Creative Announces Zii EGG and Plaszma Platform

Posted by thetonyweapon in Zii on Jul 28th, 2009 | Comments

After many years of anticipation, ZiiLABS and Creative have finally pulled out the true successor to its fabulous ZEN Vision:M. Quite stunning, given the entire scope of what is currently going on for Creative- sales and profit margin shrinking, debt mounting the bottom line inching towards red, and brand favoribility falling within the eyes of the technology world. As a Creative fan for quite a long time, it’s finally time to breathe a sigh of relief and get back onto our fanboy horses. (Clarified thanks to Sim… Creative is currently debt-free. There have been several unprofitable quarters of late that have stressed them financially, but after a few moves remain debt-free. Thanks, Sim.)

Plaszma Platform

At the forefront of this new player is the Plaszma Platform. This is a combination of the Zii EGG device, which will be discussed in-depth later, and the Plaszma software side. While ZiiLABS has written their own version of Linux for the device, it will offer Android. At launch, the Zii EGG developer’s edition will only include the Plaszma OS, but an installer for Android will be available shortly after launch, according to the press release. The Plaszma OS is written to harness the power of the powerful ZMS-05 chip, and opens up the ability to code full 3D applications and games. Also in the operating system is a desktop version of Opera 9.7. This means, unlike its primary competitor on the iPhone, which supports a specialized version of the Safari browser, the Plaszma OS supports full web browsing, including “Web 2.0 capabilities”, which includes Adobe Flash Lite 3.1. While Flash support will be available shortly after launch, this gives the EGG a big advantage because it means out of the box Hulu (in available regions) and YouTube support. The system looks drop dead gorgeous on the marketing photos, so if that is the actual interface, the beautiful ZEN user interface seems to live on with Plaszma.

The SDK for Plaszma also appears to be wooing the open source community with its extensive support. Most importantly, perhaps, is native C and C++ development. While the codec support hasn’t officially been unveiled, sources inside Creative have rumored that it surpasses the Vision:M and Vision:W in codec support. One of the reasons that the Vision:M and Vision:W were successful was the wide range of codec support, and it’s exciting to see that the engineers realized this and added on.

Plaszma SDK Features and Specifications

Native C/C++ Development
Wide range of supported video, image and audio formats
Cell Framework of industry standard API’s and Libraries
Advanced 2D and vector graphics, compositing and blending
OpenGL ES 3D graphics
HD media playback and record framework
State-of-the-art multi-touch, gesture-based user interface
Opera 9.7 Web Browser supporting CSS, XHTML, JavaScript and Ajax
Adobe® Flash Lite™ 3.1 (available later)
Internationalization and localization of applications
Integrated Database
Network Services and Event management
Sensor handling (accelerometer, GPS, ambient light)

Alternatively, and perhaps more exciting, is the ability to use the Android platform. This gives the EGG out of the box support for many applications already written for the Android OS, including Google Voice, Maps, and hundreds of other applications. Officially, there has been no announcement of a headset or Voice support, but it’s highly likely that there will be some sort of calling feature. There is an integrated microphone on the device, but it’s not centered on the bottom of the player.

Now, the Zii EGG.

Dual Camera

Marketed as the Zii EGG Stemcell Computer, this gorgeous looking device is packed up to the top with features. After the original specs were leaked by the FCC, we saw a high definition camera on the back side of the device. While the HD camera will remain on the back, a VGA camera is also on the front, making this dual camera device easy to use with face to face chat, calling, and video conferencing. Perhaps this means integration of the inPerson conferencing system will be forthcoming. If it does, it would boost sales of that system. Importantly, this is one hardware limitation that the iPhone can’t update with software.

High Definition Playback and Output

Truly versatile, the Zii EGG supports playback at full 1080p over HDMI out. There isn’t a HDMI output directly, however, so there will be a Zii Link to HDMI adapter likely available. The screen resolution is 320×480, pretty much industry standard for a 3.5” screen. For reference, the Vision: W was the same resolution, and Hulu videos can upscale to 480p. The PR pdf mentions the ability to stream video over wifi to HD enabled signboards, which assumedly means wifi enabled TVs. Industry standard H.264 is supported as well, so no conversion will be necessary for those dastardly HD video podcasts that assume everyone has an iPod.

High Capacity Storage

While 32GB is the upper limit for digital media players these days and the quoted maximum internal memory for the EGG, support for an additional 32GB is enabled via a SDHC slot. Creative has had trouble with this in the past, as no integration with the internal memory on the ZEN and ZEN X-Fi rendered most functions of the card useless. Nothing in the press packet noted complete integration, however, the availability of zero internal memory to OEMs suggest that it will be available. On the ZEN series players, it was the lack of SDHC integration in the operating system that prevented the merging of libraries. With a new OS and Android support, it’s highly likely there is built in support for integrated library.

Onboard GPS and Text to Speech

Although experts have said that GPS may need calibration in a few years, the Zii has an onboard GPS chip. This was demonstrated by 3DLABS, the precursor to ZiiLABS on a prototype PMP with pretty cool 3D navigation. Also the device has text to speech onboard. This could prove useful for translator applications and special needs applications.

Multi Touch and Accelerometer

Despite Android’s inability to handle multi touch properly, the EGG will support up to ten simultaneous inputs on its touchscreen. Which means that each of your fingers can tell the player what to do at the same time, despite your inability to control them individually. The accelerometer is a nifty feature for games and fun, and is widely used on iPhone apps.

Zii EGG Features and Specifications

Capacitive 10-point multi-gesture touch display
X-Fi audio processing
Up to 32GB Internal Flash Storage
32MB NOR Flash (Linux kernel Boot ROM)
256MB Mobile DDR RAM
Supports 720p and 1080p HDTVs via HD cable
Composite video-out
Dual cameras for High Definition photos and movie capture
Forward facing VGA camera
Rear facing HD camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Hardware GPS receiver
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Accelerometer
Ambient light sensor
SDHC slot (supports up to 32GB of external SDHC Card)
USB 2.0 Mini-B (MTP and Charging)
Universal Docking connector (USB, Audio)
Headphone socket, built-in speaker and microphone
Supports Plaszma OS and Zii Optimized Android

All in all, this looks like the device that Creative has needed for four years- stylish, innovative, and loaded to the teeth with hardware. The gorgeous looking interface is encouraging as well, and one can only hope that the final product is as shiny on the inside as it appears on the outside. Stay tuned later in the week for an exclusive interview with the head of ZiiLABS Public Relations, Andrew Audsley.