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Creative has introduced the Creative Xdock Wireless, which docks an iPod and plays music in Xtreme Fidelity — via Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers.

The Creative Xdock Wireless also connects directly to a powered speaker system or home theater system to play video, photos and music in DTS surround-sound. It is designed to work seamlessly with the iPod and has been certified by Apple under the Made for iPod program.

“We’re thrilled that Creative is joining the iPod ecosystem with the launch of the Creative Xdock Wireless,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Just place your iPod in the Xdock and easily play music wirelessly in any room with the great sound quality of Xtreme Fidelity.”

“We designed the Creative Xdock Wireless so an iPod can easily become the audio platform for your entire home,” said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative. “Your iPod goes in the Creative Xdock Wireless to play music through Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers in as many rooms as you want - all upconverted to Xtreme Fidelity.”

Creative’s X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity is produced with X-Fi Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D technology. The X-Fi Crystalizer makes MP3s sound better by analyzing and identifying which parts of the audio stream have been truncated or damaged during compression. It then intelligently and selectively restores the highs and lows from instruments and vocals that are damaged during the compression of MP3s. X-Fi CMSS-3D creates virtual surround sound through speakers or headphones. It expands audio for superior headphone listening so music completely surrounds the listener.

The Creative Xdock Wireless plays music through multiple Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers, which are sold separately, in different rooms of the home connected to powered speakers or a home theater system. It also features a line-out for connection to powered speakers, which also functions as an optical-out to your home theater for DTS surround-sound and S-video and composite video-out connections, so digital photos and videos stored on an iPod can be displayed on a TV screen. A wireless remote to navigate the iPod menu, adjust volume levels, and activate X-Fi Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D is included in the package and it docks and charges an iPod and includes line-in for connection of other audio devices.

The Creative Xdock Wireless plays music up to 100 feet away without requiring a wireless network, via Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers. There are 2 different modes for music playback: broadcast and individual zones. The broadcast and zone modes allow the user to have complete control of whether music is played through every Creative X-Fi Wireless Receiver in the home, or specific Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers. In broadcast mode, multiple Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers can receive music in different rooms of the home. In zone mode, a user can turn on or off up to 4 different Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers independently, to listen to music only in desired rooms. Each Creative X-Fi Wireless Receiver can be controlled with its own remote, to activate X-Fi Crystalizer and X-Fi CMSS-3D, adjust volume, and control music playback.

The Creative Xdock Wireless, designed specifically for use with the iPod with video, iPod photo, iPod mini and iPod Nano, will be available for S$299.00 while the X-Fi Wireless Receiver will be available for S$149.00. Both products will be available in March 2007.

It combines the multi-touch touchscreen interface we’ve all heard whispers of for over a year now, with a fully fledged widescreen video iPod. 

The device comes with either 4GB or 8GB of flash-based storage and will sell for an introductory price of $499 and $599, respectively. Expect it in June 2007 within the US, and a tentative ‘end of 2007′ for us Europeans - a long wait for those of us who are already drooling.

The phone has been confirmed as a Cingular Wireless exclusive in the US and it will be interesting to see who picks it up in the UK.

The phone features a rich HTML email client and in-built Safari web browser - which Apple purports as being the most advanced browser on portable device. We imagine Opera may have something to say about that.

This is all running on the ‘OSX’ operating system, presumably a very cut-down, thin client version, built for the device’s proprietary hardware.

The iPhone OS allows for the use of widgets which are the same applications found on OSX’s Dashboard.

Steve Jobs was recorded using the Google maps widget which looks like an exact copy of Google maps on the web.

Expect up to five hours phone talk time and around 16 hours of audio playback - but knowing manufacturers battery life specs, you should take this with a pinch of salt.

A range of accessories have also been announced including stereo headphones, headphones with a microphone, and a Bluetooth headset.

Here’s a quick rundown of the currently known specs:

Specification overview

Source : Theinquirer