Another IFA, another minuscule ZEN X-Fi media player. And somehow, they be capable of get less and less impressive with each passing year. This go ’round, we’re observing the ZEN X-Fi3, equipped with a 2-inch LCD, 8/16GB of internal storage, Bluetooth 2.1, a built-in microphone / FM radio / speaker and a battery that are supposed to last as long as 20 hours when playing back audio alone. As with prior ZEN units, this one also supports a large number of file formats (FLAC, AAC, MP3, WMA, Audible, etc.), and for those kosher with watching Alf reruns on a thumb-sized panel, MPEG-4 / WMV9 / DivX video files also are able to being played back. This guy’s slated to ship on the end of October across Europe, but with $99.99 (8GB) / $139.99 (16GB) price tags, we’re guessing most are guaranteed to just collect dust. For shame.
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, USA – 1 September 2011 – Creative Technology Ltd today announced the launch of the Creative ZEN X-Fi3 music, photo and video player with X-Fi audio technology-enabled Bluetooth wireless audio playback and support for lossless audio and quite a lot of other music formats. Just 65 x 45.5 x 12.5 mm in size, the Creative ZEN X-Fi3 is full of features including a microSD card slot, video-out, and a pair of” TFT screen with touch-buttons, and this is priced from only US$99.99. The Creative ZEN X-Fi3 will debut at IFA 2011 in Berlin from 2 – 7 September 2011.
Key Features of the Creative ZEN X-Fi3
* Superior Wireless Connectivity with Bluetooth 2.1 and apt-X
The built-in apt-X codec allows users to enjoy superior wireless Bluetooth music transmission (that sounds pretty much as good as a wired connection) when Creative ZEN X-Fi3 is used with all compatible stereo Bluetooth devices akin to Creative’s comprehensive line-up of Bluetooth headphones and speakers.
* X-Fi Quality Audio
Creative ZEN X-Fi3 lets users re-experience their music in pristine crystal clear quality and detail throughout the revolutionary power of X-Fi. With X-Fi Crystalizer, users will experience their digital music how it was meant to be heard, with lost details restored. With X-Fi Expand, users will benefit from the most natural sound staging available in headphone audio today.
* X-Fi Crystalizer
Digital Music today pales compared to the true thing.
That’s because important details disappear within the low and high ranges when users rip their CDs into digital music. X-Fi Crystalizer intelligently restores lost details instantly to amazing clarity.
* X-Fi Expand
X-Fi Expand intelligently moves a standard left/right earphone stereo source far from a user’s ears, virtually expanding it for an audio experience with a breathtakingly realistic depth of field. Users will feel as though they were being attentive to their music from a couple of high-end speakers.
* Support for quite a lot of Audio Formats that come with Lossless Audio
Creative ZEN X-Fi3 allows users to enjoy their music even in lossless audio formats (FLAC files) besides accessing all their content and music in various formats which includes MP3, WMA and Audible 4. Furthermore, the player also supports iTunes Plus – often called unprotected AAC (.m4a).
* Additional Space for Music with microSD Card Slot
Users can add as much as 32GB* of music on top of the player’s built-in memory
* Video-out
Users can enjoy movies or share images with friends and family on a bigger screen, once they connect Creative ZEN X-Fi3 to a TV via the player’s video-out connector (A/V cable available separately).
“With Creative, you’ll always get best value performance in terms of portable media players. Earlier this year, we introduced the ZEN Style M300 that surprised everyone with what percentage features possible pack right into a tiny device at the sort of low cost point,” said Ting Lai Chu, Vice-President of the Advanced Multimedia Group at Creative Technology Ltd.
“Now here at IFA Berlin 2011 with the ZEN X-Fi3, we’re ready to amaze everyone another time, but this time with a conveyable media player that delivers the very best wireless audio experience available in the market. ZEN X-Fi3 will set a brand new benchmark in what premium audio performance must be for a conveyable media player.”
Technical Specifications of the Creative ZEN X-Fi3
* Display: 2″ TFT with 262K colors
* Capacity(1) : 8GB , 16GB
* Wireless: Bluetooth 2.1 (supports apt-X, AVRCP & A2DP)
* Audio formats(2): FLAC, non-protected AAC (*.M4A) from iTunes Plus® , MP3, WMA (DRM9), WAV(IMA-ADPCM), Audible Format 4, Audible AAX
* X-Fi™ Audio Enhancement : Adjustable Crystalizer / Expand effects
* Video formats(3) : WMV9, MPEG4-SP, AVI (DivX4/5, XviD)
* Video / Audio out : PAL or NTSC / Stereo (via A/V cable sold)
* Photo formats: JPEG
* Built-in Microphone for Voice Recording
* Built-in FM Radio with 32 station presets
* Built-in Speakers for sharing music out loud
* Battery Playtime(4) :
o as much as 20 hours of audio (mp3,128kbps)
o as much as 5 hours of video (640×480, stereo(128kbps))
* Dimensions: 65 x 45.5 x 12.5mm (est.)
* Weight: 45g (est.)
1. Availability may differ in numerous regions.
2. Non-protected AAC (.M4A) from iTunes Plus ®. Supports FLAC of as much as 1.1Mbps.
3. This product isn’t certified by DivX Inc. and should not play all DivX 4 and DivX 5 files. XviD encoded files are playable in the event that they are encoded as standard MPEG-4 Simple (SP) or Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) without GMC and QPEL support. Appropriate codecs needs to be preinstalled.
4. Actual battery life and playtime will vary with use and settings. Battery has limited recharge cycles.
* 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Available capacity should be less. Reported capacity will vary.
Pricing and Availability
The Creative ZEN X-Fi3 portable media players might be available on the online store at creative.com/shop in Europe from end Oct 2011 onwards on the following suggested retail prices:
· Creative ZEN X-Fi3 8GB US$99.99
· Creative ZEN X-Fi3 16GB US$139.99
For in-store availability, please confer with local authorised dealers.
For additional information about Creative ZEN X-Fi3 portable media players, please visit www.creative.com/purewireless.
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