Look Ma! A miniature boom box!
Q: What do you get when you take a tiny, smart looking MP3 player and bundle in a built in speaker?
A: Micro boom boxes that free people from headphones. According to Creative at least.
Introduced at CES, the two new products added to Creative's range of MP3 players are; the Zen Stone and Zen Stone Plus. You might be wondering why exactly these are new, Creative already had products of the same name. Well, they still do but these are new Zen Stones and Zen Stone Pluses, they've seen an increase in capacity and the addition of a built in speaker.
The speaker-packing Zen Stone is available now in 1GB and 2GB flavours whilst the Zen Stone Plus cranks up to 2GB and 4GB models and offers the same small screen as previous Plus models.
“The ZEN Stone and ZEN Stone Plus with built-in speakers free people from having to wear headphones to listen to their portable music,” says Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative. “They enable users to enjoy music when they are on a walk or in a group and want to enjoy a conversation or hear what’s going on around them,” he adds. “It’s hard to believe that such incredibly small players can have a speaker that sounds so good, enabling people to share their music with friends, without headphones.”
Seeing as the Zen Stone Plus measures in at 55.6 x 35.3 x 12.8 mm, we're curious to hear just how terrible the built-in speakers really sound. Still, they'll be great for annoying fellow commuters on the train we're sure.
Official press release: CREATIVE INTRODUCES THE ZEN STONE AND ZEN STONE PLUS, WITH BUILT-IN SPEAKERS
