While the lowly mp3 player doesn’t have quite the same fascinating glimmer of our eye that it once did thanks in no small part to smartphones, there are still some people out there who want their tunes and nothing more. Thankfully the folks at Creative haven’t given up on the MP3/PMP crowd with the announcement their new M100 and M300 PMPs today.
The M300 is the “grand daddy” of these tiny players and comes in capacities of 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB with expandable storage compliments of microSD. An FM Tuner, Bluetooth, 1.45-inch display w/ touch sensitive buttons, and a 20 hour battery life round out these pocketable devices. The lesser M100 is nearly identical — the only lacking feature is bluetooth.
Both the M100 and M300 will ship in June in 4 colors: black, red, white, and yellow. Prices start at $40 and top out at $99.
To say the tablet market is exploding right would be an understatement. Currently, there are no less than half a dozen manufacturers including but not limited to Toshiba, LG, RIM, and Apple. Each company and device has their own spin on how a tablet should look and function. Who makes the best tablet is more or less subjective. But there’s another new kid on the block — Creative.
But where other tablets have more or less focused on screen size, apps, or appearance, Creative is taking a different approach and focusing on sound quality.
Take the world’s most expensive super car — the Bugatti Veyron valued at $1million+ — and then toss in a genuinely good attempt at a LEGO re-creation. Now, take that LEGO-fied Bugatti Veyron and slap an RC motor into and a 7-speed sequential gearbox. That my friends is the recipe for the most badass geek toy eva! The only thing that’s left to “want” in such a unicorn of a creation is one that is actually big enough to drive around. Just think — a $1million+ car costing fractions of the norm thanks to the in-house construction brought to the masses by LEGO’s.
Anyone feeling like their ultimate LEGO creation from years past somehow now sucks in comparison…?
We’ve seen the “Ramblers” (tweeting shoes), a Christmas Tree controlled via tweets, and even a kegerator that tweets out internal specs. All of those are unique and cool in their own way. But none of them satiate you both mentally and physically. The Twitter powered popcorn maker picks up on that slack.
Using some ingenious engineering and a slew of hours that I simply don’t have, a creative YouTube user went ahead and set up a popcorn machine using Labview software that pops a kernel of popcorn each and every time someone tweets “#popcorn”. Pretty nifty huh? I would much prefer an entire bag of popcorn or maybe even at least a bowl. Though I can easily see how things could get out of hand with the entire world now knowing the secret code. Oh well, still a nifty idea none the less.
Excited I am. The creative line of players while robust and featuring top notch audio quality have often fallen short in terms of usability and UI interaction. Several months ago Creative announced that their “Zii” line of players would have both an in-house OS model as well as an Android model. But these were just MID/audio players to take on the iPod Touch market. The Android model had some pretty awesome specs, though sadly wasn’t a phone nor was it even hinted at being one. I’m not discounting the MID scene. It’s just that I love a good MID/audio player like any other geek, but what I would really love to see is a true uber phone. You know. a be all end all type of gadget. It looks as if my wishes will soon be coming true.
The banner pictured above shows the headline for the Zii Summit 2009 in China. The big surprise is that the Zii line of Android players looks to be transgressing into the phone arena. According to the banner, the specs are fairly mouth watering…
A range of OEM-ready Zii Powered devices will be showcased – powered by ZiiLABS ZMS-05 and ZMS-08 media-rich application processors. The line-up of devices on display include: a Touch Tablet PC, a Netbook, a Web-Box, a 360o Multi-View Camera System, ultra high-performance Speakers, a Piano Keyboard for the PC, and a Portable e-Book Reader. But the highlight of our devices line-up is our Mobile Phone platform. ZiiLABS ushers in a new era of explosive high definition 3D with the Zii Optimized Android Phone platform. The Zii Optimized Android Phone platform gives developers the chance to use the familiar Android OS, but with a difference. Harnessing StemCell Computing Technology found on the ZMS-05 Media Rich Processor, Android is now super-charged with seamless 3D graphics and High Definition video playback performance.
Phone with Fully featured Android Platform
OpenGL ES 3D graphics
1080p HD video output
Accelerated video, graphic and imaging
Full integration with SurfaceFlinger
High Quality Audio
Enhanced User Interfaces
Image Processing
Accelerated Web Browsing
The biggest draw for me would be a physically appealing device with the awesome abilities of Android all wrapped around true high-quality audio. Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone has a aesthetically pleasing music player skin and overall UI in general, but it’s only so-so in terms of audio quality. Could this Android powered Zii-phone be the music phone I’ve been waiting for? That’s assuming the fact it ever leaves the Chinese mainland. Still, I reaming ever hopeful.
Ya, I built some pretty cool stuff in my younger years (and even now *shifts eyes) with LEGO’s. Not nearly as cool as the foosball table you see above however.
My son is really attracted to foosball tables, and, if I’m honest, I’d have to say I am too. I considered the idea of buying a small, tabletop unit, but I was unsure how much use it’d see. I was afraid it might become one of those things you play with for a bit, then collect dust. Once again, I see a solution in the form of Lego.
[…]
I personally prefer the design and building stage, and my son enjoyed that too, but he REALLY enjoys playing with it and now insists we play a couple matches every night.
Props to the mother above for making a solution to her problem. While I wouldn’t consider it a legitimate replacement for a full size foosball table (unless someone makes a full sized LEGO version), I would definitely give it a few rounds at least. Wouldn’t you. Though I’d be worried of breaking it when I’m zoned in and stuck in “competition mode”.
Only problem? So far, the only people who will actually be able to enjoy this new found egg/Android bonding are developers. If they’re to create amazing apps then they certainly need some hands on time. But how much longer is it going to take until I can wrap my hands around the slick plastic casing of a Zii Egg humming along with Android? I’m eager to see what these Android powered units bring to the table and how they’re going to compete with the top contenders from Apple and Microsoft. Looking forward to that grand day or has this already done past your geek-radar?
The Creative Zii EGG is the companies latest attempt to steal some of the iPod’s crowd. With iPod sales are starting to decline, one has to wonder just how much Creative can capture. Moving forward, the unique dual OS nature of this new beast will allow developers and end users alike to truly benefit. While we all know what and how the Android browser works, it is the new found friendship on the in-house Plaszma OS side that is getting the attention. Creative has teamed up with Opera to bring users who don’t quite get the whole Android buzz another option on their PMP/mobile web browsing device of choice. While one could go on and say we all already know how Opera operates too, and which is of course a valid statement, they are kind of missing the point. I guess the real story isn’t so much the “new browser”, but instead the partnership. Does the Zii have your interest piqued?
For those of you who have a thing for Creative born players, today is your day to relish the limelight and all its glory. The Creative Zii EGG that strolled on through the FCC a few months prior has finally broken cover and revealed its face to the world. As far as the innards go, with more extraordinary specs such as front and back facing cameras, 1080p video output support, X-Fi audio, OpenGL ES, 32GB built in (expandable with full SD card slot) and more run ‘o the mill features such as your now common Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, WiFi, GPS, and 3-axis accelerometer, this little Creative gem is shaping up to be quite the iPod Touch fighter. A few other big points of interest include 10-point multi-touch support as well as featuring Android straight from the factory. What’s even more interesting is that the Zii EGG uses Creative’s “Plaszma” platform which makes use of “stem cell computing” which in basic terms devoid of marketing jargon and fluff translates to developers being able to simultaneously develop for both Plaszma and Android. Yup, my stocking stuffer has just been claimed.
How will Apple respond and what are they cooking? I mean, with all of the leaked cases that show what appear to be camera holes, do you think the new iPod’s will be as cool as the Zii EGG? The Zii EGG definitely has a lot going for it in the sense that it has a great mobile operating system from the factory (usually the downfall of an amazing gadget hardware wise) and an impressive feature set to boot. Who’s excited?
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While the lowly mp3 player doesn’t have quite the same fascinating glimmer of our eye that it once did thanks in no small part to smartphones, there are still some people out there who want their tunes and nothing more. Thankfully the folks at Creative haven’t given up on the MP3/PMP crowd with the announcement their new M100 and M300 PMPs today. 
