CREATIVE ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH ACER TO OFFER THX TRUSTUDIO PC™ AND CREATIVE EAX^® ADVANCED HD™ 5.0 AUDIO TECHNOLOGY

SINGAPORE - 18 November 2009 - Creative Technology Ltd. today announced its agreement with Acer to offer THX TruStudio PC™ with Creative EAX^® Advanced HD™ 5.0 audio technology in Acer gaming desktops.

THX TruStudio PC provides groundbreaking PC audio technologies, the result of collaborative research and development from Creative and THX. Together, these technologies deliver the fullest audio experience for games, music and movies, while remaining true to the source and intention of the artists who created it.

Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 is a collection of powerful, innovative audio technologies designed by Creative’s world-class audio scientists to bring true interactive 3D audio to PC gaming. The sophisticated environment effects of Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 provide a greater sense of realism to the gaming experience, providing a genuine competitive edge in multiplayer games.

“Acer is intent on bringing fresh technologies to people that empower their life at work and at play,” said David Liu, Assistant Vice President of Stationary Business Unit, Acer Inc. “By introducing THX TruStudio and Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 in the new Acer gaming desktop, Acer is bringing together the leaders of audio technology for consumer electronics and PC products to deliver the best audio experience on the PC.”

“We’re excited to work with Acer to introduce THX TruStudio PC and Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 in Acer gaming desktops, providing a new level of audio performance in gaming and digital entertainment,” said Steve Erickson, Vice President and General Manager of Audio and Video, Creative. “This gives gamers the competitive advantage of a powerful audio arsenal, while providing an unparalleled experience for music and movies on the PC.”

“Today’s gamers expect their sound experience to be on an even playing field with the graphics performance,” said Matt Chrispen of the THX audio team. “Whether playing the latest first person shooter or a massively multiplayer role playing game, THX TruStudio PC with Creative’s EAX Advanced HD 5.0 technology provides Acer gaming desktops the tools to accurately process and reproduce the game environment, soundtracks and effects. The result is an immersive sound field that puts players in the middle of the game.”

THX TruStudio PC
The THX TruStudio PC suite of technologies features THX TruStudio PC Surround™, THX TruStudio PC Crystalizer™, THX TruStudio PC Speaker™, THX TruStudio PC Dialog Plus™ and THX TruStudio PC Smart Volume™.

THX TruStudio PC Surround
Ideal for gaming, THX TruStudio PC Surround provides immersion control to enhance the natural sense of audio depth and spaciousness by creating virtual surround sound channels. Stereo content or multi-channel content played over stereo speakers and headphones will sound as if it is coming from all sides while voices remain centred in front and original balance and timbre is preserved.

THX TruStudio PC Crystalizer
THX TruStudio PC Crystalizer restores the natural dynamic range that is lost when game audio, iTunes and MP3 music get compressed. This adds an enhanced level of realism for movies and games and makes music sound as good as the artist originally intended.

THX TruStudio PC Speaker
THX TruStudio PC Speaker fills in the missing low frequency tones and gives the extra impact for a better entertainment experience. Consumers no longer have to tolerate lack of bass in speakers built into notebook PCs, 2.0 speakers or headphones, as THX TruStudio PC Speaker technology dramatically improves the sound experience without a subwoofer.

THX TruStudio PC Dialog Plus
THX TruStudio PC Dialog Plus enhances the voices in movies for clearer dialogue, allowing the listener to hear the dialogue over the rest of the soundtrack and over ambient noise in the listening environment.

THX TruStudio PC Smart Volume
THX TruStudio PC Smart Volume addresses the problem of abrupt volume level changes during playback and between songs by automatically and continuously measuring volume, and intelligently applying gain and attenuation to compensate for those changes.

For more information, please visit www.acer.com or www.thx.com or www.creative.com/oem.

About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster^® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed ZEN MP3 and portable media players. Creative’s innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment—anytime, anywhere.

About Acer
Since its founding in 1976, Acer has constantly pursued the goal of breaking the barriers between people and technology. Focused on marketing its brand-name IT products around the globe, Acer ranks as the world’s No. 3 vendor for total PCs and No. 2 for notebooks, with the fastest growth among the top-five players. A profitable and sustainable Channel Business Model is instrumental to Acer’s continued growth, while the successful mergers of Gateway and Packard Bell complete the company’s global footprint by strengthening its presence in the U.S. and enhancing its strong position in Europe. The Acer Group employs more than 6,000 people worldwide. 2008 revenues reached US$16.65 billion. See www.acer.com for more information.

About THX Ltd.
From the big screen to your screen, THX ignites your passion for exciting entertainment experiences. Founded by George Lucas and recognized by audiences around the globe, THX is synonymous with the design and certification of world-class cinemas, premium audio systems, HDTVs, and blockbuster movies and games. Products featuring THX defy convention and define quality in their class, whether in the cinema, home or on the road. For more information, visit www.thx.com.

Creative SG Press Release

Additionally, there will be a demonstration of the new ZiiMeet software which appears to be HD-optimized software for meetings. We’ll see all these and more on December 1st. For both Creative fans and stockholders alike, it can’t come soon enough.

Zii Summit Page at Zii.com

Creative and ZiiLABS Showcase the Perfect
Developer’s Solution at China Event

The Complete Suite of Zii StemCell Computing Powered
Developer’s Solutions and Services Will Give Partners Tools
to Turn Ideas Quickly into World Class Products
for a Sustainable Planet

þ Our Value: A Ready Solution

Beginning with chip, board and platforms (both Zii Plaszma and Android Operating Systems are supported), to products and services, the Zii Plaszma Platform frees innovators from the tedious, costly complexity of hardware and software development to create energy efficient, high performance 3D and HD products quickly and cost effectively.

þ Our Hardware Ecosystem: OEM & ODM Ready

A range of OEM-ready Zii Powered devices will be showcased – powered by ZiiLABS ZMS-05 and ZMS-08 media-rich application processors. Each chip meets a unique market need. The ZMS-05 is an energy efficient chip for the mass market, while the ZMS-08 is designed for media-rich power hungry handheld devices. The line-up of devices on display includes a Mobile Phone platform, a Touch Tablet PC, a Netbook, a Web-Box, a 360^o Multi-View Camera System, ultra high-performance Speakers, a Piano Keyboard for the PC, and a Portable e-Book Reader.

þ Our Service Ecosystem: Entertainment, Education, Communication Enabled

A sneak preview of the full suite of Zii Services will be unveiled – showcasing advanced content capabilities. Zii Services is the ideal solution for content and OEM partners, giving them the potential to create future entertainment and education solutions. The highlight of the Zii Services suite is ZiiMeet, the Next Generation Video Conferencing System. ZiiMeet is a scalable Multi-Purpose, Multi-View, Multi-User, Multi-Platform, Multi-Medium, Multi-Party collaborative system. This flexible system gives partners a huge potential for business opportunities!

þ Our Partnership Strategy: A Win-Win Synergy

We are committed to the success of our partners and have invested over US$1 billion to build the most flexible, scalable and power efficient range of developer’s building blocks to enable them to create world class products. Partners can take advantage of the Zii Plaszma Platform and its various modules backed by state-of-the-art technologies, brand equities and award-winning product industrial designs to bring a range of high quality and low cost products rapidly to market.

þ Our Vision: A Global Community. A Sustainable Planet.

We believe that through the StemCell Computing Revolution, there is a great potential to create an extravagant networked world that will transform the way we live – a world where High Definition Video Conferencing on demand, and computers that run on a single watt, will be the norm. It will lead to future generations becoming a truly global community, truly living on a sustainable planet.

Event Highlights

Main Event

You will learn how to:

• OUTSMART and beat the system. The Product Development cycle – or the ’system’ – is a costly, lengthy and tedious process, but with the Zii Plaszma Platform, you can skip past all that!
• LEVERAGE on the Zii Plaszma Platform and its various modules backed by state-of-the-art technologies, brand equities and award-winning product industrial designs to bring a range of high quality and low cost products rapidly to market.
• MARKET your products effectively. Partners will be introduced to Zii technology, platforms, products, services, content, and the entire Zii ecosystem, as well as a comprehensive e-commerce, branding and marketing system – a system designed to give innovators the means to radically increase the effectiveness of their market reach to their customers.

You will get a chance to:

SYNERGIZE with business and content partners who have similar goals and interests as you and discover how you can complement each other’s strengths by forging strategic alliances.

Products & Services Showcase

Zii Services

Zii Services is the ideal solution for content and OEM partners, giving them the potential to create future entertainment and education solutions. For content partners, Zii Services gives you the platform on which to place your content. For OEM partners, Zii Services offer you content that transforms your product into a compelling value proposition. The highlight of the Zii Services suite is ZiiMeet, the Next Generation Video Conferencing System. ZiiMeet is a scalable Multi-Purpose, Multi-View, Multi-User, Multi-Platform, Multi-Medium, Multi-Party collaborative system. This flexible system gives partners a huge potential for business opportunities!

Zii Powered Devices

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 360^o 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

ZMS-08 Media Rich Applications Processor Chip

ZiiLABS Introduces ZMS-08 – the World’s First 1080p Blu-ray Quality Handheld Media Processor.

• New ZMS-08 StemCell Processor Offers Faster, Lower Power Single Chip Solution
• Full H.264 HD 1080p Video Playback
• 720p Video Conferencing
• OpenGL ES 2.0 for X-Fi Audio and 1GHz ARM Cortex Application Acceleration

Creative Press Release

CREATIVE AND ZIILABS TO HOST ZII SUMMIT 2009 IN SHENZHEN, CHINA ON 1 AND 2 DECEMBER

Showcasing Zii StemCell Computing Technology, Platforms, Products, Services, Content and the Entire Zii Ecosystem that Empowers Partners to Rapidly Transform Ideas into World-Class Products

Singapore – 12 November 2009 – Creative Technology Ltd. and ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd. today announced the joint hosting of the Zii Summit 2009 to be held on 1 and 2 December 2009 at the Fu-Tian Shangri-La Hotel in Shenzhen, China.

With keynote addresses by Sim Wong Hoo, Founder and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd., and Hock Leow, President of ZiiLABS and 3DLABS, the event promises to share with partners how StemCell Computing Technology and the Zii Plaszma Platform, with its complete suite of ready-to-market solutions, can springboard OEMs and developers rapidly into world markets.

A press conference and seminar will be held on the first day to showcase Zii technology, platforms, products, services, content and the entire Zii Ecosystem.

Technical sessions will also be held to share with partners on how they can leverage on the Zii Plaszma Platform and its various modules, backed by state-of-the-art technologies, brand equities and award-winning product industrial designs. Partners would be empowered to create energy-efficient and high performance 3D, HD products at a low cost and and bring them to market quickly. In addition, partners will be introduced to the comprehensive e-commerce, branding and marketing system which would help radically increase the effectiveness of their market reach to customers.

A concurrent exhibition will be held over the two days to showcase a full range of OEM-ready Zii-Powered Devices, running on ZiiLABS’ very own ZMS-05 Media Rich Processor Chip. Also on display will be the recently announced ZMS-08 media processor, which showcases the world’s first 1080p Blu-ray quality video decoding on a small credit card-sized module.

Summit invitees include academicians, media and business and technology partners. Participation in the Zii Summit 2009 is by invitation only.

Singapore Business-Times Article

Creative unveils new Zii chip in Beijing

CREATIVE Technology yesterday unveiled the most powerful chip under its fledgling Zii stable – adding more impetus to the MP3 player maker’s new business of supplying low-powered and multimedia-savvy computer chips and components to electronics makers worldwide.

The new chip – made-to-order by Taiwanese foundry TSMC and coined ZMS-08 – was launched in an event in Beijing. It is said to be four times more powerful than its predecessor but consumes only half the power.

Creative minted its Zii technology at the start of this year. Developed by the company’s graphics chip subsidiary 3DLabs, which has now been renamed ZiiLabs, it is trumpeted as a new type of chip platform that lets third-party electronics manufacturers make more powerful, less power-hungry and cheaper products. Like its predecessor, the latest Zii chip is aimed at makers of smartphones, netbooks, video-conferencing systems, connected TVs, digital signage systems, home media hubs, Web tablets and others.

But with a raft of new features – including Blu-ray quality video playback – and improved performance, the ZMS-08 will help Creative unlock more doors into this diverse market, said ZiiLabs president Hock Leow.

Speaking to BT before the Beijing launch, he said the interest for Zii has especially intensified since Creative brought out a hand-held device based on Zii, called Zii EGG, in July this year.

Adoption of the technology has also been rising. Mr Leow said that a fleet of finished products powered by Zii are expected to be brought out by manufacturers next month during Creative’s first Zii summit, in China’s Shenzhen. This event is expected to draw ‘thousands’ of visitors.

• Gross Profit Margin: Up 25%
• Net Loss: $1 million US. Last year, the first quarter brought nearly $40.8 million US in loss. According to the report, this was due to a 50% decrease in loss in operating costs.
• Research: Down 17%. Cuts were made in areas that are not strategic for the company, whatever that means.
• Gains: $4.9 million from disposal of investment, $5.8 million in foreign exchange gains, $6.2 million from Qala divestment
• Losses: $15.4 million foreign exchange losses, $8.9 million in loss of financial assets because of the recession

Now as for total balance, I’m not a financial expert, and it seems as if they make these things purposely impossible to understand, but if I’m reading this correctly, the company has a comfortable balance, where they could lose a lot of money still before they go under. My tentative guess is $325 million US in the green. If someone has a better read, please let me know in the comments so I can fix it.

Q1FY10 Earnings Release

But according to epiZENter, it’s far more. According to the depiction kingone put up, it seems to resemble a Nokia Internet Tablet powered by the company’s oracle: the Zii. Yup, that’s right. The first official consumer device with the Zii will be a handheld, internet-enabled, touchscreen device with support for pictures, text and video. Certainly Amazon, Sony, and Barnes and Noble have their devices that can do the first two, but the latter will be an interesting step forward for the market.

Perhaps more exciting as a Creative fan is the publishing support- epiZENter reports that the MediaBook and Creative are in talks with a major Singaporean content provider, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to supply the new tablet with text, video, audio, and photos.

It is notable, however, that the MediaBook appears to be aimed at the Singapore educational market first. Creative is teaming up with SPH and ST Electronics to create the “FutureBook”, a Singaporean government initiative to create the interactive book of the future. Inside the press release is the statistics, which notably includes the educational market, which is where I think it will be launched first. By teaming up with the Singapore government, it allows the company to fund much of the production. It’s similar to how the US defense industry works- the government gives money to Lockheed Martin (or similar) to build new fighter jets. The government will still end up paying for the jet, but the company can also sell to other partners- Canada, UK, Germany, etc. I think the MediaBook could be similar. First for research and the SG government, but then it will open up to the general public. What do you guys think?

FutureBooks partner network
The convergence of media has resulted in many opportunities in the digital market.
Today, people want to get information on the go, be it through their mobile phone,
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or in more recent years, e-book readers like
Amazon’s Kindle. There is opportunity in this emerging sub-sector for Singapore
companies to be part of the value chain. To spur the development, delivery and managing of innovative applications and content on the e-book platform, a FutureBooks partner network championed by major
industry players such as Creative Technology and SPH together with other key
industry members such as Personal e-Motion (PEM), Singapore Centre for Chinese
Language (SCCL), Popular e-Learning Holdings, Times Publishing Group and
Pearson Education has been established. Together with MDA, the partner network
invites companies with innovative ideas for applications, services and business
models, to leverage on the technology, global distribution network as well as
educational content offered by the partner network members.

Successful proposals will be able to leverage on the wide reach offered by the
combined partner network. This includes more than 12.7 million news readers globally,
500 language teachers from 475 schools in Singapore and across the Southeast Asia
region, more than 350,000 Popular members with retail presence in 117 stores in
Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and markets in more than seven countries in
Asia, including China.

Mr Willie Png, Vice President, Creative Technology said: “With the advent of the
Internet, the global scenario for learning is fast changing. New innovative technologies
play key roles in defining the future of learning which calls for new ways to create,
deliver and consume content. Always at the forefront of innovation, Ceative offers an
open platform that enable industry players to provide services and develop
applications and devices for the world of future learning.

MDA also hopes that the FutureBooks initiative will draw synergy from the Media in
Learning initiative announced recently by generating innovative applications with
Learning-related content to reach a wider global audience.

SG Government News Release

epiZENter

SoundBlaster X-Fi Series

Supported:

• X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series (PCI-E)
• X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series (PCI-E)
• X-Fi Titanium Professional Audio (PCI-E)
• X-Fi Titanium (PCI-E)
• X-Fi Xtreme Audio
• X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook
• X-Fi Elite Pro
• X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series
• X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
• X-Fi XtremeGamer
• X-Fi Fatal1ty
• X-Fi Platinum
• X-Fi Xtreme Music
• X-Fi Notebook
• X-Fi Go!

SoundBlaster Series

Supported:

• Audigy LS
• Audigy SE
• Audigy Value
• Live! 24-bit internal
• 5.1 VX
• Audigy 4 Pro
• Audigy 4
• Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA
• Audigy 2 Platinum eX
• Audigy
• Audigy 2
• Audigy 2 ZS

Digital Audio Players

All Creative products with the latest firmware update should be able to natively interact with the operating system.

Speakers and Headsets

All beta versions. Non-USB versions do not need drivers. If you are not getting sound, check your sound card driver.

• Creative N400
• USB Gaming Headset HS-950
• Fatal1ty USB Gaming Headset HS-1000
• Digital Wireless Gaming Headset HS-1200

Products with Beta Drivers

• X-Fi Surround 5.1
• SoundBlaster Surround 5.1
• SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit external
• SoundBlaster Connect
• SoundBlaster Audigy 2 NX
• SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Video Editor
• SoundBlaster Digital Music LX
• SoundBlaster Digital Music (and SX/PX variants)
• SoundBlaster MP3+
• SoundBlaster Connect

Bonus Coverage: Webcams

• Live! Cam Optia Pro
• Live! Cam Video IM Ultra
• Live! Cam Optia AF
• Live! Cam Chat IM
• Live! Cam Optia AF
• Live! Cam Video IM (VF0540)
  

The following camera drivers are in beta stages. To find them, go to Creative’s support page, navigate to your model, then click “Beta Drivers”

• Live! Cam Notebook Ultra
• Live! Cam Video IM (VF0350)
• Live! Cam Video IM Pro
• Live! Cam Vista IM
• Live! Cam Notebook
• Webcam Vista
• Live! Cam Chat
• Live! Cam Notebook Pro (Est release Q4 2009)

]]> http://creative.techinhiding.com/2009/10/creative-soundblaster-windows-7/feed/ 0 http://creative.techinhiding.com/2009/10/creative-soundblaster-windows-7/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techinhiding/creative/~3/f0Aqhc95xgQ/ http://creative.techinhiding.com/2009/10/android-hitting-zii-egg-this-week/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:57:35 +0000 thetonyweapon http://creative.techinhiding.com/?p=441 GenerationMP3 is reporting on an Android update this week to the Zii EGG- exciting news!

See the post over at ZiiEGG.com

Among the other less intriguing features is the apt-X codec, which Creative licensed a while back, Mac OS support (a new theme for the company), and Energy Star certification. I dunno if they’ll make any sales based on the “Energy Star” rating, but yay environmentalism.

Inspire S2 Wireless on Creative US

ZiiLABS

Amsterdam – 11 September 2009 - ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd. announced that it is collaborating with Adobe as part of the Open Screen Project to optimize and enable Adobe® Flash® Player, a key component of the Adobe Flash Platform to enhance the Web experience across a wide range of mobile and digital home devices.

The ZiiLABS accelerated implementations of Adobe Flash Player enable users to experience uncompromised Web browsing, full H.264 HD video playback and rich Flash technology based content on any platform based on its ZMS media-rich applications processors and recently announced handheld Zii EGG StemCell Computer.

“Users want the same rich Web experience on all their devices, be it their internet tablet, mobile device or high-definition TV and like Adobe, we are dedicated to deliver the best visual experience on all these platforms,” said Tim Lewis, Director of Marketing and Partner Relations, ZiiLABS. “Our long heritage implementing OpenGL, 3D graphics and multi-format video acceleration put us in a great position to work with Adobe to provide a no-compromise implementation of Adobe Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR™ on ZMS processors.”

The Open Screen Project is a broad initiative of industry leaders working to deliver a consistent runtime environment across devices. Led by Adobe, the Open Screen Project is dedicated to enable Web content and standalone applications across PCs, netbooks, mobile devices, televisions and other consumer electronics that take advantage of Adobe Flash Platform capabilities. For more information, please visit www.openscreenproject.org.

“We are excited to welcome ZiiLABS as a new participant to the Open Screen Project,” said Anthony Haag, Director of Business Development, Open Screen Project, Adobe. “As a provider of innovative application processors, hardware platforms and middleware, ZiiLABS’ support for Flash Player 10 and AIR will help deliver much richer and more immersive user experiences across a broad range of new devices and consumer electronics.”

About Flash Platform

The Adobe Flash Platform is a complete system of integrated tools, frameworks, clients and servers for the development of Web applications, content and video that runs consistently across operating systems and devices. Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops, and Adobe Flash technology is the number one platform for video on the Web. In addition, the mobile runtime has shipped and delivered Flash based content on close to 40 percent of all new mobile phones and devices in 2008. For more information about the Adobe Flash Platform visit www.adobe.com/flashplatform.

About ZiiLABS

ZiiLABS is a worldwide leader in low-power, media-rich application processors, hardware platforms and advanced middleware that enable OEMs, ODMs, System Integrators and Software Developers to deliver best-in-class products across a broad range of consumer electronics and embedded markets. Originally founded in 1994 as 3DLABS, the company re-branded and joined with the Personal Digital Entertainment group of Creative Technology to form ZiiLABS in January 2009. ZiiLABS now has over 800 R&D engineers working on ZiiLABS related projects and has invested US$1 billion and 10,000 man years in media processing solutions. The company has offices in the UK, China, USA and Singapore.