It will be VERY hard for Apple to top the new multi-media player from Creative.

Every audio format
Multiple video and photo formats [plug into TV and watch films!]
FM tuner [You can even record your favorite tunes or talk shows]
Download your Tivo2Go subscriptions!!!!

Gorgeous Magnesium-Encased Player Delivers Eight Times the Image Resolution and More Than Three Times the Screen Size of the Apple iPod Photo*

MILPITAS, Calif., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Creative Technology
Ltd. (Nasdaq: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products,
today announced the Zen Vision(TM) MP3 player with a 3.7-inch SharpPix(TM)
high-resolution 640x480 262,144-color screen for photo viewing and digital
video playback. Featuring a transflective screen that provides excellent
image and video quality even in bright sunlit conditions, the 30GB Zen Vision
carries up to 15,000 songs, tens of thousands of photos, or up to 120 hours of
video. Available in either pearl white or black, the Zen Vision measures 4.9
by 2.9 by .8 inches and weighs only 8.4 ounces. It is available today for
pre-order at http://www.creative.com for only US$399.99.
"The Zen Vision is our most versatile and coolest-looking digital
entertainment player ever," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative.
"It supports download and subscription music services, photo transfer directly
from a Compact Flash card or up to 17 variations of media through our optional
Compact Flash Adapter. With the SharpPix technology, your digital photos can
look even better than prints. Plus the Zen Vision supports video from
TiVoToGo(TM) and popular Internet video formats including DivX(TM), so it's
really easy and fun to enjoy your favorite music, photos and videos wherever
you go."

That's just sick!

Go here to check it out: http://www.creative.com

Can you guys chip in and buy me one for Christmas??

i don't know, have we proven that people WANT to watch video on a screen the size of their hand? unless i was traveling a lot for work i don't think that i'd need it. I can already watch videos on my Palm and i've watched a handful of movies at the gym but i always lose interest. it'll really depend on the interface and i'm not really impressed with the way that they've designed the ergonomics of their device.

So watch it on a big screen. I'll stick to my iPod though; I have it for music, not bells and whistles.

Agreed, until someone produces a mp3 player with a better user-interface and sleek and simple design, i'm happy with my ipod. I like what creativ has done with the Zen, but the scroll bar seem counter-intuitive. With the ipod's scroll wheel i can get to any artist fairly quick, the thought of running my finger down the pad and then having to lift my finger and start again on the Zen seems annoying. But clearly this is a case of my laziness.

From what I can tell from their website it only plays mp3 and wma. It would need to also play ogg and FLAC for me to even consider it.

Of course I can't see myself buying a portable video player so it's a moot point anyway.

The thing looks pretty nice..I have had a Zen Jukebox for the last 2 years and have been pretty happy with it...May have to check this out in a few months after the 1st gen comes out and the kinks/problems get worked out....

the scroll bar can access your files just as fast as the scroll wheel, and just as easy.

i'm an ipod owner, and this is the first non-apple player that's sparked my interest. also, i don't consider this players abilities to be "bells and whistles"....more a progressive way to carry/view/listen/access media formats that i deal with on a daily basis.

i'm gonna check one out to see how it feels.

oh, and i don't see many Creative owners [quite a few are actually my friends] commenting on their players like this..

http://obner.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9803

If your really that lazy you don't need to lift your finger. Just press down on the bottom of the touchpad to scroll down and, funnily enough, the top of the touch pad to scroll up.

What kind of retard has an entire library of media in ogg anyway? I've seen them freaks out there on various file sharing networks. What would possess someone to do such a thing? It's just swimming upstream. It's fucking stupid if you ask me.

street teamerz

damn, forgot to take "work at Creative Inc." out of my Obner profile.

hey, it happens

Boring. All I need is a player for music and the iPod is the best player for what I need. I'll ignore this new mp3 player just like all the others that are released.

My IPod is still alive and kickin'.

I'm not at all interested in watching video I'm carrying in my pocket, but I don't watch a whole lot of video anyway.

The one reason it won't kill the iPod though is because Jobs & Co. have created such a desirable image with the iPod. Apple's player doesn't have the best feature set, battery life, sound quality or price among digital music players, yet it still manages to dominate the market.

Credit Apple's marketing department with generating initial interest in the digital player market by engineering a product that looked intriguing, rather than an oversized wristwatch that could only hold a handful of songs. After the initial surge in sales, the iPod became a symbol of conspicuous consumption with only a fraction of the market willing to consider alternatives, despite some damn interesting features not available on the sleek iPod.

I think it's a pretty apt analogy that U2 was tapped to sell the iPod. A pretty good band, but not great, with a tendency to rely on their legacy or stylized eye candy to move new units.

I admire the iPod, but have no delusions that it is the best player on the market. If Creative, iRiver or the newly sold Rio plan on conquering the iPod, they have to beat back the iPod image of cool.

exactly my thoughts. when the general public thinks of an mp3 player, they automatically think of ipod, and don't even consider the other options available, which is a shame really. brilliant marketing from apple as you stated.

looks awesome. i'd buy one, given unlimited resources.

I'll stick to my discman thank you very much!

<----"Laggard"

People who support Free software. Or people who believe in better file formats.

I searched and compared a ton of them and settled on a Rio Karma. I was initially pleased, but some durability issues (broken wheel, volume button got iffy, hard drive gets temperamental some days) soured my experience. From what I've read, however, build quality has hampered most mp3 players out there.

One of the things I enjoy about my Karma is that the battery charging cradle has RCA output jacks built in, so you can plug it right into a stereo and have 20 GB collection at your fingers without buying any extra accessories. Plus the battery life is impressive. So now, though I don't use it as much as I used to, it's plugged into my stereo so I don't have to go fetch the cd out of my car, or miss out because I left the disc at work.

Plus, it was about $100 cheaper if I remember correctly.

That's called a random, weird little problem. If you do any searching around the internet, you'll find an uncountable number of problems with Creative players' harddrives, which is exactly why I quickly marked it off my list of possibilities, along with the Rio. Say what you will about the Ipod, but the fac that there are MANY millions of these things out there and a comparitively small percentage of problems speaks volumes about why the Ipod is preferred by people like me who aren't buying it to be cool. It's reliable, easy to use, and has a billion accessories. Anyone going up against Apple has an extremely steep uphill battle to overcome.

The billions of accessories are a response from the market. If anyone else had jumped out in front before Apple, you can rest assured they would have the same market for peripherals.

Plus, settling a class action lawsuit for 2 million first and second generation iPod consumers on misleading battery and warranty claimsisn't exactly a weird little problem.

That's kind of obvious, isn't it? The issue isn't who got there first, the issue is that Apple's there and millions of people are going to be very reluctant to give up the accessories they already have, and will look at the market for accessories for the other players and see very little. The Ipod isn't going to be very threatened until the other manufacturers manage to get as many accessories for their players.


And that's not what I Like Pudding's problem is.

And I also don't see the battery issue as much of a problem - it's pretty easily and cheaply replaced, just do a search and you'll find quite a few sites from which you can buy a battery.

Had Apple put everything necessary to use a removable battery in the Ipod, the Ipod would have been a lot larger. Part of the appeal of the Ipod, remember, is how sleek and small it is.

And your comment of "misleading . . . warranty claims" is false - that lawsuit was ONLY about the battery.

I dropped my IRiver for the first time today. I was scared but it still worked.