Creative Zii EGG orders being processed, will ship by the end of the month
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 24th 2009 6:22PM
posted August 24th 2009 6:22PM
[Thanks, Joe]
posted August 24th 2009 6:22PM
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EGG, Zune HD, iPod Touch v3...
ARGH TOO MANY CHOICES!
Man's brain hurt. Man go get coffee.
I would prefer this as the price is cheap for $399 32GB and expandable. It also runs Android not only Plaszma. It supports HD output out of the box immediately without any extra accessories.
If you saw the Zune HD live, you wouldn't be asking this question.
The thing is just sick.
I don't want to knock on creative or anything as this hasn't come out yet for any real reviews but:
Who the hell needs a camera on a pmp that is exactly like the one on your phone?
"Who the hell needs a camera on a pmp that is exactly like the one on your phone?"
Do you like surprises? Because you're about to get one once this and the Touch v.3 drop with cameras, and you'll see how many people dig the idea. But if you really see the idea of a camera on a device as a problem, you can always get the Zune HD. Just remember people typed things like "who the hell would want to control their PMP on a touch screen?", "Who wants to watch movies on their phone?", and "Who wants to surf the internet on a little thing like that?" and now nearly every company is building a device to sell to exactly those people.
The right device can create the need that you couldn't think was necessary.
Buy the first to have out the box DIVX and XVID support.
I was considering selling my archos when I saw the ZUNE HD but upon learning that it has such crappy codec support, I changed my mind. There's no excuse for what these companies do in terms of codec support. Archos uber-greedy method of CHARGING for support is better than no support at all :(
You forgot the X-Series OLED walkman... If only they made the screen slightly bigger on that it would have been the best.
zune hd for me, that looks too much like an ipod
Oh yeah, a box with a button on the center is such a hard look to copy.
Well of course it's hard to copy, that's why we should give Creative a round of applause for copying the iPod so well! :D
nah, it does look too much like an Ipod, which is disappointing because Creative's other players have always looked unique. I'm also tired of telling my friends 'Actually, no, it's not an Ipod, it's better than an Ipod because *insert XYZ factors non-geeks don't care about*".
Hmmm , this or Zune HD?????
We really won't be able to tell until both devices are released. But based on the incomplete information at this time, the Zii EGG looks to be more appealing. Ability to use SD cards and not being tied to a particular sync software will be welcomed differentiators. And if Creative is true to their history, the Zii EGG will support a wider range of codecs than the ZuneHD.
zune hd killer
you know i'm jking.................. right?
going by the specs, the Zii woops Zune HD's ass
... until you see the video of the Zii struggling and stuttering just rendering a webpage, compared to Zune's silky smoothness.
More like the baby killer.
Judging by how people are reacting to the presence of Apps on the ZuneHD, this very well may be a ZuneHD killer seeing as how it runs Android which already has a decent app ecosystem.
this has internet right?
It comes with ONE free internetz! Additional internetz cost extra.
holy shit, BOBBY'S WORLD
I really don't understand these advanced music players with internet browsing and soon, cameras.
Why can't people just buy a phone that already had these features built in?
Don't even bring up battery life either. Buy a car charger or a second battery! It's cheaper than buying another full fledged device!
Maybe these people don't want a smart phone? Maybe they want something that lasts a few days without any fuss?
because not everybody wants it in their phone?
Because of carrier limitation and expensive data plan. Anyway, a device running Android sounds good.
I, along with most people I know, like to be able to plug in a pmp and listen to music (especially at a party or in the car) without having it interrupted by their phone ringing.
Also, it's extremely annoying when working out to be interrupted by a phone.
It's because phones are tied to networks. There aren't many smartphones out there that AREN'T tied to a certain network, and that is really limiting.
I'd love an iPhone, but AT&T has AWFUL coverage in Iowa. I'd also love a Pre, but Sprint is also sub-par in Iowa.
Whereas U.S. Cellular has great coverage, but it's not one of the big 4 networks (It's #5), and it doesn't get best phones.
To "lawyer bird",
If you don't want to be interrupted by a phone when working out you have many options:
1. Turn off the Antenna including WiFi but leave Bluetooth On for Bluetooth Stereo music streaming
2. Turn off Antenna but allow WiFi connection for internet radio
3. Turn on Antenna keeping the 3G on to stream radio but block all calls when you are working out
Problem solved for your case of not interrupted by a phone call when listening to music or watching video.
Also a software fix can solve your problem by only routing phone calls to Bluetooth or corded headset while still keeping conversation private with music and video playing in the background to external speakers.
I don't want the $40/month data plan that Verizon requires with a smartphone. That's why.
my 18 month-old SE W980i... Camera, radio, 'net browsing, fantastic Walkman music player and SMALL. Only limitation is 8gb limit. If SE made a 16gb expandable version of this phone with a high quality camera they'd be on a winner.
Not everyone wants to carry a brick around for music needs AND a phone, camera, radio...
The reason is that people don't buy phones with these features is that they're very expense when you add the data and phone bill, along with the idea you're locked in to a contract for two years like a prisoner of the phone company
This thing looks too big, especially when compared to the zune hd
That's because the Zune HD was designed to be a PMP first and foremost. The Zii EGG has a bit more heft to it because of the other hardware.
It looks like the deal is that you buy the Plaszma SDK, and get the zii for free (if you want to call that free... it seems to be the other way around to me). It also says that the Zii supports Android, but that Plaszma makes the most out of the graphics capabilities.
I'd say it's pretty clear that it runs Plaszma out of the box.
Exactly the Zii that was pre-ordered for devs are shipping. I'll just wait until they're finished to buy.
As long as its not running a Microshaft Unoperating system, I think it'll be fine.
Not Wii.....Zii
BETTER! MUCH BETTER!
(i hope at least one person gets it)
You just quoted the Amanda Show.
Dear God, what have you done?!
Why is this aimed to sell to companies??
Because it's not a real product yet.
This is basically dev kit.
I don't think people are really understanding the potential of the Zii chip and are trying to keep this as an media player only product. Having the potential to reallocate processing power to focus on a specific function is a game changer. This is why it is aimed to sell to companies... that is where the applications of how the Zii chip can be used in a multitude of devices will be exploited.
They wrapped up the Zii chip in the "egg" to ease the cost and expense of other companies to realize the potential of the chip and how they can re-allocate the resources of the Zii chip to create better electronic devices. I think the true potential will be seen when the Zii chip is used in a cell phone/laptop/tv/game console/ servers/digital camera/...
I can't wait to see a game system with one in it!
People don't understand it because the marketing doesn't make much real-world sense, which is typically a big red flag for "it's better on paper than in real life". What the hell is "Stemcell" computing? Tell me what that really means! It certainly doesn't mean a biological computer based off of stem cells, but since they called it that, I assume they are trying to throw buzzwords at me to make me go "wow".
Maybe this thing is much faster than an iTouch, but is it faster than the iPhone 3GS or the Zune HD? Will it get enough 3rd party support to even matter?
I'll watch closely but for now I'm not sold at all.
@ Bill
Stemcell computing is this...
A human stem cell can be changed into any other type of cell in the body. The Zii chip uses this concept. Every other processor has different parts that are dedicated to different functions and those functions only. The Zii on the other hand has many different processing cells that can be changed to do different functions as and when they are needed thus saving power and in some cases performance gain.
They also call scientific research on super-computers a "vanity exercise" and call a Zii cluster a "hypercomputer".
I hope I'm wrong, but the whole thing sounds like horseshit to me.
@Matt
"The Zii on the other hand has many different processing cells that can be changed to do different functions ..."
Are they physically altered at the time to do a specific job (doubtful)?
Or, are they just general purpose processing elements like a standard x86 cpu (wow, they invented the multi-core chip, oh wait.)?
It's not that people don't "get it", it's that Creative isn't telling us anything of value.
i dont know the ins and outs of it, and to be honest i havnt read or heard too much about the zii chip and maybe the actual hardware solution is executed differently, but doesnt the tegra chip with its 8 different processors effectively do th3e same thing? or does the zii chip consist of only one processor, capable of performing all applicable tasks to a groundbreaking level all at once? if that is the case, what if the application running requires more than one or all different processing functions ( taken care of in the tegra platform by individual processors )? would the zii processor not peak at its maximum capacity while the tegra chip would simply engage multiple processors? admittedly, tegra would probably consume more power in this high intensity scenario, and surely a multi-processor solution costs more to manufacture, but regardless of that, by the sounds of it, tegra is just as good in low demand applications and has much more power when you are pushing the platform to its limits. so if i understand correctly, i just dont see whats so revolutionary or fantastic about zii.....
@ jon
Yes, they are altered at anytime to do a specific job. Watch this vid from about 3:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW9rUfejLss
@Matt,
I've seen that video, there isn't a single piece of usable information in the entire thing.
It's all marketing hyperbole.
Well, Jon, let's start with the basics. Why don't you tell me why a Pentium 3 can't run 64-bit OS? How about the different instruction sets in processors.
Everyone for a second, let's think about this: this is emerging technology in electrical engineering. These people went to electrical engineering school (probably a decade or more) and were the best among their peers who applied for the job. They spent years developing a different processor, literally unlike anything seen before it. [http://www.siliconmadness.com/2009/01/meet-zms-05-chip-ziis-first-incarnation.html] SiliconMadness have a similar introduction to Engadget's, but at SM's more technical blog post [http://www.siliconmadness.com/2009/01/could-zii-be-fpga.html] you can see from where this anticipation derives.
So yes, for media purposes, the Zii should far outperform it's contemporaries (the Zune and new iPod Touch). If you'd like an explanation, I'd advise you take a basic electrical engineering course. Or you can continue being an e-thug and scavenge this article for things you don't (more likely can't) understand [http://www.hpcwire.com/topic/processors/Revaluating_FPGAs_for_64-bit_Floating-Point_Calculations.html].