According to a report by
Notebook Review, though, that's all about to change. The site has come upon
several pictures of what looks like a notebook-bound version of Creative's Sound
Blaster X-Fi XtremeAudio sound card. The new Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio
Notebook card forgoes the PCMCIA interface and instead uses the Express Card
interface. The card itself has four ports (front, side, center/sub, and rear)
and is presumably designed to hook up an analog 7.1 speaker setup. Notebook
Review doesn't say whether the card will accelerate EAX positional audio in
hardware, though. Judging by product pages on Creative's website, the desktop
version of the X-Fi XtremeAudio does not. Creative hasn't released official
specifications, pricing or availability for the new notebook card, but expect to
see full details within the coming weeks.