In case you didn’t like the Mondrian-style ZEN Mosaic, Creative has announced a new option: the ZEN Mosaic EZ300. It’s the same 1.8-inch player but this time, the entire PMP is of one shade of Black or Pink. It plays MP3, WMA, WAV, Audible 4 music files and will have 4GB or 8GB of storage. Price is 49.99 pounds ($81 $59.99) for the 4GB and $79.99 for the 8GB.

I have to agree that the Mosaic EZ300 is much easier for the eyes compared to the original mosaic, but believe me, cheap MP3 players are available with more features.

[via itechnews]

My new headphones above won the 2009 Red Dot Award for Product Design. It’s design aesthtic is classic and it’s supposed to be very light–the nickel and titanium ear hooks are the slimmest you could possibly make them–and stays hands-free, unlike those other headphones that you have to keep holding and readjusting as you move your head. Not only that, from the “Neodymium magnet drivers with ultra-slim high performance diaphragms” to the “Superior thermoplastic elastomer coated cabling” that “resists tangling and significantly reduces contact noise when the cable brushes against your clothes,” it’s designed outside as well as inside to exceed its MSRP value of $199.99. Unlike Apple, Creative actually seems to care about good music.

Learn more about the Creative Aurvana Air headphones from the links below.

[creative via ubergizmo]

Last we heard from the Singaporean company it was about a rather surprising Zen Moo Mp3 player. Last we heard anything significant from Creative, it was about the even more surprising X-Fi. So it’s  arather big drop at one’s expectations level when we heard just a while ago that the player above is going to be the new face of Creative Zen. The MX is a 2.5-inch with 320 x 240 resolution playing only Creative’s proprietary CMV video file. Other file support is pretty, pretty meager: MP3, DRM’d WMA, JPG. Wow, but coming at prices like $102 for the 8GB and $144 for the 16GB (both have SDHC card slot) it most likely would sell enough to take care of Creative’s current overhead.

With the announcement of the Zen MX comes announcement of price reductions for the above-mentioned X-Fi: in Japan that boils down to 2,000 yen price reduction for the 32GB and the 8GB and a massive 4,000 yen for the 16GB.

[source via engadget]

No one has an idea what Creative is up to. Obviously, it has something new lined up but what is Zii exactly, hardware? software? a new music store? Sounds to me like a version of Pandora, Rhapsody and Apple iTunes Genius. EpiZENter, a website and forum dedicated to everything Creative believes it’s a chip but they’re at a loss what it is for. They do have screenshots of the purported Creative Zii, whatever it is.

Note: looking through wikipedia for stem cell, I believe it has something to do with the characteristics of the biological stem cell, namely the renewable characteristic and the generative characteristic that leads to new types of cells. Must really be an iTunes Genius competitor.

[via engadget]

We at PMPToday have covered enough strange-looking gadgets in a little over a year of being online but Creative takes the cake this week with the recent announcement of the Zen Moo. The MP3 player is shaped like a cartoon cow’s head and will be sold only in China, thank goodness. The player will come out next year at the beginning of the year of the cow.

Specs: for the Zen Cow Plus version, most of the cow’s lower face is an LED lens while the regular version has just the buttons. Both versions have 2GB of memory and an FM tuner.

[via dapreview]

Other tech bloggers are calling Creative’s mystery patent an Internet tablet or a PMP in the Zen Vision line. The new unannounced device could also be WiFi-equipped with GPS added. Are you getting excited. On the back, we have what could be a camera lens. We sure hope so. Anyway, Creative has proven to be a great innovator throughout the years and this device might just break more barriers for the company, especially with the Zen X-Fi not making much headway in the iPod-dominated market.

[via anythingbutipod]

A 16GB Creative ZEN Mosaic is better than a 2GB, 4GB or 8GB one. The ZEN Mosaic is a unique-looking PMP that will sure be an attention grabber wherever you take it. Hopefully, the 16GB is not priced too far off the ceiling of previous ZEN Mosaic models. Creative, of course, has been known to produce cheaper iPod alternatives and this should be no exception.

[source via gmp3]

Curious about how the uniquely designed ZEN Mosaic fares in your hand? Here’s an unboxing video should give prospective buyers a  very good idea. Measurements of the ZEN Mosaic are: 79.5 x 40 x 12.8 mm, weighing 43g. It supports MP3, WMA, WAV, Audible, MJPEG, JPEG / BMP / GIF / PNG / TIFF. It will be available in August in 3 capacities (2GB, 4GB and 8GB) and black, gray or pink color. Prices at 69.99 euros, 89.99 euros and 109.99. A 16GB version will come later.

It’s quite a desirable player if you want to be a little different, though I’m not sure the screen size and resolution 160 x 128 is sufficient for video playing. 

[via gmp3]

I’m not sure it’s a good time for PMPs with interesting buttons. Creative decides on a Mondrian theme and a 1.8-inch screen. The ZEN Mosaic encodes videos and plays it in Creative’s proprietary format and supports MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM 10 as well. The ZEN Mosaic also has built-in FM radio with 32 stations, mic and voice-recording function. No one can deny the ZEN Mosaic is different from what’s already out there in the market and I know a few people would buy this player if only because it is from Creative and a few more will buy it because it’s unique. But iPod killer? Maybe another couple more tries, Creative. Besides, they have the ZEN X-fi to improve first.

S$99 for the 2GB and S$129 for the 4GB. USD value nearly double the Singaporean value. Hands-on photo below.

[via engadget, nothingbutcreative]

The Zen Krystal will enter the Nike + iPod market very soon. It is an MP3 player with built-in pedometer. The Krystal MP3 player also supports Hurdle Race, Catch & Dodge and Dice Roll games, FM tuner and voice recorder. Drag and drop interface, 4GB of storage and an OLED screen are the other features. No price yet but the small rectangular form factor with the scroll pad that resembles a woofer is just looking awesome.

[creative via engadget, anythingbutipod]