Creative Throws Their Hat Into The E-Book Ring: Zii MediaBook

Nov 1 2009, 2:39am CST | by Robert Evans

All the tech news sites (including this one) have dedicated an enormous amount of time, effort, and words discussing the Apple iTablet. Despite the fact that such a product may not and may never exist, every rumor and analyst speculation about it has been picked apart and discussed to death. While we were busy geeking out over this mythical gadget, Creative was busy actually building the damn thing.

That's right; Epizenter reports that, at their Annual General Meeting, Creative made a surprise announcement. They unveiled a working prototype of their very first e-reader, tentatively named the Zii MediaBook. This MediaBook isn't your standard black-and-white e-ink reader either. It's got a touchscreen, text-to-speech functionality, and an SD slot. Creative also says it will be 'Internet-enabled', but didn't elaborate if that meant 3G functionality or WiFi (or both).

Creative is building their new product as more of a multimedia tablet PC than a dedicated e-reader. While it will function as a reader (Creative is still working out deals with content providers) it will also be able to play video and browse pictures. Basically, Creative is designing a tablet with a 'large' touchscreen that's designed for movie watching, Internet browsing, and e-book reading. Sound familiar?

While it definitely won't have access to the App Store, the MediaBook will deliver on everything else we've expected from the iTablet. We'll finally get to see if consumers actually want a large-screen tablet PC for media viewing and Internet browsing. Personally, I don't see the allure of such a device over a traditional laptop, but mainstream customers may very well disagree.

No details on a launch date, cost, or content delivery methods have been given yet. Considering Creative already has a working prototype, I doubt we'll have to wait too long before we get them. So, is anyone excited about this? Or is a tablet PC made by someone other than Apple boring?

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

What Others Say about This

Google Wallet Pin Vulnerable To Brute Forcing

Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter. Google Account Recovery Per SMS Available In ...
Full article at: GHacks Technology News More like this 2 hours ago

The Tech Bulletin

The average person today lives and breathes tech, don’t you think? This is but an expected result of the wide availability of tech devices and information. Background, age, and gender does not really matter – tech affects everyone to varying degrees. Now ...
Full article at: Blog Search Engine More like this 5 hours ago

Indian shares likely to drop; Tata Steel watched

MUMBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Indian shares are expected to open lower on Thursday as investors take profits after a recent rally and await Greece's debt talks to reach a deal and avoid a messy default. The main BSE index has climbed 15 percent in just over ...
Full article at: Reuters Mobile More like this 7 hours ago

Don't miss ...

Technology News

Solar Powered Clothing: The Future of Mobile Charging...

Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.