Creative has just announced its latest weapon in the battle against Apple and its iPods - the ZEN Stone. A range of color options will be available, although for the launch date on the 14th of May, black is the only option. At 25 grams and measuring 5.3 x 3.5 x 1.3 cm (W x H x D) it's a very pocket friendly MP3 player. In addition to MP3 files, the ZEN Stone will also play DRM free WMA, WAV and Audible books on its 1GB of built in storage.

The ZEN Stone has a 10h battery life, which should be good enough for most users and it charges via its mini USB connector, which is also used to connect it to your PC. A standard 3.5mm audio jack is used for headphones and a basic pair is supplied with the player. But the thing that will sell the ZEN Stone its not one of its features, but rather the amazingly low retail price of US$39.99, as suddendly it's not expensive to get a quality player from a well known brand. We'll just have to wait and see if Apple is willing to compete with this of if it sees its own iPod Nano as a premium product. You can find out more information about the ZEN Stone here