Creative, which earlier this year declared war against Apple's iPod, on Wednesday introduced its latest attempt to dethrone the king of the MP3 player space: the Zen Vision, which features a 30GB hard drive and a 3.7-inch, 640 x 480 resolution LCD that can display digital videos and photos. The US$399.99 device is only compatible with Windows XP, although its release is significant for Apple because many analysts expect the company to announce a video-capable iPod sometime this year. The Zen Vision could be the first shot in that battle.

The Zen Vision is available in white or black, measures 4.9 by 2.9 by .8 inches and weighs 8.4 ounces, making it larger and heavier than the full-size iPod. The Zen Vision also features a built-in FM radio with 32 presets, FM recording, a slot that accepts CompactFlash Type I and II storage cards, a built-in microphone, an organizer that syncs with Microsoft Outlook and a composite video out port for displaying images on a TV. It connects to a computer via USB 2.0.

Zen Vision also supports such video formats as DivX and Xvid, WMV and MJPEG, as well as TiVoToGo, which enables users to transfer content from their TiVo to the device. Creative said that the Zen Vision's rechargeable battery can accommodate up to 4.5 hours of video playback, as well as up to 13 hours of music. Of course, it works with Napster, MSN Music, Music Now and other online music stores, but not iTunes.

Creative's new Zen Vision