• Creative's $500 Nomad Jukebox (pictured above), was not only "sleek"—at least when compared to a CD Walkman—but "can hold as much music as 150 CDs."

• The Extiva was a $350 DVD player from Samsung with the Nuon chip, so "you can also play videogames." Not sure which videogames we were referring to there.

• Our pick for digital camera was Nikon's twisty CoolPix 990, 3 million pixels for 1 thousand dollars.

• Gateway laptop with 12.1-in. display, 550MHz chip and a year of free AOL was "a great deal" at $1300.

• Two-way pagers from Motorola, $180 each, let you send messages back and forth, and came in "four hot colors."

• LG's Touchpoint 3000 smartish phone cost $400, combined an address book and an organizer, and had one killer app: "Tap someone's name, and it dials for you."

• The $300 Iomega HipZip took little PocketZip magnetic disks instead of flash memory so it was easier to "get with the MP3 revolution"—hooray for obscure proprietary formats that died within a year!

• Cybiko was invented a decade ago but promised to do almost more than what the Peek does today—with wireless messaging and an MP3 "attachment."

• "It's near impossible to find this killer game console—and just as hard to find good titles to play on it." The console? PlayStation 2.

• Handspring Visor Prism, the great hope of the PDA world, had a cartridge slot so that you could "turn it into a cellphone, an MP3 player, or a miniature digital camera." Only trouble was when the cartridges started costing more than the $450 PDA.

The whole list is pretty hilarious—I encourage you to pop over and read more. [Time.com]

I apologize for the crappy quality of some of the images—I had to go grab promo shots found out on the web. For some reason, Time didn't preserve our gorgeous photoshoot online. Guess they thought the internet was just a fad.

The playback is smooth, the sound apt. Iron out some of the interface quirks we spotted last week in that video and we'll have a nice little platform for OEMs to work with once Creative options this thing out into the ether. [Mobile990 via Engadget]

The phone looks tiny, especially compared to the iPhone-sized Creative Zii Egg, but it seems the kinks haven't quite been worked out—some gestures, like swiping between homepages, result in opening the app tray by mistake. But the hardware looks nice, if a little generic (although it's probably designed to be generic, since it'll be optioned by different OEMs). I like the idea of the swappable microUSB/mini-HDMI port on the bottom, but time will tell if that feature stays in the final product. [CNET Asia via Engadget]

Creative and ZiiLabs are showing off a pile of Zii reference hardware to potential hardware licensors in China today, in hopes that someone will manufacture it. The Zii phone reference design, pictured for the first time above, is the only one we can see right now, and promises full 1080p video playback over HDMI, OpenGL 2.0 accelerated gaming, and support for both Android OS and ZiiLabs' Plaszma software. And that's just the phone—ZiiLabs also has a 360º full HD webcam, a PCI-E video coprocessor, a pocket synthesizer and, well, lots.

But before we get to the rest of the new stuff, a little timeline for you. Back in January, Creative announced, with of an offshoot company called ZiiLabs, "Zii StemCell Computing." There were not adjectives strong enough, no superlatives super enough, no words wordy enough to describe the wonders of this StemCell computing. Unlimited Flexibility! Incredible Scalability! High Energy Efficiency! ET! CET! ER! A!

But wait, what is this thing? The Zii StemCell processor is basically an extremely flexible system-on-a-chip, which is to say a multi-talented slab of hardware with an ARM Cortex chip at its core, intended to power all manner of multimedia devices, from PMPs to phones to settop boxes to, well, whatever. Creative promised low power consumption, high processing power, and plenty of uses. The platform would be licensed to hardware manufacturers, and eventually, we'd find these Zii-powered gadgets in our possession, under familiar brands. (But not necessarily Creative itself.)

Then we were shown the Zii Egg—pictured above—which is an Android-powered PMP with an alternate OS called Plaszma. This was actual hardware—that's more like it—and it looked compelling: media playback was strong, and the device itself was hot, and most importantly for Creative, new. But this, like anything else out of ZiiLabs, was reference hardware—unless someone picked it up for manufacture, it was strictly for developers.

Fast-forward to this month, and the project is finally springing some leaks. A smartbook shows up out of nowhere. Rumors about netbooks, which could leverage the Zii chip's power for 1080p video playback, real-time encoding, HD video conferencing, Flash acceleration and more, emerge. And finally, today, an announcement. ZiiLabs is pitching more reference designs, like the Zii Egg, to manufacturers:

The line-up of Zii Powered devices on display include a dual OS concept mobile phone which supports the Plaszma OS and Android OS, a desktop touch screen video conferencing device, a web-box, a 360° multi-view camera system, a PCI Express add-on card that instantly empowers notebooks with HD video encoding for high quality video conferencing, a pocket-sized synthesizer that can emulate the sound of some of the world's best pianos, as well as the world's smallest credit card-sized Blu-ray quality media player – based on the ZMS-08 chip.

The headliner here is obviously the Trinity phone, which can count itself among the first wave of 1GHz Android phones, and promises serious media and 3D support. The reference hardware, as you can see, is conservatively designed, though undeniably nice—and apparently iPhone skinny.

But the other Zii Wares are compelling in their own ways. The videoconferencing system can apparently process a distortion-free 360° view in full HD. The PCI Express add-on card will do video offload duties, a la Nvidia's GPGPU systems. And that little "Blu-ray quality" media player, well, I really don't know. All of the Zii hardware is propped up by the Plaszma-centric ZiiLife suite, which includes videoconferencing software with media sharing, educational software, and an app store.

As they are now, these gadgets will probably never see the light of day—it'll be up to hardware manufacturers to pick up the reference designs, after which they'll undoubtedly put their own spin on each concept. And as far as the associated software goes, it'll most likely remain under wraps until there are actual products to use it with. At any rate, over the next few months we can probably expect to see some of these Zii-powered gadgets show up as actual, buyable products, whatever forms they may take. And honestly, I'm eager to see them. [ZiiLabs]

Creative also claims that there has been some improvement to the audio recording quality, which was a weak point of the prior generations. Other feature additions include:

* Improved quality of video in low light or brightly lit conditions with manual exposure adjustments
* External stereo microphone support for better audio recording
* Headphone output for private listening
* Motion Detection Mode enables users to program the camera to begin recording as soon as motion is detected
* Out-of-the box Mac and PC compatibility
* Still Photo Capture Mode

The camcorder will be available mid-December for $180 (and in a whopping five colors). Since that gives you plenty of time to shop, check out our pocket camcorder comparison guide before making a buying decision. [Creative via epiZENter via Engadget]

Creative is also talking with publishers, a la Apple, although in their case the talks are primarily in Singapore, where they already have a number of e-learning initiatives.

Images were unavailable, although Engadget did manage to snag a source who snapped a blurry pic of the Creative UI reveal (pictured) earlier today. There will be a touchscreen, which would make this slate/tablet markedly different than an ebook like the Kindle, although somewhat similar to the Nook. That's all for now. [Epizenter via Engadget]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but yeah, we're talking about the iPod touch model: It's about platforms. That run apps. That people can develop awesome little programs for. In other words, a good PMP won't just have great codec support and be able to push HD video, it'll get you on Twitter or Facebook or tell you what's good to eat nearby.

Not convinced? Check out the new Archos 5, which dumps the old OS for Android. Or the Creative Zii, also allegedly launching with Android. If you're in the second tier, grabbing a popular app-friendly platform is not a bad way to compete.

Apple itself noted that old-school iPods were on a death march—so the company added a video camera to the nano, to keep it alive for a generation or two more. True, Sony's X-Series appears to be keeping on keeping on, but it feels like an anacrhonism, albeit with a nice screen—no extendability, and a horrible internet browser.

The argument really comes down to the Zune HD, launching this week. It finds itself in an awkward position, essentially because of the effective limbo Microsoft's mobile OS is in—in other words you can't easily develop apps for both Zune HD and Windows Mobile, which Zune's Brian Seitz basically admitted to the Seattle Times: "What we didn't want to do was build two parallel app store experiences that didn't work together."

So there's no open app store, but in the meantime, Microsoft's providing the apps with a handful of chosen developers, so we're stuck with games, and soon a Twitter and Facebook app. But what is clear is that Zune is a platform that people can develop for. And it seems inevitable that'll be common with the next version of Windows Mobile, or the mysterious project Pink, if that is something else—at least, if Microsoft's actually serious about the Zune having a future.

In other words, it's startlingly clear now that the traditional PMP is history, replaced by PMPs powered by mobile platforms. They're smartphones without the "phone," and even lacking that major element, they're surprisingly valuable, more pocket computer—with internet and apps—than glorified video player.

Aside from the slightly larger, ever-more-fingerable TFT screen, the X-Fi 2 supposedly adds improvements to sound quality, which are down to murky machinations inside Creative's X-Fi audio processing system, as well as TV-out, which is particularly useful considering the player's generous video codec support. The rest of the specs are more or less unchanged: There's an FM radio, built-in mic, a microSD expansion slot, and syncable calendar, task list, contacts and RSS reader apps. It actually looks like the player has lost a feature since v1 too, since the prior model's Wi-Fi access is nowhere to be found. Not that it ever did much, but still.

Anyway, price! It's pretty low, considering what you get: It's 230 for the 32GB model, $180 for the 16GB and $130 for the 8GB. The highest price point seems like a dig at the iPod Touch, and it could be a clever one: The two players offer completely different things, and if you want to do more than play music and videos, the iPod is the clear choice. On the other hand, if that's all you want to do, a 32GB touchscreen PMP makes a case, if not a particularly strong one. It's available for preorder now, and should ship within a few weeks. [Creative]

The hardware itself doesn't seem much changed; the Vado HD will still be available in a $200 8GB version and will be joined by a new 4GB version priced at $180. There'll also be two new colors, but the big news is really the software. The two new Vado HDs are available for pre-order today from Creative (though they don't seem to be up on the site quite yet), and the software should be released early this month. [Creative]

The headset will actually feature customizable ear cup "Glyphs" to identify your faction along with programmable LEDs so your mom can better appreciate the Horde's power as it burns a bright red into her eyes.

With a promised focus on comfort, the Mac and PC wireless headset will stream uncompressed audio while a (surely cheaper) wired headset will manage the same feat with a cord. And while the specs sound nice (pun intended), the headsets seem to lack true surround sound capabilities. So hopefully they'll be priced accordingly. [Creative via Fareastgizmos]

Like Creative's introduction video before it, CNET's hands-on is more about seeing the hardware than showing off new features—this is the same Android we've been using since last year, after all. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on inside the Egg—720p video playback support by means of on in-house chip, promises of long battery life, the expandable storage potential—but most of this isn't apparent in a short demo like this.

What we're left with is an attractive piece of hardware that is just begging to live out its destiny as the first mainstream Android PMP, but which Creative can't seem to make up its mind about, at least publicly. The Zii really looks like a consumer products, from its styling to its specs, and I'd love or Creative to take it to market, or to sell the design to someone else to do the same. But even though it seems obvious that such a product would represent the first real competitor to the iPod Touch, their line, still, is that this is for developers, and that the "platform" could be available to manufacturers, though apparently, not this specific piece of hardware. Whether they're just tied up in their own words or this is really their plan, there's a market gap that needs filling, and the Zii looks like it could fill it. Click through for video. [CNET Asia]

Being seeded to developers as part of a $399 SDK (final units are expected to ship in bulk at $199), the Zii Egg Plaszma is an Android-friendly "handheld computer" that's like an iPod touch beefed up with more than a few popular requests.

You navigate the platform through a 3.5" 320x480, 10-point capacitive multitouch screen. From there, you can access the rear facing HD video camera, front facing live chat VGA camera, 32GB of integrated storage with SDHC card expansion, Flash Lite support, GPS, Wi-Fi and, oh right, it's powerful enough to output 1080P video.

Of course, its greatest asset, the option to run the open Android OS (the company offers its own Plaszma OS but that's a bit less exciting), means that the hardware begins to resemble a smartphone without the phone. And I'm surprised on a daily basis that anyone is still buying big iPods that can't make phone calls. [ZiiLabs via GeekyGadgets]

The Price: $150 for starter kit with SB Wireless and one receiver; $130 for the GigaWorks T20W wireless speakers

The Verdict: I like wireless streaming, but I hate headaches that come from wireless devices that try to do too much. Sonos alone meets my satisfaction when it comes to an insanely micro-manageable whole-house audio system. But if you just want to send audio from point A to point B (and points C, D and E) without running a bunch of wires, Creative's newest take on it makes sense.

What you get in the starter kit is a dongle for your Mac or PC, and a single receiver with 35mm or RCA stereo jacks. You can buy additional receivers, or you can buy speakers with the receiver built right in. The sound is great—I don't hear any weird digital compression. Range-wise, I was able to carry it throughout the house without losing more than a momentary blip of connectivity, so you shouldn't have a problems in (or out of) a normal-sized house.

I wouldn't call this a "smart" distributed audio system. It's pretty blunt force. All the hardware comes pre-paired (hence the need for a dongle at the PC end, despite the use of Wi-Fi), and it basically streams USB audio—whatever's playing on your computer—to points around the house. You can configure and control up to four "zones" using software for the Mac or PC, or you can just use "broadcast" mode to send the same audio to every point. There's a remote control for the receiver, but it's limited to play and pause of iTunes. (Instead, you could use the iPhone/iPod Touch Remote app.)

The Inevitable Comparison to AirPort Express:
From a cost perspective, comparing this to AirPort Express is a little murky: AirPort Express costs $99 a piece, requires an audio system but no dongle for your computer. If you wanted to have three of them around your house, at different music or home theater systems, you'd pay $300. You'd need those audio systems, and even then, you probably wouldn't want to plug one in outside.

With the same computers and music libraries, Creative gives you a few more options. It's not cheaper, up front: You're out $150 for the dongle and first receiver. Adding two more receiver modules at $70 a piece gets you close to that $300 mark. But you can have 4 zones, and even more receivers in "broadcast" mode, so the more you add, the cheaper it could get overall. (Apple doesn't guarantee AirTunes reception to more than three Express units.) I think Creative should lower the price of receivers to $50 each, to get competitive, but let's face it, I have no idea what that would do to their profit margins, if there are any.

It's really the speaker and the iPod dock that make this thing different from the AirPort Express. Buy the speakers for $130—in a bundle with the dongle for $200 even—and you have a standalone audio receiver that you can take outside when you're BBQin' and a really nice pair of computer speakers that you can use wirelessly or directly plugged in.

Forget your computer and the SB dongle entirely, and pair the $130 wireless speakers or $70 receivers with the $250 Cambridge SoundWorks MovieWorks HD, which doesn't just have HDMI out for videos, but an integrated wireless interface that works just fine with these accessories.

The Caveats:
Despite having "iTunes" in the name, it sends all your computer's audio to the speakers or receiver. That means that you can be chilling to your iTunes when suddenly the annoying sound of an IM breaks your reverie. (It also means you can play audio from other programs—say, a movie in VLC—it's not all bad.)

It doesn't output audio at a fixed line level, but at whatever volumes your computer and iTunes are set at. If the system volume is cranked, you could experience distortion. It's not a defect, it just means you have to pull down one or the other (or both) volumes to 2/3 strength, then turn up the sound at the receiver end.

I said the hardware comes pre-paired, and for the most part, it works right out of the box. If it doesn't, I find holding down the "connect" button on the side of the dongle for like 5 seconds really helps. The one major conflict is that the dongle and the MovieWorks HD are not exactly friends. They both do the same thing, so having both is not necessary (but not verboten either). If you do, you may find yourself mashing that "connect" button a lot. [SoundBlaster Wireless, GigaWorks T20W Speakers; Cambridge SoundWorks MovieWorks HD]

In Brief:

Easy to set up

Lots of options, including powered speakers with built-in wireless receiver

Excellent sound quality, even streaming from one side of the house to another

Starter configuration is not cheaper than AirPort Express

Occasional device pairing issues, when using multiple Creative X-Fi accessories

Since it's all just USB audio out, you may have to play with system volume settings to avoid distortion

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]

In any case, the Fatal1ty Headset has gold plated plugs, oxygen-free copper wire, sound isolating cups and a boom microphone that detatches. And when you use the headset with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card, you get active noise cancellation and voice morphing capabilities. The Fatil1ty Gaming Headset MKII will retail later this month for $100, and will be available for pre-order starting today on Amazon, Newegg and direct from Creative.

Creative Unleashes Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II at E3

Ups the Game with Silencer Technology for Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Cards

Los Angeles, CA June 2, 2009 – Creative today unleashed its new Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). World champion gamer Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel will compete with and demo his new Creative headset in the Fatal1ty booth #2922 in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 2-4.

The Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II looks tough and sounds sweet. Jet black ear cups with mesh grill accents framed in red and the adjustable flexible boom microphone set it apart as pro-style gaming gear. Because it's backed by Creative audio technology, the Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II sounds as killer as it looks. Full spectrum (20Hz ~ 20 kHz) 40mm neodymium drivers along with Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC) cable and gold-plated stereo mini plugs deliver crystal-clear sound in any game, from MMO to FPS.

The Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II is designed for comfort as much as performance. Plush ear cups are shaped for sound isolation so you can keep your head in the game, and the headband is lightweight, padded and adjustable for a custom, precise fit. The headset also makes a great set of headphones when you simply detach the boom microphone.

When paired with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card, the Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II unlocks Creative's exclusive Silencer™ technology. Silencer blocks out the background noise around you, whether it's blaring music or a barking dog, so the people you're gaming with online can hear you clearly without annoying distractions.

"We're excited to return to E3 with Fatal1ty to break out the best gaming headset we've ever designed. The audio quality is awesome, and the Fatal1ty Professional Series MkII is amazingly comfortable and lightweight," said Steve Erickson, VP and GM of audio and video at Creative. "With this headset we're giving Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium users the first shot at Silencer, and we're confident that it will become an essential part of their audio arsenal."

Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium users can also transform into their game character by disguising their voices with VoiceFX™, which offers 18 selectable voice-morph personas that range from Aliens to Orc.

Pricing and Availability

Priced at US$99.99, the Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset Mk II is slated for availability this month and is available now for pre-order at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BH3JDA. It will also be available at www.newegg.com and www.creative.com. For more information visit www.creative.com.

In Apple's legal trail are, for the most part, corpses. Save for one little skiffle with you-know-who that haunts them to this day. And along their bloody way, they've managed to be involved in several landmark decisions that continue to shape technology IP law to this day. Behold, Apple's most important legal disputes, arranged by date:

Apple Computer Inc v. Apple Corps - 1978-2007
Back in the tender year of 1978, when news of wily upstart Apple and their crazy "computers" filtered across the pond to the folks at the Beatles' famed Apple Corps label, they stopped drinking tea and doing hash long enough to realize they still had a business, and that they should protect their trademark. They settled three years later, with Apple Computer paying Apple Corps $80,000 and entering into a gentlemanly agreement to stay off of each other's turf—no music business for Jobs, and no Beatles-branded personal computers for the Brits. It sounded like a good idea at the time.

In 1991, litigation cropped up again when Apple Corps. lawyers realized that a handful of Macs with built-in MIDI hardware or CD-ROM drives could be used to play back and create music (a computer? play music? what?). This resulted in another payment to the Corps, to the tune of $26.5 million, and the creation of the "sosumi" alert sound (So. Sue. Me.) that lives on in OS X to this day.

But it wasn't over yet: A little thing called the iTunes Music Store perked up the Beatles' lawyers' ears again in '03, but a judge ruled in favor of Apple Computer three years later, claiming a distribution network did not count as an entre into the music business as spelled out by the original agreement.

All was settled, finally, in 2007: After Jobs was spotted getting love-y with the Beatles in his keynotes, the two companies announced that Apple Inc. would now own all of the Apple-related trademarks the two had spent the last two decades fighting over, licensing the Corps' own trademarks back to them for their use. Meanwhile, we're still waiting for that Beatles discography to hit the iTunes store—or anywhere on the internet.

Winner: Apple

Apple Computer Inc v. Franklin Computer Corp. - 1982
Franklin, they of tip calculators and pocket dictionaries, produced the Franklin Ace 100, a line of Apple II-compatible computers in the early 1980s. Said Apple II compatibility, however, was achieved by doing the ol' Ctrl-A Ctrl-C Ctrl-V on Apple's OS and ROM source code. Franklin was pretty sloppy about it: They didn't even bother to replace strings in the code that were obviously unique to Apple's version, including "James Huston," an Apple programmer and the word "Applesoft."

The district court initially agreed with Franklin's defense, which treated the code not as a written work which could easily be copyrighted, but more like a machine part, the shape of which needed to match the other "parts" it would be compatible with. The Court of Appeals disagreed, however, and in doing so, set the first legal precedent proving that computer software itself (the actual code) could be protected by copyright, not just the visual and more tangible results of the software.

Winner: Apple

Apple Computer Inc. v. Microsoft, Xerox and Intel - 1983-1997
When Apple's John Sculley first saw early versions of Bill Gates' rough and buggy Windows 1.0 OS in 1983, he spotted a number of UI elements, such as window menu bars and apps like Write and Paint, which he viewed as direct rip-offs of the soon-to-be-released Mac OS and its MacPaint and MacWrite applications. No one at Apple though was too worried—their revenues of well over $1 billion dwarfed Microsoft's $25 million in software sales at the time—so they struck a deal with Gates, allowing him to license infringing UI elements for a fee (elements many would argue were themselves licensed/stolen from Xerox) in exchange for giving Macs exclusive access to Excel for two years. At the time the Mac platform had all the momentum, and Microsoft was just an app maker, essentially, with a hobbyist OS on the side. Sculley believed their agreement was valid only for the 1.0 version of Windows and that it was a great deal.

And then along came Windows 2.0 in 1987, and with it, one of the landmark software "look and feel" disputes to date.

Windows 2.0 was significantly more polished (and successful) than the previous version, and Apple had to act quickly to quell a rapidly-strengthening competitor. They claimed Windows 2.0 ripped off the Mac OS even more extensively and illegally than before. Apple argued that things like overlapping, resizable windows, a "desktop" with icons, and specifics like the trash can all amounted to a single entity referred to as "look and feel," which could then be protected as a whole via copyright (which MS was allegedly infringing). This was essentially a move by Apple to gain exclusive use of the "desktop" GUI metaphor, which is now ubiquitous to all modern operating systems. It would have been a gigantic legal coup.

Meanwhile, Xerox filed a defensive suit against Apple, claiming they were the actual source of the disputed GUI elements, hoping to in turn win control over the "desktop" should Apple win its case against Microsoft. It was dismissed on the grounds of a statute of limitations technicality.

Then Apple's case fell apart on a technicality of its own. The judge, not buying the "look and feel" voodoo, insisted on treating each UI element as its own infringement. And of Apple's list of 189 infringing elements, he judged all but ten to be legal under the original licensing deal Sculley made for Windows 1.0, which the court found to still be applicable to Windows 2.0, much to Apple's shock and chagrin.

The suit was bloody, and it lasted four years. When the judge ruled in Microsoft's favor in 1992, Apple tried to appeal to the Supreme Court, and was denied. Even so, bad blood continued to bubble until 1997 (along with additional side lawsuits that alleged Microsoft and Intel ripped off QuickTime code for optimizing video in Windows), until a final agreement was made. With Apple floundering and Windows the undisputed OS king, the deal tipped heavily in Gates' favor: It stipulated that Microsoft should continue to develop Office for the Mac (by then a huge bargaining chip), but at the same time forced Apple to make Internet Explorer its default Mac OS browser (ahem, seeds of anti-trust, ahem), and gave MS the chance to buy $150 million worth of bargain non-voting Apple stock—a 10% share. And of course, Windows could keep being Windows.

So in the end, what started in Apple's mind as a promising play for exclusive rights to the entire graphical user interface schema as we know it became a massive financial and legal defeat that continues to define the two companies to this day. Fanboys, this is where your hatred was born.

Winner: Microsoft

Apple Computer Inc. v. eMachines - 1999
Jobs returned to a still-smoldering Apple in 1997, and with him came the iMac a year later, which promptly inspired everything from steam irons to George Foreman grills to come adorned in colorful candy plastic. But eMachines, makers of cut-rate Wintel hardware, hit a little too close to the bone with their eOne, which was released a year after the original Bondi iMac. The eOne looked almost exactly like the iMac, and came pre-loaded with Windows 98 at a price point $400 below the iMac's—a recipe for litigation. Apple took eMachines to court citing a somewhat obscure "trade dress" infringement, which is effectively a way for companies to trademark and defend distinctive industrial and graphic designs that aren't literal trademarks themselves. They successfully shut down sales of the eOne, and eMachines went on to get folded into Gateway and then Acer, where they now continue to crank out Best Buy-filling cheapos to this day.

Winner: Apple

Apple, Inc v. Creative Technology, Ltd. - 2006
In 2006, Creative was awarded a patent for browsing hierarchical listings of music files in MP3 players it had applied for five years earlier in 2001, just barely nicking out similar patents filed for Apple's then-nascent iPod. Creative immediately attempted to leverage the patent, filing suit against Apple for infringement; Apple responded by counter-suing on the basis of several other Apple patents its lawyers found being infringed upon in Creative's Zen players. Yep, it was an all-out patent war, which was eventually settled to Apple's clear advantage: Apple agreed to break off $100 million in licensing fees to Creative (a pittance compared to its $1.5 billion in iPod revenues that quarter) for rights to the disputed patent moving forward. Creative didn't get the international injunction on iPod imports it wanted, but $100 million was an 85-cents-per-share boost for their quarterly profits. And in a trademark Jobsian zing, Steve remarked in Apple's press release: "Creative is very fortunate to have been granted this early patent." Translation: "Look at you, Creative, so cute with your patents. Take this $100 million I found under the seat of my SLR Benz and go buy something nice. And, oh, don't think about trying this ever again."

Winner: Apple

Apple Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc. - 2007
Remember the original iPhone? We sure do. And so did Cisco, who owned the trademark since 1996 for a VoIP product. Apple knew this and didn't care, and the day after Jobs announced iPhone 1.0, Cisco filed an infringement suit. But it didn't last long. Our guess is that El Jobso took Cisco boss John Chambers out for a nice dinner, reminded him that he made his billions on internet backbone infrastructure and not shitty 6-year-old VoIP phones, and the whole thing was settled before the appetizers were cleared. Just over a month later, the two companies announced they would share the iPhone name like good little boys, and would even "explore" opportunities for "interoperability." Do you see how Apple can't resist the condescension in the press releases? Writing Apple press releases must be fun, as far as press-release writing gigs go.

Winner: Apple

Apple Inc. v. Psystar Corporation - 2007-Present
This one's still brewing. Apple claims Psystar's Hackintoshed "Open Computers" violate the OS X license, which dictates that the OS only be run only on official Apple or Apple-approved hardware. Apple sued for this violation in July of this year, and the two parties have been lobbing legal clown pies back and forth ever since. Psystar's claims tend to border on the outrageous, including a claim that Apple's copyrights on OS X are invalid due to "failure to register said copyrights with the copyright office as required." Something tells me that's a little task Cupertino's law troupe would not let slip off their to-do lists.

Documents have surfaced that indicate the two companies are pursuing alternative dispute resolution (for settling the matter privately and out of court), but the volleys are still flying—the most recent being Psystar's claim this month that everything is fine and dandy since they legally purchase each copy of OS X they (illegally?) load onto their Open Computers. It's a tangled web, and if Apple's tendency to shut down even the slightest hint of Hackintoshing is any indication (just ask Brian from Wired), this case will eventually reach a settlement or a trial. Meanwhile, you can still order (or at least pay for) an Open Computer on Psystar's site.

Winner: TBD??

Conclusion
One thing is clear: It takes a Microsoft to beat Apple at the patent and copyright litigation game. Not even the Beatles could win, in the end. And even when facing a Microsoft-caliber opponent, the grand mal Microsoft-Apple suit for all the bananas was essentially settled over a technicality arising from a Sculley-helmed Apple's sloppy contract writing. Microsoft got lucky.

So is Palm ready to bet their entire company on the Pre's multitouch? Many agree that without the Pre, there isn't much of a company left anyway, so there's no reason not to. And these days, patents provide only the squishiest legal ground that gets squishier by the day—to the extent where almost every software-specific patent can be "designed around" to achieve an almost imperceptibly similar user experience without infringing earlier patents.

The fact remains, the iPhone is now the gem in Apple's crown and the truest embodiment of the company's soul. Jobs and his army of lawyers aren't going to let it be challenged without a fight.

Yeah, I know, you see "StemCell Computing" and you kinda want something goopy and weird that could perhaps, when given enough density, clone a Shakey's pizza shop. But the folks at Creative—including the chairman, my old buddy Sim Wong Hoo—are pretty stoked about this little system on a chip, the ZiiLABS ZMS-05 SoC, which comes out of the acquisition of the company formerly known as 3DLabs.

I suspect this is the last time the mainstream gadget media will hear about Zii directly until there are Zii-powered electronics bopping around, but that might not take long, as the following press release promises a "complete, powerful and energy efficient platform with a very rapid time-to-market."

Dreaming big, they even say that the technology allows "virtually unlimited chaining" to form "a state-of-the- art ‘hypercomputer’ with many petaflops of processing power...100 times smaller, 100 times greener and 100 times lower cost than conventional super computers." Sounds pretty good, in a crazy future's-so-bright sort of way. Good on you, Creative and ZiiLabs—now let's see some dang ZiiToys!!!

Creative Launches the Zii Platform and Ushers in the Era of StemCell Computing
Creative Forms ZiiLABS and Ushers in the Era of StemCell Computing Where Nano-Sized Super Computing Will Be Available in Our Daily Lives through Flexible, Tiny, Powerful and Scalable SoC

CES, Las Vegas, NV - Jan. 8, 2009 — Creative Technology Ltd. today announced the formation of ZiiLABS™ (a wholly owned subsidiary of Creative), with the combination of 3DLABS — which has a 25-year history as a leading innovator in programmable graphics, media and applications processing — and resources drawn from the largest product group in Creative, the Personal Digital Entertainment group.

The formation of ZiiLABS, the launch of the new ZiiLABS ZMS-05 SoC (System-On-Chip) and the new Zii™ Platform today usher in the new era of StemCell Computing™. The new ZiiLABS ZMS-05 SoC (System-On-Chip) will be unveiled and demonstrated from January 8-11 at the Consumer Electronics Show, South Hall booth #30651.

“We have invested a billion dollars and 10,000 man years of R&D effort over the last 25 years in platform solutions,” said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd. “The combination of the technology from 3DLABS and the product development prowess of our Personal Digital Entertainment group delivers a complete, powerful and energy efficient platform with a very rapid time-to-market for our partners – the Zii Platform.”

“We now look to shaping the future of computing with the introduction of the integrated ZMS-05 media-rich processor, and ushering in the new era of StemCell Computing where we will bring the incredible benefits of nano-sized super computing right into our daily lives,” said Hock Leow, president of ZiiLABS.”

This StemCell approach has benefits in terms of:
· Flexibility — Utilizing a breakthrough technology comprising of programmable Processing Elements (PEs) which are basically Software Defined Silicon
· Scalability — 10Gigaflops to Petaflops (1015 floating point operation per second)
· Energy Efficiency — Huge processing power of the ZMS-05 SoC enables it to perform more in less time, equating to low power consumption
· Complete Solution — Ready-for-Market Zii Platform Solutions

Unlimited Flexibility
Stem cells are the basic building blocks of life, possessing the unique ability to develop into the specialized cells and tissues required by organisms to function effectively. Inspired by this concept, the ZMS architecture uses an array of media-optimized Processing Elements (PE) as its stem cells that can instantly develop into any of the specialized acceleration functions required of today’s media rich devices and offering advantages in terms of flexibility, performance and features when compared to the fixed function silicon blocks traditionally used in SoC designs.

Incredible Scalability
The scalability of the ZMS architecture is highlighted in the first Teraflop Accelerator with the footprint of an A4-sized sheet of paper, consuming less power than a desktop PC. By utilizing the virtually unlimited chaining capability of the ZMS chips, a state-of-the- art ‘hypercomputer’ with many Petaflops of processing power can be realized, which can be 100 times smaller, 100 times greener and 100 times lower cost than conventional super computers.

High Energy Efficiency
Due to the compute density of each Processing Element, the ZMS-05 SoC is able to do an immense amount of media processing in far less time — and with far less energy — than taken by standard processors; which translates into longer battery life. Intelligent power control means the speed and power consumption of the processor can be matched to the task in hand and unused features can be turned off completely, put in deep stand-by and reactivated instantly after weeks of shut down, helping to lengthen battery life even further.

Complete Zii Platform Solutions
The ZMS-05 processor combines the media processing array, dual ARM cores and a rich set of integrated peripheral controllers with hardware platforms and advanced SDK and middleware. This will enable Software Developers, OEMs, ODMs and System Integrators to create unlimited possibilities and develop a broad range of highly innovative products.

ZiiLABS Launch Partners
With the excitement about the ZiiLABS platform now public and the ZMS-05 in production, the Company is pleased to be working with many OEM partners worldwide announcing products based on ZMS including: MicroStar International, Perception digital, F&S Electronic, MediaNet, ASTAK, PowerLinux and Grandeye.

For more information, please visit Zii.com

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 ZiiLABS

ZiiLABS is a worldwide leader in media-rich application processors, hardware platforms and advanced middleware. Its products enable OEMs, ODMs and system integrators to deliver industry-leading devices 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 Labs to form ZiiLABS in January 2009. ZiiLABS with over 800 R&D engineers today has invested US$1 billion and 10,000 man years in media processing solutions and has offices in the UK, China, USA and Singapore.

What does this processor do? What the hell is "stemcell computing?" Is this a bunch of hype that won't deliver in the end? The answers are: I don't know, I don't know and probably. However, we do know that the chip will be used in "a variety" of upcoming products and that Nintendo probably won't be happy about the name. The chip could simply enhance sound, but we are hoping that it is much more than that. We shall find out soon enough. [zii and epizenter]

The website referenced at zii.com has this info:
• The words "Zii". (Can assume that Nintendo's Lawyers are powering up.)
• The words "Everything you know is about to change".
• The text Stemcell (as one word, not two).
• Four leaf clovers that sparkle.
• The font for "Z" on Zii is some weird and terrible design that is also probably used for the Z on the neon sign of every shitty club called Zanzibar from Boston to Hawaii.

Entering this data into the generally infallible Gizmotronic super computer (A cluster of Dreamcasts and US Robotics 56k modems, connected over RJ-45) I've calculated to 99.5% probability that Creative Labs is getting into gadget cloning as a way to remain competitive in the mp3 player market, a market they were relevant in in 2001. They're going to use this tech to master the design methodology of 10th party Chinese knock off firms and save on research and development costs. And they will first clone another iPod and late in 2009 they'll get ambitious and clone the iPod Touch named Dolly the ipoddy. I have bet the Engadget guys 100 bucks and 10 links this is true.

But, considering our 0.5% chance of Gizmodotronic making a mistake, what do you think it is?

Update: Commenters Adam Lang and MichelleDatsun have earned their stars by taking the entire 1 minute to search the USPTO for Zii, coming up with an entry dated on September 18th of 2008, listing the probably purposefully broad description below. What is interesting is the section referring to "Providing on-line facilities, via a global computer network, to enable users to program the scheduling of audio, video, text and other multimedia content, including music, concerts, videos, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events, and entertainment-related programs". That all sounds a lot like some sort of social network or content distribution system, which the top players of significance, the Zune and iPod, have with their desktop apps. Interesting and it makes sense for Creative to make something like this (or give up) but there's no way to fit the "stemcell computing" aspect of the teaser into the analysis.

We'll find out soon enough.

[Zii.com via Paul at Engadget]

Word Mark ZII
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer software; computer hardware; computer memories; computer interfaces; HDMI interface, ports and cables for digital electronic multi-media devices; computers; central processing units; subwoofer speakers; audio players; audio signal processors; microprocessors; digital audio players; digital cameras; magnetic disks; external hard disk/storage devices; portable speakers; computer keyboards; computer mice; monitors; computer cables; headphones; earphones; digital video players; apparatus and instruments for recording, reproducing and/or transmitting sound and/or visual information or recordings; Instrument and materials for transmitting and/or receiving and/or recording sound and/or visual images; interactive sound and/or visual recordings; sound and/or visual recording media; video games; interactive computer software; electronic publications and digital music (downloadable) provided on-line from databases or from the Internet or from any other communications network; digital versatile discs and digital video discs (DVD) including high definition DVD; CD-ROMs; Optical and magneto-optical disc players and recorders for audio, video and computer data; optical and magneto-optical discs featuring music, text data, still images and motion pictures; televisions; Blu-ray discs (being a storage and/or recording media); virtual reality systems; digital music (downloadable); amplifiers; telephones; mobile telephones; cellular telephones; video phones; batteries, battery charges; charger adapters; parts and fittings for phones, including clips, covers and shells specifically adapted for phone; headphones receivers, microphones, hands free kits for phones for vehicles; electric cables, antennas, phone holders, desktop stands for mobile telephones, GPS receivers; 3G network receivers; 4G network receivers. tripods and flashlights for cameras, keyboards, Stylus (light pens), memory cards, loudspeakers, radio transmitters, audio adapters, carrying cases adapted for mobile telephones; carrying cases adapted for digital music players, and portable handheld digital electronic multi-media devices; cameras; digital maps and digital map displays; digital music players and radios; computer software for use in transmitting and receiving data, images and voice communications; computer software for transferring data, images, messages and video between mobile communication devices, portable handheld digital electronic multi-media devices, digital audio and video players and/or computers; computer software for gathering, storing, organizing and viewing information, data, images, messages and video on mobile communication apparatus, portable handheld digital electronic multi-media devices, digital audio and video players and/or computers; computer software enabling users of mobile phones and/or digital electronic multi-media devices to share information with other users of mobile phones and/or digital electronic multi-media devices; computer software and programs enabling users of communication devices to simultaneously access online services from network-wide databases and global computer networks; apparatus and instruments for telecommunication via internet; cordless telephones; computer telephony software; telecommunications equipment composed primarily of telephones and videophones, voice mail hardware and software, caller ID hardware and software, voice over IP hardware and software, telephone display screens, video screens, video screens for use within a video phone, and video cameras for use in a video phone; telephone-based information retrieval software and hardware; nano computers; laptop computers; electronic organizers, electronic notepads, digital satellite broadcasting systems, namely receivers, transmitters and antennas for satellite broadcasting. USB hubs and adapters; apparatus sets for remotely monitoring the security of places; apparatus and instruments for conducting, switching, transforming, accumulating, regulating or controlling electricity; remote controls; and electronic manuals (downloadable) distributed therewith

IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Advertising, business, marketing, promotional and publicity services; arranging and conducting exhibitions for advertising, commercial or trade purposes; arranging and conducting trade shows for advertising purposes; provision of advertising, marketing and promotional services on-line from computer databases or the Internet (including web sites); arranging for the provision of advertising space; advertising on radio and television; provision of space on web sites for advertising goods and services; classified advertisement; publication of advertising literature, matter and texts; preparation and publication of publicity texts; provision of business news (business management); arrangement of advertising; compilation of advertisements for use as web pages on the Internet; compilation, production and dissemination of advertising matter; rental of advertising space; arranging newspaper subscription; business information; business research; business services relating to the provision of sponsorship for television and radio commercials; production of commercials; business management of performing artists; opinion polling; economic forecasting; statistical information, namely, searching, browsing and retrieving information, sites, and other resources available on global computer networks and other communication networks for others; advertising and commercials in the electronic media; reproduction of advertising material in both print and electronic media; recruitment advertising; advertising and media campaign planning services; providing information on employment and careers (other than educational and training advice); advisory, information and consultancy services relating to all the aforesaid; all the aforesaid services also provided on-line from a computer database or via the global communications network

IC 038. US 100 101 104. G & S: Broadcasting and telecommunication services; broadcasting and communications by means of or aided by computer; broadcasting and communications by telephone, line and cable; mobile communication services; music and radio broadcasting; transmission of radio programs; wireless communication services; transmission of digital information; communication services for receiving and exchange of information, messages, images and data in electronic form; electronic mail services; news agency services (transmission of news); electronic data display board services for information, messages, images and data; electronic bulletin board services (telecommunications services); provision and operation of electronic conferencing, discussion groups and chat rooms; provision of on-line forums; operating chat rooms; providing access to blogs, providing on-line chat rooms or discussions services; providing access to a blog, chat room, bulletin board or discussion services; providing access to an Internet discussion website; providing internet uses with space for personalized information such as blogs and journals concerning entertainment, music, concerts, video, radio, television, film, news, sports, games and cultural events; providing access to digital music websites on the internet; providing access to MP3 websites on the internet; delivery of digital music by telecommunications; operating search engines; transmission of news and current affairs information; advisory, information and consultancy services relating to all the aforesaid; all the aforesaid services also provided on-line from a computer database or via the global communications network

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Audio and visual entertainment services; publication of sheet music; organization of competition for entertainment or education; organization and presentation of live performances; music composition services, music arrangement services, music production services; organization and production of shows; recording studio services; production of music, audio and video recordings; distribution (other than transportation) of music, audio and video recordings; promotions (entertainment); music publishing services, publishing of musical works, song publishing; operation of music schools; teaching of music; teaching of singing

IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Providing on-line facilities, via a global computer network, to enable users to program the scheduling of audio, video, text and other multimedia content, including music, concerts, videos, radio, television, news, sports, games, cultural events, and entertainment-related programs; design, drawing and commissioned writing, all for the creation and compilation of web sites and web pages; creating and maintaining web sites and portals on the internet; hosting computer sites (websites); providing users with access time to electronic communications networks with means of identifying, locating, grouping, distributing, and managing data and links to third-party computer servers, computer processors and computer users; providing users with access time to electronic communications networks with means of identifying, locating, grouping, distributing, and managing data and links to third-party computer servers, computer processors and computer users; provision of access time to web-sites featuring multimedia materials; providing access to databases and directories via communications networks for obtaining data in the fields of music, video, film, books, television, games and sports; photographic research; advisory, information and consultancy services relating to all the aforesaid; all the aforesaid services also provided on-line from a computer database or via the global communications network
Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM
Serial Number 77574281
Filing Date September 19, 2008
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Creative Technology Ltd CORPORATION SINGAPORE Creative Resource 31 International Business Park Singapore SINGAPORE 609921
Attorney of Record Jorge Arciniega
Description of Mark Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of the capital letter "Z" in a stylized script, followed by two lower case letters "i", with the stem of the second "i" inverted from the stem of the first "i".
Type of Mark TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

HDMI out is the biggest differentiation from the Flip MinoHD; the Vado also doubles the onboard memory to 8GB over the MinoHD's 4GB. Both have the same $230 MSRP, and same general $200 street price. We'll have a more in-depth look at the Vado all in due time, but for now, recall that the original Vado did not blow us away. [Product Page]

SANTA CLARA, CA—OCTOBER 16, 2008—NVIDIA today introduced its new accelerator for Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 software, the NVIDIA® Quadro® CX. This new GPU provides creative professionals with a faster, better, more reliable way to maximize their creativity. Quadro CX was architected to deliver the best performance for the new GPU-optimized features of Adobe Creative Suite 4.

“Adobe is at the forefront of the Visual Computing Revolution,” said Dan Vivoli, executive vice president of marketing at NVDIA. “CS4’s GPU features are sending shockwaves through the creative industry.”

“Photoshop users are always looking for maximum performance, and we recognized that tapping into the power of the GPU is one way to give it to them,” said Kevin Connor, vice president of product management for Professional Digital Imaging at Adobe. “Thanks to NVIDIA’s efforts to optimize the Quadro CX product for CS4, users can be assured of a dramatically fast and fluid experience on tasks such as panning, zooming, and rotating large images as well as manipulating 3D content.”

NVIDIA specifically designed and optimized the Quadro CX to enhance the performance of Adobe Creative Suite 4 product line and meet the unique needs of the Creative Suite 4 professional. Adding NVIDIA Quadro CX to the pipeline gives creative professionals a faster, better, and more reliable experience. With NVIDIA Quadro CX users can encode H.264 videos at lightning-fast speeds with the NVIDIA CUDA™-enabled plug-in for Adobe Premiere® Pro CS4, RapiHD™ from Elemental Technologies; accelerate rendering time for advanced effects; and accurately preview what deliverables will look like with 30-bit color or uncompressed 10-bit/12-bit SDI before final outputi.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 software now has added optimization to take advantage of GPU technology, including the parallel processing capability in the Quadro CX GPU. These enhancements accelerate a number of visually intensive operations, including:

Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 uses the NVIDIA Quadro CX GPU to bring unprecedented fluidity to image navigation. The GPU enables real-time image rotation, zooming, and panning, and makes changes to the view instantaneous and smooth. Adobe Photoshop CS4 also taps the GPU for on-screen compositing of both 2D and 3D content, ensuring smoothly anti-aliased results regardless of zoom level. Brush resizing and brushstroke preview, 3D movement, high-dynamic-range tone mapping, and color conversion are also accelerated by the GPU.
Adobe After Effects® CS4 now has added optimization features to accelerate a variety of creative effects, making it easier than ever to add graphics and visual effects to video, which allows the artist to quickly move from concept to final product and speeds up the workflow. Effects accelerated include depth of field, bilateral blur effects, turbulent noise such as flowing water or waving flags, and cartoon effects. NVIDIA Quadro CX takes advantages of these workflow enhancements.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 can take advantage of Quadro CX to accelerate high-quality video effects such as motion, opacity, color, and image distortion. Quadro CX also enables faster editing of multiple high-definition video streams and graphic overlays and provides a variety of video output choices for high-quality preview, including DisplayPort, component TV, or uncompressed 10-bit or 12-bit SDI.
NVIDIA Quadro CX is available starting today, from leading resellers, e-tailers, and retailers, for $1,999 USD. For more information on NVIDIA Quadro and the new Quadro CX, please visit: www.nvidia.com/quadrocx.

But accusations of monopoly sound a little hollow coming from a company that last made headlines for narrowly escaping a copyright trademark suit filed by Apple to cease the sale of Luxpro's Super Shuffle iPod shuffle knockoff. The suit resulted in a changed name for the player and a massive, failed countersuit by Luxpro. Even more significant here is that Luxpro's latest suit has been filed in an Arkansas court, which I'm guessing will be a little less lenient when it comes to Luxpro's obvious imitation products.

Whether they'll take Luxpro's monopoly accusations seriously remains to be seen, but the filing makes it clear that Luxpro is after money, and lots of it. [MacNN]

On September 23, 2008, Lensbaby, LLC (formerly known as Lensbabies, LLC) is launching an entire new system of selective focus lenses at the Photokina tradeshow in Cologne, Germany (Hall 5.2 C021).

Three new Lensbaby lenses – The Composer™, The Muse™ and The Control Freak™, – make up the new line of products. Each features the new Lensbaby Optic Swap system. The new Muse and the new Control Freak replace the current Original, Lensbaby 2.0, and Lensbaby 3G lenses, which will be phased out immediately. With the Composer, Lensbaby introduces a completely new lens, based on a ball and socket configuration that delivers smooth selective focus photography with unparalleled ease of use and greater precision.

All Lensbaby lenses provide photographers with a new way to control depth of field by bringing one area of a photo into sharpest focus with that Sweet Spot™ surrounded by graduated blur. By bending the Lensbaby lens, the photographer moves the sharp area around the photo for customized creative effects.

The new Composer retains its position after being bent and is easy to use even with one hand. Photographers do not squeeze the lens to focus, but can simply tilt the lens to a desired angle and then focus with a barrel focusing ring. The Composer stays in the desired bent position without requiring a locking mechanism and features the new Lensbaby Optic Swap System. The Composer’s barrel focusing ring has a unique design that becomes more sensitive (requiring greater rotation to move the optic in and out) as you approach infinity, making it easer to focus on subjects from 10 feet to infinity.

“The Composer introduces a new level of ease and precision to selective focus photography,” said Craig Strong, Lensbaby president and co-founder. “We developed the Composer because our photographers are interested above all in creating powerful, interesting photos. With its greatly enhanced ease of use and more reliable results, the Composer will make it more intuitive for photographers to realize their personal creative visions.”

The Muse replaces the Original Lensbaby and Lensbaby 2.0 lenses while being very similar in appearance and functionality. Photographers will still focus by compressing the lens and move the sweet spot by bending the flexible lens tubing. The key update for the Muse is its new Lensbaby Optic Swap System.

The Control Freak updates the Lensbaby 3G by adding the Lensbaby Optic Swap System. With The Control Freak, photographers compress to focus, bend to move the sweet spot, and then push a button to lock the lens in place. Once locked, photographers can adjust the fine focus with a barrel focusing ring and fine tune the tilt by rotating its three metal posts.

“While we expect the new Composer, with its smooth and precise operation, to be our most popular lens, we continue to offer the Muse and the Control Freak because each photographer has their own shooting style. The Muse is for photographers who shoot fast and loose and The Control Freak is best for shooters who have a step-by-step approach,” said Strong.

All three lenses - the Composer, Muse, and Control Freak – feature the Lensbaby Optic Swap System and will ship with one optic installed. Additional optics are available as optional accessories. When a photographer wants to change the optic in their Lensbaby, they will simply pop the optic out and drop in a different optic using an Optic Swap Tool supplied with the new optic. Each optic has different features and image qualities, allowing photographers to choose the look that fits their creative style.

At launch, the Lensbaby Optic Swap System will include four interchangeable optic options:

1) Double Glass: A 50mm multi-coated optical glass doublet that is the same optic that was in the Lensbaby 2.0 and Lensbaby 3G lenses. Retail price: US$85.00
2) Single Glass: a 50 mm, updated, uncoated optical glass singlet similar to the optic that was used in the Original Lensbaby. At f/2, the Single Glass Optic is one full stop brighter (2x as bright) than the previous Original Lensbaby Optic. Retail price: US$35.00
3) Plastic: a 50 mm f/2 plastic singlet that maximizes blur and diffusion in a dreamy way that Holga™ and Diana™ camera lovers will especially appreciate. Retail price: US$35.00
4) The Pinhole/Zone plate: an optic cup with an f/177 aperture hole to allow for pinhole photography and an f/19 Zone plate opening. Users can slide a toggle inside the optic to change to back and forth between Pinhole and Zone plate mode, allowing further artistic exploration. Retail price: US$35.00

The first three optics listed above are all 50mm fixed focal length. They all feature magnetically levitating interchangeable aperture disks that allow aperture settings from f/2 to f/22.

The Single Glass, Plastic, and Pinhole/Zone plate optics will be sold individually as well as in an Optic Boxed Set to retail for $95.00.

Lensbaby President and Co-Founder, Craig Strong, stated, “Lensbaby photographers tend to be very creative. The new Lensbaby Optic Swap system will give photographers greater freedom to take photos that reflect their unique visions.”

Strong continued, “With the new Composer lens and the Lensbaby Optic Swap System, photographers will be able to choose a lens body that fits their bending style: fast and loose, smooth and precise, or step by step. Then photographers can choose an optic that expresses their individual artistic vision.”

Product Pricing and Specs:

The Composer – Smooth and Precise

* Priced at US$270
* Ships with the Double Glass optic installed (a multi-coated optical glass doublet)
* Features the Lensbaby Optic Swap system
* Focal Length: 50mm
* Focus Type: Manual
* Features a unique barrel focusing ring that becomes more sensitive (requiring greater rotation to move the optic in and out) as you approach infinity, making it easier to focus on subjects from 10 feet to infinity.
* Aperture Type: Interchangeable levitating aperture disks
* Apertures: f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22
* Minimum Focus: about 18” (46cm) / Maximum Focus: Infinity
* Size/Weight: 2.5” (6.35cm) high x 2.5” (6.35cm) wide / 5.5 oz (155.9g)

The Muse – Fast and loose

* Priced at US $150 with the Double Glass optic installed; US $100 with the Plastic optic installed
* Ships with either the Double Glass optic installed or the Plastic optic installed.
* Features the Lensbaby Optic Swap system
* Focal Length: right around 50mm
* Focus Type: Manual...Fingertip, actually
* Aperture Type: Interchangeable levitating aperture disks
* Aperture: f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8
* Minimum Focus: approximately 12” (30 cm) / Maximum Focus: Infinity and beyond
* Size/Weight: 2" (5.08cm) high x 2.5" (6.35cm) wide / 3.7 oz. (104.9g)

The Control Freak – Step-by-step

* Priced at US$270
* Ships with the Double Glass Optic installed
* Features the Lensbaby Optic Swap system
* Focal Length: 50mm
* Focus Type: Manual/Fingertip, with barrel fine focus
* Aperture Type: Interchangeable levitating aperture disks
* Aperture: f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22
* Minimum Focus: approximately 12” (30 cm) / Maximum Focus: Infinity
* Size/Weight: 3" (7.62cm) high x 3" (7.62cm) wide / 5.7 oz. (161.6 grams)

[Lensbaby]

CREATIVE ANNOUNCES NEW SOUND BLASTER X-FI NOTEBOOK SOUND CARD AND CREATIVE WIRELESS RECEIVER

Designed to improve the audio quality of music, movies and games on notebook PCs and to play sound wirelessly through speakers in any room around the home.

Creative, a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, announces the Sound Blaster X-Fi® Notebook sound card, designed to make MP3 and iTunes music, movies and games sound better on notebook PCs. This new Sound Blaster fits easily into a standard ExpressCard slot to upgrade the latest notebook PCs to premium sound systems with award-winning X-Fi audio technology.

When used with the Creative Wireless Receiver, the Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook frees users from the need to run wires from their notebook PCs to their speakers. Instead, they can enjoy top-quality audio anywhere around the home, without cables! Audio is ‘broadcast' from the Sound Blaster to the Creative Wireless Receiver, which can be connected to powered speakers or to a hi-fi system. As many as four Creative Wireless Receivers, each with powered speakers, can be supported around the home and up to 30 meters/100 feet away from the notebook. Users can enjoy all the freedom of wireless flexibility and hear their favourite audio without any delays or dropouts. Individual ‘zones' can be created around the home to control playback independently in specific rooms.

“The Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook and Creative Wireless Receiver were designed to make a dramatic improvement to the sound quality of music, movies and games on the notebook PC and to let users enjoy their entertainment anywhere in their homes,” explains Steve Erickson, Vice President and General Manager of Creative's Audio business. “Now people can position their speaker systems wherever they choose without being tied to a laptop or restricted to a desk.”

Creative's award-winning X-Fi audio technology provides significant benefits to any audio listening experience. For music, X-Fi Crystalizer® technology utilises audio algorithms to selectively restore the instrumental or vocal highs and lows that may gave been damaged or diminished during the MP3, iTunes or other compression processes.

For PC gaming, X-Fi CMSS®-3D technology provides a compelling surround sound experience for headphones, enabling gamers to hear the precise position of their opponents even when they cannot see them. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook also features Creative's EAX ADVANCED HD audio technology, for stunning positional audio realism in today's hottest games.

For movies, the Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook includes a free download of PowerDVD software with full DTS and Dolby Digital decoding support. CMSS-3D technology provides virtual surround sound through stereo speakers or headphones for an immersive cinematic movie audio experience.

Well, it sure looks like a camera at least. How great would such a device be if coupled with a super powerful image search engine?

Really great. That's how great. Really great. [anythingbutipod]

Apple was the first one to bring out around five colors (the 2G nano), but Creative then followed up with what you see above. Lots. More than five. Ten. That's like, double five. Apple's 4G nanos have nine. One less than ten. But Apple's are more vibrant in their marketing shots.

First, some ground rules on the scope and purpose of my testing:

The headphones tested are all what you'd consider "upgrades" rather than "replacements" for the crap headphones that came with your MP3 player. While I capped pricing at $200, my "cheapest" pair started at around $40. The three tiers are under $100, $100-$150, and $150-$200.

The most practical measure of sound quality is to just sit and listen. I focused on in-ear headphones because they are built not just to jam a driver right next to your ear, but to block outside noise. It's simple: less ambient noise = better experience.

In the spirit of cutting out the vaguely scientific marketing jargon, my tests were unscientific, but consistent across the board and based on real-world situations. The methodology was simple: a current-gen iPod, a sonically diverse playlist of music and, for isolation testing, a seat on the 14 bus in San Francisco, then some time next to a white noise machine.

With so much of the earphone inside of your ear, rustling of the cable can cause some serious noise. If the cable isn't properly buffered from the earphone, the deep, annoying shuffling can interfere your music when you try to walk or turn your head. That's why I made note of "cable noise"—this isn't to suggest there was some kind of buzz or white noise from the cable itself.

The Losers: This is a tricky price point, as some stock earbuds (Apple, Sony) are actually pretty good. Slapping a rubber cuff on a half-baked product doesn't justify a price of $50+. In the case of Apple's in-ears and the CX300s, you aren't really experiencing a different class of audio than with stock buds, though there is a marked improvement. The CX500s put on a good show for bass junkies, but that's about it. Creative has a nice product with a great price, but it just can't measure up to the metro.fi on the performance front.

$100-$150
The Winner: Shure SE110 This price point offers the highest price to performance ratio, and the SE110 is the best of the lot. If you can get over the deep penetration and the over-ear looping, you'll find that the SE110s are comfortable, block out plenty of ambient noise and most importantly produce stunning, immersive sound. The tones are wisely balanced, and quality is at the level that you'll be noticing new things about songs that you've heard dozens of times. Decent discounts are available at various online retailers, as is the case with most of this category.

The Losers: Manufacturers know that this is a sweet spot for consumers, so the market is crowded with good options. The hardware starts to look a little more "professional," or more accurately, "weird." Etymotics, always fans of producing earphones that are really good on paper, fails with the ER6 not because of quality issues, but because the buds are awkward and overwhelm with the high and middle tones. The company's new earphone tips, however, are amazing (more on this below, in the more expensive category). Ultimate Ears loses their luster at this level. Creative is yet again a nice runner-up; the Zen Aurvanas are very capable, but couldn't supplant the crystal-clear SE110s.

$150-$200
The Winner: Etymotics hf5 Ostensibly designed with portable music players in mind, the hf5s solve the balance problems of the er6 models and much, much more. They're cool looking (with the right tips, they look like sci-fi laser pistols), have little to no cable movement noise and reproduce sound in a way that is both perfectly clear and highly enjoyable. Everything about these gives the impression of quality, from the brushed aluminum finish to the way that music suddenly sounds distinctly layered in a way that it didn't before, and that it doesn't on many similarly priced units. One caveat, though: the hf5s (and the er6s, for that matter) must be used with the new foam rubber tips, called "Mushrooms." They're a little phallic and sort of a sickly gray, but they are leaps and bounds better than Etymotics' trademark flanged tips. The tighter seal that these offer to most people is conducive to better listening, and the isolation properties are superb. You can't hear anything else with these guys in. Every manufacturer should have something like this. According to the Etymotics people, by the time the hf5s ship these will be standard issue. Good.

The Losers: To sum up the category: Expensive without enough added benefit. Spending $100 will get you a phenomenal listening experience, so it's hard to justify spending more. The $200 cap was intended to filter out the luxury market/audiophile products that tend to show up at about that price, but hints of both are apparent here. The Shure SE210s are a wonderful pair of earphones, but the large premium over the SE110s is a dealbreaker, as side-by-side comparisons expose only the slightest variation in sound quality. The Klipsch Custom-2s are more of a luxury item than the others, with woven cable housing and a case that is ready for you iPod as well. Harman Kardon is just batting out of their league here, and Ultimate Ears doesn't improve on their cheaper models, even introducing some pretty terrible cable noise.

If you're looking to get the most out of your MP3 player, you'll have to spend some money. But as it turns out, the general rule is that once you pass about $100, your audio improvements will become smaller and more expensive. After reviewing all of these earphones, one simple fact is very clear: If I were in the market for a new set of earphones, I would buy the SE110s.

According to leaked specs, the nine-point pad will offer users the option of instant messaging on Windows Live or Yahoo Messenger in a phone-style typing schema. The device will also use wireless to share media between home networked computers and access an internet-based media pool, called a Public Home Server.

The player is named after Creative's X-Fi audio technology, which restores lost data in compressed music files to create concert-like audio effects. Users can turn to two X-Fi options—Crystalizer makes audio richer and clearer, and Expand repositions the music to sound like it's coming from in front of you, simulating listening to a live performance on stage. Check out the manual:

[epiZENter]

Ever since the world caught wind of the Pure Digital Flip cam's success, super-cheap digital pocket camcorders have sprouted up everywhere. With everyone and their mother trying to become the next Lil Show Stoppa or Soulja Girl, people need a cheap and easy way to capture those magic moments. I tested six of these cams—from Creative, RCA/Audiovox, DXG and Pure Digital—all $180 or less. Here are samples of all of their videos in various conditions, and an overall look at how they stack up:

Video samples: I tested the camcorders in the three most common situations you'll use them for: indoors with full light, indoors with low light, and outdoors. In the videos, I stood in the same place with each camera. As you can see, different cameras capture different areas. Watch as these two goofballs get their line dance on and destroy the Great American Songbook, and you will easily spot the difference in quality between the recordings.

Indoor, full light:

Indoor, low light:

Outdoors:

The Runners-Up (in no particular order):

DXG 569-V HD: The best thing about this cam is that it looks very fancy. The worst thing is that it isn't. The DXG took the worst overall video of the bunch even though it claims to record in HD. Also, the 3 AAAs ran out after about 25 minutes of recording—I should've realized this would be a problem when I saw the unit came bundled with rechargeable batteries and a charger. Still, it's nice that it has a still camera option, and you could probably trick your friends into thinking you have a pricier Xacti for a minute.

Creative Vado: The Vado is the most non-descript camera of the bunch. Boring UI, crappy video quality and a plain outer shell make it a snoozer. However, it's about as thin as the Mino, very cheap and has no frills at all, making it a decent option for total luddites or technophobes.

RCA Small Wonder EZ210: I naturally gravitated to the EZ210 because of it's giant screen, big buttons, and retro look. Seriously, for all the tech inside, the camcorder looks like it was made in 1982. Even though the EZ210 is the most welcoming cam of the bunch, in the end it's about video quality and this one wasn't cutting it. It's a fair price, and I love the expandable memory, so it's a close 2nd place option.

RCA Small Wonder EZ200: The EZ200 is all over the map. After seeing the nice quality of the EZ210's daylight video, I was shocked to see how grainy and slow the EZ200's daylight footage was—it looked like an old-fashioned home film camera. Also, the flip out screen is hokey to me, but it's great for people who like to look at themselves while lipsynching to Mr. Roboto. Complaints aside, I was pleasantly surprised that the EZ200 took halfway decent low-light video. That plus the cheap price and expandable memory make this one a reasonable bet for a starter cam.

Flip Mino: The Mino is thin, has a great look and feel, and captures excellent video, but it's not the winner for a few reasons. Most importantly, it has a narrower-angled lens than just about every other camera in the test—I couldn't get my whole couch into the shot no matter how I tried. Also, the sound wasn't very good. Finally, this week I'm on the other side of the neverending rechargeable vs. AA debate, and between the Li-ion battery and non-upgradeable memory, the Mino is a little too closed for my tastes. However, if you're looking purely for video quality, Mino is a no brainer.

And the winner is...

Flip Ultra: Yes, the first is still the best, and there are good reasons why so many companies want to capture its success: The Ultra works, and it works well. Low light video is great, the camera feels good in your hand, and it's so simple that you could probably train your cat to record their own cute videos with it. The small screen is a drawback, but it captures a good chunk of space. The Ultra is the best value of the bunch when you consider the criteria, remaining the Cadillac of cheap pocket camcorders.

[Special thanks to the singers and dancers, who asked to be known as Rocko Money and Inter Minetti!!]

Creative Introduces the Vado Pocket Video Cam - Capture Life - See it, Shoot it, Share it - All in an Instant Amazingly Small and Weighing Less Than 3 oz. the Vado Allows You to Shoot Videos and to Easily Post them to YouTube or Photobucket and Share them with Friends and Family at Box.net

MILPITAS, Calif., May 13, 2008 - Creative, a worldwide leader in video innovation, today announced the Vado Pocket Video Cam. Small enough to fit easily in your pocket, purse or the palm of your hand, the Vado Pocket Video Cam changes the way video is captured, shared and stored by making it fast, easy and fun. Priced at only US$99.99, the Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam is available today at Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Buy.com, Creative.com, Fry's Electronics, J&R, and Newegg.com.

A breakthrough in video camera design, the Vado Pocket Video Cam is dramatically thinner and lighter than competing video cameras. Available in silver or hot pink, the Vado Pocket Video Cam is so small and lightweight that it's hard to believe it can capture such high-quality video. With the press of a button you can record life's spontaneous moments, whether it's baby's first steps, awesome sports stunts or hilarious adventures with friends.

Creative's President and COO Craig McHugh describes how the Vado Pocket Video Cam completely changes the experience of shooting and sharing video:

"The Creative Vado makes shooting and sharing video as easy as taking pictures with a point-and-shoot portable digital camera. It's so small and lightweight that you can have it in your pocket so it's always there, or you can just set it on your coffee table so everyone in the family can use it. It's so inexpensive and easy to use that you don't have to worry. It's always ready to capture spontaneous moments that are once in a lifetime, the type you can't plan for in advance. The Vado doesn't need tapes or discs; it can record up to two hours of high-quality video on its built-in 2GB of memory and it has a removable rechargeable battery, so you can shoot two hours of video on a single charge and you don't have to hassle with disposable batteries.

Just as the Vado makes it super easy and quick to shoot video, it makes it incredibly easy and fast to get the videos off the camera. It has a built-in USB connector so you can just plug it into your PC, just like you would with a thumb drive. The Vado has a software program built right into it that will prompt you to copy the video, or you can just drag the videos directly to your PC. With one easy step, the software can take you to YouTube or Photobucket so you can easily post your videos. When you want to share your videos with only friends and family, you can use Box.net, where they can either view or download a copy of the video. Box.net provides online storage and creates a web link to videos you've uploaded, so you can share them with anyone."

Vado Features
• Slim, lightweight, pocket-sized design
• Built-in two-inch color LCD screen
• Removable rechargeable battery
• 640 x 480 VGA video resolution
• Built-in USB connector for PC
• Built-in software program for posting videos to YouTube or Photobucket
• Enable friends and family to download your videos from Box.net
• Available in silver or hot pink
• Priced at only US$99.99

Vado Accessories
To customize your Vado experience, equip your Pocket Video Cam with the following accessories, available at www.creative.com:
• A pouch to stow your Vado Pocket Video Cam, priced at US$14.99
• Spare batteries providing up to two hours of recording or playback, priced at US$14.99
• A power adapter with charging station so your Vado is ready to go when you are, priced at US$29.99
• An A/V cable for sharing your Vado video on your TV screen, priced at US$9.99

For more information about the Creative Vado Pocket Video Cam visit www.creative.com.

According to J&R's spec sheet, it's got VGA res, 2GB storage, solid low-light performance, direct YouTube/Photobuck upload, 2x digital zoom and a USB dongle connector, etc. Its only points of difference are a slightly larger 2-inch screen, more compression (two hours of vid will fit on its 2GB, the Flip only promises an hour) and a smaller palette of colors, just silver and pink. No pictures of this thing yet (it probably won't look like this horrible Photoshop), but it might do well, if only thanks to the power of confusion—the people purportedly picking up the Flip aren't the most discerning crowd, and the weird, dark and vaguely sci-fiish name would be a turnoff for soccer moms. Flip sounds more fun. [JR via Gadget Lab]