Creative Technology launches new MP3 players and speaker systems
22 July 2003 2003 hrs (SST) 1203 hrs (GMT)
By Dawn Teo
Creative Technology has launched several new digital audio players and speaker systems.
The company hopes to sell "huge numbers" of the products but it wouldn't reveal any sales targets.
The new products include two new models of speaker systems, which are part of the I-Trigue line, that not only sound good but look good as well.
Its newest MP3 players - the NOMAD Mu Vo NX and the NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX - are more stylish and compact, yet they can also pack in more hours of music.
Creative says its latest offerings will hit the market from August.
The company hopes these new products will help users escape to what it calls "audio utopia".
Creative chairman Sim Wong Hoo said: "Last year, I started talking about raising the stakes in this game and move into lifestyle digital entertainment. So, besides these external devices, we put in lifestyle. It means brand, it means design, very good sexy-looking industrial design and also variety."
Sales of Creative's personal digital entertainment products rose more than 80% in the first nine months of this financial year, helping the company to diversify its revenue base beyond the traditional PC-related products like sound cards.
CREATIVE DOUBLES CAPACITY OF NOMAD® MUVO® TO HOLD UP TO EIGHT HOURS OF MUSIC
Super Compact NOMAD MuVo NX MP3 Player and USB Flash Drive with Backlit LCD Features M-PORT Compatibility for Seamless Speaker Connectivity
SINGAPORE – July 22, 2003 – Creative (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users, today announced the NOMAD® MuVo® NX digital audio player, featuring up to four times the memory capacity as the original award-winning NOMAD MuVo and a backlit LCD for easy on-the-go music navigation. The compact NOMAD MuVo NX is the first MP3 player to feature M-PORT™ compatibility enabling direct connectivity and audio streaming to any Creative I-Trigue™ speaker system featuring an M-PORT interface. The sleek, pearl white NOMAD MuVo NX with 128MB is small enough to fit on a key chain, yet can hold up to four hours of music will ship in August 2003 at an estimated street price of US$149.99. An even higher capacity NOMAD MuVo NX, featuring 256MB to hold up to an amazing eight hours of music in the same small form factor, will ship in September 2003 at an estimated street price of only US$199.99.
"With the launch of the NOMAD MuVo NX Creative again raises the bar for flash-based MP3 players," said Ho See Kwee, director of marketing for Creative Labs Asia. "We have taken the revolutionary NOMAD MuVo, the world’s first MP3 player and USB flash drive all-in-one, and made it even better by adding more memory, a cool blue backlit LCD and a built-in microphone for voice recording. The lightweight NOMAD MuVo NX is so easy to use and durable you can take it with you wherever you go, and since the player features solid-state construction you’ll never worry about music skipping during playback. This makes it a perfect companion for exercise too - just strap it into the bundled sports armband and enjoy."
Each NOMAD MuVo NX ships with an extra body casing accessory so that users can easily switch the color of their player whenever they choose. NOMAD MuVo NX 128MB users can dress their player in pearl white or sky blue, while NOMAD MuVo NX 256MB users can select pearl white or dark blue. Multiple body casing accessories in fashionable colors will also be available separately so that users can change the color of their NOMAD MuVo NX at any time to match their outfit or their attitude.
The blue, backlit LCD on the NOMAD MuVo NX displays full song information from ID3 tags and shows track number, play time, play mode and EQ setting. It’s easy to select favorite songs and set play modes, such as Shuffle and Resume, with the scroller button. With the built-in microphone, users can also record over 16 hours of live audio—use it to record quick reminders, hours of notes, lectures and conversations.
Like the original NOMAD MuVo, the NOMAD MuVo NX does not require cables and conveniently doubles as a USB flash drive. Just slide the player apart, plug it directly into the computer’s USB port, and it will be automatically recognized as a removable drive. Users can transfer any file type from their PC onto the NOMAD MuVo NX and vice versa with simple drag and drop functionality. The 256MB NOMAD MuVo NX can hold up to 176 floppies worth of data, which can be transferred onto the player ten times faster than possible when using a floppy. The NOMAD MuVo NX can also be connected directly to Creative speaker systems with an M-PORT interface, such as the new Creative I-Trigue™ L3500 and Creative I-Trigue L3450, for instant music playback.
True to Creative’s rich audio heritage, the NOMAD MuVo NX boasts superior audio quality with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 90dB—incredible sound quality that rivals players many times its size. The NOMAD MuVo NX can play uninterrupted high-quality music for up to 11 hours on just one AAA alkaline battery.
Although the NOMAD MuVo NX does not require software, the player comes bundled with Creative MediaSource™ software for consumers who may have never used MP3 or WMA files before. Creative MediaSource is a full MP3 and WMA ripping and organizing application with a fresh, clean interface. It also includes everything needed to convert a CD collection into a portable digital library that can be transferred easily to the NOMAD MuVo NX and taken wherever one goes. With Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2, you can enjoy exciting MP3 and WMA enhancement features in Creative MediaSource, such as:
SVM™ (Smart Volume Management) matches volume variations across MP3 tracks so no adjustment is needed during playback;
Audio Clean-up removes pops and clicks from MP3 and WAV files or recorded material from vinyl records or cassettes;
Time Scaling to speed up or slow down a track without distortion; and
"Find" tool allows users to find music quickly by entering the first few letters of an artist or song.
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