Creative Ushers in a New Era of Pure Wireless Music

Well, well, what do we have here? Barely a week after unveiling its refreshed range of ZEN Style MP3 players, Creative announced not one, not two but three new wireless speaker system today. Taking the "Pure" branding campaign to a new level, Creative believe that wireless is the way to go when it comes to the speakers that we have grown so familiar with.

ZiiSound D5 – Flagship One-Piece Wireless Speaker System

• Seamless wireless music streaming with any compatible stereo Bluetooth mobile phone, portable media player, netbook, notebook and just about every Bluetooth A2DP enabled device
• Integrated AUX-In for connecting to other audio devices
• Charges the iPhone and the iPod while docked

Creative D200 – One-Piece Best-in-Class Wireless Speaker System

• Simplistic design and efficient amplifiers and precision drivers encased in a highly braced single shell chassis for a distortion-free soothing playback
• apt-X — high performance low latency audio codec for superior stereo Bluetooth audio
• Integrated AUX-In for connecting to other audio devices

Creative D100 – Wireless Boombox

• Plays high quality wireless audio and controls** music with the iPhone, netbooks and other compatible Bluetooth mobile devices
• Integrated AUX-In for connecting to other audio devices
• The Creative D100 is powered by mains power supply or 4 widely available AA batteries
  
• Choice of vibrant colors to suit different lifestyles

With the recent release of new products like the Aurvana In-ear2, HS-930i, ZEN Style, ZEN X-Fi Style and now the new range of wireless speakers, it seems that Creative might have decided to not pin its hope entirely on the Zii. As we all know, the Zii has been nothing but a disappointment for the whole Creative community. Of course we hope that we are proven wrong on this point, but March has came and gone and yet not a single news on any Zii product release. Ok, enough of Zii ranting here, read the entire press release after the jump.

[PRESS RELEASE]

Zii Summit Videos

3 ZiiLife invites up for grabs!

You must have heard of the recently announced ZiiLife by ZiiLabs. ZiiLife consists of mainly the ZiiJournal (interactive photo timeline), ZiiDisk (1GB of online storage) and ZiiMeet (IM client). So far, the thing that shocked me about the ZiiLife is that ... it actually works! Given Creative's track record in software development, it is certainly a breeze using the ZiiMeet and ZiiDisk. I am giving out 3 ZiiLife invites (3 months ZiiLife Beta Plan)! All you have to do is to tell me why you deserve the invite and your username at epiZENter (you should have one) in an email and send it to kingone@gmail.com. Contest ends 10 January 2010 :)

Zii Egg "Clothes Line" Album Art Selection

Since the first Zii EGG was being shipped out to developers, we have seen at least 3 new firmware updates and also a roadmap for the Zii EGG. While the previous 2 firmwares provided minor improvements, the latest 92.02 firmware actually provided new features such as the camera app, SD card support and the - IMO - a pretty creative album art selection. We have seen it (below) in its press images and for the first time, proud Zii EGG owner ramakandra from EpiZENter provided a video of it in action!

It will still be some time before we see the Zii EGG being mass produced for the consumers but it's sure nice to see the Zii team constantly pushing out new features and improvements through the firmware updates.

Zii outed by FCC

After months of waiting, what you see here is the glimpse of the first Zii product. There are two versions of this device, the Zii (for consumers) and Zii EGG (for developers).

Features:
-HD Camera
-Wi-Fi
-Bluetooth
-SD Slot
-Touchscreen

We are definitely very excited about the Zii as it would be the first full fledged player from Creative for over two years. And it would be interesting to see how they would intergrate the HD camera with the player. We will have more information as it comes in, if I were you, I would start saving up now!

Creative Zii FCC Filing

Creative to release the "ZiiCard"? [April Fool's Joke]

In an exclusive over at epiZENter, ZiiLABS - a subsidary of Creative Technology - will release a brand new range (4GB for now) of SD cards called the ZiiCard. Although it looks like any other SD card, the ZiiCard is said to be 100times faster in the transferring of data. According to the same article, a new player is also slanted to be released in April and it will full "ZiiCard integration" For more news on the ZiiCard, pop over to epiZENter :)

Updated: You should know by now that the ZiiCard is Michael's April Fool's joke! Even I fell for it the first time I saw it but I guess the ZMS-40109 was a dead giveaway!

ZiiLABS Android Demo

Above is the ZiiLABS video demo of the Android platform running on its ZMS-05 chip. As you can see, compared to the current ZEN, photos load much faster even when magnified on the Android. You can also browse the web and magnify the site to your heart's content and the images will still not be pixielated. Finally, the demo also showcase the HD playback on the handheld device and also HD upscaling to 1280 x 720 resolution. It seemed pretty impressive but I would be more impressived if I had a chance to see it in real life. I applause the effort Creative is taking to promote the ZMS-05 chip at the various convention but nevertheless still feel a tab bit disappointed that they have yet to introduce an actual Creative Zii-based product. I guess this video gives you a hint of what Creative is up to with its next PMP.

ZMS-05 to support the Android Platform

Creative's name has rarely been associated with open source, looking back at its disastrous X-Fi driver support for Linux and its players' limited success on Rockbox. In short, Creative like writing its own software and we all know where that has taken the company to today. Therefore, I can safely say that many of us were comforted to hear that the ZMS-05 chip from ZiiLabs will support the Android Platform. Although we do not know the full extent of the support (would it be the whole OS or simply part of it), we do know that the ZMS-05 will allow Android based handheld devices to playback 1080i HD videos. One of the biggest complain i heard about the G1 phone was its mediocre battery life. Many said they had to charge the phone daily before it runs out of juice. Therefore, if the ZMS-05 chip can live up to its claim of high energy efficiency, I can forsee HTC replacing the Qualcomm chip in the current G1 phones with the ZMS-05. And with phone companies like Samsung and LG intending to roll out its own Android phone, that can only be good news for ZiiLabs. We will wait till Monday to see the ZiiLabs Android Demo at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Creative Launches the Zii Platform and Ushers in the Era of StemCell Computing

CES, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. - Jan. 8, 2009 — Creative Technology Ltd. today announced the formation of ZiiLABS™ (a wholly owned subsidiary of Creative), with the combination of 3DLABS — which has a 25-year history as a leading innovator in programmable graphics, media and applications processing — and resources drawn from the largest product group in Creative, the Personal Digital Entertainment group.

The formation of ZiiLABS, the launch of the new ZiiLABS ZMS-05 SoC (System-On-Chip) and the new Zii™ Platform today usher in the new era of StemCell Computing™. The new ZiiLABS ZMS-05 SoC (System-On-Chip) will be unveiled and demonstrated from January 8-11 at the Consumer Electronics Show, South Hall booth #30651.

“We have invested a billion dollars and 10,000 man years of R&D effort over the last 25 years in platform solutions,” said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd. “The combination of the technology from 3DLABS and the product development prowess of our Personal Digital Entertainment group delivers a complete, powerful and energy efficient platform with a very rapid time-to-market for our partners - the Zii Platform.”

“We now look to shaping the future of computing with the introduction of the integrated ZMS-05 media-rich processor, and ushering in the new era of StemCell Computing where we will bring the incredible benefits of nano-sized super computing right into our daily lives,” said Hock Leow, president of ZiiLABS.”

This StemCell approach has benefits in terms of:

Flexibility — Utilizing a breakthrough technology comprising of programmable Processing Elements (PEs) which are basically Software Defined Silicon
Scalability — 10Gigaflops to Petaflops (1015 floating point operation per second)
Energy Efficiency — Huge processing power of the ZMS-05 SoC enables it to perform more in less time, equating to low power consumption
Complete Solution — Ready-for-Market Zii Platform Solutions

Unlimited Flexibility
Stem cells are the basic building blocks of life, possessing the unique ability to develop into the specialized cells and tissues required by organisms to function effectively. Inspired by this concept, the ZMS architecture uses an array of media-optimized Processing Elements (PE) as its stem cells that can instantly develop into any of the specialized acceleration functions required of today's media rich devices and offering advantages in terms of flexibility, performance and features when compared to the fixed function silicon blocks traditionally used in SoC designs.

Incredible Scalability
The scalability of the ZMS architecture is highlighted in the first Teraflop Accelerator with the footprint of an A4-sized sheet of paper, consuming less power than a desktop PC. By utilizing the virtually unlimited chaining capability of the ZMS chips, a state-of-the- art ‘hypercomputer' with many Petaflops of processing power can be realized, which can be 100 times smaller, 100 times greener and 100 times lower cost than conventional super computers.

High Energy Efficiency
Due to the compute density of each Processing Element, the ZMS-05 SoC is able to do an immense amount of media processing in far less time — and with far less energy — than taken by standard processors; which translates into longer battery life. Intelligent power control means the speed and power consumption of the processor can be matched to the task in hand and unused features can be turned off completely, put in deep stand-by and reactivated instantly after weeks of shut down, helping to lengthen battery life even further.

Complete Zii Platform Solutions
The ZMS-05 processor combines the media processing array, dual ARM cores and a rich set of integrated peripheral controllers with hardware platforms and advanced SDK and middleware. This will enable Software Developers, OEMs, ODMs and System Integrators to create unlimited possibilities and develop a broad range of highly innovative products.

ZiiLABS Launch Partners
With the excitement about the ZiiLABS platform now public and the ZMS-05 in production, the Company is pleased to be working with many OEM partners worldwide announcing products based on ZMS including: MicroStar International, Perception digital, F&S Electronic, MediaNet, ASTAK, PowerLinux and Grandeye.

[ZII PRESS RELEASE]
[ZII LABS PRESS RELEASE]
[ZII.COM]
[ZIILABS.COM]

Zii is ... Stemcell Computing

Everything you know is about to change.

Drawing our inspiration from the intelligence of Mother Nature – who through over a billion years of evolution has designed the basic building block of life: the stem cell – we have created a stem cell-like silicon that is able to grow and multiply into different solutions and ecosystems.

With an investment that spans over 10 years, over a billion dollars and over 10,000 man-years, the world is poised to experience a breakthrough that will better lives beyond our imagination.

Even in the midst of these turbulent times, you will discover incredible recession-friendly business opportunities that enable you to thrive and prosper.

To find out more about Zii and how it can change your life, visit our booth (booth #30651) at CES 2009, or go to Zii.com from 8 January 2009 for updates.

Zii: Everything you know is about to change

Just 2 weeks before CES 2009, Creative has finally unveiled its own teaser campaign for the event. So far, we have already seen companies like Palm, Dell and Sony pulling a similar act. Creative, on the other hand is introducing "Zii", a name it gave to the term "Steamcell Computing" (which it also holds the trademark for). Like the Sony Vaio, Creative's Zii also promises to change everything that we already know. In the 2008 Annual Report, Creative's chairman and CEO, Mr Sim Wong Hoo talked about a whole new Creative, a whole new product line and a whole new business model and Zii is exactly what Sim has been talking about. As reported on epiZENter.net, Zii is actually a new processing chip that Creative will be unveiling at CES. We highly doubt it has anything to do with a gaming console (like Wii) or gardening or stell cell research but we are definitely very curious to know more about it. Like ssjmichael said, we have known this piece of news for quite some time and were waiting for an appropriate moment to break this news to you guys so that we do not spoil things for Creative as Zii is afterall a closely guarded secret at the company. What do you think Zii is and what do you expect Creative to unveil at CES 2009, tell us in the comments section!

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