Creative Zii EGG Video — Plaszma OS, Opera Browser Have Starring Roles

http://www.youtube.com/v/aDOB-vshc0E&border=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

Anything But iPod dropped the $399 I wouldn’t — I thought about it, though — and they’re now the proud owners of a Creative Zii EGG developer edition handheld. This early video look offers a detailed introduction to the hardware as well as the Plaszma operating system. It’s clear that this device still isn’t optimized to take advantage of the StemCell computing offered by the ZMS-05 platform, but it shows promise. The touchscreen looks bright, clear and responsive and the native music player appears intuitive. Browsing in Plaszma is done through a version of Opera, so it appears to be quite usable, as expected.

The Zii EGG supports Google’s Android operating system as well, but doesn’t include a cellular radio for voice. It’s conceivable that you could turn this into a fun Android device and use voice apps over Wi-Fi thanks to the built-in microphone. A quick recap of other key specs to refresh your memory of the Zii EGG:

  • 3.5″ display running 320×480 resolution with 10-point capacitive multitouch support
  • 1080p high-definition output
  • 32GB internal storage memory, 256MB of RAM
  • SD slot supporting up to 32GB of expanded storage
  • 802.11g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2.1 +EDR, GPS, 3-axis accelerometer
  • 3D hardware graphics accelerator supporting OpenGL ES
  • Support for Android and the Android SDK

Although $399 for a development device is still too rich for my blood, I’m keeping an eye on the EGG and the Plaszma operating system for now. I suspect that Creative will have better success with this device using the Android platform, but you never know.

loading

Comments have been disabled for this post