In our third look at the Creative Zen X-Fi2 media player we will be looking at the add-in applications that extend the use and features of the device and we will also be taking a look at how applications can be developed using the built-in software development kit based on the LUA scripting language.

To catch up on previous articles looking at the X-Fi2 take a look at A Closer Look At The Creative Zen X-Fi2 Part One which looks at the hardware and interface and A Closer Look At The Creative Zen X-Fi2 Part Two which looks more closely at the built in applications on the device including the music player, radio, microphone, and feed reader.

Add-in applications can be found on the second screen of icons together with options for system settings, calendar, tasks, add in memory cards and contacts.

The Zen X-Fi2 supports LUA, a lightweight extensible programming language, so additional applications can be developed and added to the device.

LUA uses a scripting language with familiar commands so you can use terms such as print, if, then, and use functions to keep your scripted code in order.

If you want to get started developing applications for the Creative Zen X-Fi2 then your first port of call should be the Creative Application Development website.

On this site you will find a number of applications including Sudoku, Push Box, and Calculator and you will be able to download the Zen X-Fi2 ADK (Application Development Kit) which includes the Zen X-Fi2 Simulator, a Programmer’s Guide, and the API (Application Programming Interface) Reference – for all the whizzy things the X-Fi2 can do.

If you are not a developer there are a couple of good sites out there for downloading ready made third party applications for use on the X-Fi2 – although you should note these sites state they are not affiliated in any way with Creative:

• Xeroo.net has a number of interesting applications and games from a notepad application, water level, unit and measurement converter to tic-tac-toe, Simon, and Black Jack.
• anythingbutipod.com have a busy forum with a number of games and applications for download.

Note also that regarding third party applications there is a disclaimer from Creative:

“Creative will not be liable for any third party applications created nor will we be held responsible for the distribution methods, delivery channels or content of the applications.”

New applications appear under the Applications menu on the device which you can access by swiping your finger from right to left on the main display.

To launch an application simply tap it, and to exit the application press the home (menu) button in the device itself.

After playing around with the software development kit, and working through the sample applications, I found development using LUA and the Creative tools was surprisingly straight forward and easy to approach as a developer. As an experiment I converted a subset of one of my free online Flash games PopEm StopEm to the LUA platform, which is now available for download if you have a device – just expand the zip folder and copy it into the Applications folder of your X-Fi2.

The idea of PopEm StopEm is simply to pop the bubbles (by tapping them on the screen) before they float off the top of the screen – the quicker you pop the more points you get – if too many float away it’s game over!

To read more about the X-Fi2 visit Creative Zen X-Fi2.