Creative Introduces the ZEN X-Fi and the ZEN X-Fi With Wireless LAN – the Only Players to Improve the Quality of MP3 Music Playback with X-Fi Audio Technology
Creative, a worldwide leader in digital entertainment, today announced the ZEN X-Fi and ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN digital media players for music, video and photos. The only players to feature award-winning Creative Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi audio technology, the ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN is available today at Amazon.com, Buy.com, Creative.com, Fry’s.com and Newegg.com, and the ZEN X-Fi will be available later this month.
The ZEN X-Fi and ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN provide a breakthrough in sound quality for MP3, WMA and unprotected iTunes music with the X-Fi Crystalizer, a proprietary audio technology developed at Creative’s Advanced Technology Center that restores the highs and lows to music during playback that were lost during the ripping to MP3, WMA or AAC formats. This allows you to listen to your music at a higher quality than was previously possible on any MP3 player.
ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN Allows you to Stream and Download Music, Video and Photos from your PC over your Wireless Home Network
The ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN introduces a new way to experience music in your home. The ZEN X-Fi’s wireless LAN capability enables you to wirelessly stream and download music from your PC to your player over your wireless home network, and play it back with X-Fi audio quality. From the living room to the patio, the ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN can access the music on your home PC, which can be played through the built-in speaker, a home speaker system, or even the TravelSound ZEN X-Fi docking speaker system accessory, which provides room-filling X-Fi audio quality in a portable speaker. You can also stream and download your video files in supported formats and your photos directly to your ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN from your PC. In addition, you can stream a variety of ZENcast™ and podcast channels to the player.
With the ZEN X-Fi, you can really experience your music with the sound quality of the original recordings. To truly deliver the ideal music listening experience, Creative is including a set of premium EP-830 in-ear earphones with every ZEN X-Fi and ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN player.
“We’re very excited to achieve this breakthrough of adding our X-Fi audio technology to a ZEN player, setting the highest standard in audio quality for portable music players,” said Craig McHugh, president and COO of Creative. “Some of the top recording artists in the music industry are very outspoken about the poor quality of digital music. We addressed the issue of the poor quality of digital music by inventing X-Fi technology, which restores the quality of music that was lost during the digital ripping process, and now for the first time ever we’ve been able to implement this technology in a ZEN.”
“We also give you the freedom and flexibility of being able to listen to music, watch videos and view photos on your ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN that are stored on your PC,” continued McHugh. “You can also wirelessly add your favorite music, videos and photos to your player from your PC, so you’ll always have them with you wherever you go.”
The ZEN X-Fi and ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN also feature:
- A built-in speaker so you can listen to favorite songs with friends
- X-Fi Expand to move and expand the sound forward for a natural listening experience over headphones that simulates the sound from stereo speakers
- An SD card slot so you can add more music, video or photos to the player
- A vibrant 2.5-inch TFT display with 16.7 million color support for an excellent viewing experience with videos and album art
- Built-in FM radio with 32 presets
- Built-in microphone for voice recording
- The new Creative Centrale™ application for organizing, CD and playlist creation, and transfer of a wide variety of video formats, including WMV, AVI, MJPEG, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4 and 5 and XviD. Creative Centrale also syncs the player with Microsoft Outlook – contact, calendar, “To Do” lists and more
- Exclusively on the ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN models, free instant messaging over popular IM services including Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live! Messenger. Chat with friends wirelessly and express yourself using personalized emotive avatars by choosing different facial expressions and hair styles
- Creative ZEN X-Fi Video Converter, which converts video files to formats suitable for wireless streaming, will be made available for web downloading early August 2008
ZEN X-Fi Accessories
- TravelSound ZEN X-Fi Docking Speaker System, available this summer for US$49.99
- An elegantly designed leather case, available this month for US$24.99
- A silicon skin which protects the player, available this month for US$12.99
- An armband which holds the player, available this month for US$19.99
- A three-pack of screen protector, available this month for US$7.99
Pricing and Availability
The ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN is available today in a 32GB model for US$299.99, and a 16GB model for US$199.99. The ZEN X-Fi 8GB model which does not include wireless LAN functionality will be available later this month for US$149.99. The ZEN X-Fi docking speaker system will be available later this summer for US$49.99. 
For more information about the Creative ZEN X-Fi and ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN players visit http://www.creative.com/zenxfi.
About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed ZEN MP3 and portable media players. Creative’s innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment-anytime, anywhere.
This announcement relates to products launched in the United States. Availability is subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. ZEN, X-Fi, Crystalizer, ZENcast, Creative Centrale and Sound Blaster are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
