macnn/electronista
04/22/2008, 11:00am, EDT
Tuesday, April 22ndCreative ZENs to use Internet music storage?
Creative's upcoming ZEN X-Fi media player may hinge on Internet-based storage as a selling point, says a new tip sent to epiZENter. While the player is already anticipated to offer local sharing between users, a "reliable" source indicates that Creative wants to use the device's Wi-Fi for accessing a remote collection; users would subscribe to a service that offers a multi-gigabyte Internet storage space for holding music; users could then access songs they can't fit on the player simply by streaming them wirelessly.
The information doesn't include any specific price plans or whether there would be any limitations in the format or content. Details are more likely to appear on the ZEN's official release later in spring, which is expected to include a US version of the as yet unconfirmed device and capacities up to at least 32GB of flash memory.
Other companies have tried related if different strategies in the past, such as the SanDisk Sansa Connect's access to Yahoo music and the current Slacker Player's ability to download a simulated Internet radio station that can then be listened to offline.
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Thus Apple could keep its buy and keep model, but also allow folks to try new stuff out in a hybrid service that isn't really a subscription.
posted by MacnnChester