January 10th, 2000

[11:00 AM] MACWORLD Expo Wrap-up: Creative Labs... At MACWORLD? by John Braun At first we thought the lack of sleep, combined with parties that lasted into the wee hours, had taken their toll, but we weren't seeing things. For the first time ever, Creative Labs had a booth on the MACWORLD show floor! We decided to investigate and find out what a formerly PC-only company has in store for the Mac. The first product is WebCam Go. As the name implies, it is primarily a web camera, but it can also be used as a digital still and video camera. The use of CMOS technology rather than CCD provides superior image quality for indoor or other well-lit environments. The next product is the Nomad II, a portable audio device which supports MP3, CD audio, voice recording, and even includes an FM tuner. It uses a 64 MB SmartMedia card to store audio. Last is the SoundBlaster Live! audio board, slated for a summer release. It offers cool surround and environmental audio effects. Creative also offers Four Point Surround FPS2000 Digital and Soundworks Digital speaker systems to connect to the board. Creative representatives were unsure of the reaction of Mac users at their first MACWORLD show, but word has it that they are already planning to attend MWNY 2000 due to the positive response. They also won Best of Show for their Live! product, making this a very successful introduction to the Mac community. The Mac Observer Spin: Seeing longtime PC companies either enter or come back to the Mac is a sign that the platform is definitely gaining some momentum. MACWORLD New York should be more exciting than ever! Creative Labs - MACWORLD Expo SF Special Report