Creative will be releasing a new player called the Zen Krystal. As you may have guessed from looking at it, it is the follow-up to the Zen Stone series. The Krystal sets itself apart from its predecessors with the addition of a pedometer. According to Creative the pedometer “can track the distance ran, the speed you were running at as well as the amount of calories burnt during your exercise workout.”. It also has a stopwatch ( just like the Stone Plus).
Another puzzling addition is game support. I’ve been asking for games for years now and Creative’s first attempt comes in the form of a dice rolling game, dodgeball, and some racing game on a microscopic 0.7″ screen. It’s a start I guess.
Features
* Capacity: 4GB
* Display: 0.7″ monochrome OLED
* Audio: MP3, WMA
* FM tuner and Voice recorder
* Built-in pedometer and stopwatch
* Games included: Hurdle Race, Catch & Dodge and Dice Roll
* Battery life: 10 hours
* Dimensions: 57 mm x 37 mm x 10.8 mm
* UMS support
The Zen Krystal has only shown up at Creative’s Hong Kong site, but it will be released in other regions eventually. It must be a strategy of Creative to release the same player every few months. First the Zen Stone, then the Stone Plus, then the Stone with built-in speakers and so on. Expect the Zen Krystal Plus in another few months! The Krystal does looks nicer than the Zen Stone Plus. The boxy shape is reminiscent of the Sansa Clip from Sandisk. Hopefully it sounds as good as that player too. Sadly, not much has changed from the original Stone series. [LINK]
