[ image disabled ]UPDATE: Rather than making a new post I just want to update you with more details from this upcoming Creative player. Our little detectives at this site started searching all over the net once they heard about this player. As it turns out some websites actually have the player listed and we now know the name of the player and a few more details: Name: Zen Stone Colors: Black, White, Red, Lime, Pink, and Dark Blue Price: Around $50 for the 1GB Release Date: Around May 15th Although there aren't any pictures yet, we can assume from the name that it'll be oval/round in shape. That curvy shape doesn't surprise me, considering Creative's iPod Nano competitor was the cute and curvaceous Zen V Plus. I did a little more searching myself and along with the new players, there's going to be a few accessories to go along with it. They include an armband, silicone skin, and a key chain attachment. We'll definitely update you when we find out more about this player . We're the best Creative fansite around, and we've just proved it once again by bringing you this info first. If you haven't signed up yet there's no better time to become part of this great Zen community. Thanks, swh [ image disabled ]It's been a long time since we've had a new player from Creative. We've seen some speakers, and some new iPod-only products (booo!). Well rumor has it that a new Zen player will be released sometime in May. I have a few (vague) details that I can share with you:
As I hinted above, these details are pretty vague, but take what you will from it. Creative seems to have it's aim on competing with Apple's lowest tier of players with this upcoming player. Of course, that's not what many of us here are looking for, but there's still a market for simple players. As many here know, Creative has been recording losses financially. By making such players, they hope to spend less on manufacturing, and thus increase their margin of profit. I was also briefed on another player in the works, but I can't divulge anything on that one yet as it's still in its early stages. I'm just glad they're still hard at work making players, and not just accessories. More details to come in the upcoming weeks...
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| Wired Cous
Apr 24 (2007) 03:09AM | its probably come out to compete with apples ipod shuffle but at 50US (although im in australia) seems a bargin. but yes ur right im not the one looking for this sort of player. |
| moorey
Apr 24 (2007) 03:18AM | how did you find this out? how much more do you know? are you an employee of creative? seems a good idea - though i want x-fi and this seems like a cheap 'made for the masses' player, not for the audiofile. i'm guessing it'll be like the shuffle and not have a screen, but how can it have an interface without a screen? i really hope it sets itself apart from the dozens of cheap chinese mp3 players |
| ssjmichael
Apr 24 (2007) 03:28AM ![]() | Some of this info was posted in our forums, and some told to me privately. I don't work for Creative By user interface I mean the player's control and design. What you're referring to is a graphical user interface. Sorry to throw you off there |
| TearsOfFire
Apr 24 (2007) 04:24AM | OOOOOOOOOO I love waiting |
| aStagnantSleep
Apr 24 (2007) 05:08AM | wickeddddddddd |
| moorey
Apr 24 (2007) 05:46AM | sorry ssjmichael....i think i got confused about who you were - i did actually know you were the editor |
| davinp
Apr 24 (2007) 08:40AM | X-Fi player perhaps? It would be good to come out with a new player that has features the iPod doesn't have and before Apple releases their next iPod |
| Wired Cous
Apr 24 (2007) 08:43AM | yeah that would be good....ii'd like to see wat we could see in this player |
| Harry
Apr 24 (2007) 09:32AM | Going with the Specs that ssj posted, especially less than $50 and Very small form factor, O probably may be close to the Sansa c150 kinds.. Small form factor, simple interface and low price... May be a updated version of the MuVo... Lets wait and see. |
| Harry
Apr 24 (2007) 09:36AM | But the question is how many would accept it or buy such a player.. Even those first time buyers who plan to buy the C150 or the muvo look at the Ipod nano or some others in its category and either decide let me save some more money and buy that or "let me invest some more and buy that"... So i believe Creative has to bring out something in the flash drive category which is of better built quality than the V series to attract those first time DAP users... |
| sens_freak_18
Apr 24 (2007) 09:54AM | Doesn't interest me at all, I need a bigger player, my 30gb Zen Vision M is full. So a small player doesn't really do anything for me. |
| tical_thebest
Apr 24 (2007) 10:09AM | god dammit its gonna take to long!! i need a new flash player.... |
| Bitshitter
Apr 24 (2007) 10:49AM | tical thebest wrote ... god dammit its gonna take to long!! i need a new flash player.... hmmm...tical, I think this player is going to be a new flash player.... But I agree with the others: it sounds from the specs that it will be more in line with Creative's Nano and MuVo DAP's, than their HDD ZVM, or even their high-capacity flash Zen V. Expect no higher a capacity than 1-2GB. I would'nt be surprised if there were no screen, but that would be a departure for Creative from the past. Best thing to take from this if you're looking for the next generation ZVM, is that Creative is still focusing on making DAP's, and not just accessories. The news of another future DAP in the works is definitely something to hang our hopes on. Maybe we'll see it for late summer, maybe September...... |
| mdscriber3
Apr 24 (2007) 10:50AM | It's good news nonetheless ... Creative is still breathing ... |
| StrikeSaber47
Apr 24 (2007) 11:03AM | This is very good for people who can now afford a colorful and more sleeker looking MP3 player for our current generation in MP3 technology. I hope this is going to be the Zen Nano series replacement! Keep it up Creative!!! |
| The Big M
Apr 24 (2007) 03:44PM ![]() | I sure hope they keep the line-in recording feature and the ability to run on Alkaline batteries, but then again, theres not much here for the U.S or European market. Its probably meant for the emerging economies. (Think China and India.) |
| pollyo
Apr 24 (2007) 04:08PM | my ZVM is packed full, i hope they release a 80gb+ hdd player soon |
| tmc
Apr 24 (2007) 04:41PM | I think that the entry-level flash player market is SATURATED at the below 6gb level, especially if it can't do video AT LEAST as good as the Zen Vision-M, codecs and all! In the enthusiast market/level they need to make a jump here to 100-120gb in the Vision-M line and 160-200 in the vision-W line. The hard drive substrate has gotten that dense lately.. although the prices would be almost out of sight.. $350-450 for players, which would ALMOST price it out of the market. Touchscreen, Wifi and/or some WII looking remote control would be cool, just don't THROW it at your ZEN! |
| tical_thebest
Apr 24 (2007) 05:57PM | no screen?? dam sucks... |
| crazzyxjoex
Apr 24 (2007) 06:06PM ![]() | woot! finally some progess!and cheap one too! |
| StrikeSaber47
Apr 24 (2007) 09:54PM | Apple sure is going to be on their toes with this one... They have been wasting their time on the iPhone and neglected the iPod to such an extent that Creative now has at least one Zen now to counter every iPod apple has! I can't wait for Creative to enter the iPhone business and soon dominate the portable music sector!!! ![]() |
| rockinamigo14
Apr 24 (2007) 11:29PM | if it doesn't have a screen, i'm going to cry. |
| The Big M
Apr 24 (2007) 11:31PM ![]() | I would say its a possibility, StrikeSaber. If Microsoft unveils a Zune-phone, then Creative just might come out with a Zen-phone. |
| gjr5017
Apr 25 (2007) 12:19AM | Depending on how small it is, it might replace my Dell DJ Ditty just because I'm not a big fan of it. I'd like to have something to listen to at the gym/track. And if its around 50 dollars, I would easily be able to buy that even with my lack of money at the time. Oh and X-Fi isn't for audiophiles. They already have all their music in like MP3 at 320 kbps or on their computer in FLAC. They don't really care about X-Fi. [ edited Apr 25 (2007) 10:57AM ] |
| kingone
Apr 25 (2007) 04:34AM | since it's so cheap, now we can afford to buy everyone of our friend a ZEN for their birthday! |
| gjr5017
Apr 25 (2007) 10:55AM | Maybe not ALL of us considering I have to pay for college, car, car insurance, gas. |
| Dominic
Apr 25 (2007) 11:27AM | so....its going to be a competitor to the shuffle ey? |
| GreenGlass
Apr 25 (2007) 08:25PM | sounds decent to me, i could use a flash player for exercise, etc. hopefully they will reelase a waterporrf case for it |
| Mini-Me
Apr 25 (2007) 09:00PM ![]() | Top left of the image. ssj, is that a hidden thing or just there? |
| tical_thebest
Apr 25 (2007) 09:03PM | will it surpass 1gb?? |
| Bitshitter
Apr 25 (2007) 10:08PM | Creative already sells the MuVo V100 on it's US site for $49.99 - it's a 1GB flash DAP with a blue backlit mono LCD. It sounds like Creative may just be redesigning the next-generation Nano or MuVo to compare more favourably with the Shuffle, iriver S10, Sandisk Express and Sony's NW-E010 USB DAP's...... |
| jann_58
Apr 26 (2007) 03:41AM | Well, $49.99 or not, it has to sound good. Otherwise it is a break from the creative audio traditions. I hope there is a pink color available, my girl have been begging for one. The ultimate player for me is still a wifi enabled zvm with a bigger screen and hopefully slim and sleek. |
| Wired Cous
Apr 26 (2007) 06:55AM | sounds nice lightweight,good for just putting in ur pocket,not too heavy. |
| davinp
Apr 26 (2007) 09:55PM | I've not seen anything about a new Creative player in the blogs. If I do something I'll be sure to post it. iRiver has come out with a small player, the S10, with a screen to compete with the iPod Shuttle and it won the CNET Prize Fight. Can Creative top it? See video: [Linky] [ edited Apr 26 (2007) 10:00PM ] |
| CoolPerson
Apr 28 (2007) 01:18AM | is it called Zen Stone? ... saw some of the online stores already got the Product name and pricing... and it comes with alot of accessories... |
| Raider Red
Apr 28 (2007) 11:32AM | gonna say the same thing- all three sites i found were less than $55! |
| Dominic
Apr 28 (2007) 02:29PM | hmmmm stone, pebble now I want a granite, or basalt.... |
| mdscriber3
Apr 28 (2007) 02:43PM | That's great news! Too bad I have no use for one, but I can't wait to see it I think it's also a step in the right direction that Creative already made a nice array of accessories for it. Michael ... I love the stone pic ! ![]() |
| thesam
Apr 28 (2007) 02:44PM | It's official on May 15th....should be interesting [ edited Apr 28 (2007) 02:45PM ] |
| Raider Red
Apr 28 (2007) 02:44PM |
| ssjmichael
Apr 28 (2007) 03:20PM ![]() |
| mdscriber3
Apr 28 (2007) 03:49PM | That's so cool ... love the price point! Who knows ... may have to pick one up for the cute factor/price point alone ![]() |
| Bitshitter
Apr 28 (2007) 04:02PM | looks like Creative may plan on moving faster with this DAP, and not have people waiting for awhile (and forgetting about it) after announcing it. Good move on their part.... |
| ssjmichael
Apr 28 (2007) 04:11PM ![]() | I'm just glad to see it on a non-asian site. I was afraid it might be one of those Singapore exclusives, but it looks like it'll be a global announcement rather than a regional one. We'll have to see though. |
| tical_thebest
Apr 28 (2007) 04:17PM | will they make a commercial for it?? i think they should...anyway any news on a lcd screen on it?? and no 2gb?? [ edited Apr 28 (2007) 04:17PM ] |
| Ford GT
Apr 28 (2007) 04:55PM | I'm actually pretty excited about this new player! I'm needing a new flash-based player and something around $50 would be great. I can't wait to see what it looks like but I'm guessing it might look like a Tamagotchi??? |
| tical_thebest
Apr 28 (2007) 05:06PM | if it dosent have a lcd screen then im going 4 the zen v |
| stampyourfoot
Apr 28 (2007) 05:51PM | Zen Stone eh? Nice name. Looks like its not going to be a successor to the ZVM throne, if there's a 1 GB model. I don't see why Creative are releasing another relatively small memory MP3 player when we already have the Zen V/V+. |
| ssjmichael
Apr 28 (2007) 05:57PM ![]() | The Zen V is a iPod Nano competitor, the stone a shuffle competitor. Simple as that. |
| The Big M
Apr 28 (2007) 06:47PM ![]() | Even if its a shuffle competitor, a screenless player looks unlikely because its always been a Creative tradition to offer a feature-packed player as an alternative to the stripped down ipod. If they blindly follow Apple, then I might just switch to Iriver or Cowon. |
| Ford GT
Apr 28 (2007) 07:09PM | I'm pretty sure it will have a screen. Anyone have any concept designs for it? I'm going to try a few things in PS. |
| Brandonson112
Apr 28 (2007) 10:50PM |
| Wired Cous
Apr 29 (2007) 12:13AM | i need pictures |
| the_sidewinder
Apr 29 (2007) 12:46AM ![]() | I hope this is the exact type of thing I want for my workouts ![]() |
| ramakandra
Apr 29 (2007) 02:07AM ![]() | ...were working on pictures!... |
| Strider
Apr 29 (2007) 02:11AM | I'm assuming this is proberly a Zen Nano successor? |
| ramakandra
Apr 29 (2007) 02:14AM ![]() | ...i dont think any of their smaller players... ...gel with the style of the bigger ones... ...im hoping this will unite the sizes... |
| The Big M
Apr 29 (2007) 03:59AM ![]() | It looks like Creative is trying to be all mysterious like Apple and not telling anyone about the player until the day before it goes on sale. Is that a good sign? [ edited Apr 29 (2007) 04:00AM ] |
| stampyourfoot
Apr 29 (2007) 09:36AM | I don't see who would want a player like the Shuffle. But if this has a screen like that recent iRiver player, then it might go down quite well. |
| Dominic
Apr 29 (2007) 12:47PM | I'm interested at least ![]() |
| yoghurtaddict
Apr 29 (2007) 01:46PM | I wonder what kind of navigation it'll use. Considering that you can get a key chain for it, there won't be much space on the front. Something like D-click is out because of the curved edges. There probably isn't enough room for a nub like on Zen V. Not enough room for a touch screen. Not enough room for a touch sensitive pad on the front and I doubt they'd put that on the side either because they want to keep the ergonomic. I'd bet that primary navigation is going to be done with buttons on the side of the player. The question then becomes, how intuitive will it be? |
| The Don
Apr 29 (2007) 03:18PM ![]() | Well this is great and all, but what happened to the Slim 60GB ZVM? |
| ssjmichael
Apr 29 (2007) 04:00PM ![]() | It was announced in Japan and is selling there. No true confirmwation that it is coming to N. America I'd like to think it is. |
| Dominic
Apr 29 (2007) 04:22PM | its on sale in europe, Ireland & UK at least |
| tical_thebest
Apr 29 (2007) 04:55PM | i think it might not sell in the north america..due to that they arent doing so well here..i hope they do though..im looking forward to the 60gb zvw |
| cody_303
Apr 29 (2007) 10:30PM | its about 2" by 1" and a little less than 1/2" thick noscreen..... $38.95 1 Gb |
| Neeku
Apr 30 (2007) 04:48PM | That's so good to be top to date! But it won't mean they'll stop working on ZV+ firmware, will it?!! |
| moorey
May 01 (2007) 03:36AM | i was looking at my wired remote and thinking: maybe the ZEN stone is just like one of these with memory to store songs when you want a lighter option - yet functions as a remote for a ZEN and can transfer songs to its own memory? [ image disabled ] [ edited May 01 (2007) 03:37AM ] |
| yoghurtaddict
May 01 (2007) 06:28AM | Could be. I'd be disappointed if it doesn't have a screen but if it based on the remote, then it's probably a more rounded edge version of it. |
| NoInformation
May 01 (2007) 11:01AM ![]() |
| Dominic
May 01 (2007) 12:23PM | yeah apparently some dude ,"Orlando", walmart employee has "seen it", he said..... "Should be up for sale at most Walmarts by the second week of May. They are slightly larger than the new shuffle but smoothed out edges with a nice gloss." ... "no lcd" |
| Abe
May 02 (2007) 08:53AM | Call it the Rozenna Stone |