The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/13/creative_zen_micro/

Creative unveils 5GB Zen Micro

Feature-packed 'iPod Mini challenger'

By Tony Smith

Posted in Mobile, 13th October 2004 10:16 GMT

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Creative launched its Zen Micro "iPod Mini challenger" last night, as anticipated [1].

The compact, 5GB unit will "outshine all the others", the company said, with it 12 hour battery life, FM radio with 32 station pre-sets, voice recorder and PDA-style personal information management functionality.

Creative Zen Micro

Not to mention a wide range of casing colours. Like the razor market's obsession with the number of blades on offer - 'Four blades? F**k 'em, we're going to five' - digital music player vendors are increasingly viewing colour choice as the key distinguishing feature between their products.

The Zen Micro comes in a choice of ten colours, double the "previous generation" - as Creative calls it - iPod Mini's five: silver, black, red, orange, green, pink, purple, white, light blue and dark blue.

As we reported on Monday, the Micro provides a touchpad controller for one-handed usage. It supports WM 10 DRM files, along with the usual MP3 playback. Creative bundles software which synchronises Microsoft Outlook contacts, calendars and to-do lists with the player, which - as the iPod has done for some time - presents them on its 2in display.

What we didn't know then is that the battery is removable, allowing users to quickly slot in a fresh one when the main unit has lost its charge. The Micro will also operate as a USB Mass Storage device, allowing users to store other files on its hard drive.

The Micro is $250 in the US, a dollar more than the iPod Mini. The pricing in the UK: £180 (Micro) to £179 (iPod Mini). The Zen Micro goes on sale in November. ®

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Creative, Dell prep iPod Mini rivals [2]
Virgin unveils 5GB mini music player [3]
Apple iPod grabs 82% US retail market share [4]
Alleged Apple Flash iPod 'partner' signs with Rio [5]
Sony apes Apple with coloured music players [6]
Toshiba tilts digital music player line at iPod [7]