Creative Zii Egg

[Tommifier]

The lack of playback controls is very disappointing, but I do applaud them for the included standard AND proprietary connectors.

[CrowdAds]

[Ricardo Dawkins]

just like the rest of the touch screen players nowadays (except the S9).

Sony Walkman X series

[Angelix]

Originally Posted by dfkt

The drawing means it has no useful tactile buttons, just like the rest of the touch screen players nowadays (except the S9).

Who the hell wants a camera button when it has no play/pause, or even volume, or ffwd/rew? This is ultimate fail... in iPhone form factor.

Tactile buttons are overrated. This is obviously a different sort of player; I can see it's not aimed at audiophiles (who seem to be the ones who most desire tactile) and more aimed at the smartphone/video watching audience.

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Angelix

Tactile buttons are overrated. This is obviously a different sort of player; I can see it's not aimed at audiophiles (who seem to be the ones who most desire tactile) and more aimed at the smartphone/video watching audience.

If tactile is only an "audiophile" necessity, why do quite a few non-audiophile players, including the Touch, have volume rockers? Even the new Zune HD will have a dedicated volume control, and that's being marketed as a player for the "common" folk. And Sony players, those aren't made for everyday people? They have dedicated volume controls as well.

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by Ricardo Dawkins

Sony Walkman X series

True, the X got 'em all as well.

[Angelix]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

If tactile is only an "audiophile" necessity, why do quite a few non-audiophile players, including the Touch, have volume rockers? Even the new Zune HD will have a dedicated volume control, and that's being marketed as a player for the "common" folk. And Sony players, those aren't made for everyday people? They have dedicated volume controls as well.

Ha ha ha, so typical of an abi user to jump on something like that right away. I never said it was only an audiophile necessity, I said it seemed that audiophiles were the ones who desired it most. Don't put words in my mouth.

In addition, I only wanted dkft to reconsider what he had just said; is a player really decided on whether it has tactile buttons or not? Perhaps it may sway one's opinion but it certainly does not make or break a DAP.

[Jessipoo]

non audiophiles just aren't as picky.. my friends don't understand my love affair with my precious electronics and gadgets

[copeys]

Originally Posted by Angelix

In addition, I only wanted dkft to reconsider what he had just said; is a player really decided on whether it has tactile buttons or not? Perhaps it may sway one's opinion but it certainly does not make or break a DAP.

I think it can. It may not make or break your purchase of a DAP, but it might for some other people.

I can assure you that if there are no dedicated volume controls I would not like one. It is quite annoying, especially when you are in a different menu of the device and may not be able to call up the "now playing" screen or the likes to change the volume. But that is just my opinion.

[Jessipoo]

ya that sucks that's the only huge downer... if not looks great! other than the 10 mulitouch, not super innovative but has everything an itouch has.. plus excellent sound quality and tv out and stuff.

hmmm either they didn't have enough room for a volume rocker or they are waiting for v2.0 to release it with a volume rocker.. so they can sell this first and then make more money by adding some tweaks in v2.0

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by Angelix

Ha ha ha, so typical of an abi user to jump on something like that right away. I never said it was only an audiophile necessity, I said it seemed that audiophiles were the ones who desired it most. Don't put words in my mouth.

In addition, I only wanted dkft to reconsider what he had just said; is a player really decided on whether it has tactile buttons or not? Perhaps it may sway one's opinion but it certainly does not make or break a DAP.

I did no such thing my friend!!!

Besides, a point of contradiction WOULD be the Touch 1st gen, as it didn't have a volume control - but was a MASSIVE success. The difference now is that there IS a choice.

So by not having a volume rocker, or any real tactile controls, a player from a company that knows better has the possibility of bombing due to hardware limitations alone (at this stage of the dap game). That's the point that some are trying to make.

Me, I'm mixed on my real opinion of this. I love it, but I'd love actual buttons and such myself. But, I'm still gonna' keep my S9, nothing out sounds as good to me!!!

[Andyt95]

I'm sorry. You all must hate me, but I don't see what plaszma allows you to do on the Zii Egg. All these anagrams and technical jargon just confuse me even more.

[Olley]

We don't hate you, Andy. Creative just got a little carried away (or too creative) with this Zii concept. Egg is not yet fully developed. Plaszma is the SDK, or "juice" to fuel that development.

[kiyu727]

In this thread Ive read something about Flash light ...
you guys believe we can stream vids from youtube, megavideo or veoh.com with the zii ?
(I wanna stream anime so badly >> cant stand downloading them first )
IF it can I'll consider a buy, otherwise I'll go for the Pandora since the Pandora will have flash 10 and firefox 3.0... Go Go Go! @ creative ... this player at least seems somehow usefull to me .., especially the small cam for skyping .. I hope can use it with msn too ...

[Assassassin]

Alright so I was kinda wondering what on god's green earth creative was doing when they came out with the zii chip. However all of it finally made sense when I watched this vid. It breaks down what exactly the chip is supposed to do in the device. And I have to say after watching this vid and seeing what the zii is capable of I skeeted in my pants a little. Oh and the beginning is a bit weird but just stick with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW9rUfejLss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW9rUfejLss

[Olley]

It's undoubtably a great processer. The Plazsma and Android SDKs hopefully will give developers enough access to it to do some amazing things. The Zii Egg brings a slew of hardware to the table but it's yet to be proven how clever one can get with it all. They mentioned 10-finger multitouch, but in all the demo videos there is no software on board to even demo a good use for it.

[Hirudin]

Yeah, all the demonstration videos show Android apps being used. Since Android doesn't have official multitouch support it's no surprise they aren't laying more than one finger on the device at a time.

I'm a little confused about Plaszma. Is it an operating system of its own or something else? If it's an operating system, why don't we getta see it in the vids? It's almost like Creative has already (smartly*) given up on trying to create their own OS.

*I can see them now: "Gee, since we're a relatively small player in the market maybe we shouldn't try to introduce the 7th frigging mobile operating system which would almost guarantee very limited 3rd party support."

[Hirudin]

Originally Posted by Jessipoo

I may sound like a noob here but it seems open for developpers to make apps and all but.. can it come preloaded with a working OS and the basic things like audio, video, games (basic ish...) so that I can just buy one and use it without sifting and paying for apps?

I was wondering about this too. Here's a pic from this site: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...cid=11&id=2971

That has this caption...

Developers can decide on their plan of action, be it under the Plaszma platform or the one year strong Google Android OS.

The, uh, Egg on the left is apparently running Plazma (so I guess it is its own OS). Looks like it's got a music player, video player, browser, and a picture viewer.

[Assassassin]

Originally Posted by Hirudin

Yeah, all the demonstration videos show Android apps being used. Since Android doesn't have official multitouch support it's no surprise they aren't laying more than one finger on the device at a time.

I'm a little confused about Plaszma. Is it an operating system of its own or something else? If it's an operating system, why don't we getta see it in the vids? It's almost like Creative has already (smartly*) given up on trying to create their own OS.

*I can see them now: "Gee, since we're a relatively small player in the market maybe we shouldn't try to introduce the 7th frigging mobile operating system which would almost guarantee very limited 3rd party support."

Plaszma is an operating system. But the Zii duel boots both Android and Plaszma. This is another advantage it has under its belt in that both systems have unique things about them that the other probably cant do.

[OriginalGusBus]

I'm sure this Thread is dead, but I can't help but to wonder why Creative didn't go to town with the Zii Egg. It has so much going for it. I really think that they shot themselves in the foot with this player(Or whatever you wanna call it).

Gear, iriver spinn, Sansa c250, MobiBLU DAH-220

[Darkhyperchaos]

Originally Posted by OriginalGusBus

I'm sure this Thread is dead, but I can't help but to wonder why Creative didn't go to town with the Zii Egg. It has so much going for it. I really think that they shot themselves in the foot with this player(Or whatever you wanna call it).

Gear, iriver spinn, Sansa c250, MobiBLU DAH-220

I'm still clueless as to why Creative never released it. It has a great look, and great specs. If it had a competitive price point, I could see it doing well against the iPod Touch. But at this point, it looks like it's dead...

If the Creative Zii Egg does ever turn into something, so long as the price is reasonable, I'll buy it. I don't know what about it caused it to never surface, but Creative made the wrong choice in not releasing it.