Creative have finally brought their new PMP, the Zen X-Fi. The new PMP (The portable media player) will come in two versions, one WiFi and the other non WiFi, featuring 16 and 32GB for the former, while only 8GB for the latter. It’s also pretty small. 83×55x12.8mm at just 68.75g with a 2.5” QVGA screen mainly because the WiFi model has some expanded features supposed to allow users to connect to either MSN or Yahoo Messenger. Targeted at audiophiles, the key feature of the X-Fi is the inclusion of the X-Fi audio settings “Crystalizer” and “Expand”. According to Creative, activating the Crystalizer setting will restore audio details that were lost during compression, thus making the track sound richer, clearer and closer to its original quality (which is exactly the same function of the Crystalizer feature in the X-Fi sound cards. On the other hand, “Expand” gives audio a natural and realistic feel by shifting the sound away from your ears and then repositioning it in front of you
Creative supplies a software application called “Creative Centrale” which, apparently, will resize and compress video to meet the Zen’s capabilities. More interestingly Outlook calendar, to-do list and address book synchronisation is boasted, as well as an FM tuner and a microphone, for recording audio direct to the device.
The 8GB will launch later this month for $145.69, while the $209.31 16GB and $253.85 32GB models are available now. There’ll also be a special edition Red Cliff version, to tie in with the new John Woo film. The Zen X-Fi is charged via USB, with a four-hour charge time giving around 36 hours of continuous music playback, or five hours of video. Still no word on exactly what all those buttons do, though.
No comments yet.