The Setup
Just plug the card into your computer using the included USB card reader or your own. There’s a small application you’ll have to install on either your Macintosh or Windows machine. The program will take you through a quick setup process to configure your card for WiFi networks. Although the card will automatically connect to unsecured networks, you’ll have to plug it into a computer each time you want to configure it for secured ones. The card also automatically connects to Wayport public hotspots for free for an year with this model. (There are about 10,000 Wayport locations, e.g. McDonalds)

Online Management
It’s easy to customize the way your media is handled. Unlike the WiFi setup, where you need to physically insert it into a computer, most of the other settings are managed through Eye-Fi’s website. The web interface allows you to view media, enable geo-tagging, view geographical locations of photos on a map, and set upload notifications. It’s easy to enable uploading to photo sharing services such as Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, and a few more. There’s support for blogging platforms including Movable Type, TypePad, and VOX. For auto-uploads to printing services, Eye-Fi supports Costco, ShutterFly, SnapFish, and Walmart. And that’s not it, there’s plenty more. If you’re a bit of a geek, the Eye-Fi supports dropping image files straight into an FTP server and offers RSS feeds. It also downloads a copy to your computer if it has the Eye-Fi Manager installed.

Geotagging
The Eye-Fi embeds geotags into all your images. Many tools such as Flickr and Google Picasa offer viewing your images on maps. Unfortunately it doesn’t work as you might expect. As expected, it’s probably not possible to fit a real GPS module into a SD card. Therefore, the Eye-Fi uses WPS (Wi-Fi Positioning System) to find your location using nearby Wi-Fi networks. It works, but it’s not always entirely accurate. The company has partnered with Skyhook Wireless which has mapped out 70% of the United States with over 100 million wireless access points so the geotagging feature will work even without being connected to a wireless hotspot. As long as you are in range of a mapped wireless access point WPS should be able to get 20-30 meter accuracy of your location. From my own testing, I found that it was actually quite accurate. It was literally spot on.

Wireless Connectivity
The card worked great, but there are some issues that need to be mentioned. Since the WiFi chip inside is so small and very low powered, it doesn’t do so well when it comes to picking signal. While photos transferred rapidly when near an access point, it wouldn’t work as far away as other WiFi enabled devices did. For example, my laptop and mobile phone were able to connect to my access point, but the Eye-Fi card in my camera wasn’t able to get signal from the same spot. Another issue I faced was in regards to convenience. If you want to connect to a new secured access point, you’ll need to have a computer with you. Since it’s simply an SD card, your camera won’t have an interface to customize those settings. If you primarily use it in one location or happen to visit those compatible hotspots quite often, then it won’t be an issue.

Uploading and Notifications
As I mentioned before, there’s no interface on the camera to manage the Eye-Fi. The camera will only handle the image files. Therefore, there’s no indicator to let you know the status of upload progress. That means you won’t know when to turn your camera off. If you do turn it off during an upload, it will get interrupted, but will resume uploads once turned on. To slightly solve that issue, Eye-Fi provides the ability to receive Email notifications and SMS alerts for when uploads begin, get interrupted, resumes, or finishes. You can also opt-in to receive Twitter Direct Message notifications for the same actions. The only other way to view a live progress bar of uploads is if you are in front of your computer screen while snapping photos.

The Bottom Line
For the most part, the Eye-Fi can minimize the hassle of sharing and saving media. But it’s still a proprietary technology even though it uses a standardized WiFi network. It’s especially great for those who take a lot of photos in only a few locations. However keep in mind, you’ll likely find yourself coming back home to upload photos on your own network after a party since there’s no way to configure a secured network elsewhere without a computer. While it might sound like a niche market, that’s going to soon be changing. Devices such as Sony’s Cyber-shot DSC-G3 have built-in WiFi and supports uploading to a similar variety of online uploading services. If other manufacturers start following that trend, which we might see this year at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, it’s hard to tell what it would mean for Eye-Fi since there wouldn’t be a need for their WiFi SD card. However, the fact remains, not everyone is going to go buy a new WiFi camera immediately and there’s no other way to enable WiFi for an existing camera with a gizmo such as the Eye-Fi.

While I reviewed the Explore Video model, there’s also 7 other offerings. Prices start at $50 for the lowest end version that can only upload photos to your own computer and has just 2GB of storage. Their best offering is the Pro version ($119) that offers all the same features that the Explore Video does, but adds extra support for RAW file uploads and Ad Hoc networks for professional photographers. If you have a decent camera, take a lot of photos, and don’t plan on upgrading anytime soon, the Eye-Fi will definitely go a long way to add a new refreshing feel to your current device.

Buy: Eye-Fi Explore Video for $92
Links: Eye.fi | Model Comparison Chart

The Navigation System will sport a new display with a higher resolution and will be LED backlit for sharper colors. It will support playback of DVD movies, but only when the car is parked. Like more cars today it has full support to allow hands free access to Bluetooth enabled phones. But as a bonus it will allow dictating numbers to dial or even saying names in your phonebook without having to program your voice for ever possible combination. The upcoming cars featuring this new system will have a 40GB HDD and two SD card readers built-in. Unfortunately the car doesn’t allow ripping tracks from inserted CDs due to copyright restrictions, however it will allow copying downloaded music from those SD cards. (MP3, WMA, & AAC supported!) Additional options for a USB port to allow use of flash drives will also be an option. The MMI system also supports adding support for Apple iPod devices or AUX analog inputs, which will probably also cost extra.

The main reason Audi was at Nvision was because their new MMI systems will be sporting Nvidia graphics chips inside the dashboards. The chips will be used to generate good looking 3D graphics rapidly. Many city centers will have 3D building models and topographical terrain maps. It looks quite similar to what is currently available in Google Earth. All the 3D content will be generated in real-time while providing turn-by-turn directions. According to the Audi rep, the graphics chip has been specially designed to withstand high and low temperatures while being able to absorb large amounts of shock, which would be important since it’s part of a vehicle. The GPS data with those 3D maps and voice prompts will apparently takes up around 25GB of data. When it comes time to upgrade to the latest sets of maps, dealers will apparently be able to simply install the updated content pack onto the Audi’s HDD.

Update (08/29/08): I previously had stated that the Audi will be using a Nvidia graphics card, however it turns out it’s just a Nvidia graphics chip. Sigmund, thanks for the correction.

“We’re very excited to achieve this breakthrough of adding our X-Fi audio technology to a ZEN player, setting the highest standard in audio quality for portable music players,” said Craig McHugh, president and COO of Creative

In addition to the new WiFi hardware component, the Zen X-Fi now has built-in speakers, a SD card reader, built-in FM radio, and a microphone for voice recordings. With a 2.5-inch TFT display with the ability to playback WMV, AVI, MJPEG, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4 and 5 and XviD, the player should satisfy the needs of most customers. As for audio, the unit supports playback of unprotected MP3, WMA and AAC audio formats. Creative also bundles in a set of high quality EP-830 in-ear earphones, which are much better than the standard sets of headphones that usually come with most digital media players.

The ZEN X-FI with Wireless LAN 32GB and 16GB models are now available for $279.99 and $199.99, respectively. They are now available for purchase through online retailers including Amazon.com, Buy.com, Creative.com, Fry’s.com and Newegg.com. The standard ZEN X-FI 8GB (without WiFi) will become available later this month for $149.99.

Links: Creative.com ZEN X-FI
Buy Now: Zen X-Fi 32GB $280 | Zen X-Fi 16GB $200
Related: Creative ZEN Review

First off, we would like to thank the folks over at Creative for providing us the new ZEN for review. We have been messing around with it for a week and we’ve got to say there’s a lot to get excited about, especially the price. The Creative ZEN has quite a few extra features including a microphone, an FM tuner, and a SD card expansion slot, which none of the mainstream Digital Audio Players (DAP) offer. Although there are plenty similar players hitting shelves this season, including the Microsoft Zune, Sony Walkman, and Sanza View, the Creative ZEN stands up to its competitors quite well.

Creative Zen Specs:

• Type: Portable Flash Video Player
• Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, & 16GB
• Screen: 2.5-inch 320 x 240 LCD
• Music Format: MP3, WMA, AAC, & WAV
• Video Format: MJPEG & WMV9
• Special: FM Tuner, SD Expansion, & Microphone
• Connection Type: USB 2.0 (mini)
• Price Range: $129-$250

Initial Impressions: – 4.5/5
As Creative claimed in their advertisements, the Zen is about the size of a credit card, which actually appears to be a decent size for a personal media player. The unit is 3.26-inches tall, 2.16-inches wide, and .44-inches thick, making it larger than the iPod Nano. Despite this, the unit is just the right size for everyday use and will fit into just about any pocket. The front of the unit is home to the 2.5” TFT display on the left and the standard navigation buttons on the right. Although the glossy finish makes the ZEN look quite fancy, it is quite a hassle when it comes to fingerprints. You’ll constantly find yourself having to wipe it down. In addition, since the screen is glossy it will reflect a lot of unwanted light in well lit environments. The back-side of the unit, on the other hand, is made out of a black matte plastic, which is actually surprisingly nice. All the important parts including the power/hold switch, headphone jack, and USB connector can be found on the right-side of the unit. Other than that, the Secure Digital (SD) card slot can be found on the top, while a pinhole reset button is located on the bottom.

Controls – 3/5
The Zen was clearly designed with right-handed users in mind, since all of the operational controls and buttons have been placed on the right side of the unit. Navigation controls and their ease of use represent an important factor in any portable media player. As such, the centerpiece of the Zen’s control scheme is a square directional pad that features an “OK” button at its center. It might not be as innovative or intuitive to use as the click-wheels on iPods or the touch screen of the iPhone, but it has definitely been tested and proven to be a worthy system. The main problem we faced with the controls on our Zen, was that not all of the buttons were equally responsive. This caused some frustration especially while trying to glide through menus quickly. In our particular case, the down button had to be pressed down harder than any of the other directional buttons, which meant that menu navigation was often slowed down by having to repress that particular button. Now in all fairness, this might very well be an isolated incident, but other units may face similar problems. The iPod Nano we reviewed had a click-wheel that froze after every few minutes of use, so the ZEN isn’t alone when it comes to defects.

Not everything can be easily accomplished with only a simple set of navigation buttons, so Creative included four more buttons: “Menu/Back,” “Options,” “Play/Pause/Record,” and a final button labeled in the Quick Start Guide as “My Shortcut.” Overall, there is nothing all too special or noteworthy about any of these buttons, except for maybe the last one: the customizable shortcut button. If you’ve ever found yourself wishing that there was a button on your media player that did X or Y, then Creative might just have the answer. With a trip to the settings menu, you can choose to assign any one of seven different functions to the shortcut button. The most useful of which, I believe, is the function labeled “Jump to:”. With this feature you can literally jump to just about any menu in the player with a single click. One of the things that annoys me the most on almost all portable media players is that there is almost never a button that will take you back to whatever is currently playing. Since the Creative Zen has a dedicated “play” button, you can jump back to whatever is “Now Playing” with a single click. I do wish that the Creative Zen had some dedicated volume controls, but then again the iPod Nano doesn’t either.

Screen & Video Quality: – 3.5/5
One of the Creative Zen’s selling points is it’s ability to playback video. The screen on the Zen is fairly decent and can recreate an impressive 16.7 millions colors as advertised. Unfortunately, though, the screen is only 2.5-inches in diameter with an disappointing 320 by 240 pixels. The screen did a good job of keeping up with the video feed without visibly smearing or ghosting the image. Color accuracy, as with most portable media players (even the iPod Touch), was an issue. The colors were generally a tad too vivid and a slight greenish yellow hue was visible at all times. Another issue that kept me from enjoying the fourth season premiere episode of House was that I kept noticing the refreshing and vertical re-syncing of the horizontal lines, especially when the camera panned. Because of the small screen, I found myself holding the unit fairly close to my face and doing so caused the spacing between the individual lines to become even more apparent. (Same problem on Sony’s S610 Walkman). Although it’s great tool for watching TV shows and Music Videos occasionally, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to watch a full length movie on the Zen. And in case you’re wondering, the same goes for the Flash Zune, iPod Nano, or any portable media player with a small screen for that matter.

The Menu System – 4/5
Menu navigation is something that seems like it should be trivial, but, alas, there are actually very few players that can be navigated without deliberate thought. Unfortunately, the Zen is not among this elite. One issue that becomes immediately apparent is the lack of responsiveness between the hardware and the software. When a button is pressed, it takes the device a slight fraction of a second to react to the user input and perform the desired action. The system is by no means unusable, but it may invoke some frustration if your previous player happened to run faster. See the video for a full interface walk through:

http://skattertech.com/media/2007/11/creative-zen-interface.flv

Audio Quality – 5/5
Despite a lackluster interface, the audio quality of the Zen is actually surprisingly good; it’s on par with the iPod Nano, if not better. The midrange was articulate and clear, even though there was a notable lack of strength at either ends of the spectrum. Even though the bass was slightly lacking, the treble, on the other hand, had no problem making itself known. Overall, though, the sound was very favorable, and most of my complaints are very nuanced. Fortunately, all of these mild shortcomings can be easily corrected with the built-in equalizer presets. If you still can’t quite hear what you want with those, there’s always the options of manually equalizing the sound yourself.

Syncing Content: – 4/5
Getting your music onto the Creative was quite simple. If you’ve got a Windows XP or Vista with the most recent version of Windows Media Player (WMP), you’re all set. Just plug in the Creative ZEN and your computer will automatically detect it as a mass storage device. WMP is quite easy to use and will allow quick transfers between your library and the ZEN. If you do not wish to use WMP, you do have the option of copying your media onto the mass storage device through the file explorer. When you unplug the device, the ZEN automatically takes a few seconds and indexes any new files. Once complete, your content should automatically appear in the ZEN’s library. Creative did include software to manage the ZEN, but we were a bit frustrated that it took over 20 minutes just to install it. If you do install it, the application will allow you to manage your music, photos, and videos. The software works and it’s got some neat features, however I prefered manually copying the content I needed directly onto the device. We didn’t have a chance to test it with Mac OS X, however if it’s recognized as a mass storage device then there should be no problem manually copying media onto the ZEN.

Media Formats: – 4/5
The ZEN supports a wide range of media formats. For audio, the ZEN can playback MP3, WAV, AAC, and WMA. The only DRM audio format it supports is protected WMA. With that being said, the ZEN is compatible with plenty of online music stores including Yahoo! Music, Audible (audio books), Napster, Amazon MP3, and iTunes Plus Tracks. As for photos, the ZEN can only display JPEG, but Windows Media Player will allow you to transcode GIF, TIFF, PNG and BMP for added compatibility. Finally for video, the ZEN can decode WMV, MJPEG, MPEG4, DiVX, and XViD. Unfortunately the highest supported resolution is only 320 by 240, therefore videos must be converted before they will play. The ZEN is also compatible with Amazon’s Unbox TV and Movie purchases and rentals.

SD Card Expansion: – 4/5
One major advantage that the Creative Zen has over other DAPs is that has an SD expansion slot. If you were to run out of space, which you’re bound to do, you can always pop in an SD Card of any size into the top of the unit. Once complete, you’ll be able to access your media right off the card. The only draw back may be the fact that the ZEN doesn’t integrate the content on your card into the library stored in the on board memory. This means you’ll have to head over to the Memory Card menu to access these files. The Creative ZEN can also turn into a SD Card Reader/Writer when connected to your PC, therefore no extra accessories are required to add or remove content on the card.

Microphone: – 4/5
The Zen also features a pinhole microphone, allowing it to be used as a personal voice recorder. It works just as expected, you’ll be able to record a file and play it back from the Music menu. If you’ve got a extra storage space this will save having to carry another gadget around with you. The recorded files can be copied back to your machine. As for recording quality, the microphone performed quite well. Voices from across the room were crisp and could be heard easily.

Conclusion:
If you’re in the market for an affordable portable media player that will allow you to enjoy your music, listen to radio, and watch the occasional video, then we would recommend the Creative Zen. The one thing the Creative Zen does best (without garnering any complaints, whatsoever) is, perhaps, playing music. In addition the ZEN is much more affordable than Apple’s iPod Nano and includes bonus features such as the FM Tuner, SD Expansion, and Microphone. The iPod Nano is only available at a 8GB max, while Creative offers the ZEN a 16GB flash model. SD cards are also quite cheap, making storage a not an issue for most customers. The battery life met what Creative stated: 25 hours of audio and 5 hours of video. Other than that, the only other suggestion we would make if you do purchase this unit is to upgrade your headphones to something along the lines of Shure’s SE110 Earphones and possibly purchasing a case. The Creative ZEN costs $120 for 4GB, $180 for 8GB, and $250 for 16GB and is available online and in stores now. Overall the Creative ZEN will be worth just about every penny spent.

Links: Creative ZEN

Sony just released a new version of their electronic “Reader” (PRS-505) as an upgrade to the PRS-500. First off for those of you that don’t know what this gizmo is, it’s a electronic paper display. This means that it actually looks like ink on paper and doesn’t cause stress on eyes as backlit LCD screens do. Sony’s second generation Reader has new controls, imitates paper better than its predecessor, responds faster, and is much easier to read outdoors. Unlike other gadgets with displays, the Reader doesn’t consume any power when it is on. It only looses power when flipping through pages. According to Sony you’ll be able to read approximately 7,500 pages before the juice runs out.

The Reader now also sports a Memory Stick Duo and SD card slots for additional storage space and also functions as a mass storage device. Owners can transfer purchased books from Sony’s collection of 20,000 titles or copy their own PDF, Word, RTF, Text, or JPEG files. For easier reading the Reader can be oriented in either the upright or landscape position on the 6-inch display. Text can also be magnified by up to three times. The previous Reader wasn’t too popular, but was quite impressive despite being laggy when we took a look at it. Hopefully this version will bring many more improvements.

The reader is a bit on the pricey end, costing about $300 for the unit in addition to a USB cable, soft case, and charger. The unit is on sale now and will be available in both silver and dark blue by the end of this month. Look for it online, in retail stores, and even at Borders. We are trying to get a hold of a unit, so if you are interested check back for full in-depth review.

Links: SonyStyle.com
Related: Video Walkman Review