit of a hard time over the years for an occasional failure to innovate, but reviewers seemed to love on the Zen, and it's hard to argue with this deal.[Via DailyTech]
Hands-on with Creative's Zen
While the new Creative Zen might not be much of a stand-out on looks or feature set, we're pretty hard pressed to find anything wrong with the player. All the functions are quite straightforward and responsive, and the interface is certainly passable. Format support might just make this a winner, but like the reviewers are saying, there's not point in rushing out and buying something just yet, with an Apple event just around the corner.%Gallery-6644%
Slim new Creative ZEN shows up on Amazon
While Creative still seems to be holding out until IFA to get official with its latest ZEN PMP, Amazon appears to be under no such restrictions, with it already accepting pre-orders for the slim new player. Looking a fair bit more enticing than many of Creative's recent players, this one is available in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB varieties, and boasts a 2.5-inch display, along with a built-in FM tuner and voice recorder, and a standard SD slot for expansion. As far as format support goes, you'll be able to load the device up with your choice of MP3, WMA (w/ DRM), AAC, or Audible audio, along with WMV, DivX, Xvid, MJPEG, or TiVo to Go video files. If that's enough to sway you into the Creative camp, you can look for the 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB players to set you back $149, $199, and $299, respectively, with them each apparently set to ship sometime next month. Click on through for a few more pics.[Via epiZENter.net]
Is Creative serious about a possible "ZenPhone"?
iPhone, ZunePhone and ZenPhone, oh my! With Apple's iPhone still causing seething "gotta have" mentality among its ardent fans way before release, the Microsoft "Zune phone" that is circling the rumor camps hard has nothing on the Creative ZenPhone. That joke aside, maybe all the top DAP makers and ODMs will design a functional cellphone / DAP unit soon, although we're not sure about the RF prowess of DAP makers. Anyhoo, this potential two-piece odd looking phone / easy chair massager controller device (the Xmod) is being chalked up as the Creative "ZenPhone" right now. Creative, who predicted they would attack Apple's DAP market share and fell off that wagon just a tad before settling, may indeed unveil a ZenPhone in the future. That being said, it's hard to say if this first peek is for real from Creative -- or some Singaporean's fantasy right now.[Thanks, Vizion]
