It’s set up much like a quad-core chip, but the ZMS-40 adds 96 “StemCell Media Processing” cores that help out the four included ARM Cortex A9 cores. It is not only supposed to reduce battery consumption by half, ZiiLabs claim it will also manage “twice the peak media performance”. When I play graphic intensive games or watch movies on my tablet, the battery drains faster than I can keep up. If the ZMS-40 can remedy that apparent problem – then I hope it makes its way into devices soon.

We may actually see a few tablets with the ZMS-40 chip incorporated at CES next week. If so, we’ll be the first to let you know how it stacks up to the rest. But until then, we’ll leave you with the official press release:

[via Engadget]

The ZMS-20 processor is a dual-core part that operates at 1.5GHz and is based on a Cortex A9 processing core. The ZMS-20 is said to be four times faster than the ZMS-08 that it replaces. There aren’t that many details on the ZMS-40 chip, but the few that are offered make the chip sound very impressive. The ZMS-40 is a quad-core part and it is said to be capable of operating at up to 6GHz. That would make for a very high performance tablet indeed.

I hope that the power consumption of the ZMS-40 isn’t as high as its clock speed though. Both of the processors are aimed at use inside Android 3.0 tablets. ZiiLABS is also offering an Android Tablet Platform that includes the ZMS-20 processor, the ability to customize or white label tablet designs, and certification and conformation abilities.

[via Android Community]

Fresh – and stealthily added – to Creative’s site is a Zii Dock, a Zii AV Cable and a new Zii Development Kit.  The latter of these is perhaps the most interesting; unlike the original developer’s device, the Zii EGG, this new kit will take one of a range of included detachable modules.  These range from 3G (triband WCDMA and quadband GSM/EDGE), a dual-camera module (VGA and 3-megapixel, both fixed focus), a 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen module and more.

Meanwhile, Intrinsyc – who are also responsible for the Barnes & Noble nook – announced Android RapidRIL Support for the ZiiLABS cellular platforms earlier this month, news which went pretty much unnoticed at the time.  Of course, none of this is solid confirmation that we’ll see a Zii ZMS-05 based smartphone on sale in the first half of 2010, but it’s at least movement in the right direction.

Video demo after the cut

It looks like the demo model in this video is still using the docking connector, with some sort of dual-headed HDMI and power cable.  Still, the important thing is that Wall-E looks pretty darned impressive on an HDTV, and of course the ZMD-05 supports accelerated OpenGL ES 3D graphics so mobile gaming should be an interesting experience on the TRINITY too.

Unfortunately Creative are still refusing to do the sensible thing and greenlight a production version of the TRINITY that we can actually, you know, buy.  Instead they’re flaunting the handset to OEMs in the hope that someone will decide to build and sell it themselves.

[via MobileHub]

Video hands-on after the cut

The screen is smaller than that of the ZiiEGG but higher resolution, and ZiiLABS say the proprietary port on the base of the reference design could easily be switched over to a mini-HDMI port and microUSB port.  It’s not the slimmest handset we’ve seen, but given the capabilities of the ZMS-05 chip we’re tending toward forgiving it.

Creative claim that a manufacturer keen to use the TRINITY platform could bring a product to market in just three months, so while we’re unlikely to see the ZMS-05 on shelves in its current form, early 2010 will probably bring a few devices with similar abilities.  No word on what sort of pricing we might expect.

Despite going on display at the ZiiLABS summit, the ZiiSOUND D5 has nothing to do with Creative or their PMP range apart from the branding.  Apparently a version for the ZiiEGG -the ZiiSOUND D3 – is also planned, but again that will only be a basic speaker dock rather than include any sort of nifty 1080p-capable processing.

As well as directly docking into the ZiiSOUND D5 (and recharging) you can connect your iPod wirelessly with a Bluetooth adapter dongle; alternatively there’s a standard 3.5mm audio input for other sources.  No release dates for the D5 have been announced, but it’s expected to go for around $299 in early 2010.

The Zii TRINITY also squeezes in WiFi b/g, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera (plus a front-facing VGA camera for video calls), along with a microSD card slot.  Wired connectivity includes micro USB 2.0, mini HDMI and composite video output.  The battery is a 1,130mAh pack, and the TRINITY will run both Creative’s own Plaszma OS or Google’s Android platform.

Frustratingly, the Zii TRINITY won’t be available to the general public – at least, not through a mobile phone store – but as a Zii Development Kit ’3G Phone Edition’, including schematics, Gerbers, mechanical drawings, Board Support Package, middleware and OS.  No word on pricing as yet.

Press Release:

ZiiLABS Announces TRINITY – A Next Generation Smart/Media Phone Platform for Android™ and Plaszma™ Operating Systems
Zii TRINITY Smart Phone Platforms Capable of Supporting 3.5G/4G Devices in Super High Definition Video and 3D Graphics

Singapore – 1st December 2009 : ZiiLABS, a cutting-edge media processor and platforms company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd., today announced Zii TRINITY, a complete 3.5G/4G Smart Phone and development platform supporting the Optimized Android and native Linux®-based Plaszma operating systems. The Zii TRINITY delivers superior High Definition 1080p video output and accelerated 3D graphics to enable OEMs and ODMs to quickly and cost effectively bring differentiated Android and Plaszma based solutions to market.

Superior multi-format media processing is enabled by ZiiLABS’ StemCell Computing array which lies at the heart of ZiiLABS’
ZMS-05 and ZMS-08 media-rich applications processors, offloading the ARM® CPU to deliver the low-power, high performance media-rich processing required of next-generation mobile devices. Accelerated OpenGL ES 3D graphics enable developers to create rich 3D experiences in the form of enhanced user interfaces, games and pedestrian navigation.

“The growth in Smart Phone use to incorporate multimedia features is driving the demand for manufacturers and operators to deliver differentiated products and services faster than ever before,” said Hock Leow, President of ZiiLABS. “The Zii TRINITY is a proven media-rich platform that offers our partners a complete market-ready solution with the built-in flexibility for customization. We are showcasing an exciting 3.5G concept phone at the Zii Summit 2009.”

Features of the Zii TRINITY 3.5G Concept Phone
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Tri-band WCDMA, HSDPA Cat 8 at 7.2mbps
Full featured platform featuring ZMS-05 StemCell Processor
Linux-based Zii Optimized Android and Plaszma Support
Accelerated OpenGL ES 3D Graphics, Video and Imaging
3.1″ 480×800 16M colour Active Matrix OLED with capacitive multi-touch
Mini HDMI port for 1080p video output
Xtreme Fidelity#8482 X-Fi audio technology
5M pixel rear facing, auto-focus camera
VGA forward facing camera for video conferencing
USB 2.0 Micro port for connectivity and charging
MicroSD storage expansion and SIM card slots
256MB low-power DDR memory
Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR and Hardware GPS
Composite Video output
1130mAH lithium polymer battery
The Zii TRINITY Platform can be supplied to potential cellphone manufacturers as a complete design package including schematics, Gerbers, mechanical drawings, Board Support Package, middleware and OS.

A Zii Development Kit ’3G Phone Edition’ provides a modular development platform that enables developers the flexibility to innovate around the Zii TRINITY platform to create product solutions based on their own preference of hardware components. The Zii Development Kit supports both the ZMS-05 and the recently announced ZMS-08 processors.

Future versions of the Zii Development Kit Phone Edition will be made available for 4G networks such as WiMAX or LTE.

About Zii Optimized Android and Plaszma
Zii Optimized Android delivers the familiar Android OS but enhanced to provide a richer Android experience that leverages the capabilities of the
ZMS-05′s StemCell Computing architecture; including seamless 3D OpenGL ES acceleration and High Definition video. The Plaszma OS enables native Linux based development via a rich set of highly optimized industry standard APIs that leverage a wide range of multimedia CODECs, Web 2.0 browser, 2D and 3D graphics, audio processing and a powerful gesture based user interface.

About the ZMS-05
The flexible ZMS-05 media-rich application processor utilizes the StemCell Computing array of 24 fully programmable floating point processing elements to off-load the media processing from the integrated ARM CPU to deliver superior media capabilities of delivering highperformance HD video, 2D and 3D graphics and multimedia capabilities within a low-power environment. A broad range of peripheral functions and I/Os are integrated on-chip to ease system design and reduce product costs.

About ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS is a worldwide leader in low-power, media-rich application processors, hardware platforms and advanced middleware that enable OEMs, ODMs, System Integrators and Software Developers to deliver best-in-class products 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 Technology to form ZiiLABS in January 2009. ZiiLABS now has over 800 R&D engineers working on ZiiLABS related projects and has invested US$1 billion and 10,000 man years in media processing solutions. The company has offices in the UK, China, USA and Singapore.

The ZMS-05 isn’t quite as media-packed as the ZMS-08, but it’s not far off.  ZiiLABS still promise 1080p HD video output, OpenGL ES 3D graphics, accelerated browsing and more, which would add up to a pretty impressive Android smartphone all round.  Android is already available to load onto the Zii EGG developer device, however that lacks a cellular radio.

Among the other products on display will be “a Touch Tablet PC, a Netbook, a Web-Box, a 360-degree Multi-View Camera System, ultra high-performance Speakers, a Piano Keyboard for the PC, and a Portable e-Book Reader”, with which ZiiLABS are hoping to tempt the so-called Shanzhai developers in China.  If a success, we could see various reasonably-priced but powerfully-specified devices taking on smartphones, PMPs, set-top boxes and other platforms.

[via AndroidAndMe]

The ZMS-08 provides Blu-ray quality H.264 decode for low-power devices. The processor also has multi-media processing capabilities of the ZiiLABS StemCell computing array with a 1GHz ARM Cortex processor. ZiiLABS is sampling the processor to certain customers now.

The device will be used in products including web tablets, netbooks, connected TVs, and home media hubs. The ZMS-08 supports full HD 1080p H.264 decode and simultaneous H.264 encode and decode at 720p along with 1080p 24fps encode. The chip can also support OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics and more. Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi audio effects are also supported. Volume shipments are expected in Q1 2010.