creativity

Creative EP-630 earphones are a solid, stylish upgrade

Not to sound like a broken record, but the stock plastic earbuds that came packaged with your shiny new MP3 player aren't doing you any favors. After loading up your device with music, the next thing to do is replace the headphones. Of course, if you're not absurdly picky about audio quality, we can understand not wanting to spend $100 or more on a new pair. That's where options such as the Creative EP-630 come in. These sound-isolating earphones offer a comfortable fit and improved audio for just $39.99.

Read the full review of the Creative EP-630.… Read more

Amazon.com has the Creative Zen 32GB Portable Media Player for $179.99, after $120 savings.

Save $120 on the Creative Zen 32GB Portable Media Player from Amazon.com >> Regular price is $299.99 >> Sale price is $179.99 >> Savings $120 (40%) >> Click here for deal

Zen X-Fi2 launches as Creative's first touch-screen MP3 player

Updated: September 2, 2009 at 11:32 a.m. PDT.

For those Creative faithful who were a bit disappointed that the Zii Egg wasn't launched as a fully baked-and-branded media player for the masses, the company is about to make it up to you. This morning, Creative unveiled the Zen X-Fi2, a second-generation device that adds a touch screen and TV-out capability to the already solid X-Fi foundation. The new player features a 3-inch, touch-sensitive, TFT LCD capable of displaying up to 262,000 colors, and by the looks of it, this new Zen carries over the excellent icon-based menu found on other players in the line.

At 4 inches long by 2.2 inches wide by 0.4 inch deep, the Zen X-Fi2 is quite a bit longer than the previous-generation model and more inline with the size of the iPod Touch, though it's still smaller overall. It also appears to offer some sort of home button, but we're happy to see that Creative elected to orient this player in landscape mode, making it standout from the touch-screen masses. In addition to the updated navigational method, the Zen X-Fi2 features direct TV-out capability, though you will need to purchase a cable accessory to take advantage of it.

Credit: Creative

Other than that, the features largely carry over from the Zen X-Fi.… Read more

Google co-founder, wife give $500K to Creative Commons

Copyright reform advocacy group Creative Commons announced on Thursday that it has received a gift from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, Anne Wojcicki--to the tune of $500,000.

"This gift--made in addition to the financial support that Google offers CC annually--will be used to support Creative Commons generally," a blog post from Creative Commons read, "with a focus on developing our Science Commons project, which Wojcicki and Brin are particularly excited about."

Wojcicki is the co-founder of genetics start-up 23andMe.

Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig stepped down from the organization last year in order … Read more

Relax: Photoshop CS3 works on Snow Leopard

An Adobe Systems executive is trying to calm Photoshop users who were alarmed to hear an earlier but still widely used version of Photoshop isn't supported on Snow Leopard, the new Apple operating system arriving Friday.

Photoshop Principal Product Manager John Nack on Tuesday published Adobe's FAQ about its Creative Suite support for Snow Leopard, aka Mac OS X 10.6, that said the current CS4 version from October 2008 is the only one that's supported. The comments quickly took on panicky and angry tones among people who thought their older CS3 version of the software wouldn'… Read more

BOL 1042: Attack of the BelBots

We learn that not only is a botnet using Twitter to store some of its data but that botnet follow Veronica. Who is a bot herself. We also ponder why leaked pictures of the Dell smartphone are so blurry. And bad news folks. Looks like no tablet for the Apple announcement, but it sounds like it will be in September.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1042

Dell’s first phone spied on web http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/08/14/dell_smartphone_pictures/

Apple planning September event? http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10309110-37.html… Read more

Adobe Creative Suite to abandon PowerPC Macs

It's probably time you said goodbye to your PowerPC-based Mac.

Adobe confirmed Tuesday that future versions of its Creative Suite will run only on Intel-based Mac computers. There will be no support offered for PowerPC-based systems.

The company's decision follows Apple's announcement in June that it was discontinuing support for the PowerPC in its new operating systems, starting beginning with Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). With Apple's future development focused on Intel Macs, Adobe is aligning its resources accordingly.

According to Adobe, existing customers who own Creative Suite 3 and Creative Suite 4 will … Read more

Second Life for returning veterans

Veterans are often reluctant to seek therapy for service-related conditions, but rather than write them off, scientists are creating a virtual online community where servicemembers can find the camaraderie and resources to ease their return to civilian life.

The "Transitional Online Post-deployment Soldier Support in Virtual Worlds" created by the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) will be ensconced within a corner of the virtual landscape of Second Life, a popular online 3D grid where people interact through avatars (PDF).

Also known as Coming Home, this world will contain three main areas: one for … Read more

MP3 Insider 155: Creative confusion

The Creative Zii Egg is officially announced, and Jasmine is very confused about the whole thing. Donald's muted attempts to offer clarity are unsuccessful. Also, the MP3 Insiders have caught wind of the potential new S-Series Walkman and are none-too-taken with the Disney design leanings. Plus, a dead-simple (and ugly) new MP3 player from Archos draws scorn, and Donald and Jasmine respond to criticism about talking about Apple too much...and then proceed to dedicate the last third of the show to iPhone apps and the potential for cameras on the iPod.

Subscribe in iTunes audio |  Subscribe in iTunes video | Subscribe in RSS audio |  Subscribe in RSS video… Read more