Creative rents tuxedo, selects Opera for Plaszma-based Zii EGGs
By Tim Stevens 
posted August 6th 2009 9:47AM
posted August 6th 2009 9:47AM
We're still not entirely sure what to make of Creative's Zii EGG handheld, as the last demo we saw of the product looked interesting but also somewhat devoid of features. Now Creative has confirmed an important one: web surfing. The device can officially run either Android or the company's own flavor of Linux dubbed Plaszma, and for that latter, poorly spelled one Opera has been chosen as the defacto browser. Given the open source underpinnings users will have plenty of other options to install if they like, but the Opera Devices SDK also enables the easy creation of webby widgets to clutter that 320 x 480, 10-point multitouch screen. The hope is this will speed up software development for the... thing, thus opening the door for a flood of useless applications the likes of which we haven't seen since the last App Store update.
[Via anythingbutipod]
Except it can run Android, output at 1080p and is more powerful then the Iphone so yeah... fail?
because it's a rectangle shape and has touch screen???
Jesus, what a dick...
Quantum you sound like a ripoff of Quix that's doomed to failure.
Quantum I own an iPod touch. I know the glories it bestows on its users and I do like mine. But you can go eat shit and die if you think I'm mad that Apple is more profitable than a car company. That's about the dumbest thing I have heard all day what on earth would drive you to make an assumption like that? I mean if you and I were having a verbal conversation I would say it may have something to do with how far you have placed your head up your own asshole but you are reading man! Who was talking about car companies? What fantasy world are you living in?
Oh and if Apple knows what they are doing why have they restricted the all powerful iPhone to a single carrier? Therefore allowing other carriers and other handset makers to develop more competing devices that would eat up the iPhones share in the market? Cause competition is healthy? Maybe I mean that's how I would play off a stupid mistake like that.
Actually Quantum I'm sorry I do agree with what you said about why people go to Apple and why they stick with Apple afterwords. I feel those same strings pulling me back whenever I think about purchasing a Zune HD. However your last comment about about profit and car companies and losers really through me for a loop. You had a good argument but you ruined it with that dumb comment at the end and maybe that's why I got so pissed idk.
As far as my comment about CAR COMPANIES...
Chrysler and GM went bankrupt for just one example.
Apple makes more money and profit than FIAT, for another.
My kid had a lemonade stand last week that grossed $2.50, which is billions of dollars more than the car companies made last year. Thus, I guess I'm left to conclude that my child's lemonade must be the best lemonade that's ever been made and ever will be made.
She'll be opening franchises soon... keep your eyes out for more info on how to get in on this opportunity.
Quantumphysics does have a point here, when I see so much quality software being developed for the iPhone, it does make me want to purchase one. In a sense you can see how having such a unified platform is helping them, something that most other phones lack.
Ever think not everyone is willing to switch carriers to get an iPhone?
and if you had been following this device you would know that its been released as an SDK for developers who may want to put a mobile chipset in it. Go troll elsewhere shit head.
I am pretty sure ipod touch cant handle 10 point multitouch either
Clearly you should hop over to the Creative site to find out who Creative is. They're not a jack of all trades like Apple's attempting to be. They specialize in a/v. They're not trying to go head-to-head with the iPhone, so no they don't need to make a phone.
Why are people being so defensive of the Apple touch products? Can we just get one thread about a product without somebody crying about how a product is due to fail since another product is a success?
The apple fanboys are going crazy on this one, but that will never change.
well speaking of the Zii Egg, anyone else pre-order the dev unit? I cant wait to work on this thing.
i preordered it :D
just have no idea when itll get here... the wait's too much for me, ya digg :(
I too wonder why people take gadget news so personally when gadgets don't. My Xbox 360, MacBook, and Blackberry have campouts and picnics all the time. They sit by the fire playing plastic guitars and singing Kumbaya.
I would order or it but I'm waiting for a branded one to come out of a production company. Does that make sense? I'm hoping they'll add stuff to it, plus I don't know if the dev version is gonna be too techy.
Also: Is there ANY chance that this thing could have 3G connectivity unlocked or on a carrier???
Android and most of the stuff I'm not too impressed with but a FULL SIZE SD slot means it can read anyone's camera card and download pictures. That means you don't have to wait for people to send you pictures when you see them snap a pic!!
I can imagine being on vacation or at a party and watching someone take a pic I like and then BAM you can copy it right on to your own device. Plus the 1080p and high def screen is.... yes sick
ANYONE KNOW if it has phone capabilities???
in Manitoba the majority of coverage is CDMA so we get a terrible selection of phones, I could connect to my phone with bluetooth and use this as a phone instead, sure it means carrying 2 devices around, but like I said all the phones are shit so that is a given. and then you can run whatever app you want without the mobile companies shitting on you.
Good choice...Opera is a wonderful browser for mobile devices...even better than Safari on the iPhone or iTouch.
iPoop get a grip man. My toaster isn't a phone either, but I sure like having one when I just want toast. Not every device has to be a phone to be used and enjoyed. You're way too caught up in the bs of comparing every device to the iPhone. Its gotten old.
I'm embarrassed that you are a fellow Canadian. In Manitoba its "MTS" not Bell or Telus, and the phones work just fine with bluetooth connectivity. Are you capable of making a post without using the word fail?
seriously... what do you expect from a self proclaimed piece of shit?
i think most people missed the parts about "developers" and "OEM" :(
well
it looks like the meizu m8
You have the best chosen nick name I've seen.
I will choose the iPodtouch over the iPhone anytime, why?:
- I've been enjoying iPhone 3GS speeds since last year, look for video comparisons of the 2nd gen ipodtouch vs the 3GS.
- Slimer device...
- I can leave it at home, I'm a very on the go person, I have a very small cellphone I love, the iPhone is bulky...
- I can lean it to my bro, girlfriend, mom, anyone.. this may seem superfluous but I wouldn't lean my cellphone, and I do share a lot of things.
- I don't have to have ridiculously expensive cellphone contracts while having poor connections and slow speeds . Sure you can get an iPhone on ebay but still, you will be paying a lot, much more than an ipodtouch for a brand new one.
- Better battery life...
By the way... There is just no comparison between the iPhone/iPodtouch hardware and the Zii Egg. It has much more power, A dual core processor and 24 coprocessors, do your research and you will find is 1300 more powerful than the 3GS and like 20 times the graphics performance. I think Tegra is the closest competitor at this time.
Creative is pushing "Shanzai" with this platform and there are many companies already working with them to have products coming soon in asia. I predict there will be more Zii powered devices under other brands than under creative's. Anyway this is a win win situation for them and will speed up market share gaining.
The stock market is very enthusiastic about this product as well, stock prices are up +600% since last week. I wish I had invested on this company before T_T
My biggest gripe with this and the Zune HD is the capacity. 32GB?? 64GB isn't even enough for my music collection and while I know I have much more music than most, how can they position this as a PMP with so little space to store movies and shows? And they want us to store 1080p content on here?! Seriously, I understand that the average person might not want so much space, but is it so hard to offer another SKU for people who do?
@Tonicboy
I believe that because of the capacitive screen on both this and the Zune HD, it isn't possible to put a spinning hard drive in there. Something about the interference from the screen.
The 600% growth is wrong... is actully 30% pew pew pew....
...um, it has an SD slot?...
...so, unlimited storage?...
@ kingofwale "because it's a rectangle shape and has touch screen???"
I know, right?! That's what I keep saying to people who shout "iPhone clone! iPhone clone!" What other form factor do they think is going to be used for a touchscreen device, ellipsoid with the screen split in two?
I agree, my 1080p rips are 12GB minimum. 32GB SDHC card won't cut it and I personally hate switching cards.
Although if I'm going on a vacation or business trip, I would not require more than a few films. (Otherwise, it's not really business or much of a vacation.) It would still be nice to have a 64GB device with expandable storage.
One example of this would be the Cowon O2, too bad they gimped a great player with a horrible GUI.
Just what the hell did Apple patent about MultiTouch? Just the name? Everyone is using it, so Apple must have merely thrown away their money for patenting nothing.
These devices do look nice but they really do look similar to iPhones. I like them better actually because they don't have that chromy-looking band going around the edges. I prefer the black.
Smell that?....Fanboy fear. With the Zii and the Zune HD the PMP market is going to be amazing in the coming years.
Opera on ARM also supports flash 9, though they don't really say if it will here
This looks very interesting, especially with the OS diversity. If they can undercut Apple's pricing, I might finally get one of these devices.
the 32GB is rumored to be arriving for $200-300, the 0GB is $99.
No MKV no life. I sold off my iPod Touch precisely because Apple killed off CorePlayer, the one app I can't do without.
How, exactly, do you define failure? If you mean that it will never take as much market share as the iPod Touch, you're probably right. If you mean it won't be profitable you almost certainly have something else coming. If you've actually been keeping up with the product, it's being released as a dev kit for any number of customers. You may never see a Creative-branded Zii EGG, but you will almost certainly see many products that use the Zii framework. This has shown itself already to be a powerful product, and I wager you that people in the know will prefer this to the iPod Touch, especially considering it's Android OS.
is that an iphone?
does anybody know when the preorder unit are shipping?
I sent a support message to them but I have not heard back yet..... hopefully the zii will get out of the vaporware stage soon
I have an ipod touch and this thing looks to straight blow it up. All this fanboy talk is a bit misplaced. Sure it looks almost the same, definitely not as pretty, but who gives a flying F___. It's a totally OPEN development platform. Apple, clunky itunes, the horrendously laid out app store, and the silence in the face of real problems or the stream of BS that comes out of their collective company mouth....man oh man...I have been wanting to put that all behind me since I bought this ipod touch. It's a real shame because the touch is a beautiful device. Apple simply will not develop more ethical business practices. This however is the start of something really great. An open platform that can be tailored to virtually any setting. I see someone turning this into a phone and definitely cramming 3g inside. All in all I am extremely excited to see how this develops.
I will buy this, attach it to a cord and smite apple-fanboys on sight, belmont-style.
The iFans are scared as the marketplace will be increasing with competing products in it that far surpass their yearly upgrade unit. But thats okay for them as they sit around waiting for uncle stevie to tell them what glorious upgrade is coming in 6 months that just dang nabbit couldn't be done last upgrade. But really they should be used to that as they've always been the redheaded stepchildren of the computer world. All those high powered gpu's just never made it to the dead apple platform, their cpu's just never cut it that they had to change them again and again to the point where they are just another intel based clone. They try to rationalize it as people buy high end cars also, but sadly thats not the case, the world runs on intel/amd/windows/linux. Such a sorry state that a former computer company relies upon a music/video platform to keep it afloat. You can only rip off a unix code OS once and then what can they do?
Hmm wonder how much he paid for his surgery to jump ahead of other far more needing people? Karma it's a bitch and it's coming.
I can't wait to see what the EGG will hatched into when various developers worked on it.
Why would you mockingly refer to the Zii as a "thing"? It's a freaking DAP! Do you refer to an iPod touch as a "thing"? It's like engadget doesn't even care how biased they sound anymore. They realize that this is actually a decent product coming out and because they bad-mouthed it like crazy when it was first announced they have to keep knocking it down in order to avoid looking foolish. Especially considering the NUMEROUS additional features this device will have compared to the iPod touch, you'd think engadget would get their heads out of their asses and confess that they were wrong about this one. (PS I have owned an iPod touch, original Zune, and Creative Zen Vision:M and the M beats the pants off all of em as far as playing media is concerned.)