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Creative Sound Blaster® Roar - Top-Selling Portable Wireless Speaker on Amazon USA, Now Available in Europe at an Incredible Factory-Direct Price of EUR149.99

Showcasing at IFA 2014 in Berlin, This New Concept, 5-Driver Portable Bluetooth® Wireless Speaker Delivers Astoundingly Powerful, Spacious and Precise Audio That Blows People Away - Sold 1 Unit Every 30 Seconds at PC Show

SINGAPORE - 21 August 2014 - Creative Technology Ltd today announced that its top-selling Sound Blaster® Roar portable Bluetooth wireless speaker that has taken the market by storm is now available for sale in Europe at creative.com for the first time at an unbelievably attractive factory-direct price of EUR149.99.

The Sound Blaster Roar, a new concept, 5-driver high performance portable Bluetooth wireless speaker is a #1 Bestseller on Amazon.com. From 5 - 10 September, it will be showcased at IFA 2014 in Berlin, Germany at the Creative booth (No.105 at Hall 3.2).

Dubbed the ‘Audiophile Sound Booklet', the sleek metallic Sound Blaster Roar is designed to rival existing home stereo systems in sound quality, yet light enough to be portable. Measuring only 57 x 202 x 115 mm and weighs 1.1 kg, the Sound Blaster Roar packs an amazingly powerful punch in audio performance and features. Engineered from the ground up with Creative's expertise in audio technology and years of research and expertise in speaker design, the Sound Blaster Roar represents the pinnacle of portable wireless audio. Its superb audio performance is set to redefine the home stereo and wireless speaker market - by combining wireless connectivity, portability, high fidelity and audio power all into one compact unit that can rest on the palm, and be brought along on-the-go for a truly mobile digital lifestyle.

At its pre-launch at the recently concluded PC Show Singapore, the Sound Blaster Roar wowed the huge audience that thronged the show with its amazing audio prowess - the speaker simply blew people away the moment they heard its astoundingly powerful, precision-tuned, high fidelity sound, emitted from a very compact and portable booklet-sized form factor. Within the show's opening hour each day, the Sound Blaster Roar generated long queues and sold like hotcakes. It achieved an astounding sales record of ‘1-unit-sold-every-30-seconds', making it the hottest selling speaker at the 4-day cash-and-carry show. The PC Show is one of the largest annual consumer electronics shows in Singapore.

With the loudest sound from the smallest form factor, the feature-rich Sound Blaster Roar simply out-performed, out-featured and out-priced every other portable wireless speaker at the show. It out-sold all other speakers at the show several times over.

“Many portable wireless speakers are designed primarily to be small and compact. They hardly suffice in audio fidelity to provide decent sound as a home stereo system. In the designing of the Sound Blaster Roar, we've approached it from the opposite direction. By incorporating advanced acoustic design elements, we focused on high quality audio performance first and portability second. Then we embarked on a near impossible mission to make it small, feature-rich, sexy and cost-effective by defying many laws of conventional acoustic engineering. This has allowed us to create the first high performance home stereo-grade wireless speaker that can be taken on-the-go. The end result is an astoundingly powerful but compact and sexy portable speaker that blows people away everywhere it goes. Many people did not believe what they heard when they encountered the Sound Blaster Roar — they were hunting around for a hidden external subwoofer!” said Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology.

“The audio power of the Sound Blaster Roar is simply mind-shattering for its size and precision fidelity. To top it off, we are making it available at an irresistible, take-no-prisoners factory-direct price of Euro149.99! I believe the Sound Blaster Roar is by far the best portable wireless speaker in its class in the market. It is a no-brainer purchase for anyone who is looking for a powerful and portable wireless speaker,” added Sim.

The Sound Blaster Roar has garnered numerous rave reviews since its launch, with an overwhelming number of reviewers giving the speaker five-out-of-five stars or top ratings. Some directly remarked that the Sound Blaster Roar is the best-sounding portable speaker in its size to hit the market at this incredible price point.

“The Roar sounds killer, and it's definitely very balanced: lows are deep and rich, mids are very pronounced, and highs are a well-blended part of the mix. The combination of the three make it sound like a much larger speaker than it actually is. And when you crank the volume, it can handle it - there's no distortion even at max volume.” — Android Police

"Overall, the Sound Blaster Roar SR20 is definitely the most impressive Bluetooth speaker we've reviewed for quite a while - it not only sounds good, but it's also extremely versatile, which is all you could really ask for with a Bluetooth speaker." — Custom PC Review

“The best-sounding portable speaker to hit the market at this price point; and possibly one of the loudest as well ߪ. Makes other speakers look bad.” — T3 Magazine

“First and foremost, audio performance is exemplary of a speaker of its class and size, and easily rivals and even outclasses lesser 2.1 speaker systemsߪߪ the Sound Blaster Roar offered very good clarity, smooth mids and deep, well-controlled bass. It also exhibited very good speed and dexterityߪ. it represents tremendous value for money and it is a no-brainer for us to recommend to anyone who is looking for a powerful portable wireless speaker.” Source: HardwareZone.com, SPH Magazines, 2 March 2014

“The Sound Blaster Roar not only causes you to drop your jaw in disbelief, it is also very listenable over the long term with practically any music genre. In fact I like it better than any of the other palm-size speakers I have tried, and yes that does include Bose.”— PhotoGraphics

“Loud is useless without quality. Roar, is loud and sounds good. Real good.” — Craving Tech

In March 2014, the Sound Blaster Roar garnered the prestigious Red Dot Award conferred by the famous German-based international “Red Dot Award: Product Design 2014” competition - often seen as the ultimate accolade in the world of product design that recognises outstanding product designs for their innovation, functionality, quality standards, ergonomics and ecological compatibility.

Sound Blaster Roar - Advanced Acoustic Design and Features
The key advanced acoustic design elements of the Sound Blaster Roar are its dual amplifiers, Space-Filling Dispersion Architecture, Boxer-Bass-Module Design, Roar Audio Power, TeraBass and MegaStereo features.

Bi-Amplified Design
Most other portable speakers utilise a single amplifier to reproduce the entire audio spectrum, with most demand going into producing lows and mid-range audio. A single-amplified design thus compromises the highs, which results in unbalanced, low-fidelity audio, a symptom that is common among portable speakers. In contrast, the Sound Blaster Roar features a bi-amplified design that utilises two amplifiers - one dedicated to driving the lows and mids, and another dedicated to delivering the highs. This allows the speaker to produce uncompromisingly clear, high definition and well-balanced music.

Space-Filling Dispersion
Another key differentiating factor is that the Sound Blaster Roar is specially designed to produce space-filling audio, instead of small, constrained audio. This is achieved by the incorporation of far-field high frequency front-firing drivers that project audio further than most other speakers in its class, allowing users to hear subtle audio details clearly even when at the other end of a room. Audio spaciousness is further enhanced through the unique placement of the five different drivers. While the two high frequency drivers are front-firing, the active bass and mid-range driver is top-firing, with lower-range audio enhanced even further by the two side-firing passive radiators. This design results in a holosonic soundscape that enables improved width, height and depth while preserving stereo focus. The listener thereby experiences spacious audio that is not sweet spot-dependant.

Boxer-Bass-Module Design
Placing the top-firing bass and mid-range driver horizontally also allows for a low centre of gravity, which increases the stability of the Sound Blaster Roar. This eliminates any unnecessary movement, vibration or rattling of the speaker's body during audio playback, even at high volumes.

ROAR Audio Power
By default, the Sound Blaster Roar is designed to deliver clear and balanced high fidelity audio, even at high volumes. In scenarios such as parties or gatherings where a large group is gathered, pressing the ROAR button will instantly and significantly boost the loudness, depth and spaciousness of the speaker audio for an even more powerful, kick-ass, no-holds-barred listening experience.

TeraBass
TeraBass is a feature that intelligently compensates for the perceived lack of loudness in bass during low level audio playback without artificially over-accentuating bass levels. TeraBass processing will intelligently increase the loudness of bass at low to medium volume levels.

MegaStereo
The MegaStereo feature enables two sets of Sound Blaster Roar speakers to be easily connected to each other to form a wider and more powerful left/left and right/right mega stereo system with double the punch using an optional special MegaStereo cable.

High-Definition Audio Codecs - AAC and aptX®
AAC and aptX® are advanced HD audio codecs that deliver high quality audio for Bluetooth transmission. These codecs, supported by iPhones and branded Android phones, are crucial for high quality wireless audio transmission.

Other Useful Features
Beyond its astounding audio performance, the Sound Blaster Roar also incorporates many useful built-in features, such as Speakerphone teleconferencing, a MicroSD slot for MP3 music playback and Audio recording, a Siren, and a unique Bluetooth Link Security Control that allows users to configure the connectivity settings of Sound Blaster Roar for different usage scenarios. It even doubles as a Sound Blaster for connecting to a PC via the USB port.

• Housed within the Sound Blaster Roar is a high quality microphone that provides clear voice pickup, making it suitable for speakerphone teleconferencing.
• Integrated MicroSD WMA and MP3 Player - Plays music directly from a MicroSD Card without having to connect to the user's smart device.
• Integrated Voice Recorder - Allows for simple, one-touch audio recording of music and voice calls directly to a MicroSD card.
• NFC connectivity - One tap of an NFC-enabled smart device on the Sound Blaster Roar connects it to a device via Bluetooth.
• Connects to two Bluetooth-enabled devices simultaneously - Ideal in a situation when a user is watching a movie on a tablet and wants to take a phone call on the Sound Blaster Roar from a smartphone.
• Link Security Modes allow users to select how they can connect their Bluetooth devices to cater for different usage scenarios:
  • Default Mode (Creative Bluetooth Multipoint Mode) - Connects to up to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously. Ideal for single users with two Bluetooth devices who may not want to share the Sound Blaster Roar with others.
  • Friendly Access Mode - Allows Bluetooth devices that have been paired to the speaker before to takeover control of the Sound Blaster Roar. Ideal for sharing music among family and friends.
  • Free-for-All Access Mode - Allows device to be always set in discoverable mode. Anyone can easily search and connect to the device without seeking permission. Ideal for use in meetings or classrooms for easy sharing of audio.
• Dual Purpose Battery - 6000 mAH battery charges smartphones beyond providing up to 8 hours* of continuous audio playback.
• Siren - Comes with a built-in siren that lets users instantly grab attention when needed.
• Additional Sound Blaster† Functionality - Connecting the Sound Blaster Roar via USB to a PC or Mac enables advanced audio processing through Sound Blaster Control Panel, a free downloadable software program specially designed for the speaker.
• Size: 57 x 202 x 115 mm
• Weight: 1.1 kg

* Actual battery life will vary with use and volume settings.
†The Sound Blaster Roar functions as an external Sound Blaster sound card when plugged into a PC or Mac via USB.

Pricing and Availability
The Creative Sound Blaster Roar portable Bluetooth wireless speaker (SRP EUR199.99) is available now in Europe at creative.com at the factory-direct price of EUR149.99. It will also be available at major retailers throughout Europe.

For more information on Creative Sound Blaster Roar, visit creative.com/roar.

About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, wireless headphones and portable media devices. Today, Creative re-invents the Sound Blaster, which has a user base of over 400 million, with its ground-breaking Sound Blaster Roar and Sound BlasterAxx that aim at the new mobile networked generation by bridging the worlds of the computer, smartphones, and tablets. Creative's proprietary technologies, innovative hardware, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.

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This announcement relates to products launched in Europe. Availability is subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Creative, the Creative logo, Sound Blaster, Sound BlasterAxx are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Creative Technology Ltd Wynne Leong Tel (65) 6895 4120 wynne_leong@ctl.creative.com