creative
Latest
Blurb app creates multimedia stories on iPhone
Blurb is best known for self-publishing books, but a new iPhone app expands the company's scope to mobile storytelling. Blurb Mobile for iPhone and iPod touch allows you to take photos, video and audio from the iPhone, including from apps such as Instagram, Hipstamatic and Photoshop Express, and turn them into a visual book that can be shared via email, Twitter or Facebook. Blurb is a free download and allows you to have up to eight images, a 30-second audio clip per image and a 10-second video clip per story with seven themes to choose from. An in-app purchase of US$1.99 will net you up to 15 photos, a 2-minute audio clip per image and three video clips up to 30 seconds each per story along with an additional eight themes. The app itself is easy to use, and it's very stable. After creating the slideshow, you can upload it to Blurb's site for sharing. A very nice feature is that you can make changes to the slideshow; the app will update it to the same location on Blurb's site for you, so you do not have to change any shared URLs. There are a few minor drawbacks, mainly that the text size for captions is much too big and obscures a good bit of the image when posted online. Check out this test slideshow from a recent trip to New York City to see the app in action.
Creative's 7-inch ZiiO tablet gets Froyo this Friday, 10-inch model to follow suit
If you happen to be one of the handful of Creative ZiiO tablet users, then we have good news for you: come Friday, the 7-incher will be the first of the Ziio duo to receive its Froyo update, whereas its 10-inch sibling's expected to follow suit by April. So what's new? Well, the list includes greater language support, new passcode options, the ability to install apps onto external storage, and a text-to-speech engine. Once available, you can obtain the update from either Creative's website or the tablets' ZiiO Space portal; but by all means, feel free to butter up the folks over at xda-developers to slap some Honeycomb onto these ZiiOs instead.
EVE Online player creativity -- Papercraft pod edition
Every month, EVE Online developer CCP Fallout trawls the forums to find the best of the community's creative efforts. Previous editions of the Celebrating the Creative Player blog have looked at in-game news websites, a Gallente shuttle remade in Minecraft, and the cross-platform Python Fitting Tool. This month's bumper edition starts off with one of my favourite recent creations -- a flowchart designed to help players pick what they want to do in EVE. Each option is linked to further reading on the topic, making it a handy tool for new players who find themselves lost in EVE. Also impressing the devs this month is a tool designed to track the bounties gained from missions. It's often difficult to work out what the most profitable missions are to run, and this tool simplifies that by recording a log of bounties on each mission. My personal favourite highlight this month was EVE player Guindel Angeline's papercraft escape pod. We've seen some incredible papercraft EVE ships before, but I think this is the first time someone's made the escape pod.
Breakfast Topic: Does WoW light your creative fires?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. On this fine snowy morning of -12 degrees, I find myself writing an article for WoW Insider. If you had asked me a year or two before, I would have told you that's preposterous: I didn't think I had much in common with other players, and I certainly didn't have the confidence to put anything in front of the masses. I was learning the ropes, leveling, asking questions, not sure what I was supposed to do when the game was "over." I didn't utilize sites such as this; back then, I didn't venture much further than Thottbot. Yet here I am today, with a few high-level characters, raiding, and I am writing this article. I've dabbled in a few other games since first playing WoW, and each of them has sparked my imagination and opened various creative passage ways. I found myself wanting to start a fan-fiction, which then grew into something even bigger. I always loved writing but never thought I would go anywhere with it. I guess I just needed the right inspiration. There is a whole feature on WoW Insider (World of WarCrafts) about people who have been inspired by WoW to do great things. How about you? Have you started writing a comic strip, fan-fiction, a novel, created videos, or furthered another hobby? Have you done something you never thought possible because you were inspired by WoW or another game?
Font made out of 540 iPhone apps
Sure, you may have already picked up your Steve Jobs mosaic print made from Apple products, but do you have a font made entirely from 540 iPhone apps? I didn't think so! Tumblr We Love Apple posted about this font made by Oriol Fernandez Tur, a catalan art director from Barcelona with "too much free time" -- his own words. Organizing iPhone apps by color, Tur invented his own typeface font, with each page of apps being a different letter of the alphabet. While some Apple fans may just want to change the note-taking font on their iPad to Helvetica or make their own custom signature in the Mail.app, truly dedicated fanboys and fangirls everywhere might want to check out Tur's custom iPhone app font and try to make it their own. The font is a little tough to read, but at the very least, it could be used to leave secret messages on friends' iPhones or iPads. Click Read More to check out video of the font in action.
Creative Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega headphones have a long name, connect to PC and game consoles wirelessly
We still haven't been able to evaluate Creative's original claim that the Sound Blaster Tactic 3D series can tell up from down, but the company's already got a third set of virtual surround sound headphones. The Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega (whew) adds wireless to what looks like a nearly identical set of cans, and connects to PCs, game consoles, and other home audio components with a base station on the other end. At $200, they're not cheap, so we hope Creative's increased the quality of its materials and construction quite a bit -- the original sets were fairly flimsy, as we recall. PR after the break.
EVE Online player creativity -- Ship fitting edition
Two months ago, CCP started a new series of monthly EVE Online devblogs showcasing the game community's creative efforts. The EVE community is known for its artwork and incredible fan-made videos, but through CCP Fallout's monthly blog series, we've come to see some of the community's other creative endeavours. In previous editions, Fallout looked at in-game news and politics website EVE News 24, question and answer site Skill Training Complete, an impressive minecraft video of a scale Gallente shuttle, and a collection of EVE podcasts. In the latest issue, CCP looks at some of the latest developments that have drawn attention during December. There's an impressive video showing off the new EVE character creator that will be going live with Incursion 1.1 later this month. The video shows off both male and female avatars. Also covered is the Python Fitting Assistant, a cross-platform offline ship fitting tool similar to the very popular EVE Fitting Tool. The highlight of this month's blog has to be LOLFITS, a website where players can post some of the monumentally bad ship setups they've seen players use. If you think your ship setups are poor, I guarantee they're spectacular compared to some of the hilarious setups on LOLFITS.
Creative Zen Touch 2 passes FCC, adds yet another new button arrangement to Android world
Oh Android, is there any device you won't grace for the cheap thrill of adding to your army of followers? Creative's Zen Touch 2 served up most of its specs a couple of months back, including a resistive touchscreen and the use of Android 2.1 as its OS, but today it's formalized its US intentions with a bit of FCC certification action. The 3.2-inch PMP's 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 wireless transceivers all checked out okay, though the exhaustive teardown also revealed a "vibrator" module and an 1150mAh battery contained within its plasticky walls. Another note of import was that two variants, one equipped with GPS and one without, were offered to the FCC, in line with the company segmenting the Zen Touch 2 into "standard" and "enhanced" editions. If you're in the UK, you can have one of these music players shipped to you tomorrow, but the US online store only lists it by name and doesn't yet have a full page for it. Shouldn't be long now.
Creative's 7-inch ZiiO Android 2.1 tablet now on sale for $250
C'mon now, don't act all surprised. This one followed the picture perfect path to shipping: announcement, hands-on, a stop by the FCC's database and now, a formal portal in Creative's webstore. If the Galaxy Tab, eLocity A7, G Tablet and Advent Vega haven't exactly tickled your fancy, there's hardly a chance the 7-inch ZiiO will have what it takes. That said, it's now up for grabs at $249.99, with that sum getting you 8GB of storage ($20 more doubles it to 16GB), an 800x400 resolution display, Android 2.1, a ZiiLABS ZMS-08 HD processor, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a front-facing VGA camera. Unfortunately, this thing has a zero percent chance of revolutionizing your life in the way that the ZiiEagle already has, but perhaps it'll bring you joy in some smaller, less meaningful way. [Thanks, Terrence]
Creative ZiiEagle Movie Box promises 3,000 years of Chinese culture in one sleek burgundy package
So just what is the Creative ZiiEagle Movie Box? What exactly do you get from this? Here's what we've gathered: A set-top box featuring 668 movies from Celestial's Shaw Brothers Film Collection. "3,000 years of Chinese culture and secrets of the much elusive 'Confucian thing.'" A price tag -- 888 Singapore dollars ($676 in US currency) -- that "solves the perennial video piracy problem in one stroke." The reason for that awesome picture above to exist. Singapore, consider yourself enlightened, and consider your days of video piracy officially numbered.
Creative ZiiO 10 follows little brother into the halls of FCC
Two haikus: FCC archives, The Creative ZiiO 10. Seven was there first. Manual reminds A lack of Android market. Gallery's below. %Gallery-110465%
EVE Online player creativity -- Gallente shuttle in Minecraft and more
Over the years, the EVE Online community has produced some stunning creative works. From epic videos that have been years in the making to fictional stories or artwork, EVE has inspired some fantastic creative efforts. Last month, CCP posted the first of a new monthly series of devblogs highlighting the creative efforts of people in the EVE community. In last month's installment, CCP Fallout looked at two of her favourite fan-run websites -- EVE News 24 and Skill Training Complete. In this month's second part of the series, Fallout is joined by CCP Zymurgist to discuss some of the awesome things players have done throughout November. The report kicks off with some videos of the awesome new Incursion character generator in action, produced by players on the EVE test server. Also in the news is a list of player-run podcasts called the EVE Pod Pack, maintained in a similar manner to CrazyKinux's EVE Blog Pack. The highlight of this month's piece, however, is undeniably the video of a full scale Gallente shuttle faithfully reproduced in Minecraft.
Creative's 7-inch ZiiO tablet hits the FCC, ripped into component circuitry
Creative hasn't gone public with a US release window for its Ziio tablets, but it's probably only a matter of time -- the 7-inch model arrived at the FCC this week, complete with user manual and lovely snapshots of its innards all laid out. There's no mistaking that ZiiLABS ZMS-08 system-on-a-chip front and center, flanked by four slabs of NAND flash from Hynix Semiconductor, and in the upper left-hand corner you can even see the AzureWave chip responsible for its 802.11 b/g WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth functions. None of this simple beauty can make up for the fact that a resistive touchscreen is calling all the shots, but battery life should be relatively long -- FCC documentation describes a chunky 5,000mAh lithium-ion cell, images of which are below. Also pictured: the FCC squishing the poor device into copious amounts of styrofoam. %Gallery-108254%
Creative hits 1080p with its Live! Cam Socialize HD webcam, launches 720p models too
Today, if your webcam can't do HD it might as well not even power up its sensor in the morning, and Creative is latest to join the full HD crowd with the $89 Live! Cam Socialize HD 1080 -- an excessive title for the latest 1080p webcam to grace your USB ports. It joins the Microsoft LifeCam Studio and Logitech C910 in terms of resolution, but adds some interesting features, perhaps most notably being a dual-microphone array that can be adjusted to provide a field of 20 to 180 degrees, allowing you to control the amount of environmental sound that gets through. Also interesting is a cradle that "scans" in business cards, though we're not sure you really need 1080p for that. Meanwhile, for those who don't necessarily live life 1,920 pixels at a time, there's the $69 Live! Cam Socialize HD AF model, which features a similar design but a 720p sensor, and the $39 Live! Cam Chat HD, which still does 720p but loses much of the other accoutrement. The 720p Socialize model looks to be available now, but no word on when the others will be perching themselves atop your display. %Gallery-107515%
Creative's 7- and 10-inch ZiiO Android tablets get the hands-on treatment
They're cheap, they can't access the Android Market and they're rocking resistive touchscreens. They're the two newest devices from the lairs at Creative, and the folks over at PCPro were able to spend a few quality minutes with both the 7- and 10-inch ZiiO slates. They noted that the ZiiLabs ZMS-08 processor managed to handle the Android 2.1 load quite well, and while they definitely would've preferred a capacitive, multitouch display, they... managed without one. Hit the source link for a few more impressions and glamor shots, but don't go in expecting a Galaxy Tab killer or anything.
Creative gets official with Android-based Zen Touch 2 PMP
Hard to say if this is the direct (or indirect) replacement to the Creative X-Fi2 we toyed with 13 months ago, but the new Zen Touch 2 has snuck out behind the cover of two ZiiO touch tablets. This here PMP sports a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Android 2.1 underneath, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, an accelerometer, inbuilt speaker, two megapixel camera, microSD card slot, GPS, digital compass, FM radio tuner and a run-of-the-mill plastic enclosure. That last bit is according to Pocket-lint's brief hands-on with the device, noting that the touch panel is of the resistive variety and the user interface was jumpy and problematic to say the least. It'll be landing soon in 8GB and 16GB sizes for S$279 ($216 in Greenbacks) and up, but we get the impression that price and availability may not matter much in the grand scheme of things.
Creative Ziio 7- and 10-inch Android tablets say 'me too'
Somewhere in the world, Creative just announced a pair of 7-inch (480 x 800) and 10-inch (1024 x 768) Ziio tablets running the Android 2.1 OS. Both feature a ZiiLabs ZMS-08 processor, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, WiFi 802.11b/g, and microSD expansion. They're slated to ship in December with the 7-incher costing €229 (8GB) or €259 (16GB) and the 10-incher demanding €289 (8GB) or €319 (16GB). And somewhere, somebody must be jonesin' for these resistive touchscreen tablets (China?), just not here. [Thanks, Yutaka]
CCP showcases the EVE community's creativity in a new monthly devblog
Whether you like EVE Online or hate it, it's hard to deny that the game's community produces some incredible creative works. We've seen examples of the community's creative output in a myriad of forms, from impressive videos and fiction to useful tools and websites. In recognition of the community's ongoing efforts, EVE Online's Associate Community Manager CCP Fallout has started a new monthly devblog series highlighting the community's creative accomplishments. In the first installment of this new blog series, CCP Fallout discusses two of her favourite EVE websites -- EVE News 24 and Skill Training Complete. Covering all the recent goings-on in the world of EVE politics, EVE News 24 is a great way to keep up-to-date with what's happening in New Eden. Skill Training Complete is an innovative tool that allows players to ask and answer questions about EVE Online, giving newer players a great new way to shortcut the game's infamously steep learning curve. Fallout makes a special note about the EVE Blog Pack, an invaluable community resource maintained by social media guru and long-time EVE player CrazyKinux. Visit the EVE devblog page to read more about the new monthly blog series, and stay tuned for next month's installment when CCP will be looking at the amazing artwork EVE players create that blows them away.
Anti-Aliased: How I mine for craft
This column was bound to come sometime. We've had legions of people asking us, "Why don't you cover Minecraft? It's totally an MMO!" The email barrage was so constant that I had nightmarish fits in my sleep, where I was drowning in oddly block-shaped emails pouring out of my ceiling. Now, after I've finally played Minecraft, my nightmarish fits have turned into scenes in which I'm being attacked by giant block-shaped spiders, but that's neither here nor there. I can see why people have fallen in love with this game, and they have every reason to. Minecraft may not be an MMO by our standards, but it is an example of gaming done right. It's the purest form of everything we love about gaming, and it's a game that could teach MMO makers a lot about design, should they care to listen.
Creative Sound Blaster Wireless MultiPlay System untethered from FCC
Here we go again. Another FCC filing of an unannounced product, this time in the form of Creative's Sound Blaster Wireless MultiPlay system. We're looking at a trio of new products including the MultiPlay Transmitter with its USB extension dock, a rather clunky looking Touch Controller (that we've seen before) resembling an old Sonos CR100, and Wireless Receiver. The idea here is to attach the transmitter to your PC and install the Creative Music Server software, connect the receiver to a pair of amplified speakers and then control the whole kit with the supplied controller. You can even push the audio out to Creative's existing wireless speakers or headphones as long as you don't exceed four devices in total. The transmitter and receivers pair automatically when turned on and you can attach additional audio devices (like an old CD player) for broadcast via a 3.5-mm stereo cable. Creative's pitching this as a multi-room solution with the ability to setup and then control zones of music throughout your house over a 2.4GHz connection. In other words, don't expect it to be very robust -- not when the user manual explicitly warns: "Refrain from doing large file transfers via the wireless internet or Bluetooth connection while you are streaming music." Expect it to be cheap though.%Gallery-101466%
