ZenZen I'm hopeful that when/if a consumer device does become available it may be sporting the newer version of the zii chip and some upgraded hardware specs as this device may be a but outdated by the time all the kinks are worked out.
I think you could be right michael2300, its really up to whoever picks it up. i would love a zii inspired mp3 player soon from creative but the possibilities with the zii chip is huge. I just want a consumer oriented one now whoever that may be. michael remember that its still a dev edition but rama actually owns one and he knows what he is talking about.
Hey d00d I think the ZII site was just down that. I was able to place the order the next day. Looking forward to it and I hope this project moves forward towards the consumer market. Projects like ZII Life indicate that the EGG is being geared towards becoming a VOIP handset which would be great. What do you guys think?
Tried ordering the ZII EGG and it didn't go through, error on the page and good luck actually speaking to a human being. They don't even have a direct line posted.
On Sunday, The Simpsons were the latest to poke fun of the Nintendo Wii. Of course to avoid any lawsuits they didn't actually call it the Wii on the show; they named it the "Funtendo Zii". And now you know why I'm writing this here! Creative owns the trademark for the term "Zii", so let's hope they sue the pants off of Fox! Or I suppose we can all just laugh at their attempted humor.
You can see the full episode at Fox or Hulu (Some Regions are locked out)
Bluetooth SIG Crowns Creative Inspire S2 Wireless Speakers Winner of 5th Annual Best of CES Awards
Blutooth SIG - the trade association responsible for promoting the Bluetooth standard - has awarded the Best of CES Award to the Creative Inspire S2 Wireless! Praising the speakers for its functionality, innovative design, and positive user-friendly experience, it said that the Inspire S2 Wireless "exemplifies all these characteristics and more, capturing the best in the evolution of Bluetooth technology." The Inspire S2 Wireless Speakers are a collaboration between Creative and apt-X (who enhance the music quality with its apt-X codec while streaming with bluetooth) and it's also Creative's first wireless speakers for the Inspire series. We hear that the upcoming Zii Sound speaker dock would also use this same technology but more on that later when we have the news!
CES 2010: Creative EP-3NC Noise-Cancelling earphones announced
CES 2010 is officially underway, and Creative has some new stuff to show off. The first is a pair of noise-canceling in-ear earphones called the EP-3NC. The EP-3NC boasts an impressive 100 hours of battery life from a single AAA battery. It also has a really cool Monitor function that allows you to listen to outside noise without removing the earphones.
Key Features
Effective ambient noise reduction by up to 90%
Stylish closed-type earphones with 9mm Neodymium magnet drivers produce superior audio with deep bass for all types of digital music and entertainment
Extended battery life of up to 100 hours with a single AAA alkaline battery
Ergonomic in-ear design allows the earphones to serve as passive noise isolation earphones when Active Noise-Cancelling is switched off or when battery power runs out
Convenient push-to-hear Monitor function allows users to listen to ambient sound without taking off the earphones
Comfortable soft silicone eartips in 3 sizes ensure an optimal fit for long hours of usage
Technical Specifications
9mm Neodymium magnet drivers
Frequency response of 6Hz ~ 23kHz
Impedance of 33 ohms (ANC on) and 16 ohms (ANC off)
Sensitivity at 1kHz of 104dB/mW (ANC on) and 102dB/mW (ANC off)
Cable length of 1.3m Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC) wires
Battery life of up to 100 hours from 1 x AAA alkaline battery. Duration may vary depending on temperature and condition of use
Product weight of 27 grams
The EP-3NC earphones are already available at Creative's online store in Singapore for a price of 149 Singapore dollars, or roughly $107US.
Creative opens up Software Design Contest in China
Creative and the University of Science and Technology of China have partnered to make "Creativity Unlimited". From what I've gathered, the group is holding a competition at USTC to design software for the ZEN X-Fi2. Students are allowed to use the scripting language LUA to program a variety of applications. The grand prize winner will receive a 16GB ZEN X-Fi2, and 1,000 Yuan. 15 other entries will receive an 8GB ZX-Fi2 and a reward of 300 or 600RMB.
Could this be a sign of change for Creative? For years, we here at epiZENter have been campaigning to get Rockbox working on the Vision:M. Some companies such as Sandisk and Cowon have actively supported such open-source software, and now there's a thriving community that brings new life to older players. With the Zii EGG, and the upcoming Trinity phone platform, Creative will no doubt need support from eager developers around the world. Since those platforms are based on Android, a more open-source friendly OS, that shouldn't be too hard.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone here for their support, and to wish you all the best for the New Year!
Today Only! Get a red Vado HD (8GB) and Accessory Pack for $79.99 shipped! [Sold Out!]
I was just notified about this deal by Creative, and it really caught be my surprise. First, I had no idea the Vado HD came in red! It looks really sexy in that color. Second, it's on sale for just $79.99, which is a killer deal for the camera itself, but it also includes an accessory pack with a mesh case and what looks to be a USB AC adapter included. The camera is sold by Amazon, but is being Fulfilled by Creative. This deal is good for Today (12/17) only, and according to Creative they're in limited supply.
Nintendo trademarks "Zii" in Japan, are they trying to block Creative?
I will admit, when the Zii was first announced, I laughed a little at the name. It sounded like a complete rip-off of the Nintendo Wii. Later, we learned the name was a shortened form for "ZEN II". Whether that's true or not, it seems like Nintendo sees enough similarity to do some patenting of their own. On October 30th, they trademarked the word "Zii" which they claim will be used for "video games and other electronic devices".
There isn't any proof that Nintendo is actively trying to block Creative from releasing any Zii related products in Japan, but a popular and well-informed gaming blog called Kotaku updated their article on the matter to say this: "Update: Looks like Nintendo is attempting to block the branding of the Zee [sic] EGG in Japan."
Creative has already trademarked "Zii" in the US, but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out from here. If Creative wants to release any Zii product sin Japan, it'll likely have to be under a different name.
Take a virtual stroll around Creative's Headquarters
Have you ever wanted to vist Creative's HQ? Haven't we all, but sadly few of us live in Singapore, and fewer still can justify such a trip! Now thanks to Google, our future dungeon masters, we can click our way right to 31 International Business Park to see where Mr. Sim Wong Hoo works his magic.
I love using Google's Street View! I often navigate through the streets of my own city (New York), discovering all kinds of new and interesting places. It's nice to know I can do the same with a country thousands of miles away too.
What does the Greek God Hermes, and a Turtle have in common? If you answered, they both make for great soup you'd be wrong. They're actually some of the codenames for projects that Creative and Zii Labs are currently working. Here's a run-down of some new Zii products that ws shown at the Summit in China a few days ago
Project Lionfish
Project Lionfish looks like the Creative InPerson taken to a whole new level. It has an 11.6" touchscreen display with a multi-touch interface. It has a built-in camera for High-def video conferencing, as well as support for various video formats in HD including H.264.
Project Turtle
Project Turtle is a 360 degree camera that's also designed for videoconferencing. According to Cnet Asia it has a fisheye lens to allow you to see everyone at a conference.
Project Hermes
Hermes is the name of a mini PCI express card that has the ZMS-05 built-in. It's designed for Netbooks, and puts less strain on their respect CPU's when playing back H.264 and other formats. There's a nice video comparison showing the difference in CPU usage with netbooks using Hermes, and those that aren't. Watch it Here
You can find these pictures and plenty more from the Zii Summit in our forum
If there's one thing Creative can learn from Apple's success, it's that hardware can only get you so far. What people want is an ecoystem. A complete hardware and software solution that works seamlessly together. With the introduction of the Zii Trinity Mobile Phone platform, Creative and Zii Labs also announced the software suite ZiiLife. We discussed its many components in our previous article, but here's an actual video of the suite in action.
The presentation was short, but sweet. It's clear Creative is headed in the right direction with software apps like this coming out. We'll continue to update you with more information from Zii Summit as we get it.
As we are speaking, the Zii Summit is underway in Shenzhen, China. Below is a round up of the announcements made today at the summit:
- Zii TRINITY Mobile Platform ZiiLABS have finally entered the mobile phone arena with its TRINITY mobile platform. Together with the TRINITY phone, it features quad-band GSM/GPRS, tri-band WCDMA support with a 3.1" 16.7 million color OLED screen. The phone is powered by the ZMS-05 processor and comes with the usual X-Fi audio, 1080p video output with microSD slot. It runs both on Google's Android and Creative's Plazma. In summary, it's the ZiiEGG with mobile phone capability.
- ZiiLife™ Software, Services and Content Suite To add value to the Zii range of devices, Creative introduces ZiiLife which consist of 4 main services:
ZiiMeet – The Next Generation 7M™ Collaborative Conferencing System "ZiiMeet is a highly-scalable Multi-Purpose, Multi-View, Multi-Platform, Multi-Medium, Multi-Host, Multi-Party and Multi-Device collaborative conferencing solution that works on PC, Mac and Zii Powered devices. ZiiMeet allows different parties to communicate and broadcast themselves ‘live’ simultaneously across different devices and platforms."
ZiiVue - For all your entertainment needs The ZiiVue is Creative's attempt to be a content provider. It boast a wide variety of content offerings such as HD movies, music, and TV media. Creative is already in talks with various music labels and production companies.
ZiiAcademy - The world in your hands "ZiiAcademy is the future of education, paving the way towards a collaborative model for knowledge acquisition and assimilation. ZiiAcademy allows users to explore the information world in an interactive and immersive learning experience, and engage in live discussions. Future Books with embedded video, text-to-speech, dictionaries, online tutorials and even engaging in live dialogue with lecturers or textbook authors can be encompassed in ZiiAcademy, revolutionizing educational pedagogy as we know it." Sounds totally like the Zii MediaBook.
ZiiApps - There's an app for everything "ZiiApps works with developers to produce game offerings, applications and utilities that support the Zii Platform. Developers who work on the Plaszma SDK can upload their applications to the ZiiApps store, which offers global support and distribution." Read: Zii App Store.
- ZiiOnaut Affiliate Program "The ZiiOnaut Affiliate Program is a sales and marketing scheme that engages individuals to sell and market Zii products and accessories. ZiiOnaut Affiliates earn a commission when a third party purchases products or accessories from Zii.com through his referral." Not a developer or OEM partner? Become a Zii re-seller and benefit as well!
Today, Creative brought the Zii ecosystem to a new level with the announcement of the TRINITY mobile platform and its ZiiLife range of services. Together with the ZMS-05/05 chips and ZiiEGG, ZiiLABS has everything a no-brand company needs to propel itself to international market at super fast speed. However, despite how great Creative claims its Zii range of products to be, we have yet to see for ourselves if the products live up to the hype. It also doesn't help that no major company has adopted the ZMS chip or Plazma OS. There's still a day more to go before the Zii Summit ends and I do hope that Creative would unveil more products or announce any partnership it has forged. OR at the very least show us a video demo of the ZiiMeet or TRINITY phone. We will have more images/videos for you soon, so do check back on us!
Nintendo trademarks "Zii" in Japan, are they trying to block Creative?
I will admit, when the Zii was first announced, I laughed a little at the name. It sounded like a complete rip-off of the Nintendo Wii. Later, we learned the name was a shortened form for "ZEN II". Whether that's true or not, it seems like Nintendo sees enough similarity to do some patenting of their own. On October 30th, they trademarked the word "Zii" which they claim will be used for "video games and other electronic devices". 
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whoever that may be. michael remember that its still a dev edition but rama actually owns one and he knows what he is talking about.
