Creative Technology Ltd today announced a product that would radically transform the wireless speaker market: the new Sound BlasterAxx AXX 200 functions as a full-fledged Sound Blaster and a portable, powerful NFC wireless speaker rolled into one. This wireless sound system - which is fully programmable - actually intelligently enhances audio in real-time, making it perfect for music, movies, calls and games.

The Sound BlasterAxx AXX 200 also boasts an immense host of other useful and fun features such as a quad microphone array for teleconferencing and Voice Recording, an MP3 Player, and a 'crazy' Super Megaphone that not only amplifies the user's voice in all kinds of zany ways, but also allows the user to karaoke anywhere. The sound system also comes with an insanely loud siren, and even charges the user's smartphone.

At its press meet called to unveil its next-generation graphics lineup, which lasted for about 3 hours and 45 minutes, a full one hour was spent detailing TrueAudio, an audio DSP that AMD co-developed with GenAudio, makers of AstoundSound technology; both of which are brand names we'd heard for the first time, and that's coming from someone who's been an audiophile and follower of PC audio technology for 15 years now. Here are a few reasons why the concept of TrueAudio, or at least the way AMD and its newfound GenAudio pals explained it, is unconvincing to the extant of flagging "snake oil." While we did not attend GPU'14, experiencing TrueAudio is irrelevant to our analysis. It focuses on what "yet another" positional audio DSP has to do with GPU, and how AMD is getting ahead of itself with non-graphics features in exactly the same way it criticized NVIDIA of doing, not too long ago.

Gigabyte showed off an early version of its upcoming high-end socket LGA2011 motherboard, the G1.Assassin 3, at IDF. Based on the same Intel X79 Express chipset as its predecessor, this board is built in the standard ATX form-factor. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors. It uses a 9-phase VRM to condition power to the CPU socket, which uses PowIRstage driver-MOSFETs by International Rectifier. The CPU socket is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of memory, and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. A couple of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots complete the expansion area.

Storage connectivity on the G1.Assassin 3 includes four each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Network connectivity includes two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, from which one is driven by an Intel-made controller, and an add-on card with 802.11ac WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.0. A hyped up feature here is its Creative Sound Core3D audio, with a high SNR DAC, audiophile-grade OPAMP circuitry with user-replaceable amps (Gigabyte calls this AMP-UP). Six USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports make for the rest of it. Gigabyte didn't finalize heatsink designs for the VRM or PCH, and there's no word on when exactly the company plans to launch the thing.

Creative Technology Ltd today introduced its new flagship T4 Wireless Signature Series 2.1 speaker system, the T30 Wireless Signature Series 2.0 speaker system and the T15 Wireless 2.0 speaker system. These new high-performance speakers feature Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) wireless connectivity to enhance ease-of-use for mobile device, PC and Mac users. Creative will unveil the new speaker models at IFA Berlin from September 6 -11 at Stand 110, Hall 3.2.

The new wireless lineup rides on Creative's legacy of producing high quality wired desktop speakers that produce powerful and precise audio. The popular wired Creative GigaWorks T3 and T20 - the technology of which can be found in the new T4 Wireless and T30 Wireless - won numerous awards and sterling reviews for their audio performance and value for money.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced an all new high performance external sound card - the Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1. On top of enhancing audio playback via Creative's SBX Pro Studio suite of processing technologies, the Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 goes a step further to provide a more complete playback experience. The sound card comes with a 600 ohm headphone amplifier that allows discerning listeners to hear every enhanced audio detail through powerful studio-grade monitoring headphones.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced an entirely new range of premium Creative Aurvana headsets - the flagship Creative Aurvana Platinum, the Creative Aurvana Gold, and the Creative Aurvana Live!2 - the second generation of the award-winning Aurvana Live! headset. This new lineup of three audiophile-grade headsets will be unveiled at IFA Berlin at the Creative exhibit 110 in Hall 3.2, Messe Berlin from September 6-11.

The Aurvana brand represents Creative's premium headsets that deliver true-to-life high performance sound. On top of pristine audio reproduction, the Creative Aurvana Platinum and the Creative Aurvana Gold come loaded with a dazzling array of groundbreaking technological features.

MSI is excited to announce that it has just launched the all-new AE220 21.5" touch control entertainment system equipped with AMD's latest Kabini APU platform. The design seeks to use the MSI 21.5" All-in-One PC as the spearhead of a new classic in AIO PC design that retains the best traditional features while continuing to set the trend in high-tech innovation. The MSI AE220 has a transparent bezel that helps the computer's appearance aside the conventional cold and sterile feeling about high-tech. The compact design blends seamlessly into designer interiors and enhances the overall look of style and sophistication.

The MSI AE220 is the first to feature the E2-3000/A4-5000 APU of AMD's Kabini platform. Based on a 28nm producing process, the new APU delivers high performance with a low power consumption of just 15W. AMD Kabini does more than just integrate the GPU and CPU into the same chip; the chipset functions are also integrated to create the industry's first System-on-Chip (SOC) APU processor. The AMD Kabini platform delivers exceptional rendering performance and packs massive power into a 15W processor. The MSI AE220 features the E2-3000/A4-5000 integrated with AMD Radeon HD 8280/8330 Graphics for a big boost in multimedia and 3D performance compared to previous generation. Users can now enjoy the performance and quality of a discrete graphics card without having to purchase one.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Fury gaming headset for PC and Mac, featuring SBX Pro Studio audio technologies. Priced at only US$59.99, the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Fury will be demonstrated for the first time at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany from August 21 to 25 at the Creative exhibit at Hall 9.1, B-042.

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D Fury gaming headset introduces a sleek new design to the Tactic3D headset family. The headset connects to a Mac or PC via USB with the Dual Mode USB adapter, and features a 3.5 mm jack to enable connection to a mobile phone for calls and music playback. The included Sound Blaster Tactic3D Control Panel software suite enables gamers to customize settings to provide the most immersive and accurate 3D acoustic environment. It also enables saving of specific audio profiles which gamers can export and share with others. Proprietary Scout Mode technology empowers gamers to hear enemies from further away for a distinct tactical advantage. Powerful 40 mm Full Spectrum drivers with frequency response of 20Hz ~ 20kHz deliver best-in-class audio quality.

Creative Technology Ltd today introduced the Creative T3150 Wireless 2.1 computer speaker system with Bluetooth wireless technology, now available at Best Buy. This new addition to Creative's comprehensive line up of high performance wireless speakers continues to uphold Creative's long held reputation of merging superior audio performance with great value. Engineered to pump out smooth audio wirelessly, this compact speaker system is designed to deliver outstanding sound quality for PC gamers, music lovers and movie fans alike. It stands out amongst other wireless speakers in the same class, while remaining very competitively priced at US$59.99.

Compatible with most computers and Bluetooth-enabled devices such as mobile phones and tablets, the Creative T3150 Wireless speaker system offers wireless connectivity in addition to wired connection. It comes with a wired remote control that powers ON/OFF and adjusts volume for ease of use.

After a successful collaboration with AMD over the past two years to leverage open standards to drive amazing quality, scalability, and performance for our customers - Adobe has just released Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Now users can get the production releases of these flagship products which have been optimized to the massive compute power of AMD APUs, AMD Radeon HD graphics and AMD FirePro professional graphics to enable GPU-accelerated performance across a broad range of form factors through the OpenGL and OpenCL open standards. As highlighted in recent blogs, these optimizations are significant because, not only do they result in faster final render times, but more importantly, they enable users to apply effects and preview their edits in real-time, enabling greater productivity. This is great news for end-users everywhere, who now have unprecedented choice in using the hardware that best suits their needs. AMD-based systems coupled with Adobe's shift to the affordable and innovative Adobe Creative Cloud model for managing licenses and software updates can now put these latest Adobe creative tools in the hands of more users than ever.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Creative Sound Blaster EVO ZxR and Sound Blaster EVO Zx - the world's first wireless headsets that utilize a built-in multi-core Sound Blaster SB-Axx1 processor for enhancement and customization of audio quality for playback of music, movies and games and for voice communications.

The audio-enhancing capabilities of the Sound Blaster EVO ZxR and Sound Blaster EVO Zx fill a dire need in an age where mobile device users tolerate the sound quality from compressed sources of audio played on smart devices - such as MP3 files, YouTube and other video sharing sources, streamed music or mobile games - as a primary source of entertainment on-the-go.

For reasons unknown, Creative's newer generations of Sound Blaster sound cards don't bear the THX logo anymore. Its previous Sound Blaster Recon3D series of cards shipped with THX TruStudio Pro software, which is replaced by Creative's own SBX Pro Studio, in its newest Sound Baster Z series. Post-processing layers such as Crystalizer, Pro Surround, Pro Bass, Smart Volume, and Dialog Plus, are each re-branded with SBX ProStudio prefixes. The company reportedly revised its Sound Blaster Recon3D mainstream sound card with SBX Pro Studio, replacing THX TruStudio Pro, and the resulting product is labeled Sound Blaster Recon3D r2. The card is otherwise identical to the original.

Based on Creative's Sound Core3D native-PCIe chipset, and a Cirrus Logic-made DAC, the Sound Blaster Recon3D r2 offers 5.1-channel output with 24-bit resolution, 96 kHz sample rates, 102 dBA SNR, a dedicated 600 Ω headphones amplifier, EAX 5.0 Advanced HD, OpenAL hardware-accelerated audio API support, and support for Windows 8. The card complies with Intel Azalia specifications, so non-Windows operating systems can run it as a generic HD audio device. The latest driver update for the original Sound Blaster Recon3D doesn't change THX TruStudio Pro from the feature-set.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the new Creative Senz3D interactive gesture camera, introducing an immersive multi-dimensional gaming, video conferencing and voice control experience for PC enthusiasts and early adopters. Designed for use with 2nd generation and later Intel Core processors, the Creative Senz3D will be on display at Computex Taipei, Taiwan from June 4 - 8 at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Nangang Exhibition Hall, Intel Booth #M410.

Creative Senz3D combines advanced depth sensor technology with a camera and dual array microphones to deliver a new multi-dimensional interactive experience. Users can play PC games using hand and finger gestures to control and interact with characters and environments. Its 3D sensing technology is able to enhance facial recognition and also extract a person's image for various applications. In addition to a variety of games and applications that ship with the Creative Senz3D, users will experience a robust bundle of software which enables interactive video conferencing, voice control of a PC, creation of video blog environments, and much more.

At Computex, GIGABYTE showed off the first AMD platform motherboard in its coveted G1.Killer series, which targets gamers and overclockers, the G1.Sniper A85X. The board is based on AMD A85X FCH chipset, and comes with out-of-the-box support for AMD A-series "Richland" APUs, including the AMD A10-6800K quad-core APU, with the fastest integrated graphics in market. Built in the narrow ATX form-factor, the G1.Sniper A85X draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and uses a 6-phase VRM to condition it for the APU.

The FM2 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, which support up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-3000 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. In addition, the board offers a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the FCH), three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI. The board shines in connectivity, where it offers eight SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, a combination of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI display outputs, Creative Sound Core3D audio with user-replaceable OPAMP and audio-grade capacitors, four USB 3.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by GIGABYTE Dual-UEFI redundancy, and the new BIOS interface that made its debut with GIGABYTE's socket LGA1150 motherboards.

At a media event held in its Taipei headquarters, GIGABYTE demonstrated its AMP-UP integrated audio solution that will feature on some of its upcoming motherboards. On that pretense, it even got to show of two of its top socket LGA1150 motherboards, built for Core "Haswell" processors, the G1.Sniper 5, and the G1.Sniper M5. Positioned in gamer-overclocker targeted G1.Killer series, the two boards are based on Intel Z87 Express chipset. The G1.Sniper 5 is the larger standard ATX motherboard; while the M5 is a compact micro-ATX offering. The pictures also confirm that socket LGA1150 retention module and bolt-spacing is identical to sockets LGA1155 and LGA1156.

The G1.Sniper 5 appears to feature a 16-phase VRM, which uses ferrite-core chokes, and the same International Rectifier PowIRstage components as Ultra Durable 5 motherboards from the previous generation. This time around, the CPU plays a greater role in voltage regulation. The driver-MOSFETs on the board are cooled by an active fan-heatsink, which also has a liquid channel running through it, so you could make it part of your CPU loop. Thankfully GIGABYTE didn't let its imagination run away with designs of the other heatsinks on the board, one of which cools the Z87 Express chipset, and the other we imagine, a PLX PEX8747 48-lane PCI-Express 3.0 bridge chip. This chip gets you 4-way SLI/CrossFireX support.

It turns out that MSI's Gaming Series begins with not just the Z77A-GD65 Gaming, but two other models; the Z77A-G43 Gaming, and Z77A-G45 Gaming. Like the Z77A-GD65 Gaming, the other two are nearly identical to their originals, except for a few differences: Killer E2200 low-latency network interfaces, Creative Sound Blaster Cinema audio, fancy VRM heatsinks with dragon head-shaped fins, themed PCH heatsinks, Gaming Series branding on the POST screen and a themed UEFI BIOS interface. With Z87-based LGA1150 motherboards being just three months away, MSI could rush these motherboards into the market.

We've known since a little earlier this week that MSI has been working on a new product line targeting gamers, which builds on the success of its Gaming Series notebooks; that the company has been working on a variant of the Z77A-GD65 motherboard based on the series; and that the series could also include graphics cards and gaming-grade all-in-one desktops. MSI revealed a few more byte ahead of its big CeBIT unveiling.

To begin with, our suspicious voiced last week are true, the company's first Gaming Series motherboard is in fact a variant of the Z77A-GD65, with a few changes: an overhauled VRM and chipset heatsink design inspired by the dragon-head logo; a black+red color scheme, Bigfoot Killer E2200 low-latency network controller, and possibly Creative Sound Blaster Cinema audio. Moving on, we're hearing that the first graphics card in the Gaming Series will be based on GeForce GTX 670. It could be positioned above the company's fastest GTX 670, the Power Edition/OC. In addition to a slightly new cooling solution, the card could feature an improved VRM.

PROMISE Technology Inc., a leader in providing high-performance storage solutions for the rich media market and the leader in designing cutting-edge Thunderbolt enabled devices, is proud to announce creative professionals and power users on PCs can now leverage the unparalleled performance of the award-winning Pegasus J2 to power them through their creative projects. The ultra-portable PROMISE Pegasus J2, one of the first storage devices with Thunderbolt technology to be certified for PC by Intel Corporation, can deliver up to 750 MB/s of performance, yet it's pocket-sized, enabling users to harness high bandwidth to transfer, playback, or edit media directly from the Pegasus J2 from anywhere.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced it has entered into an agreement with Intel Corporation for Intel to license certain technology and patents from ZiiLABS Inc. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative, and acquire certain engineering resources and assets related to its UK subsidiary ZiiLABS Limited (formerly known as 3DLABS Limited).

The US$50 million deal includes US$20 million to Creative for the licensing of certain technologies to Intel relating to ZiiLABS' high performance GPU technology. The second part of the deal is US$30 million to Creative for the transfer of certain engineering resources and assets in the UK subsidiary to Intel. The UK subsidiary is a design entity engaged in, primarily on behalf of ZiiLABS Inc. Ltd, the development of various silicon solutions, including the ZMS chips for Creative. The transfer of engineering resources and assets will be through the divestment of the UK subsidiary by Creative.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Creative Inspire T3300 and the Creative Inspire T6300 speaker systems that are built for superior audio performance. These two latest additions to the Creative Inspire line of multi-channel speaker systems stay true to Creative's long held audio heritage of providing the best possible sound quality at great value. New innovative design techniques and enhanced design features enable these high performance speakers to deliver superb audio quality at very high decibels, yet with minimal distortion. They are Creative Inspire line's 'loudest' speakers yet, capable of delivering full spectrum audio playback with impressive loudness and robust bass.

Competitively priced at S$69 and S$109, the Creative Inspire T3300 and Creative Inspire T6300 speaker systems offer excellent value for speakers in their respective classes. The three-piece Creative Inspire T3300 speaker system is an ideal choice for music listening, gaming or for watching movies with the PC, notebook and smart mobile device, while the Creative Inspire T6300 speaker system is specially designed to deliver an immersive gaming and movie entertainment experience on the PC and notebook with its consistent high-quality 5.1 surround sound performance.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced two new web cameras in its Creative Live! Cam line to provide PC and Mac users with a far superior video and audio experience than any integrated web camera can deliver.

Creative Live! Cam Connect HD 1080

Designed to deliver high-quality 1080p video on YouTube or Facebook with just a single click, the Creative Live! Cam Connect HD 1080 features dual stereo microphones that leverage Creative's CrystalVoice technology suite to transmit crisp, clear audio. CrystalVoice Focus suppresses noise to enable headset-free voice communications, while CrystalVoice Noise Reduction reduces background noises to enhance audio recording and Skype call clarity. Auto focus ensures the best possible video and image quality.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage Wireless gaming headset for PC and Mac, featuring state-of-the-art wireless audio technology and hassle-free connectivity. Creative also announced the new Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage USB wired gaming headset. Both headsets feature customizable SBX Pro Studio sound and voice audio technologies to arm gamers with the competitive advantage of the most immersive and accurate 3D acoustic environment.

The Sound Blaster Tactic3D Rage Wireless gaming headset connects quickly and easily via a USB dongle, for uncompressed 2.4 GHz, latency-free wireless audio playback. In both the wireless and wired models of the headset, best-in-class sound quality pumps through 50 mm Full Spectrum drivers, with frequency response of 20Hz ~ 20KHz. The TacticProfile audio interface on the PC or Mac enables customization of EQ and audio preferences, which gamers can export and share with others.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced its new ultra high-performance Z-Series of Sound Blaster PCI-Express sound cards, elevating the standards of technology and performance for the future of gaming and entertainment on the PC. Creative will preview the new Sound Blaster ZxR, Sound Blaster Zx and Sound Blaster Z at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany from 15-19 August 2012.

"The audio landscape for gaming and entertainment on the PC has changed. As content creation and consumption evolves with the interactivity of the Internet, our vision is to enable the best listening experiences for music, video and games, and to transcend the basic concept of sound quality as a specification with enabling technologies that allow users to completely customize their PC audio," said Low Long Chye, Director of Product Marketing for Audio. "For audio playback, we use studio-grade components to deliver outstanding fidelity, and then greatly enhance the listening experience by implementing our SBX Pro Studio suite of audio technologies. This enables complete customization of audio playback, uniquely catered to suit individual tastes. Our mixture of outstanding components and proprietary technologies also enables us to provide the highest quality recording experience for audio creation, which today expands beyond just music recording to include user interaction and creation with YouTube, eSports, and more."

QNAP Systems, Inc. is extending the number of compatible peripherals for its Turbo NAS products. The additions, including five 500GB to 1TB 2.5-inch internal SATA hard drives, ten 2.5-inch 60GB to 480GB internal Solid State Drives, two USB Wi-Fi adapters, and one USB camera are now fully compatible. The expanded peripherals are expected to give users greater convenience and deployment flexibility.

Last week, we came up with our latest front-page poll question, asking our readers which is their preferred audio output when gaming (playing their favorite PC games). Choices included desktop speakers, headsets, and external home audio solutions (such as HT amps, HiFi systems, etc.) Over the course of the week that followed, we accumulated over 1,800 votes to build our sample, which consists of our readers (both registered members of our Forums, and unregistered readers). The interim results come as a bit of a surprise to us.

According to numbers recorded at the time of writing this article, from 1,820 respondents, 808 (44.18%) prefer desktop speakers, a close 719 (39.31%) prefer headsets, with external home audio system being a distant yet significant third option, with 302 (16.51%) of the respondents preferring it.