Creative Zen X-Fi Brings WiFi, IM to Mobile Media

Creative is known for its line of top quality Zen portable media players. But according to some leaked product photos and information on Engadget, the company will soon be taking it a step further with the X-Fi, a Wi-Fi-based device that lets you stream media from Creative’s Public Media Server.

It appears to be a fairly small unit, with a 2.5-inch screen (like the current iPod Classic, but an inch shorter than the iPhone’s 3.5-inch touch screen). It will probably launch in 8, 16, and 32GB capacities.

The market for standalone media players is broad, but not particularly deep—while there’s a ton of selection out there, many folks default to either music-focused players (like the iPod Nano, even though the current 3rd gen can also play video) or all-out media-capable cell phones. Wi-Fi could be an interesting addition; the iPod Touch already has it, and that unit seems to be selling well.

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