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Creative ZEN X-Fi2 sees its first firmware update, still has aways to go
Just weeks after going on sale here in America, Creative's underwhelming ZEN X-Fi2 portable media player is already seeing its first firmware update. If you'll recall, we found the unit darn near unusable back at IFA, and even now it's being panned for forcing users to mash the screen too often and wait too long for things to happen. Reportedly, the 1.10.04 update solves those responsiveness issues, and it also brings about colored icons (yeah, seriously), accelerometer usage (but only for photos), a Sudoku game and a "press and hold" behavior for powering the unit on or off. The most interesting aspect here (in our humble opinions) is the Sudoku bit, as it certainly hints at more titles being possible in future firmware refreshes. Hit the Read link to get that download going, and hop on past the break if you need any video convincing.
Creative rolls out third gen Vado HD pocket camcorder
Creative sure seems to be taking the incremental approach to upgrades with its Vado HD pocket camcorders, but if you've found the previous two models just a tad lacking, you might want to consider the company's newly announced 3rd gen model. From the looks of it, most of the core specs remain the same, but Creative is promising some improved low light video recording and manual exposure adjustment, along with a new motion detection mode, support for an external stereo mic, a headphone output, and even the ability to take some still photos. You'll also now get out of the box Mac and PC compatibility, and five glossier than ever colors -- though Creative has curiously dropped the 8GB model in favor of a single 4GB option, which will set you back $179.99. [Thanks, Kingone]
Enter to win 25 Creative headsets, one for each member of your raid
We've been giving away these Creative World of Warcraft wireless headsets for a while now, one per week to one lucky winner (and grats to those of you who've already picked them up). But Creative also wanted to work with us to do something really epic, something only WoW.com could put together. And so we're going for the whole enchilada: we're giving away a set of twenty-five (that's right, 25, one per raid member in your group) Creative World of Warcraft wireless headsets. This is going to be the clearest, most amazing sounding group on Vent ever -- not a single person in your raid will have to say "sorry, no mic." So how do you win? Obviously an epic contest like this requires an epic entry, so here's how we're going to do it: after the break on this post, you'll find a list of five different riddles, each one hinting at a different place in the game.
Creative to show off 'Zii Android mobile phone' next month at Chinese summit
We've been saying all along that we'd love nothing more than to see someone throw a 3G chip into Creative's Zii Egg and sell it as a pretty strong smartphone, but so far we've been hit with little to no indication of interested parties making that happen. So when we spot phrases like "Zii Optimized Android Phone platform" and "the line-up of devices on display includes a Mobile Phone platform" on an informational site for the ZiiLABS Showcase happening early December in China, our interested are definitely piqued. The event is geared towards companies who'd like to use the Plaszma platform for their products, and with any luck, some debonair decision-maker will give Zii phone a chance. [Thanks, Kyle]
Last chance to enter to win a Creative headset of your own
This is finally it -- your last chance as a single commenter to pick yourself up a Creative World of Warcraft wireless gaming headset. We've been giving one of these away every single week for a few months now, and today we've finally run out of the single headsets, so here's your last chance to leave a comment on this post and win one on your own. As usual, the contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, November 18th, at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. One winner will be chosen. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Please note: winners will not receive the headset until it is released later this year. Click here to read the official contest rules. Good luck -- oh, and are you wondering why we said "single headset"? Because we will have yet another contest next week, but it'll be more of a "group quest" kind of thing, where you and some friends will have a chance to win a raid full of headsets for yourselves. Stay tuned for more info in one week's time.
ZiiLABS ZMS-08 offers Cortex A8-powered Full HD and Flash acceleration for netbooks
We haven't even seen the Zii EGG make its long-anticipated consumer debut yet, but Creative is already building up steam for its next Zii venture. ZiiLABS' ZMS-08 is a third generation mobile media accelerator / system-on-a-chip that boasts its predecessor's 1080p playback and 24fps encoding, and HD video conferencing via simultaneous 720p encoding and decoding, while adding all-new OpenGL ES 2.0 support, an integrated HDMI controller, X-Fi audio and Flash acceleration. Paired to a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8, and running a custom flavor of Android alongside Plaszma OS, the new Zii chip will look for homes in "web tablets, netbooks, connected TVs" and the like, but seemingly not smartphones. ZiiLABS has already signed up a number of clients, who'll start receiving shipments in Q1 of 2010. Full PR and an architectural diagram after the break.
Creative's ZEN X-Fi2 touchscreen PMP now on sale
Candidly speaking, we can't honestly envision too many of you fine folks running out and purchasing one of Creative's new ZEN X-Fi2 portable media players given the availability of such robust alternatives. That said, we'd be remiss of our duties if we didn't point out that the PMP which shocked us at IFA is now on sale directly from Creative. $129.99 buys you an 8GB model, while $179.99 nets you 16GB and $229.99 provides 32GB. We know -- that 3-inch LCD and integrated FM tuner look good from afar, but remember kids, it's all about the UI. [Thanks, Tyler]
Enter to win a Creative WoW headset of your own
Yes, it's time once again to award one of you with the soon-to-be coolest gaming headset around just for performing the not-so-arduous task of... leaving a comment on this post. Commenting on a blog probably isn't your job (though most of you probably do it at your job -- no comment about that), but it could score you some nice swag anyway today, in the form of the beautiful Creative World of Warcraft wireless gaming headset. As usual, the contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, November 11th, at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. One winner will be chosen. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Please note: winners will not receive the headset until it is released later this year. Click here to read the official contest rules. Good luck as always! And don't forget, whatever you do, to stay tuned, as next week we'll be giving away yet another headset. So even if you don't win this week, you've still got a few chances left.
Creative Zii EGG Android build demoed on video
We're still not entirely sure what Creative has planned for the Zii, but things appear to be going according to plan: as promised, an Android 1.6 installer for the Zii EGG developer unit was released today. Things are still pretty rough, however -- the camera doesn't work, and leftover bits of phone code like the signal strength icon are still present. We're guessing that means we're still ages away from seeing anything resembling a consumer device come out of all this, but let's hope this is the first step towards a whole slew of kickin' Android-powered KIRF devices. Video after the break. [Thanks, Yuki]
Zii MediaBook UI video explains very little
Somebody apparently managed to get a camera up during Creative's presentation of its upcoming Zii Mediabook e-reader, but unfortunately the UI mockup that was demonstrated on screen is hardly standard (no hints of Android, for instance), and it's hard to separate proposed UI elements from flashy video transitions. If there's anything to take away, it seems that the device has an edge to edge screen, and is heavily touch and gesture based on a very custom-seeming GUI. One thing that happens repeatedly in the video is that a bit of text is highlighted, and then when it's "flicked" up it shoots out as a web page or a video or what have you -- seems like an odd way to go about things, but it at least demonstrates that Creative isn't just working on any old e-book reader here. Hit up the read link for the vid.
Creative working on Zii-based MediaBook with color touchscreen, e-book slant
What's an e-book without the e-ink? So very much, according to Creative, who just dropped word of an upcoming "MediaBook" device (which will undoubtedly look nothing like this mockup above). It sounds a bit more like a PMP to us, with "video, pictures, text and services," and a "media-rich experience" on the table, but Creative is also apparently working with publishers for content, with an obvious emphasis in Singapore sources, where Creative already does e-learning work. There's no word of what it'll look like, but it'll be a large touchscreen of some sort, so it sounds like we've got another slate on our hand. Any differentiation might come from having Zii under the hood and Creative's own particular approach to content for this device, but there's not really enough to get excited about at this point. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Enter to win your own Creative WoW Wireless headset
Hey, you, reading this blog. You like playing World of Warcraft? You like listening to the sounds of the game as you do it? You got ears and a distinct predilection for playing in either the Horde or Alliance faction? Then boy do we have a headset for you: the Creative World of Warcraft Wireless gaming headset is going to be the hottest thing you can put on your head since the trucker hat, and here's your chance to win one by commenting on this very post. As usual, the contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, October 21st, at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Please note: winners will not receive the headset until it is released later this year. Click here to read the official contest rules. Good luck to you all! And don't forget, if you want to win five of these things, there's only one day left in our five-man contest. Just by submitting a shot of your group, you can pick up five headsets, one for every group member. That one ends tomorrow, so get your entry out ASAP!
Enter to win five Creative WoW headsets for your 5-man group
So we've been doing these Creative contests to give away their shiny new World of Warcraft-branded wireless gaming headsets for a few months now. But if you haven't won one yet, worry not: today, we're giving away five headsets to one lucky instance-running group out there, so you can all talk to each other while you're wiping in Heroic Old Kingdom.To enter, you've got to send us a .JPG-formatted picture (no bigger than 800px please) of your favorite five-man group -- you and four friends -- to contests@wow.com by 5pm October 29, 2009 (that's one week from today!). Make sure you put "Creative 5-man contest" in the email subject so we can recognize what it's for, and while you can take it wherever and however you want to in-game (or even in real-life!), just make sure there are five people in there. Because one lucky random entry will win five Creative World of Warcraft wireless gaming headsets, one for each member of the group, at a value of $150 each, or $750 total. That's a lot of headsets! You must also be 18 or older, and live in the United States or Canada excluding Quebec -- full official rules can be found right here.Please note: in addition to emailing us the .jpg picture, you will also need to copy and paste the form below (filled out) into your email -- it was put together by our legal department and simply says that you understand and will adhere to the rules of the contest. You need to include the names and e-mail addresses of all five players in your group so that we can contact you all about prizes if you win.Good luck to everyone who enters -- we can't wait to see what your five-man groups look like! And stay tuned, because we've got an even more epic contest planned out soon.
Enter to win a wireless headset from Creative and WoW.com
Hey there, time once again to give away one of these snazzy Creative World of Warcraft wireless gaming headsets. Not only is this thing kitted out with some of the best audio hardware in the business (including Creative's awesome 3D positional audio, good enough to make you think you really are in the World of Warcraft), but it also comes with either Horde or Alliance "glyphs," which you can place on the earcups near colored LEDs to show off your factional allegiance in style. And you could be the lucky commenter to win one this week! As usual, the contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, October 21st, at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Please note: winners will not receive the headset until it is released later this year. Click here to read the official contest rules. Good luck to everyone who enters (but trust us when we say we're really pulling for you to win). And hey, even if you don't, there'll be yet another chance to pick one of these up next week. See you then!
Zii Egg Android installer arrives next week, consumer devices nowhere in sight
Zii hopefuls will be pleased to hear that ZiiLABS is releasing the Android installer "next week." The tweeted update means that developers with the Zii EGG will have the chance to get friendly with Google's droid as Creative's project attempts to walk our for retail on something other than its homegrown Plaszma OS. While this would have made stellar headlines in early 2009, at this point, with Microsoft and Apple both offering a stunning pair of dedicated, full-screen media devices, and a shedload of media-capable Android-based phones now hitting the market, well, it all seems to be too little and much too late for Creative. But if its only intention is to serve as the foundation for China's KIRF market then why should we care anyway? [Thanks, Jonathan K.]
Enter to win a Creative WoW headset from WoW.com and Creative
It's that time again -- time to give away yet another of these beautiful Creative World of Warcraft wireless gaming headsets to one lucky commenter on this post. Throw a comment in the comments section below, and you could be the person we choose to win a brand new Creative wireless gaming headset (complete with official glowing World of Warcraft insignia) even before it's released in November. Good deal? Our record on these things so far is about 3,000 comments, but surely we can beat that -- tell your friends and guildies to run on over and put their own comments on here, and if they win, you can make them pay you an ingame finder's fee in gold.As usual, the contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, October 21st, at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Please note: winners will not receive the headset until it is released later this year. Click here to read the official contest rules.As usual, good luck to everyone who enters. And we're only about halfway through our series of contests thus far -- stay tuned every single week up until the headset's release to try and win one for your own.
WoW.com TCG Loot Giveaway: Sandbox Tiger and the Flag of Ownership
Alright, step right up, you lucky sons of motherless ogres. The powers that be over here at WoW.com have decided to bequeath upon a fortunate pair of readers more World of Warcraft TCG loot codes drawn from our bottomless, magical repository of gold and epic items (actually, they were given to us by those folks from WoWTCGLoot.com, which is kind of like the same thing). For today's swag, we're giving away one cute little Sandbox Tiger and my favorite loot item, The Flag of Ownership.Unfortunately, I can't steal the code for the Flag of Ownership for myself, which is what I would totally do if it wasn't sealed in a super-secret, rune-encrypted, glyph-reinforced, enchanted Titansteel vault guarded by Matthew Rossi's reanimated chest fuzz. Heck, it could be in a box made out of tissue paper and I still wouldn't be able to get at it. Every one of Rossi's chest hairs is as rabid as a Tarrasque hopped on Red Bull. And those are just the ones that have been shaved off! You folks, on the other hand, simply have to leave a comment below for the chance to receive the code from the comfort and relative safety of your own home. I say relative because we've been instructed to send Rossi-hair ninjas to off anybody who leaves more than one comment.Oh, and don't forget that you only have until Wednesday, 11:59pm EDT to chime in before we lock this thread and swizzle out the winner. If those loot cards don't tickle your fancy, something's wrong with you you can submit an entry for our Guild of the Month contest or vie to snag one of Creative's fancy new wireless headsets. One or the other, you choose. Because let's face it, everybody loves free stuff.
Your fourth chance to pick up a Creative World of Warcraft wireless headset
Time once again to give away one of Creative's World of Warcraft wireless gaming headsets. These things are so new they're not even out yet -- they'll be released to stores in November, but we're giving away one right here today, to one lucky commenter on this post before next Thursday at midnight. Tell us what music genre and/or band you'd like to hear playing music through this thing, and we'll choose one lucky winner to pick up a headset for free.The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, October 14th at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Click here to read our official contest rules.Good luck to everyone who enters! And of course, just in case you haven't heard yet, stay tuned, as we've got more of these contests planned every single week until November.
Enter to win a Creative WoW wireless headset
Above is the very first picture of the Creative World of Warcraft wireless headset in action -- it's now past the prototype stage and well into production (you can notice the brighter LEDs on the earcups, as well as more detail around the glyphs and a more final finishing). It's not quite out yet, but you lucky readers get a third chance to win one right here today, by entering a comment on this post before next Wednesday at midnight. We'll choose one winner to win this baby even before they're released to the public -- you'll never miss hearing a trinket proc again.The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, October 7th, at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Please note: winners will not receive the headset until it is released later this year. Click here to read the official contest rules.Good luck to everyone who enters! And again, even if you don't walk away with a headset this week, don't worry: we've got lots more chances coming up each and every week to pick up one of these awesome headsets soon to be released from Creative.
Enter to win a Creative World of Warcraft wireless headset
We're back again with our second exclusive contest to give away a brand new, hot off the line Creative World of Warcraft wireless gaming headset to one of you lucky readers. This thing is a beauty -- not only is it made by the premiere name in computer audio, Creative, but it's also decked out in World of Warcraft-related goodness, including illuminated earcup "glyphs," styled with Horde or Alliance insignia as you like it (with more to come -- stay tuned for more info about that right here on WoW.com). And you can enter to win one, just by leaving a comment on this post. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 13 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before Thursday, September 30th at midnight eastern, and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact the winners when we choose them. You may enter only once, and each winner will get a Creative World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming Headset, with a retail value of $150. Click here to read our official contest rules.Good luck to everyone who enters! And if you don't win this week, stay tuned -- we'll be doing a contest to give away one of these awesome headsets every single week up until the retail release this November.
