Creative Zen

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The ZEN is an award-winning line of digital audio players and portable media players made by Creative Technology. These players evolved from the old NOMAD brand, specifically, the NOMAD Jukebox series. The rest soon became the other branch of digital audio players, which is the MuVo line. All are capable of WMA, MP3 and WAV audio playback, while the current models can play Audible files. Most varieties use notebook hard drives in sizes of 1.8" and 2.5", while the Nano, V, and Neeon series use flash memory, and microdrives are used by the Micro series and the original Zen Neeon. Those with color displays have a 18-bit (262,144 colors) depth. The players have a strong foothold in Asian markets, especially in Singapore, the company's headquarters. The Zen series has also made a regular appearance on Amazon.com's sales chart for digital audio players.^[1]

All players are bundled with device drivers and MediaSource, a media player that includes file transfer abilities. They have Microsoft's PlaysForSure certification by being compatible with Windows Media Player via Media Transfer Protocol and the Janus DRM. All versions of the Zen are compatible with Windows, while the current players exclusively support Windows XP or Vista. However, third-party software must be installed for computers running with Linux.

Contents 1 Hardware 2 Current players 2.1 Zen Vision:M 2.2 Zen V/Zen V Plus 2.3 Zen Neeon 2 2.4 Zen Vision W 3 Discontinued players 3.1 NOMAD Jukebox Zen Series 3.1.1 NOMAD Jukebox Zen 3.1.2 NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX 3.1.3 NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra 3.2 Zen Touch 3.3 Zen Micro 3.4 Zen 3.5 Zen Neeon 3.6 Zen Sleek 3.7 Zen MicroPhoto 3.8 Zen Sleek Photo 3.9 Zen Nano/Nano Plus 3.10 Zen Portable Media Center 3.11 Zen Vision 4 Marketing campaign 5 Lawsuits with Apple 6 Other related software 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Hardware

Most models are built with Texas Instruments's TMS320 ARM architecture and digital signal processor that makes up as the CPU. The economic-friendly peripheral circuits take care of all MP3 and WMA decoding without any accelerator chips. The touchpads, which are used to navigate in most Zens, are managed by controllers made by Synaptics.

[edit] Current players

[edit] Zen Vision:M

The Zen Vision:M was launched in December 2005. Like the Zen Vision, the Vision:M shares the same interface and features in a smaller package. It supports audio playback, including audiobooks from Audible.com (as of firmware version 1.41.01), video playback (DivX, AVI, Xvid, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 SP, WMV9 and MJPEG), image display in JPEG (BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF are supported through conversion.), recordable FM radio, and a built-in microphone. Videos and photos can be viewed on TV at a resolution of 640x480 (VGA) through a cable sold separately. The TFT-LCD display is 2.5" wide, in a resolution of 320x240 (QVGA). Battery life extends for up to 16 hours of continuous audio playback and up to five hours for videos. Album art is shown during playback, and image-viewing is enhanced with pan, zoom and rotation abilities. The Zen Vision:M is priced at US$249.99 or US$299.99, depending on the size. The 30GB model is available in white, black, green, blue and pink. Like the other players in the Vision and Micro lines, this model is known for its glowing button symbols.

Because of its popularity and design, the Zen Vision:M has won a number of accolades, including the Best of Show and Best Portable Audio & Video Device awards at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show^[2], as well as the Red Dot Design Award^[3].

On August 31, 2006, Creative announced that the player will be available in a 60GB capacity. Also, this version has a USB host adapter cable, which enables users to transfer photos from a digital camera directly to the player. It is only available in black and white, and is a little thicker than the 30GB model. However, on March 11, 2007, the 60GB model was upgraded, with the same thickness as the 30GB version. It is only available in Japan.

The Zen Vision:M have made an appearance in a Orville Redenbacher's commercial, first broadcast during the 2007 Golden Globe Awards.^[4][5] The familiar blue interface and black color of the model are indicators.

[edit] Zen V/Zen V Plus

Creative's first portable media players in flash memory was released in June 2006. The scratch-resistant models have a 1.5" OLED display with a resolution of 128x128. They come in white and black with orange trim for the 1GB version, green trim for 2GB, and black with blue trim for the 4GB version. The Zen V Plus plays video and has an FM tuner, while the Zen V does not. The players support the same formats as the Vision:M, while the videos will be transcoded upon transfer. There are also built-in microphones for voice recording, as well as wires for line-in recording. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a life span of up to 15 hours of continuous audio playback.

The Zen V Plus won the CNET Editor's Choice award during that month.

On September 29, 2006, Creative announced that the blue-and-black Zen V Plus had been upgraded to 8GB. Four days later, the company joined forces with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to release a pink version of the 2GB model, now available in most areas.^[6] In Japan, the 8GB version is now available in a red-and-black color. ^[7]

[edit] Zen Neeon 2

The successor to the Neeon has a 1.5" CSTN-LCD display in a resolution of 128x128. The 1GB and 2GB models are available in a black, silver, blue, pink or orange backplate, accompanied with a piano black front, while the 4GB model comes only in black and silver. The Neeon 2 supports MP3, WMA, and WAV, display JPEG images and plays AVI videos which are transcoded upon transfer. Also, the player has an FM tuner, built-in microphone, and line-in recording in WMA. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery plays up to 20 hours of continuous audio playback and up to 8 hours of video playback, the highest for any Creative digital audio player. Like its predecessor, decal stickers called "Stik-Ons" are sold separately to customize the look of the Neeon 2's frontplate. However, these Stik-Ons are different ones for the Zen Neeon due to the difference in screen sizes.

Due to limitations on the device, modifying the equalizer or turning on the Bass Boost feature may cause clipping in the music to occur.

[edit] Zen Vision W

A variant of the Zen Vision, this portable media player has a 4.3" widescreen (16:9) TFT-LCD display. The player comes in black and is available in 30GB and 60GB. Like the Zen Vision:M, a built-in microphone and an FM tuner is included, as well as the same media formats, a similar graphical interface and abilities to sync organizer data from Microsoft Outlook. It also includes a CompactFlash reader for extra capacity and the direct upload of images.

[edit] Discontinued players

[edit] NOMAD Jukebox Zen Series

These models were then released under the NOMAD line, and have an anodized aluminium case. The 2.5" Fujitsu hard drives range from a 20GB (NOMAD Jukebox Zen), 30GB (Zen NX, Zen Xtra), 40GB and 60GB (Xtra). Unlike the earlier NOMAD Jukebox players, which looked like CD players, these ones have the appearance of a tape player.

[edit] NOMAD Jukebox Zen

Introduced in 2002, the first Zen player used USB 1.1 or FireWire for file transfers, while a later release has connectivity to USB 2.0. Up to 14 hours of continuous audio playback is achieved by the rechargeable battery, and a wired remote, sold separately, gives the player an FM tuner and microphone.

[edit] NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX

Released in 2003, the Zen NX, as it was later called, is an upgrade to the old NOMAD Jukebox Zen, with a removable battery and a slightly smaller size. Included with the player was MediaSource, the music management software that would be used with subsequent Zen players.

[edit] NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra

The NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra, or the Zen Xtra (renamed by Creative for commercial reasons) has a Texas Instruments TMX320 DSP and a 8 MB SDRAM. The player was presumably named Xtra, thanks to the larger screen. The package includes the player, a leather case with belt-clip, a lithium ion battery, a USB cable, and a pair of standard earbuds. Complaints against the Xtra have included failures of the firmware, headphone jack, and the hard drive. The Xtra can have problems with keeping track of very large numbers of music files.^[8] The equalizer is somewhat broken in at least one firmware version.^[9]

The Xtra is notable for being the first DAP to support Real Networks's Helix DRM, but through a tailored firmware. The Sansa e200R would later be the only other player to have this feature.

[edit] Zen Touch

The Zen Touch was released in the summer of 2004. The model incorporated radical changes in design, functionality and technology.

The Zen Touch has a smaller form factor and larger backlit blue display in a curved industrial design. In addition, the device uses a touch-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" line of hard drives. The Touch is available in a 20 and 40GB version, and a 60GB 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.^{[citation needed]}. An update was released in October 2005 that fixed all major problems with the Zen and also added Playsforsure compatibility.

The Zen Touch has a brief uncredited appearance in Pepsi's new commercial which aired during Super Bowl XL ^[10].

[edit] Zen Micro

The Zen Micro was released in November 2004 and is a micro hard drive music player available in 10 colors.

The Zen Micro is much smaller than its Touch counterpart and shares a similar interface for file navigation. The Micro has a removable battery rated to last for up to 12 hours of continuous playback. In addition, the player has an LED-backlit LCD, a glowing case, and offers hard disk capacities of 4, 5 and 6 GB.

The Micro also features a built-in FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder and microphone, partitioning for data storage (i.e. acting as a removable hard drive for PCs), and the ability to synchronize contacts, tasks and calendars with Microsoft Outlook. Accessories for the Zen Micro include matching colour speakers, wireless headsets and a wired remote control. ^[11]

The first 35,000 units shipped worldwide were packaged as a Limited Edition package that came with an additional rechargeable battery. Asian models of the Limited Edition included the extra battery and a wired remote control.

At CES 2005, it was announced that the Zen Micro line would be expanded to include 4 and 6 GB models.

The Zen Micro optionally supports the Microsoft Media Transfer Protocol and the PlaysForSure certification with updated firmware.

[edit] Zen

The Zen 20 gigabyte player was released in May 2005, and copies the Zen Micro's successful aesthetics. A few design points set it apart from the Micro line, including a Magnesium case and a larger screen. Also, the battery is not 'user-replaceable'. 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.

[edit] Zen Neeon

The Zen Neeon is a new addition that is targeted at those that feel that the Zen Micro is too gaudy. It is a throwback to the old Zen Xtra, but in a much smaller size. The 5GB model has an SNR of 98 dB and a battery life of 16 hours (19 hours with new firmware version). The front has a piano black finish, and the back is anodized aluminium that comes in ten colours. and the LCD screen has a 7 colour backlight.

The Creative Zen Neeon was criticized highly at the time of release for having a slow interface, more specifically slow start-up, menus and song switch. As well, the first released models came with a virus that could infect your computer.^[12] This affected the popularity of the product and though the hardware and style of the Zen Neeon was very good, the software seemed to let the product down. The firmware update released latter provided a much quicker start-up time and interface. If released with the player, it might have been more popular on the market.

Like its Micro brother, this unit also has an 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 by a new marketing campaign, Put a Face to Your Music, with emphasis on a whole new range of customizable "Stik-Ons", which are decal stickers that can be placed and removed from the face of the unit.

[edit] 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 aluminium casing. It can synchronize with Outlook to hold the calendar, address book, and tasks list. The battery life is up to 20 hours, depending on usage. It uses the same style 'touchpad' as the Zen Touch without the 'OK' button, instead tapping the touchpad to make a selection, just like a laptop. The Zen Vision:M, a modern replacement for the Sleek, has a similar one.

[edit] Zen MicroPhoto

The Zen MicroPhoto shares the same features of the Zen Micro except Audible.com support (reinstated in firmware versions 1.31.01 and above), and adds an upgraded 262,144-color (18 bpp) OLED screen for displaying photos. To fix the lack of bass with the Zen Micro, Creative also implemented a Bass Boost feature, now available in subsequent players. The 8GB player is available in the same colours of the Micro and is advertised to store "thousands of JPEGs" or "4,000 songs". Due to its larger battery, the player can play up to 15 hours of continuous playback, 3 hours longer than its predecessor.^[13] Unlike the Micro, it does not have any problems with the headphone jack. The MicroPhoto is the first of many subsequent players with expanded customization, with the ability to use a picture as a custom wallpaper, with color themes to change the tones of it, and six color schemes.

First introduced at CES 2005, the Zen MicroPhoto won the CNET Editor's Choice award in November 2005 the coveted G4TV Best of CES award in the Audio To Go category.^[14]

[edit] Zen Sleek Photo

The Zen Sleek Photo is the color-screen equivalent of the Sleek, with the extra ability to view JPEG photos.

[edit] Zen Nano/Nano Plus

The Zen Nano is a rebranded MuVo N200 and unlike other Zens, the music is transferred and stored in the player like on a USB memory stick, without requiring any specific software. It lasts up to 18 hours on an AAA battery. Like the Micro and the MicroPhoto, the Nano is available in ten colors: black, pink, red, orange, green, light blue, blue, purple, gray, and white.

The Zen Nano Plus is a Nano with an FM tuner with 30 custom presets, plus voice, radio, and line-in recording. All recorded audio will be encoded in WAV, except for line-in, which encodes to MP3.

[edit] Zen Portable Media Center

Creative introduced the Portable Media Center in 2004. It is based on Microsoft's Portable Media Center specification, runs Windows Mobile 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 be upgraded to 40 GB or 60 GB. This device has been replaced by the Zen Vision and the Zen Vision W.

[edit] Zen Vision

The Zen Vision was released on November 2005. Since its launch, it is the winner of several awards, including Best of Digital Life 2005 and the Red Dot Design award. Unlike its predecessor, the Zen Vision does not have Microsoft's Portable Media Center specification but supports Microsoft's Media Transfer Protocol. It supports audio (WMA-DRM, WMA, MP3, WAV), video (WMV, Motion JPEG, MPEG 1/2/4, DivX 4/5, xvid) and picture (JPEG) playback. The Zen Vision uses a 30 GB hard drive and can partition a part of its hard drive to work as a removable disk (up to 16GB) for any operating system. There are some features of the Zen Vision which require compatibility with certain operating systems, e.g require users to have access to Microsoft Windows XP (SP1 or higher).

Like past models, the Zen Vision comes with a FM tuner, a voice and FM recorder, and a calendar and organizer that can be synced with Microsoft Outlook.

The Zen Vision has a 3.7" trans-reflective TFT-LCD screen that has a 640x480 resolution and displays about 260 thousand colors. It has a video output (PAL or NTSC) port and a CompactFlash slot which can be used to transfer the contents to the player. An adapter for other memory card types is also available as an accessory. The Zen Vision also supports an optional infrared remote.

[edit] 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 company is heavily publicizing the newer Zen Touch and Zen Micro. 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 Steven Tyler.

[edit] Lawsuits with Apple

Creative was awarded a U.S. patent on a music management system consisting of several pages (commonly seen on audio players, including the popular Apple iPod) on 30 August 2005, after applying for it on Jan 5 2001. Apple filed for a similar patent on 20 Oct 2002 but was rejected [5]. Along with the launch of the Zen Vision:M, Creative announced that it will "aggressively pursue" respect of its intellectual property, addressing "all manufacturers that use the same navigation system." So far, Creative has only addressed Apple's infringement of its "Zen Patent". Creative announced on May 15, 2006 that it has filed two lawsuits against Apple. Since then, Apple and Creative have reached a settlement, with Apple paying $100 million, and Creative joining the "Made for iPod" accessory program.^[15]

[edit] Other related software

Besides MediaSource, which is included with all Zen players, there are many other alternatives. Some programs enable compatibility to Linux, which cannot be achieved with the bundled software.

• Free software:
  • Amarok, a Linux-only media player‌
  • Banshee, another similar program for Linux‌
  • Gnomad2, which can transfer files to Zen players with an FTP-like interface‌
  • KZenExplorer, a synchronization tool for KDE‌

• Proprietary software:
  • Legacy OS Driver, a Creative driver that gives compatibility to PlaysForSure-certified Zens for Windows 98 SE, Me, and 2000. ‌
  • Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) Porting Kit, a Microsoft driver that provides functionality for MTP-based devices, like the Zen players, for the same operating systems listed above. ‌
  • MediaMonkey, a media player that syncs with Zen players. While it is freeware, the Gold version has the ability to automatically convert media formats. ‌

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Digital audio player
• Portable media player
• Creative MuVo
• Creative NOMAD
• Creative Technology
• Comparison of portable media players

[edit] External links

• Zen product line