Creative's Zen Vision to battle iPod

By Michael Singer, CNET News.com
Thursday, August 04, 2005 09:52 AM
Hoping to take a bite out of Apple Computer's iPod bounty, Creative Technologies began seeding orders for its next-generation music and video player.

Available first in the United States and Europe and then elsewhere, the 30GB Zen Vision sports a 3.7-inch color screen and can store up to 120 hours of video or carry as many as 15,000 songs, the company said.

A little larger in size and heavier than even Apple's 60GB iPod photo, the device comes in black or white and sells for US$399.99. It initially will be available online only.

Creative stock got a boost last week, when Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates again mentioned that he would like to work with someone like Creative to counter Apple's runaway iPod success.

Creative has been in need of some big news before its scheduled fourth quarter financial statement next week. Back in June, executives told analysts to expect a quarterly financial loss because of a slowdown in demand and extreme competition from other MP3 player makers.

Now, the company that has been spending millions in anti-iPod advertising is hoping its new Zen player will capitalize on a few things that Apple doesn't do yet--like play video.

"The Zen Vision supports video from TiVoToGo and popular Internet video formats including DivX," the company said in a statement.

The device also allows for photo transfer directly from a compact flash card or up to 17 other variations of media through an optional compact flash adapter that Creative sells.

In addition to playing music files, the Zen Vision supports downloads from Internet music stores such as Napster, MSN Music and Music Now. The device can also tap into music subscription services such as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster to Go. The company said the player also has a built-in FM radio with 32 preset options, and FM recording.

The Zen Vision comes with a USB cable to connect to a PC. A docking station is available as well.


WORTHWHILE?

0

0 votes
Blog

Talkback 0 comments

There are currently no comments for this post.

Guest user

Guest user

Level: 
Joined: —
Already a member? Log in »



 

Loading...

Tech Jobs Now!

Estimate a project's effort hours

Tech Management

This process helps you estimate the total effort required for your project so you can assign resources, determine how long the project will take and estimate costs.


Read more »



  • HPC Applications

    Ever wondered if High Performing Computing systems really matter in our day-to-day world? Let Dr David Scott from Intel take you a for quick tour on developing HPC applications.
    Play video


  • Maximize IT Spend: Business Acceleration

    How do you ensure your IT solutions are well integrated and streamlined across your enterprise? Rajen from Oracle highlights the important considerations ...
    Play video


  • HPC Architecture: Explained

    Why is High Performance Computing increasingly in demand in today's businesses? Find out which is the most widely deployed HPC architecture today.
    Play video

Tags

  1. amd
  2. apple
  3. big
  4. china
  5. chips
  6. data
  7. dell
  8. drive
  9. future
  10. gartner
  11. go
  12. green
  13. hits
  14. ibm
  15. indian
  16. intel
  17. maker
  18. market
  19. out
  20. over
  21. partners
  22. pc
  23. pcs
  24. quarterly
  25. sales
  26. slump
  27. storage
  28. sues
  29. use
  30. virtualization

Objectivity and the rise of online forums

Blog thumbnail

Last week, I met a guy who was operating an online car blog. What he told me during that meeting made me reflect how online forums, or Web 2.0 technologies..... by Melvin G. Calimag

Read more »