Creative today formally launched its second-generation Zen Vision portable media player in the US after unveiling the device in Europe and Singapore earlier this month. The new model is essentially a stretched version of its predecessor, pulled out to accommodate a 4.3in, 16:9 ratio, 480 x 272 widescreen LCD.

The Zen Vision W ships in two forms, one with a 60GB hard drive, the other with 30GB of HDD storage. Creative said the Vision W will play MPEG 1, 2 and 4-SP, Motion JPEG, and XviD video content, but we reckon it'll handle WMV too, as per the older Vision.

Indeed, beyond the bigger screen there's doesn't appear to be much the distinguishes the new model from the old one. Both have built-in FM radios with 32 station pre-sets and CompactFlash slots. Both offer 4.5 hours' video playback time. Both have PAL- and NTSC-compatible TV-out ports, voice microphones and PIM functionality that can be synchronised with Microsoft Outlook.

Now Amazon.com has launched its Unbox online TV and movie content service, Creative was able to tout how much video material will be available to US Zen Vision W buyers, something it wasn't able to mention when it rolled the gadget out at the IFA show in Berlin earlier this month.

Shipping today, the 30GB Vision W will retail for around $300, while the 60GB model costs a further $100, Creative said. ®