Creative's Zii actually a CES-bound processing chip
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 28th 2008 8:27AM
posted Dec 28th 2008 8:27AM
[Thanks, Swild]
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has stemCELL got anything to do with ibm cell broadband whatever?
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?
Or maybe YOU should shut up and let people speculate as this article/campaign by creative was obviously meant to invoke commenters to do...
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.
To be fair to you, I agree with you, but that doesn't mean jrandom_luser (brilliant name) can't have his fun too :)
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?
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.
What is "Stem cell" (in electrical products) anyway?
Or is it a living stem cell?
I think it means that the chip can be easily repurposed...
Or that it is made from stemcell freshly taken from a fetus.
It's a completely bio-degradable eco-friendly green living computer chip made from babies.
@Mam00th - hey, that actually makes a LOT of sense :)
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!!)
May be just an ordinary product with a fancy name?
Most probably
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"
processor made from living cells, inked in blood and bound in human flesh....
the necronomicron....
Up to 36 hrs of continuous music with only 25 milligrams of protein.
finally, jacking off actually pays
So it's a flexible, multi-purpose processor? Not exactly the baby-eating abomination you had us all bracing for, Sherlock!
And I mean that in the best possible way.
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.
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.
you really think so?
What a... great name.
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.
"Creative could still surprise us at CES 2009"
No. No it can't.
So so very true...
So you two know what the chip is going to do?
Yes.
Wow you actually went to the trouble of discovering what stemCell might actually be for this article, you'll be a journalist yet !
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...
excellent construction Quinn
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).
Bet you feel rather stupid right now.
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
that... was the worst mastercard joke ive ever seen!
where were the prices man?
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.
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.
Dude, that's cold.
It has to be cold, the cells survive longer in a sub zero environment.
"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.
"[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
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).
Or "completely different" here could mean "not an audio chip".
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.
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.
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...
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.
i told you guys.
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?
As you said, you simply didn't try X-Fi Titanium series sound cards.
I don't think you'll use build-in sound after using X-Fi for a month.
I don't know man, the sound has been really good for what I use (only headphones as I'm too used to them). It is true that especially the recording could be better, especially in the noise-reduction part, but still manageable even without any specific sound card.
Back when I had Live! it actually counted! The main-boards were rarely equipped with anything more than a CPU socket and a few RAM bays, so a sound card made all the difference, especially in games like Half-Life or even Command&Conquer, man! Those were days...
*ticks off a tear*
Does that mean the X-Fi audio chip will NOT be used in a variety of upcoming products?
Joking aside, adult stem cells are extremely more useful than embryonic.
Creative just calls anything they make and price up 'X-Fi', even if it has over-the-counter 8 years old TI chips.
I expect next they'll do that with this nonsense.
It's epiZENter, not eipZENter...
If you look at the website, Zii.com, you will se that that 'Stemcell Computing' is trademarked. This probably means it's something that would kinda give a clue about how the chip works. But for now it sounds really intereting, and really ... weird.
I don't think I will ever purchase a Creative product if I have a choice again, especially not for the PC. The driver and hardware problems with their X-Fi series of sound cards is horrendous.
Gimme a sound card on par or above the X-Fi with x264 acceleration capabilities and I'm sold!
Zii fit
Okay just a thought here :
I'm wondering if Creative is going to get back seriously into Video processing chips.. (back as in 10 years ago with the voodoo's :p)
Not seeing a lot on this idea...
Could be that ZII will be the new competitor for the CELL and/or they could start manufacturing video cards based on the new chip and become a new competitor for NVIDIA & other video card manufacturers..
horrible name... I hate idiot marketing departments..
Zii remind me as if it was meant to be "zen 2"...second chance maybe.
Zii is StemCell Computing
Thank you and congratulations on the early registration.
You are now part of a privileged group that will witness the life changing event of 2009. You will be invited to join a new movement that will experience revolutionary breakthroughs.
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.
See what i got as an UPDATE from creative:-
http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=200812086b4d4f1f62e94c0jp6.jpg