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Creative Zen Mozaic: Beauty that's only skin deep

Creative has unveiled its latest MP3 player: the Creative Zen Mosaic. With interchangable silicone skins, it should appeal to the younger end of the MP3-loving market

Nate Lanxon Special to CNET News

We're keen to play with the Creative Zen X-Fi: it's innovative and it's new and shiny. Feeding off this delight, Creative has unveiled another eye-catching player today. It's the Zen Mozaic, but we're not quite feeling the same excitement about it.

It's an MP3 and video player with FM radio, coming in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities, with support for MP3, WMA, WAV and Audible 4 music formats. Videos will need to be transcoded with the bundled software, unfortunately, as will any images not in JPEG format.

One of the unique selling points of the Mozaic is that its silicone covers can be interchanged much like Nokia's Xpress-on faceplates. This option could make the player much, much more appealing if third-party accessory makers come on board. It'll gear the player towards the massive, younger end of the market.

The Mozaic will be available from August, priced at £50, £60 and £80 for the 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models respectively. A 16GB version will sell for £120 a few weeks later. Expect our full review before the cheese in your fridge goes past its use-by date. -Nate Lanxon

Update: Read our full Creative Zen Mosaic review here.