Creative Zii EGG Hands On

[EnzoTen]

Originally Posted by Olley

Enzo... Does yours have a camera or email app? I noticed them on the Zii developer's page, but not on several developer's blog photos.

These apps were not on the device when i got it but i assume i can add them.

[CrowdAds]

[Nephersir7]

Originally Posted by Olley

Thanks for pointing me to the roadmap, Nephersir7. It doesn't look like they are on schedule though. Several items listed for August aren't yet functional.

Any example? IMHO, things listed for August all seem functionnal. Keep in mind that this is a list for implementation in the SDK, not only the firmware.

[EricF]

sorry this is kind of off topic, but I got my Zii yesterday and removed the screen protector, it looks much better and feels more like glass than plastic

here is a pic

[Nephersir7]

Originally Posted by EricF

sorry this is kind of off topic, but I got my Zii yesterday and removed the screen protector, it looks much better and feels more like glass than plastic

is there any glue residue after the removal of the screen protector?

[EricF]

no glue residue at all, it actually came off really easily... I can take more pictures later today if you'd like.

edit: as you can see in this picture

There is a small mic hole in the bottom right corner, if you didn't remove the screen protector the mic would not work

[EnzoTen]

@EricF thanks for that, i just took mine off now too. Im a bit embarrassed but im glad i was wrong- it makes a huge difference.

[Slaghead]

I just figured out how to use tabs on the browser. I am posting from my Zii even. I haven't taken the screen protector off yet though.

[RedemptionDenied]

So if one purchased a Zii right now, couldnt they just download the software/firmware updates as they are released and eventually they would become the future consumer product?

[EnzoTen]

Originally Posted by RedemptionDenied

So if one purchased a Zii right now, couldnt they just download the software/firmware updates as they are released and eventually they would become the future consumer product?

most likely, yes. I say most likely because the hardware could go though slight changes- but my best guess is that it wont change.

[RioT]

Hey Enzo, Thanks for all your info. I really appreciate all the time and money you spent on informing us. I about fell out of my seat when i found these forums and saw that you had gotten your hands on one. I waited for your review as I'm sure alot of people did. I am really really tempted to get one now.

What can you tell us about the battery life? what kind of usage have you gotten out of your unit? Have you run the battery down with just audio or video?

[Nephersir7]

Originally Posted by EnzoTen

most likely, yes. I say most likely because the hardware could go though slight changes- but my best guess is that it wont change.

I think that a consumer Creative-branded Zii PMP would definitely have more hardware buttons (volume, hold), no GPS (only in the Egg for development of Zii-based phones) and no Android (ZiiLabs hasnt invested in Plaszma OS for including Android in their consumer version)

[EnzoTen]

Originally Posted by RioT

What can you tell us about the battery life? what kind of usage have you gotten out of your unit? Have you run the battery down with just audio or video?

Its really hard to say right now, i haven't used it enough to drain it yet. Plus i think it will be hard to judge since it still is very rough and many features are still missing... see the SDK road map thread.

[RioT]

I imagine once those features come into play it will be easier to tell. I just don't want to buy something with an hour or 2 of actual use.

[EricF]

Give it a few months at least before getting one I'd say, I loaded about 10gb of mp3's on mine and it crashed a few times while loading on to it. also it takes several minutes to reboot now. I'll try to set the music on random and see how much battery life I get today and post an update.

edit: firmware 0.90.07 was released yesterday so that may make a difference

[Slaghead]

Yeah, I added a couple of gigabytes of mp3's and jpg's to mine and it became really slow and unresponsive for awhile. Then it seemed to correct itself and is working fine again now.

I can't figure out how to get the Zii Explorer app to install in my x86 directory so I haven't been able to apply the new firmware yet. I don't know if it affects battery life but it looks like it improves some of the responsiveness of the UI.

My battery only lasted for a couple of hours running the browser last night after charging it all day yesterday. I wish the battery life was longer, especially since it isn't even able to multitask apps yet and a lot of components aren't even being activated (gps, bluetooth, etc.)

[Nephersir7]

posting this from my zii egg

edit:

Unboxing photos

Unboxing photos

[RioT]

Any of you have a nokia n800? I wonder how it compares

[DaHarder]

As I posted in the Zii Developer Forums:

Having performed a series of 3 each complete battery run-down test using 160kbs AAC files played at half-volume, the Zii EGG averaged just under 10 hours of battery autonomy before shutting down with the most current firmware.

Note: A number that will certainly improve with better optimized firmware.

[Olley]

Yea, until there are options to turn off GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and time-out the big LCD/backlit screen quickly the Zii isn't going to last very long on a charge. I'm content to wait for all those issues to be worked out before investing in one.

[RioT]

Originally Posted by Olley

Yea, until there are options to turn off GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and time-out the big LCD/backlit screen quickly the Zii isn't going to last very long on a charge. I'm content to wait for all those issues to be worked out before investing in one.

so 10 hours doesn't seem so bad. I bet this will improve a lot.