Creative's Zii actually a CES-bound processing chip

While our vivid imaginations certainly had something more invigorating than this in mind, we suppose Creative could still surprise us at CES 2009. The curious Zii website we peeked a few days back is reportedly referring to an all new processing chip, and while eipZENter isn't being too forthcoming with details just yet, we are told that it will likely be "one of the biggest projects Creative has invested in." If that's just too vague for your tastes, try this: "[Zii] is completely different from the X-Fi audio chip and it will be used in a variety of upcoming products." Alrighty then.

[Thanks, Swild]

[jrandom_luser @ Dec 28th 2008 8:40AM]

has stemCELL got anything to do with ibm cell broadband whatever?

[Phoenix @ Dec 28th 2008 9:12AM]

Or maybe the PS3s cell processor, or human cells, or maybe terrorist cells, OR maybe we should shut up and not make stupid assumptions until it's released?

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 9:17AM]

Or maybe YOU should shut up and let people speculate as this article/campaign by creative was obviously meant to invoke commenters to do...

[Phoenix @ Dec 28th 2008 9:23AM]

Touché.

But that wasn't exactly a well written comment, and I consider this idea less likely than, say, an adaptable chip. Why would Creative be working on a chip for IBM, and why would we have heard NOTHING about this.

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 2:13PM]

To be fair to you, I agree with you, but that doesn't mean jrandom_luser (brilliant name) can't have his fun too :)

[iofthestorm @ Dec 29th 2008 1:51AM]

By the way, Cell Broadband Engine is the stupid marketing name for the Cell chip in the PS3. Seriously though, Broadband? How is that even a buzzword?

[Tony C @ Dec 29th 2008 8:42AM]

Creative's sound cards have been based on number-crunching programmable DSPs for years... Not a huge stretch that they've kicked their processors up a notch or two taken a leap into the parallel processing waters, what with the proliferation of GPU-based computing.

[Zunavio @ Dec 28th 2008 8:44AM]

What is "Stem cell" (in electrical products) anyway?

Or is it a living stem cell?

[Mam00th @ Dec 28th 2008 9:11AM]

I think it means that the chip can be easily repurposed...

Or that it is made from stemcell freshly taken from a fetus.

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 9:18AM]

It's a completely bio-degradable eco-friendly green living computer chip made from babies.

[L @ Dec 28th 2008 9:25AM]

@Mam00th - hey, that actually makes a LOT of sense :)

[Wwhat @ Dec 28th 2008 11:56PM]

Stem also means 'stop, restrict flow', so perhaps it's something you install to slow down your computer, a new kind of windows :D
(I'm joking!!)

[puhn @ Dec 28th 2008 8:47AM]

May be just an ordinary product with a fancy name?

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 9:18AM]

Most probably

[Wwhat @ Dec 29th 2008 12:00AM]

It'll be a great product, which won't work because of the drivers/firmware, it's something creative invented and now everybody does..
"Stem your enthusiasm"

[mocax @ Dec 28th 2008 8:48AM]

processor made from living cells, inked in blood and bound in human flesh....

the necronomicron....

[CreaTiy @ Dec 28th 2008 8:50AM]

Up to 36 hrs of continuous music with only 25 milligrams of protein.

[lanosian @ Dec 28th 2008 9:26AM]

finally, jacking off actually pays

[Gad Get @ Dec 28th 2008 8:52AM]

So it's a flexible, multi-purpose processor? Not exactly the baby-eating abomination you had us all bracing for, Sherlock!

[Gad Get @ Dec 28th 2008 9:50AM]

And I mean that in the best possible way.

[Arkenklo @ Dec 28th 2008 4:05PM]

I still don't understand what this purposed multi-purpose-processor is different to your average Gpu, wich can be used for pretty much anything.

[XenoX101 @ Dec 28th 2008 8:54AM]

I think this is just an attempt to create interest by 'creative' and using the term "stem cell" in an abstract sense, rather than a literal sense.

[lanosian @ Dec 28th 2008 9:27AM]

you really think so?

[Billy G @ Dec 28th 2008 8:58AM]

What a... great name.

[tekdroid @ Dec 28th 2008 8:58AM]

Hallo http://www.creative.com
* FLAC support? http://flac.sourceforge.net
* Ogg Vorbis support? http://www.vorbis.com
(Sandisk, iRiver, Cowon and others have you beat here, Creative)

* Gapless playback?
* Removable batteries and storage?

Can Zii chip do this? If so I will Zii you in the future.
Now if you'll excuse me I have some stem cells to dispose of.

[STINK @ Dec 28th 2008 9:05AM]

"Creative could still surprise us at CES 2009"

No. No it can't.

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 9:15AM]

So so very true...

[Gerii @ Dec 28th 2008 11:06AM]

So you two know what the chip is going to do?

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 2:15PM]

Yes.

[Major4Play @ Dec 28th 2008 9:08AM]

Wow you actually went to the trouble of discovering what stemCell might actually be for this article, you'll be a journalist yet !

[Derry Quinn @ Dec 28th 2008 9:14AM]

Whereas going out of their way to inform us of an upcoming product generating media hype in many other places which could have possibly been technology-changing wasn't...

[liv @ Dec 28th 2008 11:17AM]

excellent construction Quinn

[sitruc @ Dec 28th 2008 11:25AM]

That could very well be true, Derry Quinn, if it weren't for engadget essentially putting Creative down for nothing and a name without any knowledge of the technology (although that was easily found by many commenters and still omitted in this article).

[CJ @ Dec 28th 2008 9:20AM]

Bet you feel rather stupid right now.

[max_lux @ Dec 28th 2008 9:52AM]

Having anything to do with stem cells? ...No, it's just a misrepresentation...
Having anything to do with "ii"? ...No, it just a name copycatting the Wii...
A marketing ploy to garner attention for another mediocre product? Priceless

[Oli D @ Dec 28th 2008 2:49PM]

that... was the worst mastercard joke ive ever seen!

where were the prices man?

[superhobo @ Dec 28th 2008 10:29AM]

Probably uses biodegradable materials.
Or maybe the chips are GROWN (or CULTIVATED) instead of being manufactured.
Or maybe we should shut up and wait and watch.

[Agent .25i @ Dec 28th 2008 10:43AM]

Don't bother calling Creative to sell them stem cells. I have an aborted treasure chest of 33 primo fetuses in my back-yard. I was on the phone with them for an hour... all they did was break my balls.

[JWC @ Dec 28th 2008 12:05PM]

Dude, that's cold.

[Agent .25i @ Dec 28th 2008 1:47PM]

It has to be cold, the cells survive longer in a sub zero environment.

[MarbleMind @ Dec 28th 2008 10:45AM]

"While our vivid imaginations certainly had something more invigorating than this in mind..."

You can probably put this phrase at the beginning of every single article regarding the revelation of products that were subjected to teasers.

[Shinigami @ Dec 28th 2008 11:03AM]

"[Zii] is completely different from the X-Fi audio chip..."
If they are referring to X-Fi audio chip as in PC X-Fi audio chip, then this makes me confused. I'm using X-Fi processor sound card and am totally happy about it. Its simply great. "completely different" here would mean to me "total crap". No-go.
If they are referring to X-Fi audio chip as in X-Fi MP3 player, than I'm totally happy about it. As far as I know their "X-Fi player" uses software codecs to simulate some X-Fi effects, being unable to create anything similar (X-Fi needs a lot of power so its not possible to port it into an mp3). "completely different" here means they might have made a different audio chip which is possibly better. But in actual reality...

... in reality I don't see anywhere Creative saying we'll be completely shocked by superb audio quality of the product compared to other mp3 players, like they did with X-Fi. To me that means...

... Creative doesn't plan to increase audio quality of their upcoming products. They might want to cut down on costs instead and make a new, cheap audio processor for their products. To me that means creative will keep making crap. But that is my opinion based on my own thought.

If they don't say you'll like it, they don't mean you'll like it. If they don't say it will be better, only different, it, most likely, will not be better, just different. Sad truth about ADs. IMO

[MarbleMind @ Dec 28th 2008 11:54AM]

Chill out already, it doesn't say anywhere that it is going to supersede the X-Fi chip. It could as well be a completely new product, with X-Fi only being mentioned because it currently is the only microprocessor design used in their products that they have created themselves (aside from the already geriatric Audigy chip).

[Matt @ Dec 28th 2008 6:18PM]

Or "completely different" here could mean "not an audio chip".

[XFi @ Dec 28th 2008 12:32PM]

There isn't any technology updates for X-Fi since 2005. As the website suggest, it does some computing hence this could be something interesting.

[aWibble @ Dec 28th 2008 1:00PM]

Safe bet. It has something to do with processing HD video.

They'll talk about it being to video what x-fi has been to audio - And by that they probably won't mean "over hyped", but you can bet that's exactly what it will be.

[CJH @ Dec 28th 2008 1:04PM]

Creative have a large stake in these guys - http://www.3dlabs.com/content/mediaProcessor.asp , FWIW. (And the DMS-02 is a flexible, reconfigurable compute engine. Perhaps there is a new generation coming...

[Good_Bytes @ Dec 28th 2008 1:28PM]

I am not interested. I got sucked in the same way with the X-Fi, and look what we have....
It will probably not be Windows 7 compatible for some reason (like the X-Fi was under Vista for quiet a long time, and even then now), won't work properly with newer technology (all newer Intel chipset and probably nforce 8 and up when it comes out, same for AMD side). Don't believe me? Check out carefully their own forum, bombarded with such issues, and post being deleted.

When they said it's going to be a "new" chip, they said the same thing with the X-Fi, and it ended up being a an Audigy 2 processor tweaked, and overclocked. For their lie back then, I won't trust them at anything.

[FILA @ Dec 28th 2008 2:05PM]

i told you guys.

[loocas @ Dec 28th 2008 4:51PM]

Hmmm... interesting. I've been totally fine on my integrated Realtek soundcards so far. Donno, what's that Zii gonna change on my moderate-to-above-average quality collection of MP3s?