Some time ago, Creative announced that it's 'Zii' SoC was in development and would provide previously unheard of mobile performance. After around two years of almost complete silence, the chip has finally found a home powering the company's first attempts at tablet computing.
The two ZiiO devices - a 10in and a 7in model - seem like they're being marketed as entertainment and media tablets, as opposed to purely portable computers, and with the exception of the screen will both be largely the same.
This means that they'll be powered by the ZiiLABS ZMS-08 SoC running Android 2.1, though an upgrade to Froyo - as well as Android Market access - has been promised in a future update. Connectivity will be limited to either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but the manufacturer is promising enhancements that will improve the audio quality when using wireless speakers or headphones. The tablets will also get the benefit of the company's X-Fi technology to improve the general audio-quality.
We don't know much about the hardware yet, but apparently the silicon is based on the ARM Cortex A8 design clocked as high as 1GHz. However, we're told that it will have no problem decoding HD video and format support for audio and video is fairly impressive. There will also be either 8GB or 16GB of built-in storage which is expandable using SD cards - or micro-SD cards on the smaller model - and both tablets will have a front-facing VGA webcam.
The larger screen will have a respectable 1,024x600px resolution while the 7in version will be limited to 800x480px, though both of the touchscreens will be resistive, not capacitive. This isn't too surprising, giving the budget nature of the tablets, though it may cause some usability issues if it isn't well implemented.
We don't have an exact launch date yet, but sources indicate that both ZiiO tablets will be available in December through Creative's website. The 7in models will cost £199.99 (8GB) and £219.99 (16GB) while the 10in models costing £249.99 (8GB) and £269.99 (16GB). Pricing seems competitive, but Creative will have to do something special to differentiate itself in what will soon be a very crowded marketplace.
