Creative ZEN X-Fi2 Available To Pre-Order

Following on from yesterday's news concerning Creative's 2nd Gen Vado HD
Creative have also announced a new version of its ZEN X-Fi portable
media player in the form of the ZEN X-Fi2 PMP which, apart from touting
a 262K color 3 TFT touchscreen, is also billed as offering enhanced
sound quality thanks to the bods as Creative tinkering with there X-Fi
audio processing technology.
The new iteration of the ZEN X-Fi to a large degree, not withstanding
the new touchscreen and the purported upping of the sound quality,
largely unchanged though a notable addition is that of integrated TV out
connectivity allowing for the viewing of videos on somewhat less
spatially restrictive displays such as TVs.

Apart from these improvements, as noted above, the ZEN X-Fi2, which
comes in a somewhat more compact form, comes with the same feature set
of its predecessor such as an integrated FM tuner with 32 presets,
microSD card support for bolt on additional capacity, an onboard
microphone allowing for voice memos as well as speaker and, of course,
pretty liberal file format support taking in MP3, WMA(DRM9), Audible4,
AAC, FLAC audio and WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4/5, XviD video formats along
with offering JPEG and BMP image support for those that like to pocket a
few digital images.

In setting out to design our next generation player, we felt it was
essential that we start with the sound quality of the ZEN X-Fi player
and make the ZEN X-Fi2 sound even better by implementing the latest X-Fi
technology. We wanted to have X-Fi improve the audio playback across all
modes of entertainment including music, video and FM music from the
radio, said said Joseph Liow, Vice President, Personal Digital
Entertainment Products of Creative Technology Ltd and General Manager of
Creative Labs Asia. Next, we added features to significantly enhance
the user experience for music, photos and videos, all in a player with a
sleek design. We wanted to make the ZEN X-Fi2 even more fun to use by
implementing a touch screen interface. To upgrade the video watching
experience, we increased the size of the display with a stunning 3-inch
touch screen. The combination of adding a touch screen and a larger
display also substantially enhances photo viewing, as now users can
quickly and easily scroll through photos.

In terms of pricing the Creative ZEN X-Fi2 comes in three versions
offering 8GB, 16Gb and 32GB capacities with pricing coming in at around
a not in the least unreasonable $130, $180 and $230 which, considering
what's on offer here makes the ZEN X-Fi2 a more attractive proposition
than some PMPs we could mention. Still, that said, it would take a brave
man to set about parting me from my Touch.

Interested parties can pre-order the Creative ZEN X-Fi2 8GB here, the
16GB version here or the 32GB capacity variant here.