looks very nice!

When the product is finally released as a consumer product I shall have it!!!! Me likey, and the sdHC full library integration is finally in place.

How much will this player cost? I know on the site it says it's $399 but that's with the development kit too. Does anyone know how much it will cost without the kit? I heard that it will be $199 with no flash capabilities? Is this true and if so can anyone confirm it? I've been waiting for something like this for a long long time! Lets hope it's cheap enough now...

I would say 299 probably for the 16gb by the time it is realeased, either that or 399 for 16gb.
with gps wifi multitouch and 180p output its gonna be reallly expensive

Ok thanks man! Do you (or anyone really) know when it will be released in the US for consumers and/or like what the capacities would be? Thanks again!

Ben is wrong. The Zii will cost $199 without the developer's SDK or any memory, according to the Zii official website. So $199 plus a $70 32gb sd card would be a pretty good deal for a very capable 32gb pmp

Frankly I don't get all this excitement.. i would prefere some classy audio amplifier built-in instead of an interface or an application or other bloatware. And all this bloatware will reduce the battery life... Do uou want all these applications and toys go get an Ipod Touch Now and save yourself time.

Oh my oh my, this is what dreams are made of. Welcome back Creative!

@Luca:

1) What are you doing on an anti-ipod site telling people to get an ipod?
2) Bloatware? What are you even talking about? Is every interface bloatware to you?
3) Save ourselves time? What does that mean, you idiot? How is anybody wasting time but NOT getting an ipod touch?

I have lost my desire to wait for creative to get a product to market. I have bought Creative devices excusively for years now, but i can only wait so long before Zune HD or Cowon makes me jump ship...please creative stop playing with my heart!!!

I have read up on this device as much as I can, and the integration of the SDHC card is still kind of a mystery. Is it in fact ONE library unlike Creative's other players I have?

Android is a great platform, but I can't help but think with the GSM hardware this would make a MUCH more capable phone than an audio player. I'm willing to give it a wait and see attitude, but Creative is on thin ice for me. I WANT it to be fantastic, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I think it's cool how alot of mp3 players are adding more and more features what were once only found on smartphones (and PDAs before that), but personally there seems to be far too much overlap now between mp3 players and....well, smartphones.

Sure, some people only have a basic cellphone, and some have no cellphone at all, but if you need both have the ability to choose I would just get a smartphone and call it a day. This Zii Egg does everything that many smart phones already do, but without the ability to make calls. So great, now I have to carry around my phone and an mp3 player that is bigger than my phone.

In my opinion, the big names in mp3 players need to either sign some deals with the makers of cell phones, or start offering phones themselves. Once they can start turning out cellphones with excellent sound quality, then we have a sure fire hit across the board.

I too, like many others, am awaiting the production of a touchscreen MP3 player containing many great capabilities such as those of an iPhone or iPod Touch yet created by a quality brand name company such as Zune, Sony, Samsung, Cowon, etc... I especially look forward to the upcoming ZuneHD, as it possesses Wifi features. As much as I admire the Samsung P3, especially for it's great quality at such an outstanding price, it contains no WiFi capabilities and therefore eliminates all activities linked to use of the internet such as YouTube or email. I'm currently awaiting the ZuneHD with higher hopes that it will fulfill my needs yet I wouldn't like to shell out $300 to $400 on a portable electronic device. For this reason, I didn't go out and get the Sony X. I await the day someone creates a touchscreen MP3 player with features vital to sustain the needs of average consumers such as internet and possibly phone service yet at a more affordable price.

@Gaius

1) I Know it sounds outrageuos but if you are so excited about applications and non audio features you must buy the complete apple package every other PMP can't compete with all that
2) i'm not staring at the screen while listening to music, so every fancy interface is bloatware (never mind applications). I now have a Sansa Fuze and before I had a Sansa C200 with a tiny monocromatic LCD screen. It did the job well and can build ONE SINGLE library from the aggregation of internal Memory and external SD card..
3) Maybe I don't understand the doctrine of this website... I was thinking that we avoid apple products because of the poor audio quality surrounded by a lot of frills, non essentials applications and fancy frills not because we are Anti-Apple fanboys.

Looks like an iPhone...

Just saying.

skimhitz,

what you have suggested is what apple has been doing all along.

I hope you guys realize that the next ipod touch will already have these features, (including GPS)

and also it would already have a large userbase and a loyal group of developers.

So what is Creative promising that isn't already there?

@ lawrence

android

and I'm assuming android is enough to make up for its shortcomings-

-small user base,
-probably not as many loyal developers,
-hasn't made anything GOOD since the ZVM and lost a lot of fans, me included

what I'm trying to get at is, if it's trying to be like something that's already there, why not just get what's already there?

Zii Egg Demonstration with Android Plazma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZvJtt25Lpk

Look at this, too:

http://www.epizenter.net/news.php?extend.482

THIS LOOKS AWESOME!

To bad once it comes out it will (probably) cost out-the-butt :(

$399 for the 32gb version and SDK at the moment, which puts it at the same price as the equivalent itouch, should be cheaper when ready for consumers.
For some reason in the UK the ipod touch 32gb costs £283 where as the zii egg is closer to £236 which is a massive saving, considering it has greater potential for compatability in movie and video formats, web browsing plugins ect.
I don't think the Itouch has similar features due to apple strangling anything that offers an alternative root for consumers. Finally the fact it has 1080p output is really quite impressive, if you go to their website and watch some of the videos you'll be able to see just how far they leave their competitors behind.

As powerfull as the zii is, I found it interesting that it could power 4 720p displays simoltaneously but only output 40M texels per second compared to tegra which outouts 600M texels a second. Is there a misundestanding as no one has yet attempted to compare the graphics power of tegra vs ZII???

If phone makers like Nokia, Sony Erisson, HTC, Samsung, LG and so on can combine force with Creative to add a 3G capability. And also if Creative can convince software developers to add applications on its own os platform or work fully with google community to integrate and exploit Android os. Creative would never be able to bring this device to a higher heights even with great processing power. It would become nothing but a piece of expensive hardware junk.

This thing looks *excellent*. I have to admit -- and it saddens me as a multi-Sansa owner and regular reader of this blog -- but I did get an iPod touch last winter and love having it with me all the time. This will well and truly replace it.

@ lawrence
The reason this is noteworthy, despite a small fanbase, is, as sz said, Android. And what's already out there (i.e. iPod Touch) is linked into Apple where developers are charged more for making applications and must go through the Apple approval process.

Adding Android as an OS option has the potential for huge capability increases because app developers now have significantly fewer hoops to jump through, and while the fanbase may be small ultimately the fanbase that will matter for apps on this is the Android fanbase, not the Zii fanbase, and that has the potential to explode in the next year or two, which means loyal developers will not be in short supply for long.

Add that to the dual opposing cameras on this and the new hardware (which Android is making a special version to take advantage of) and the only regret possible is the lack of a digital compass.

@ Luca
You don't have to be and Anti-Apple fanboy to not want to chain yourself to the Apple approval process, which just turned down Google Voice as an app. Having that to face vs. the Android app development process which has no restrictions, well that's a no-brainer to me. And I have to agree that suggesting people buy an iPod Touch on an anythingbutipod forum is just kind of...pointless.