I’m not sure what to make of this, but if you go to Creative.com – say, looking for an MP3 player – you’ll find a teaser link to Zii.com that says “Everything you know is about to change…” → Read More
Creative introduced today the Vado HD, the successor to the Vado released back in May. It captures video in 720p and is the only pocket video cam to feature HDMI connectivity and an included HDMI cable that provides 1080i output to an HDTV. It also comes with 8GB of built-in memory that can hold up to two hours of HD video. The Vado HD also features a 2-inch LCD screen and a built-in USB connector so you can quickly connect to your PC and share your videos using YouTube or Box.net. Grab this thin, lightweight cam on sale in carbon black at Amazon.com and Creative’s website for $199 with free shipping from both stores. → Read More
Fans of Creative should get themselves ready for an exciting September 17. Why’s that? Well, that picture certainly alludes to something. Creative has been sending out special media invites for an event on September 17. The above picture clearly features an X-Fi logo. Whether that means Creative will unveil a new line of PMPs, or, who knows, an iPod dock (oh God, not another one!), we’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully it’s something more interesting than last week’s “Meet the new iPods, pretty much the same as the old iPods” song and dance Apple subjected us to. Call me a cynic, but there’s only so many ways you can dress up a nano befor via DAPreview.net → Read More
Students! You’re going to be spending a lot of time, on and off the quad, listening to music. I made it through college with an MP3-CD player, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Click through for our list of best MP3 players for a college student. → Read More
It appears that Creative has released a new MP3 player in the ZEN Krystal. Unfortunately, it seems that it’s only available in Hong Kong at the moment but perhaps it’ll eventually make its way stateside. The Krystal runs for about $90 and features 4GB of storage, OLED display, simple drag and drop file management (no drivers required), FM radio, voice recorder, three games, and – get this – a built-in pedometer, calorie counter, and stopwatch. Not bad for under $100, huh? Still, if you’re a workout nut who happens to use Windows (it’s Windows-only), you could do much worse. We’ll keep an eye on whether or not this thing’s coming to our neck of the woods any time soon. Creative ZEN Krystal [hk.creative.com via anythingbutipod] → Read More
We eagerly await to hear what “perfection” sounds like. That is to say, we eagerly await to try out the Creative Zen X-Fi, a series of portable media players with built-in Wi-Fi. Aside from the usual set of features from every PMP ever, the Wi-Fi is used to instant message your dumb friends, presumably about what music you’re listening to or what video you’re watching right now. So far, it’s only compatible with Yahoo! and MSN Chat; they should probably add AIM for the American version. That, and you’ll be able to wirelessly stream media to and from the device. No release date or price or anything particularly useful right now. That would be expecting far too much. → Read More
Here’s the Vado from Creative. It’s basically a clone of the Flip but it looks less chintzy. Creative even goes as far as saying that the Vado is “dramatically thinner and lighter than competing video cameras.” I actually wouldn’t mind trying one of these. It records up to two hours of video and has 2GB of built-in memory. It’s only $99 so I wouldn’t be wasting too much money on it. Extra rechargeable batteries only cost $15, but the charging station costs $30. → Read More
Gadget Lab seems to think so based on the product page of the Vado listed on JR.com. The specs and description do reveal striking similarities to the popular Flip. A 2-inch screen is an improvement over the Flip’s 1.5-inch screen, but VGA quality, one-touch recording and up to 2-hours of recording per charge are carbon copies of what the Flip can do. Is there really a need for two so-so video cameras? Creative Vado is a slim, lightweight pocket Video CAM that makes it easy to capture and share everyday life as it happens. Simply connect Vado to your PC with the flexible USB plug and the built-in Software lets you save videos to your Computer or post them directly to YouTube or Photobucket. Since Vado is thinner that a deck of cards and as light as a cell phone, it fits into your pocket or purse and never weighs you down. Free yourself from the hassle of the bulky camcorder bag. You’ll never miss a moment with two hours of video capacity and one-button Recording that makes capturing life on video effortless. With a 2x Zoom and excellent low-light performance, you’ll get great video quality every time you press record. Just connect Vado to your computer with the flexible USB plug and the built-in software takes over. You can transfer your videos to your computer or post them directly to YouTube or Photobucket, all at the click of a button. The rechargeable Battery is removable so you can change out for a fresh one. → Read More
With so many headphone choices out there, I generally look for ones that have been deeply discounted from a starting price of over $100. It’s a crude method, I know, but the time I save headphone shopping can be spent doing things I enjoy more, like not running and not volunteering. If you’re looking for a pair of deeply discounted over-the-ear headphones that appear to be somewhat stylish and somewhat comfortable, howsabout picking up the Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones? You can get them at Buy.com for $69.99, down from $149.99. Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones [Buy.com] via dealnews → Read More
[photopress:card.jpg,full,center] We’re going to try to think like Creative here. Let’s say we, as Creative, insist that our drivers for our multimedia cards were Vista-ready. Let’s say they really weren’t, they were buggy drivers with missing features. Let’s say we had no real plans to fix this. We’re a large corporation with better things to do. So let’s say a talented, independent developer takes it on himself to patch the buggy drivers to make things all work well in Vista. Let’s say he even posts links to these patched drivers, which he’s giving away to our customers for free, in our support forum. This happened. And Creative, instead of certifying his drivers and rewarding him for his hard work in making our customers happy, has banned him — and other users — from the forums and took down the links to the superior drivers. That’s just bad customer service. → Read More
Ahh, CES. Where the weak are killed and eaten. And where zillions of companies decide to debut products that should’ve been smothered at birth. But a few things actually managed to impress me so far as I stumble through CES and its constellation of surrounding events. So here they are, a handful of goodies I saw and heard that make my ears glad to be attached to my head. At least, before Seth Porges (Popular Mechanics), Richard Blakely (Gawker), his assistant Nick, and I went to see Smashmouth at the Palms hotel. Now my ears simply hate me. Images and first-hand accounts after the jump. → Read More
Hmmm… a wee video phone by Creative? Found on the FCC website? With RCA out and a little webcam? A way to just drop a little device on a table and talk to momma a thousand miles away? Looks that way. Expect to see this little gem at CES but you can see it now on the FCC website. Creative resurrects video phone with InPerson [Electronista] → Read More
I’m not saying people will be rushing to pick up a Zen or anything, but it should be noted that Creative has announced the world’s first flash-based 32GB PMP and it’s the size of a CC. What else does $378 get you? That’s not a type typo, either, it’s $378. That’s cheap. Super cheap for 32GB of flash memory. A 2.5-inch display, 30 hours of music playback, five hours of video playback and an SD card slot. Holy balls! Could the 32GB iPod Touch be on its way? Maybe, just maybe, at MacWorld in January? Please say it’s true, Apple. Press Release → Read More
Staples.com has the 1GB Creative ZEN Stone for $35, which includes free shipping. Not too shabby if you need a MP3 player for working out. Might make a good gift idea too. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery is good for 10 hours worth of music and the player also includes support for Audible.com’s audio book format. Creative Labs ZEN Stone 1GB MP3 Player, Black [Staples.com] via dealnews → Read More
Creative’s Zen line of media players hasn’t stolen much thunder from the iPod, but it has been more successful than many. The latest, dubbed simply the Creative Zen, is a flash-based player that does video on a 2.5-inch screen and rocks a full-size SD card slot. It’s not bad-looking, and it resembles the Zen Vision in many of the right ways. But its boatload of features and attractive interface — not to mention reasonable price — are offset by a few flaws. Then again, it comes in a 16GB version (in addition to 4GB and 8GB), so that may be reason enough to buy for many. → Read More
