Krunker » Creative

Amazon offering pink Creative Vado Pocket Video Camcorder for $59.99

flung — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:06:11 +0000

If you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for your loved one, then you might be interested in this Amazon.com deal for a pink Creative Vado Pocket Video Camcorder for $59.99.

If you’re not familiar with the Vado – it’s basically a small portable video camcorder capable of capturing VGA quality video. Simply put – it’s Creative’s answer to the popular Flip video camcorder. While there is a newer HD version of the Vado, this deal is NOT for that camcorder.

There’s 2GB of flash memory, a built-in speaker and microphone, and a small 2 inch 640 x 240 resolution display. When you’re ready to upload your captured video, simply connect the Vado to your PC via the flip out USB connector. Expect one hour for high quality video capture and two hours for good quality video.

The $59.99 deal is for the pink version of the Vado while the silver version is available for $69.99.

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: Creative, Vado Pocket Video Camcorder, Pink Vado, Amazon.com deal

PC Mag reviews the Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Cam

flung — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:16:35 +0000

Found myself another review of the new Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder. This time it’s from the folks at PC Magazine and guess what ? They awarded it their “Editor’s Choice” award! Oh man.. this is seriously making me think about picking one up for myself! The only problem I have with the camcorder is the fact that there isn’t any image stabilization feature on it. Then again – none of the pocket HD camcorders have it so the point is moot.

In any case, here’s their summary:

“Creative follows in Kodak’s and Pure Digital’s footsteps with its own HD pocket camcorder. The camera has all the charm of the original Vado and enough new features to make it best in show.”

Not bad..

Don’t forget – the cam is available for $199 right now (normally at $229)

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder, PC Magazine Review

New reviews of the Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder

flung — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:47:58 +0000

With CES 2009 fast approaching, I’ve been thinking about getting a small portable high definition camera and with the recent launch of the Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder, I must say that I’ve been interested in picking one up. Well as per my usual research patterns, I decided to see if anyone published reviews of the new camcorder – luckily I found two – PC World and CNET.

PC World rated the camcorder an 89 out of 100 (calling it “video good”) and had this to say:

“The Vado HD is a pretty slick package. It lacks the sex appeal of some other camcorders in its class, such as the Flip Mino series, and it lacks a Mac-compatible video-management app. Nevertheless, good overall image quality, a user-replaceable battery, and other niceties make the Vado HD an attention-worthy option for a pocketable HD camcorder.”

Not too bad.. but what did CNET think of the camcorder?

“The Creative Vado HD may fall slightly short of the Flip Video Mino HD in terms of video quality, but it’s stronger feature set may tempt you.”

So what does this all mean for me? At $199.99, it’s definitely hard to pass up. If only the Vado had a built-in memory card reader.. but then again, the 8GB storage space isn’t too bad either. Just make sure you have a netbook lying around to upload videos to!

Well, I’ll make my decisions soon I suppose!

Technorati Tags: Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder, PC World, CNET, Review

Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Cam available for pre-order

flung — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:15:19 +0000

The Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Cam is now available for pre-order at Creative’s website for $199 dollars. The Vado HD measures a mere 3.9 x 2.2 x 0.6 inches and weighs 100 grams with the battery – certainly small enough to carry in your pocket or hold in the palm of your hand. Features of the Creative Vado HD include:

Capture video in 720p (1280 x 720)
Start and stop recording at the touch of a button
Flexible USB tab
Included HDMI cable allows you to connect the Vado HD to an HDTV
H.264 video compression
2 inch antiglare screen with 640 x 240 resolution
2x digital zoom
Rechargeable lithium-ion battery – rechargeable via USB
8GB of memory
2 hours of HD+ quality; 4 hours of HD quality, and 8 hours of VGA quality
Built-in speaker and microphone
Built-in software
2 hour battery life

No word on when Creative will ship the Vado HD.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Cam

Creative teasing us with the Vado HD Pocket Video Cam

flung — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:57:24 +0000

Creative will be releasing an update to their Vado Pocket Video Cam called the Vado HD with a starting price of $299 in Singapore (that’s around $195 in U.S. dollars). Unfortunately there are no specs on the Vado HD as of yet but it sure looks like the Vado except for the updated logo.

[Check it out via GearLog]

Technorati Tags: Creative Vado HD Pocket Video Cam

Creative’s Designed for Dell products

flung — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:33:41 +0000

Dell is now selling two Creative products as part of Dell’s “Designed for Dell” initiative – the Creative Labs EP-610 headphones and the Creative Labs Inspire T10 speakers. These products colorfully match many of Dell’s recent product offerings – especially their new Studio computer systems.

The Creative EP-610 headphones has the following specs:

Gold-plated plug
In-ear ear bud
Response frequency of 6 to 23000Hz
106dB sensitivity
16 Ohm impedence
Neodymium magnet

The Creative Inspire T10 speakers has the following specs:

Measures 3.5 x 5.4 x 7.6 inches
2 speaker system
10 watt nominal output power
Response frequency of 80 to 20000 Hz
80dB signal to noise ratio
Integrated audio amp
Power on/off, volume, bass controls

The EP-610 is currently available for $23.99 while the Inspire T10 is going for $39.99.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Dell, Designed for Dell, Creative Labs, EP-610 Headphones, Inspire T10 speakers

Creative introduces ZEN Mosaic

flung — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:55:05 +0000

Creative Japan has a new portable media player out called the Creative ZEN Mosaic. One half of the ZEN Mosaic is covered by the 1.8 inch LCD display while the other half is covered by a patchwork of square and rectangular patterns (which also double as control and navigational buttons). Spec wise, this is a flash based media player with storage options ranging from 2GB,4GB, and 8GB. Other specs include:

Measures 79.5 x 40 x 12.8mm
Weighs 43 grams
Supports MP3, WMA, WAV, JPG
Built-in speakers
FM tuner

The ZEN Mosaic will be due out in August.

[Check it out via Akihabara News]

Technorati Tags: Creative ZEN Mosaic, Portable Media Player

Creative’s new ZEN X-Fi is now available

flung — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:08:05 +0000

Prices are set for the new Creative Technology ZEN X-Fi media player here in the U.S. The 32GB model has an MSRP of $279.99, the 16GB an MSRP of $199.99, and the 8GB goes for $149.99. Not familiar with the new ZEN X-Fi? It’s the first Creative media player to feature their X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Audio technology designed to help restore the quality of compressed music. There are basically two models – one with wireless LAN and one without. The 16GB and 32GB models feature Wi-Fi while the 8GB lacks it. Here are the major specs to the player:

Measures 3.3. x 2.2 x 0.5 inches and weighs 2.4 oz
2.5 inch TFT display with a resolution of 320 x 240
Video support includes MJPEG, WMV, MPEG-4, DivX, and XviD
Audio support includes MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, Audible 2,3,4
Picture support includes JPEG support
802.11 b/g for 16GB and 32GB models
FM radio with 32 preset stations
Equalizer with 8 presets and 5 band custom EQ
Calendar, Contact, Task List
USB 2.0

[Check out the ZEN X-Fi with wireless LAN]

[Check out the ZEN Xi-Fi]

via SlashGear

Technorati Tags: Creative ZEN X-Fi, Prices

Dell announces Designed for Dell products

flung — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:47:03 +0000

Dell is taking a page out of Apple’s business model by introducing a new line of bags and accessories dubbed “Designed for Dell”. These are products designed by third party manufacturers that complement the latest Dell PCs such as the Studio laptops that were recently introduced. This is Dell’s attempt to create an industry similar to what we’ve seen with Apple’s iPod/iPhone product line – third party products that accentuate the capabilities of the main product. In this case, we’ve got the new Dell Studio notebook which is just begging for matching case designs, cool looking speakers, hard drives for more storage space, and funky mice. Current manufacturers participating in the Designed for Dell program include:

Belkin: Backpacks and messenger cases
Built: Computer sleeves, cargo bags and portfolios
Creative Labs: Headphones and speakers
Iomega: Portable hard drives
Logitech: Mice
Swiss Gear: Backpacks
Targus: Messenger cases and accessories bundles

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Dell, Designed for Dell, Belkin, Built, Creative Labs, Iomega, Logitech, Swiss Gear, Targus

Rumored Creative Share

flung — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:01:24 +0000

Could wireless sharing be on the horizons for the next Creative media player offering? According to the folks at Sky News, that’s indeed very possible as rumors are circulating that a new Creative device will soon be released called the “Zen Share”. The “Share” moniker implies that the new media player will allow users to share content between devices although it’s not clear how this sharing will be implemented at this time. The new player is rumored to be targeting the May/June timeframe with a possible announcement in March at the German CeBIT show.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative, Creative Share

Creative lowers the 32GB Zen to $299

flung — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:55:41 +0000

You have to love competition folks. Last week, Apple introduced the new 32GB version of the iPod touch and priced the device near the stratosphere at around $499. In response to this, Creative has lowered their already low-priced 32GB version of the Creative Zen media player to $299 which amounts to a $30 dollar price cut. Now granted, the Creative Zen isn’t as “cool” as the iPod touch and it certainly lacks the touch-screen user interface and various other PDA-like applications. However if you simply want a portable media player, the 32GB Zen is certainly hard to beat from a price-perspective. I saw the Zen back at CES 2008 and was very impressed with the color display on the media player. While nowhere near as sexy at the more expensive iPod touch, the Zen is certainly worth a look over.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative Zen, 32GB, 9

A visit to Creative’s booth at CES 2008

flung — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:23:29 +0000

Having talked about the new Creative inPerson video conferencing product this morning, I thought I’d continue the Creative Technology coverage. The truth is – I didn’t really come across anything that truly stood out at Creative this year. Yes, they had some headphones, media players, and sound cards out but let’s face it – it was a rather boring booth altogether. Most of the ruckus was around two things – Creative Booth Babes and the fragging that Fatal1ty was performing on various gamers in the crowd. So without further ado, here are some pictures that I snapped at the booth. Enjoy!

You can barely see them in the above picture but the Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones are truly on display above. There are actually two of them – one on the left and one on the right (and it doesn’t help that the headphones are rather pitch black to begin with!). Here’s what you basically need to know about the Aurvana Live! headphones:

Lightweight and ergonomically designed
Soft leatherette earpads and adjustable padded headband
40 mm neodymium magnet driver with ultra-thin bio-cellulose diaphragm
Optimally contoured earcups minimize internal sound distortion (and have high gloss finish)
Comes with microfiber travel pouch
Frequency Response: 10Hz – 30kHz
Cord length: 1.2 m – oxygen free copper cable
210 gram weight
MSRP of $149.99

Next to this lovely Creative Booth Babe is the Aurvana X-Fi Headphone. Features and specs to the Aurvana X-Fi include the following:

Employs X-Fi technology
X-Fi Crystalizer technology restores details and vibrancy to compressed music and movies – highs and lows are enhanced
X-Fi CMSS-3D technology expands stereo MP3s and digital movies into virtual surround sound over the headphones. Voices are centered and ambient sounds are moved all around you
Noise cancellation technology reduces background and environment noise by up to 90 percent. Use these headphones to block out noise when you sleep!
40 mm neodymium drivers
Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz
Noise reduction level: 20dB
Weighs 245 grams
Includes travel case
MSRP of $299.99.

Above is a picture of the Creative ZEN Stone MP3 player and I have to admit – these pictures really do no justice to the ZEN Stone (and the ZEN Stone Plus). Seriously now – if you want a tiny MP3 player, the ZEN Stone is pretty hard to beat in terms of size. But perhaps what I’m most impressed with is the suggested retail price of the ZEN Stone. At $50 bucks, the 2GB ZEN Stone seems like a bargain to me. Features include the following:

Built-in speaker
Available in four contemporary colors
Plug and play capabilities
20 hours of continuous audio playback
Ergonomically designed controls
Dedicated random button for shuffle playback
Drag and drop features when connected to your PC
Available in 1GB / 2GB sizes
Supports MP3, WMA, Audible 2 and 3
Rechargeable Li-Ion Polymer battery
Measures 53.7 x 35.6 x 16 mm
MSRP of $49.99 for 2GB

Now if you like the look of the ZEN Stone AND you’re willing to spend a little bit more, then you should definitely give the ZEN Stone Plus a look over. For five bucks more (at the time of this writing), you get a 2GB player that adds an FM tuner, a display, a built-in stopwatch, countdown timer, clock, and voice recorder. That’s right – all that for $54.99! Here’s the full feature list:

Available in 2GB or 4GB models
32 FM station presets
Built-in stopwatch, countdown timer, and clock
Available in five colors
Measures 2.19″ x 1.39″ x 0.5″ and weighs 0.74 oz
9.5 hour battery life for 2GB and 12 hour battery life for 4GB
Rechargeable Li-ion Polymer battery
Supports MP3, WMA, and Audible
Single color OLED display (64 x 64 resolution)
FM Radio
Voice recorder

Moving up the food chain, we’ve got the Creative ZEN Portable Media Player. The big news here – the ZEN is now available in 16GB and 32 GB storage capacities yet still retains the near credit card size form factor. This means you can now choose storage sizes from 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB.

Features include:

2.5 color screen with support for 16.7 million colors (320 x 2240 resolution)
Supports unprotected AAC format, MP3, WMA
Compatible with music subscription services such as Napster and Rhapsody
Supports audio books
Supports JPEG
Supports MJPEG, WMV9, and (with transcoding – MPEG1 and 2, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4 and 5 and XviD)
Built in SD slot
FM Radio
30 hours of music playback
5 hours of video playback
Syncs with and views Microsoft Outlook® Contacts, Calendar & Tasks
Album art support
Voice recorder
Clock and alarm function
Customizable main menu
Works as external hard drive
8 EQ settings
Measures 3.26″ x 2.16″ x 0.44″ and weighs 2.1 oz

So how much will the 32GB set you back? How about $349.99? The low end 2GB model goes for $79.99.

I’ll end things with pictures of some of the lovely Creative ladies as well as some pictures of the frag fest at the Creative booth.

Technorati Tags: Creative, Zen Stone, Zen Stone Plus, Aurvana Live!, Aurvana X-Fi, CES 2008

Creative inPerson video conferencing

flung — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:29:01 +0000

Creative used CES 2008 as their venue to introduce their latest entry into the video conferencing market – the Creative inPerson device. According to the company, inPerson is ideal for one to one and small group meetings – allowing users to communicate with one another without actually having to be there “in person” (and hence.. the name of course!).

The key to all of this is the inPerson device which looks like a small portable DVD player. Since the unit is portable, you can literally bring the inPerson device wherever you go and use it wherever there is a wireless or wired Internet connection. You will need to subscribe to a low cost monthly plan in order to fully utilize the inPerson device although other users can contact you via a PC webcam.

Here are the specs to the inPerson device:

7 inch widescreen LCD display
640 x 480 resolution video
Supports up to a bit rate of 2 Mbps
76 degree wide angle lens
High quality sensor for low light performance
Supports composite NTSC and PAL formats
Built in acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) feature
High sensitivity dual microphones for longer range pick up
Built-in speaker
Connects to 10/100 Base-T port
Connects to wireless networks (802.11b/g)
Removable Li-Ion battery
Rotating camera lens
Wireless remote control
Supports call history, auto answer, contact lists, speed dial, and auto-login

Here is a picture of two inPerson devices in communication with one another. I played around with the inPerson device for a short amount of time and was impressed with the overall quality of the audio/video. Creative even allowed us to contact another Creative employee in Northern California via inPerson and I have to admit – it was pretty neat to see the whole thing in action.

Right now, inPerson is geared towards businesses who want a cheaper alternative to common video conferencing solutions out there. Each inPerson device can be purchased for $519.99 at Creative’s website (which includes one year of free service by Broadxent). I don’t see this as a consumer ready device quite yet – especially since you have to pay subscription fees to actually use the device with other inPerson users. However, it’s still nice to see Creative come out with innovative new products that take a new spin on existing markets.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative, inPerson, video conferencing, CES 2008

32GB Creative Zen to come out in Japan in 2 weeks

flung — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:01:38 +0000

It looks like the 32GB version of the Creative Zen will be coming out a bit sooner than expected – at least in Japan! Akihabara News is reporting that Creative Japan will begin selling the 32GB Creative Zen (model ZN-Z32G-BK) by the middle of December. Price? How about 250 Eur. Spec wise, the Zen is basically still the same except for the memory boost to 32GB. Features include:

2.5 inch QVGA (320 x 240) LCD display
Audio support for MP3/WMA/AAC/WAV file formats
Video support for WMV/MPEG-SP/DivX/XviD/Motion-JPEG file formats
SD card slot with support for SDHC cards
FM tuner built-in
Measures 83 x 55 x 11.3 mm and weighs 65 grams
Signal to Noise Ratio of 97dB
Frequency Response of 20Hz – 20kHz
USB 2.0 support

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative, Creative Zen, 32GB

Creative will release 32GB Zen in ‘08

flung — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:55:51 +0000

It’s official. Creative will be releasing a 32GB version of the Zen media player sometime in 2008 (yeah.. too bad it’s not coming out this year but it’s a bit late for the holiday shopping season if you ask me). No word on any other feature enhancements but 32GB flash sounds mighty nice to me.

[Check it out via Ubergizmo]

Technorati Tags: Creative, Zen, 32GB

16GB Creative Zen V Plus

flung — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:25:11 +0000

Well well well.. it appears a 16GB Creative Zen V Plus could be just around the corner folks. Crave caught wind of this information which was originally uncovered by the folks at DAPreview. They discovered a 16GB version of the Zen V Plus being shown over at the Creative Singapore online store. The new player was listed at $399 SGD which converts into $263.29 U.S. dollars. No other hard information about this device thus far.. but keep in mind - if this is true, this does mean we should begin seeing more 16GB based flash based media players on the horizon.

Just a quick refresher on the specs:

1.5 inch 128 x 128 pixel OLED display
15 hour audio playback battery life
Rechargeable Li-Ion polymer battery
43.5 x 67.5 x 15.9 mm and weighs 43.5 grams
FM Radio
Voice recording with built in microphone
Line-in recording
Custom equalizer and 8 presets
Supports MP3, WMA, IMA ADPCM, WMA DRM, JPEG
USB 2.0

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Creative Zen V Plus, 16GB