Zii EGG prototype gets a hands-on demonstration
By Laura June 
posted July 30th 2009 11:52AM
posted July 30th 2009 11:52AM
Our interest was fairly piqued last week when Creative officially unveiled the Zii Egg handheld which we'd seen earlier at the FCC. Details are still a bit vague in some areas, but we know that the Zii Egg is really aiming at developers for its "Plaszma" platform. The Zii Egg also runs Android, though will not come pre-installed on the device instead coming as a download once the device is shipping. CNET Asia just got a chance to have a sit down with a pre-production model of the handheld, and here's what we're noticing in the video. The hardware, which looks pretty great, doesn't look very heavy or substantial to us -- which is not to say it looks cheap. The 10-point multitouch capacitive touchscreen was not operable at the time of the demonstration, but it sure sounds promising, and there also wasn't any real display of the software or applications as of yet. It looks like Creative will be filling its pre-orders for the Zii Egg in the second half of August, so we don't have too long to wait to see what this thing is all about. Hit the read link for the video.
i want it now.
i want it.
I Want this!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!! NOW!!!!! but dont have my own company to order it for dev purposes!!! please someone buy one for me!!
Sure you do. Just claim you started a company called "haha" and order one.
yep, but you can't ask other people to order it for you too... its limit one per company. Waiting for my dev version now. *sigh* I hope this was a smart 400 I used.
i dont get it... i never stated being affiliated with any company yet my order went through fine...
i dont get it... i never stated being affiliated with any company yet my order went through fine...
comment system must have aids.
Hmm I'm somewhat surprised no-one has called KiRF on this yet considering it looks much more like the iPhone than a lot of the other phones/PMPs on here that everyone called knock-offs.
I was thinking the same thing, but it's probably due to Creative being a well-known company. Although they've been pretty much dormant in the competitive PMP market, they were, at one time, a force to be reckoned with. My Zen Vision:M is still kicking around, it's three years old.
This looks pretty interesting to me. As long as the price is reasonable and accessories won't be harder to find than any acting talent on the Disney Channel, I'll pick it up.
I think this KIRF monitor applies to devices pretending to be something they aren't. Since this device is running a true build of android, and not some cheap chinese knockoff OS, with stolen graphics - I think this devices skirts the label. It looks like it shares the same casing as the iPhone 3G, sans chrome edging, lol.
I want it, willingly.
*Monicker, not monitor, haha. Obviously, there's a disconnected between the thoughts in my brain and the motion of my fingers.
Well just a few weeks ago they gave a KiRF label to a chinese piece of hardware that looked practically nothing like the iPhone and where the software looked COMPLETELY different. And then there's the Lenovo OPhone that they called KiRF when it runs Android and has its UI based around a 3D cube...
The irony is delicious. Creative's Zii, running Android, looking like an iPod Touch.
It does look just like a Touch but you're not supposed to say that on Engadget or the "iPhone doesn't matter and never influenced anything" crew steps out to downvote in droves.
@Mark,
please, u r such a troll.
and on that topic few weeks ago, u've been proved wrong by the majority.
10 point multitouch? Wow.
I wonder what gaming will be like on it?
shit I only have 9 fingers!
I have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs!
An Iphone clone with better hardware. The hardware is pretty much exactly what I would like to see in a phone, but I would love it even more if there was a physical keyboard.
What is the point of this Creative? You are meant to be destroying Apple and making them lose money with your new mega-Zii-tech hardware.
Yet, not many new features appeared in comparison to iPod Touch. An accelerometer, doesn't help. They are basically treading in Apple's minefield. I wish them the best, but it's the consumer that decides. If some not so techy guy is shown the Zii & iPod Touch, I'm sure he'll go for iPod. Why? Because he wouldn't know the difference between Android or Mac OS, nor would he care that it's some developer platform and he wouldn't really know about what's in the inside either. Also, iPod, he knows what it is.
Creative had to really make some super awesome feature to make Apple shit themselves, utilizing the Zii's excellent specs. At this point, I don't see anything that a normal non-tech consumer would want over an iPod. Apple dominate at this point, and with the upcoming 3rd gen Touch just around the corner, I don't see it changing sadly.
We'll see what Microsoft throw at Apple.
You can hook it up to your 1080p tv and play movies. The ipod touch won't do that.
@Bryan: Actually, you can. Those movies just won't play in 1080p.
Valid argument, hahaha.
Sorry i should have clarified, the egg WILL play in 1080p.
What are you expecting it to do, cook you a five course meal?
It's a multimedia device like the iPhone, what plausible hardware features can you envisage such a device having that it's lacking and as you point out, the average consumer would actually care about?
What really matters are the applications, and by opening it up as a development platform with support for the soon to widely used Android, that's exactly what Creative is aiming for.
So basically, Creative is taking the Apple approach to this.
Wait for fart apps, and other shit that doesn't utilize it's great hardware. That means they are waiting for 3rd party developers to do something about applications. Why?
They should use iPod's weakness against them. Make their own apps that are very useful, rather than waiting for someone to do it for them. I encourage what Creative do, I really do. Apple needs competition. But ATM, 50,000+ apps of App Store vs 5000+ of Android Market. Yes, App Store has lot's of shit in it. Seriously, I know. But so does Android Market.
Fake for God's sake, you don't seem to have a clue on what creative intentions are do you?. Creative has come up with a very powerful platform that can be used for multiple purposes, from rendering servers to televisions to PMP, they have a true game changing CONCEPT (please inform your self on what ZMS-05 is) a game changing system that can truly revolutionize the whole industry.
Now, creative's problem is THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY. Their past PMP, despite been clearly superiors to the competition in terms of hardware, failed because they couldn't sold them as a service, as Apple did with iTunes that's why is so successful. What they want now is to have others, that may have better infrastructure, to take the risk and expend on developing the consumer oriented solutions this device needs to succeed. If they attract investors,that will be a huge win for creative, they will get rid of the cost associated on developing the ecosystems necessary for this device success, consumer related operations, and many side cost they can't afford while earning good money and focusing all their resources on what they know best, HARDWARE.
They are repositioning Creative, and I hope the best for them, this device exceeds by far Apples current line up, including the 3GS, I don't except the new iPodtouch to be so different from the 3GS, may be a faster processor, but as this device is more than 1000 times faster than the 3GS.
Runner, I have a clue on what's going on thank you.
I realize Creative's awesome hardware. It has potential.
But it has pontential to a person that is into Technology.
Not average Joe. I hope Creative make Apple 'innovate' and bring competition in to the game.
You have no idea what you're talking about, do you?
I agree, the precedent set by other 10 point touch screens would lead me to believe that it must just cause choppiness, hey thats even how they market it!
People must not listen to the crap that comes out of their mouths.
Oh i forgot to mention there are no other 10 point touch screen pmp's.
can I have it like that?
I guess an ipod touch has no feasible use either.
P.S. You can't compare a PMP to an iPhone. Only to an iPod touch.
Im guessing you've never heard of Androidcommunity, or else you wouldnt say that there isnt an android community.
the first thing a developer will do when he gets his hands on this is to prise open the case.... so aesthetics is of least importance for the EGG....
@Kevin H: And now you've made yourself sound like a complete idiot rather than just someone who didn't understand how the technology works. Congrats. Give yourself a big pat on the back and then head over to the xda-developers dream forums or androidandme.com or any of the other android community sites and cry.
A slightly upgraded iPod Touch imitation. How original.
slightly? 1080p video is above what an ipod/netbook can do, you need a dual core or expanded graphics to come close to that. it has 2 camera's, its what the ipod should have been. gps.... ya thats a huge deal for me, why buy a dedicated gps when this thing does it. I think i'll setup a company name just to order one, its a great deal even at 400$
why do we need 1080p on a pmp player? you wouldnt notice the difference in such a small screen and the file size would be huge. Why would we connect it to the tv? when most geeks already have a mac mini or media center hooked up to a 2TB harddrive. Yet you fail to say the Zii has a 1.3mp camera. How long would a Zii playback 1080p before the battery died? probably it would die before the movie end. do you really need 1080p? most good movies are not even in 1080p yet.
I can't wait until something like Skype is ported over. I really want to see the video conferencing in action.
@kevin
Why dont you just grow up and let people buy what they want?
I wish Engadget would ditch Viddler and start using YouTube, like the rest of the Internet. The damn video won't load.
The one in the read link will(that's how I watched it. It doesn't go into the software practically at all)
its a cnet video, not an engadget one. It's their fault, just click the link and it will work.
I'll take it, just so I can have...next to my Zen Photo and my iPod Touch...:)
Excellent
So it's essentially an open-source Ipod Touch with better sound quality and memory expandability....that alone is enough to make me want to get it. But what about the larger market? If the developer edition is essentially a full-fledged product? That 1.3MP camera on the back is not really worth the "HD" Tag, is it? If it's not possible to put in some sort of GSM radio chip or whatever to turn it into a phone, or at least some sort of Wimax receiver, then it's VOIP capabilities are limited as well. I doubt that its GPS capabilities are going to be used by third-party companies, many of which already make their own hardware.
If Creative is looking to expand sales in North America, their best option would be to team up with Sandisk (a major manufacturer of SD cards), and sell the consumer-level Zii Egg with 8/16GB SDHC cards bundled. Sandisk can then decide whether or not to include GPS services, which might be a useful new market for them to enter.
Even if they do hook up w/Sandisk, it still won't take much of a chunk out of Crapple....even though it will be more storage AND features for less, iSheep just see something NOT Apple, and completely ignore it...
And this is coming from someone who owns a Fuze and a Cowon D2 :D
Sandisk sells more MP3 players than Microsoft in the US and Canada, even if they are low-cost 8-16GB players like the Sansa Fuze and View. Nonetheless, with the Zii Egg, they have a chance to sell a high-quality, high-tech player without incurring the costs of built-in flash memory...all they have to do is bundle in 8/16GB SDHC cards, of which they probably produce a few hundred thousand a day, and have a few million lying around in factory inventory in Taiwan somewhere.
I was under the impression that the media handling capabilities of android were extremely limited. Whats the point?