Creative announce Zen Portable Media Center

12 January 2004 12:53 GMT / By PRESS RELEASE

Creative has announced at CES a new device in conjunction with Microsoft that allows you to listen to music as well as view images.

PRESS RELEASE: Creative Technology Ltd. (Nasdaq: CREAF - News), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users, kicked off the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV with Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates' unveiling of the Creative Zen Portable Media Center in his keynote address last night.

Building upon the success and critical acclaim for Creative digital portable audio players and hard-disk audio players, the Creative Zen Portable Media Center ushers in a new era in digital entertainment by delivering a sleek, compact portable platform for digital music, video and images. Slated for shipment in the second half of this calendar year, this totally portable device, shown with a footprint of only 5 and 11/16" x 3 and 3/8", revolutionizes digital entertainment by carrying hundreds of hours of video and thousands of songs and images. Powered by Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers, the Creative Zen Portable Media Center features a large LCD screen, easy-to-navigate controls, and USB 2.0 and Smart Sync technology to make content transfer fast and easy.

"The Creative Zen Portable Media Center enables easy portability of all Windows XP digital videos, home movies, recorded TV shows, photos, music and even album art," said Todd Warren, General Manager, Embedded Devices Group, Microsoft, Corp. "With one device, Creative is helping Microsoft transform digital entertainment with a seamless PC-to-device experience that's fun and easy to use."

"Our consistent innovation with key partners is what fosters Creative's leadership in digital entertainment," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative Technology, Ltd. "The Creative Zen Portable Media Center exemplifies how we can leverage the power of the PC to surpass the capabilities of consumer electronics."

The Creative Zen Portable Media Center is slated for availability in the second half of this calendar year.
UPDATE: We've managed to get our hands on a unit for a first look - why not check out the review

Full tags

Audio, MP3 players, Creative