Creative “Zii” Moniker Resurfaces On Touchscreen Media Player
Creative hasn’t really been doing much at all for the last year. Except this, apparently: here’s an FCC filing for a Zii touchscreen PMP, which shares a name their mysterious system on a chip from January.
From the patent, we can see that the Zii is a wi-fi-equipped touchscreen media player, fitted with an “HD” camera, Bluetooth, and, well, that’s about all we know. The presence of a developer version, called the Zii Egg, seems to promise some kind of app support, though it’d be a mistake to immediately jump to the conclusion that the Zii will therefore have an app store; it could just be a dev platform for third parties who could be developing stock apps for the device.
Oooooooor, as Engadget plausibly suggests, this could be a part of the first wave of Android PMPs, which would, like any Android phone, have root-access developer units. In that case, Creative has what could be an interesting product: a touchscreen, connected PMP with a decent camera and a worthwhile app store, making it a more direct competitor to the iPod Touch than we’ve ever seen before. For now, though, questions! Like what was up with the strange language in your “Zii Stemcell” announcement, and how closely are these two things connected? In due time, I guess. In due time. [FCC via Engadget]
- Next Post: Pegasus Open 50 Raceboat Tour: Barometer, Autopilot, Wind Meter »
- « Previous Post: Amazon Patent Details Ad-Supported Kindle Books
Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@Francisco Velez: +1
iDesire
mmm this looks nice, i have been thinking about an iphone or a walkman X but both have somewhat "closed" platforms... now.. an android PMP, if it has wifi, bluetooth, and maybe a card slot i'm getting it
fortelv999
@Lightsout565: Well, they must, if they want to stay in the kitchen.
Hopefully Apple will add a camera to the new 3G iPod Touch.
@psychiccheese: It's not just that it is rectangular, it that the corner's are rounded to such a similar degree, the camera is in the corner, etc. Wheras the Zune HD was clearly its own design, this device's design (from the few drawings we actually have of it) looks suspiciously lazy.
Creative, at one point, made quality products, but it seemed as if they fell off the market- this looks promising, but we'll see how it compares to the iPod Touch.
Yeah the price to pay for exclusivity.. buying a crappier device.. I had a creative mp3 player.. its died in less than a month.. Bought and ipod and its been smooth sailing..
Kayno
I agree there are but only so many ways to make a touchscreen form factor, but c'mon. Look where the camera is! And the bottom half, if that dash is a real line, is like the cut of the 1st Gen iPhone's back. By the way, your camera doesn't need to have HD labeled on it. Why do company's overlabel crap? Haven't they learned yet?
GageAlcidice
Creative Products are awesome and not so overpriced like crappy Ipods Yeah there will never be a "Ipod Killer" but thats ok I rather not have something that every 14 year old girl has
Francisco Velez
@Dayv: i agree on the wii/zii, but ripping of the form factor? so no one should build small rectangular pmp with a touchscreen? perhaps creative should build a round, um, lickable screen.
Grahmo
@psychiccheese: I'm probably just looking for more things to nag them about after the fact that they picked a name that will be virtually impossible to remove from Wii-associations.
Dayv
I love my Zen XFI, this sounds like it could be a pretty cool successor. I've needed an excuse to get a gadget with android on it and this could very well be it.
I honestly don't care if they are ripping anyone off: Name, design, or otherwise. The creative products I've owned have been solid, and if this means I get a little bit of a price drop then it is ok by me.
As a caveat: I just stopped buying iPods because all mine have died for various reasons that I could not control. All my other gadgets seem to survive just fine. I like Apple products just fine, and they work great for lots of people, I just have bad juju.
okidokedork
@Dayv: While the Wii/Zii names sound remarkably similar, there's nothing unique about having a rectangular PMP. It's length and width are determined by the size of the screen, and the thickness by the materials.
Or did you want them to be unique and release a circular touch screen?
psychiccheese
Looks to me like they're ripping off the iPod Touch form factor and the Wii name. I guess it's cheaper than developing your own brand identity...
Dayv