2009 November- Zii EGG

Plaszma Firmware 0.96.11 Out Now with Chinese

Posted by RaiderRed in Firmware Updates on Nov 30th, 2009 | Comments

In addition to the Shanzai conference now occuring (see the spiffy counter over in the sidebar for proof), there’s a little update to the Android Plaszma firmware for the Zii EGG. It’s available on the ZiiLABS Developer’s site. As usual, you’ll lose all data on the device, so keep those music files on the SD card for the time being.

Enhancements:

Supports Simplified Chinese
Adds new “Developer mode” setting that disables MTP transfer when the setting is turned on
Installs the applications when you press the HOME button on the device after transferring the files through MTP

Fix:

Resolves logon issues with long network names

Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows Vista®, Windows® XP Professional 64-bit Edition, Windows XP Service Pack 3 or later, Windows 7
Zii EGG device installed with Plaszma firmware 0.94.03 or above

Note:

All contents of your Zii EGG will be deleted. Before you install the firmware, back up the contents.
You must also install the Plaszma SDK Libraries and API 0.96.10 as this package is required to work with the Zii EGG firmware.
To install this firmware, do the following:

Download the ZiiEGG_PlaszmaFW_0_96_11.exe file to your local hard disk.
Close all application windows that are currently running on your computer.
Ensure that your Zii EGG’s battery status shows more than 50% or 3 bars.
Connect your Zii EGG to the computer.
Double-click the downloaded file and follow the instructions on the screen.

Installation is completed when the various application icons appear on the main menu of the device. The entire process takes about 25 minutes.
Once you upgrade the firmware to version 0.96.11, you cannot downgrade to an older version, such as 0.92.02.

Zii Powered Phone, Netbook, Tablet PC To Headline Zii Summit

Posted by RaiderRed in Featured Articles, Zii, Zii Summit on Nov 13th, 2009 | Comments

As the blitzkrieg of Zii news continues, this perhaps is the biggest news of all. Yeah, I said that yesterday, but this update from ZiiLABS further clarifies what will be showcased at the Zii Summit in a few weeks. And these are the big dogs- a tablet pc, netbook, and what I think is the biggest of all, a mobile phone. Now, these are said to be ‘OEM-ready’, so it seems that no manufacturers will be showcasing their finished versions of said products. However, it does bode well that there are so many applications already implemented. The page also lists a web-box, a security camera system (presumably a version of partner Grandeye’s), speakers, a piano keyboard, and a precursor to the MediaBook.

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 on 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, ZiiLABS to Host First Zii Summit In First Week of December

Posted by RaiderRed in Zii Summit on Nov 12th, 2009 | Comments

When I read the Singapore Business-Times article over on epiZENter yesterday, there was a curious mention of demonstrations at a ‘Shenzen conference’. Not being particularly great with China’s second busiest port city, I thought it was just an industry conference. However, that has changed with the press release from ZiiLABS today, which announced a ‘Zii Summit’ for December 1-2 in Shenzen. According to the press release, Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo, in addition to the head of ZiiLABS, Hock Leow, will be giving keynote addresses on the first day in addition to a press conference. More importantly, however, is the seminar that will be held over the two days to showcase the ‘technology, platforms, products, services, and content’ of the Zii ecosystem. Simultaneously, however, is the real point of the summit- to showcase the full range of Zii-powered devices. The wording in the press release, which is copied below, is overwhelmingly positive as all press releases are, mentions multiple Zii-powered products. The door has been locked shut on any leaks thus far to upcoming devices, but it seems that this will open the floodgates. I’m certainly excited.

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.

ZiiLABS Introduces the ZMS-08: The World’s First 1080p Capable Handheld Processor

Posted by RaiderRed in Featured Articles, Zii on Nov 8th, 2009 | Comments

ZiiLABS sure hasn’t been sitting on their butts since the first release of the ZMS-05. They’ve upped the ante a bit on the Tegra with the introduction of the ZMS-08, the full 1080p capable chip for handhelds. Among other notables, the new ARM-8 Cortex processor perhaps the biggest upgrade. It’s the same processor core as in the Droid and iPhone 3GS, but ZiiLABS has added other components to the rest of the architecture to make it extremely powerful. The new clock speed is 1GHz, which puts it well ahead of the OMAP3 3430 processors in the Droid and Palm Pre (600Mhz). Will we see full 1080p output and blazing fast speeds on the consumer Zii? Only time will tell, but things look very promising.

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

Singapore – 9th November 2009 : ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd. today announced, the ZMS-08, its 3rd generation media-rich applications processor that brings 1080p Blu-ray quality H.264 decode to low-power devices. Delivering more than four times the performance of previous generation devices, the ZMS-08 combines the flexible multi-format media processing capabilities of ZiiLABS’ StemCell Computing array with an 1GHz ARM® Cortex™ processor to deliver the low-power, high performance media-rich processing required of next-generation connected devices such as web tablets, netbooks, connected TVs, video conferencing systems and home media hubs.

The ZMS-08 is sampling now to certain customers and is supported by ZiiLABS’ optimized Linux®-based Android™ and native Plaszma operating systems and development platforms.

The ZMS-08’s proven StemCell Computing array provides the media processing capabilities to deliver full HD 1080p high-profile H.264 video decode, simultaneous H.264 encode and decode at 720p, 1080p 24fps encode, accelerated OpenGL® ES 2.0 3D graphics at up to 1 Gpixels/sec, 2D processing, compositing, image processing and advanced Xtreme Fidelity™ X-Fi Audio effects. With the low-power ARM Cortex processor running at up to 1GHz, the ZMS-08 is aimed at small form factor devices that enable content currently accessed via the PC to spread to mobile and low-energy devices.

“Combining advanced ARM technology with their own media processing IP has enabled ZiiLABS to deliver the high performance and low-power consumption required to enable the next leap in the mobile internet revolution” said Ian Drew, EVP marketing, ARM.

“The ZMS-08 processor confirms the flexibility and scalability of our architecture and enables our customers to develop richer mobile and connected devices that are four times faster and twice as power efficient as previous solutions,” said Hock Leow, President of ZiiLABS. “Its new capabilities such as Blu-ray quality playback, 720p simultaneous encode and decode of H.264 video, accelerated OpenGL ES 2.0 and rich peripheral integration such as dual USB controllers and HDMI are blurring the boundary between the capabilities of the traditional PC and connected device.”

The inclusion of Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi audio technology delivers a great sounding audio experience. Crystalizer intelligently restores audio detail lost during file compression and CMSS-3D adds the surround sound experience to headphones and stereo speakers and up-mixes stereo to sound great on surround sound speaker systems. The Smart Volume, Dialogue Enhancer, Acoustic Echo cancellation, Graphic Equalizer, Microphone beam former and Noise Reduction modules offer customers a complete portfolio of advanced audio processing that make their products sound better.

High Quality HD Video Encode and Decode

Full HD video playback at 1080p supporting H.264 High Profile at up to 40Mbps means users can experience Blu-ray quality video playback direct to their 1080p TV utilizing the integrated HDMI controller. Crystal clear 720p H.264 video encode and decode at 30 fps enables users to keep in touch with their friends and colleagues via videoconferencing.

Accelerated 3D Graphics

Support for OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics and 1 Gpixels/sec fill rate enable a new class of user experiences including enhanced user interfaces, PC-like 3D gaming and Adobe Flash 10.

Enhanced Audio and Voice

The inclusion of Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi audio technology delivers a great sounding audio experience. Crystalizer intelligently restores audio detail lost during file compression and CMSS-3D adds the surround sound experience to headphones and stereo speakers and up-mixes stereo to sound great on surround sound speaker systems. The Smart Volume, Dialogue Enhancer, Acoustic Echo Cancellation, graphic equalizer, microphone beam former and noise reduction modules offer customers a complete portfolio of advanced audio processing that make their products sound better.

ZMS-08 Features

The ZMS-08 flexible StemCell Computing array features 64 fully programmable floating point processing elements that off-load the media processing from the ARM CPU to deliver superior media capabilities coupled with improved application performance. The flexible array architecture enables users to experience the widest range of community generated and commercial content including H.264, Microsoft® WMV9, MPEG2, MPEG4, OpenGL ES and Adobe Flash.

The tightly coupled 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 provides a secure, high performance main CPU that features a 256K L2 cache, NEON™, TrustZone® security technology and 1 GByte addressable RAM.

A wide range of integrated peripheral functions help to reduce system costs, complexity and device footprint. Dual USB 2.0 OTG controllers with PHY and ULPI interfaces provide direct connection to USB hosts, peripherals and high-speed modems. Four HD video processing units support camera and display input and output processing with the integrated HDMI and Analog video encoders supporting HD-TV 1080p output at 60fps. The secure Boot ROM, three SDIO/MMC ports, UARTs, SPI, GPIO and advanced 64-bit and 32-bit memory controller supporting mDDR and DDR2 at up to 333MHz provide the interfaces and memory bandwidth required for today’s media rich connected devices.

Availability

The ZMS-08 is sampling to certain customers now and is scheduled for volume shipment in the 1st quarter of 2010. The chip is housed in a 13×13mm, 424-pin FBGA package.