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Creative Zen

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File:Creative zen micro photo.jpg
A display model of the new Zen Micro Photo

The Creative Zen is a line of digital audio players produced by Creative Technology and a branch off the earlier Creative Nomad brand (the other branch being the MuVo series). Some models feature a touch-pad interface similar to that of the Apple iPod, but using a vertical strip rather than a circle. They are capable of playing WMA, MP3 and WAV audio files, and the players are based on miniature hard disk drives rather than flash memory.

The Zen range is very popular in Asia, particularly in Creative's home nation of Singapore. Microsoft supports Zen players by including built-in compatibility with Windows Media Player 10 and giving it the Microsoft PlaysForSure certification.

Hardware

The Zen devices uses a single digital signal processor as their CPU with a few peripheral circuits. The DSP/CPU directly takes care of all MP3 and WMA decoding without any specialized accelerator chips, making the design cheaper. All current models are based on the Texas Instruments TMS320 processor. The touchpads on the newer units are controlled by Synaptics touch pad controllers.

Players

Currently, there are nine main models of Zen: the Nomad Jukebox Zen, Nomad Jukebox Zen NX, Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra, Zen Touch, Zen Micro, Creative Zen, Zen Neeon, Zen MicroPhoto and Zen Sleek. The Zen Nano Plus is a flash memory based player and is in fact a rebranded MuVo Micro N200.

Creative also made a portable video-playing device named the Zen Portable Media Center. Another portable video-playing device called Zen Vision has been introduced and made available to the public in August 2005.

Nomad Jukebox Zen

File:Creative zen.jpg
Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen

The Nomad Jukebox Zen, introduced in 2002, was the first generation of Creative's Zen hard-drive-based digital audioplayers. The Jukebox Zen had an anodized aluminum case and a backlit LCD for file navigation. Early models had a 20 GB internal 2.5" hard drive and used USB 1.1 or FireWire for file transfers. Later models, such as the Zen USB 2.0, featured up to 60 GB of storage and USB 2.0 connectivity. The Zen and Zen USB 2.0 featured up to 12 and 14 hours of continuous playback, respectively, with an unremovable, rechargeable battery. An optional wired remote adds FM radio and recording functions. This model is no longer in production.

Nomad Jukebox Zen NX

The Nomad Jukebox Zen NX, or simply the Zen NX, was released in 2003 was the second generation of Zen MP3 players. It featured an internal 2.5" 30 GB hard disk and the release of new music management software called Creative MediaSource. The Zen NX also had slightly smaller dimensions than its predecessor. In addition, the rechargeable battery was removable. This model is no longer in production.

Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra

This player was mostly a revamped Zen NX, but featured a larger screen (160x104 pixels) and had a large hard drive. Three models were made one holding only 30 gigabytes, one holding 40 gigabytes, and the largest one holding 60 gigabytes. Presumably, it was named Xtra because of the extra large screen and hard drive.

It has a number of features setting it apart from its competition, including EAX sound and an advanced playlist editor. Until recently, the Zen Xtra, could not be used as a portable harddrive: it needed a Zen driver installed to be detected by a computer (software is included for Windows; a gpl program, gnomad2, exists for Linux). Version 2.10.03 of the firmware supports "seamless support with any computer running Microsoft Windows Media Player 10 and Windows XP - no drivers or software needed". Version 2.x of the firmware is not supported by Linux projects such as gnomad2.

The Zen Xtra package includes the player, a leather case with belt-clip, a lithium polymer battery, Windows software for communicating with the player, a USB cable and a pair of low-quality earbuds.

The Xtra is notorious since Real Networks cooperated with Creative to provide a tailored firmware for the Xtra that supported their Helix DRM digital rights management scheme, however the Xtra also was the only device ever to support this scheme natively.

Zen Touch

File:Creative zen touch.jpg
The Creative Zen Touch (2004)

The Zen Touch was released in the summer of 2004. It marked the fourth generation of "Zen" MP3 players, and a substantive change from the "Jukebox" models based on 2.5" hard drives. The model incorporated radical changes in design, functionality and technology to compete with the Apple iPod.

The Zen Touch has a smaller form factor and larger backlit blue display in a curved industrial design. In addition, the device uses a pressure-sensitive vertical strip on the front of the unit for easier file navigation. These changes were enabled by the use of Toshiba's smaller 1.8" hard drive line, also used in the Apple iPod line. Units are currently available with a 20 or 40 GB of storage, and with 60 GB from third-party upgraders.

Unlike the previous two generations, the Zen Touch does not have a removable battery. However, Creative claims its battery provides up to 24 hours of MP3 playback at 128 kbit/s encoding. Users report 21-26 hours of continuous playback.

A new version of the firmware was released after one year, supposedly to fix many problems that existed with the player. A further update was released in October 2005 which fixed all majors problems with the Zen and also added PlaysforsureTM compatibility. This allows fully automated synchronisation and means that the Zen Touch no longer requires any drivers to work on a Windows 2000 or above system.

Zen Micro

See Zen Micro.

Creative Zen

The Zen 20 GB player copies the Zen Micro's successful aesthetics. Unlike the Micro Photo, this player was not announced at CES 2005. A few design points set it apart from the Micro line, including a Magnesium case and a larger screen. Also, the battery is no longer removable. Initially this model was available only in the Asia-Pacific region but it is now available in the United States through Cambridge SoundWorks, a Creative subsidiary. The player is also available though online retailers in the United Kingdom.

Zen Neeon

The Zen Neeon is a new addition to the Zen family. It is targeted at those that feel that the Zen Micro is too gaudy. It follows a similar design to the Zen Xtra, but in a much smaller size. This 5 Gigabyte DAP has an SNR (Sound to Noise Ratio) of 98db and a battery life of 16 hours. The front has a piano black finish, and the back is anodised aluminum that comes in ten colours. The LCD screen has a 7 colour backlight. Also, Creative has marketed what they call "Stik-on" which are decal stickers that can be placed and removed from the face of the unit.

Like its Micro brother, this unit also has a FM tuner and a microphone, but also has a line record in function. This model does not use Creative specialized USB drivers, it is a standard USB mass storage device.

In November 2005, the HDD-based Zen Neeon line was updated to 6GB and a new Flash range was launched in 512MB, 1GB and 2GB capacity. The device is now equipped with a dual-tone OLED screen. The device is also accompanied with a new marketing campaign " Put a Face to Your Music", with emphasis on a whole new range of customisable "Stik-On".

More information on the device can be found on the manufacturers website [1].

Zen Micro Photo

The Zen MicroPhoto is one of the newest members of the Zen family of digital audio players. It shares the same features of the Zen Micro, and adds an upgraded 262,144 colour OLED screen for displaying photos. The device is currently available in an 8GB version, which has a 15-hour life compared with the original Zen Micro's 12-hour battery. The design of the player has been updated slightly from that of its predecessor.

Zen Sleek

The Zen Sleek is a Zen Touch descendant with 20 GB hard disk storage, FM radio and microphone for live recordings. It is smaller than the Zen Touch, and boasts an aluminum casing. It can syncronise with Outlook to hold the calendar, address book, and tasks list. It also has a USB mass storage mode which can be used to partition part of the disk for data files only.

A new firmware update makes this device "drag and drop" ready and allows music library syncronization using Windows Media Player 10.

Zen Nano Plus

The Zen Nano Plus is essentially a rebranded MuVo N200, however, the battery lasts up to 18 hours on a single AAA.

Source: creative.com

Zen Portable Media Center

Creative introduced the Portable Media Center in 2004. It is based on Microsoft's Portable Media Player specification and supports Windows Media Video, WMA and MP3, and can display JPEG images; other video formats are supported through converting the source file to WMV in provided software. This device was the first to exclusively support the Microsoft Media Transfer Protocol. It uses an internal 20GB Toshiba 1.8" hard drive and can currently be upgraded to 40 GB or 60 GB.

Zen Vision

The Zen Vision was introduced in 2005. It is not based on Microsoft's Portable Media Player specification but supports Microsoft's Media Transfer Protocol. It supports audio (WMA, MP3, WAV), video (WMV, MPEG 1, MPEG2, MPEG 4, DivX, XviD) and picture (JPEG) playback. It uses a 30 GB hard drive.

The Zen Vision has a 640 x 480 resolution LCD screen and also has a video output (PAL or NTSC) port. The player includes a CompactFlash slot that is used to copy the contents of memory cards to the player. An adapter for other memory card types is also available as an accessory.

Problems with Zens

Some Zen Xtra and Zen Micro players have been prone to the headphone socket breaking, although the exact incidence is unknown.

Marketing campaign

In November 2004, Creative Labs announced a $100 million marketing campaign to promote their digital audio products, including the Zen range of MP3 players. In particular, the newer Zen Touch and Zen Micro are being heavily publicized by the company. These two products have been featured in an increasing number of television commercials, print ads, and urban billboards.

Many celebrities were seen with the Zen Micro, including Paris Hilton, pop group Maroon 5 and Aerosmith's Steve Taylor.

Other related software

Beside Creative Labs' packaged Creative Playcenter and Nomad Explorer software, there are other transfer and track/file management programs:

  • Proprietary software:
    • Notmad Explorer by Red Chair Software (homepage) is a transfer program for Microsoft Windows. This program includes a file streamer and can convert your MP3 player into a file server that you can access over the internet. Red Chair offers Notmad Explorer in several versions for specific Nomad-family players at several prices; the universally-compatible version costs $35.

See also

External link

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