Creative Unveils iPod Video Lookalike
Aiming to steal some of the thunder from the video iPod, Creative on Thursday introduced the Zen Vision:M, a device that looks quite a bit like its popular rival. The player sports a 30GB hard drive, 2.5"-inch screen, and will be available in five colors.
The Singapore-based Creative continues to struggle against Apple, even having trouble competing against other Windows-based player manufacturers such as iRiver. According to recent surveys, the company's players regularly come behind competitors Apple, Sony and iRiver in just about every country.
Yet Sim Wong Hoo, Creative's chairman, has continually taken an aggressive stance against Apple in the press, claiming his company's players are some of the best in the industry for design, choice of format and features.
Hoo has also reportedly told the BBC that he plans to aggressively pursue a patent that the company owns regarding music player navigation. Although Hoo did not single out Apple, the company has already disputed Creative's rights to the patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
According to Hoo, Creative is already in discussions with some manufacturers regarding licensing of the patent, but he declined to reveal the status of those talks.
However, Creative could be equally setting itself up for legal trouble with the Zen Vision:M, which when put next to the fifth-generation iPod offers a nearly identical user interface with a very similar form factor. Apple has been notorious in the past for protecting the designs of its hardware.
Hoo also took a shot at the iPod in a statement introducing the new player. "We offer people the freedom to choose their video in a variety of different formats, and to get subscription music or download tracks from a number of different sites to their player," he chided.
The Zen Vision:M will also include an FM player with recording, built-in microphone, selectable themes, an organizer, and a color screen that Creative claims is four times better with color than the iPod video.
The player will retail for $329.99 USD when it goes on sale later this month from the Creative Web site, $30 more expensive than the 30GB iPod with video.
Joe Wilcox, a senior analyst with Jupiter Research, said that if Creative was attempting to emulate the design cues of the iPod with the Zen Vision:M, he wasn't fooled.
"The width and length of the Zen Vision:M are same as the newer iPod, but the device is thicker than even the 60GB iPod," Wilcox said. "I wouldn't call the media player as slick as iPod."
Still, Wilcox says Creative may be able to draw in customers with its support for Windows-based video and audio formats, and open formats such as Xvid. "The device's size and features would probably appeal most to people looking for untethered content. Caveat: the device Website doesn't carry Microsoft's PlaysForSure logo, which means less assurance of compatibility with all WMA DRM subscription content."