Gadgety News

It seems to have been longer than the 6 months that it actually has been since I got word that Sling Media was going to bring their SlingPlayer to the iPhone 3G.

But it’s here and has been demo’d at Macworld and the plan is to release the final version to the public in the next three months.

Like SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian, UIQ, and BlackBerry platforms, this iPhone version will let you access one or more Slingboxes from your mobile device and then you can watch your TV stations on-the-go.

You’ll also be able to manage your PVR from the iPhone as well as adding and removing fave channels via your phone.

That’s a first for the SlingPlayer Mobile line of software.

They’ve even utilised the touch screen of the 3Gesus Phone so that swiping the screen horizontally advances you through favourite stations, and flicking up and down rotates through all your home channels.

SlingPlayer should appear in the iTunes AppStore by the end of the March.

Expect it to cost around $29.99 which is the going rate for the lifetime fee of SlingPlayer Mobile on other platforms.

If that’s too much just remember OrbLive delivers live TV and media stored on your PC for $10.

Soo Loos.

Wasn’t she the pig botherer on that ‘celebrity’ reality farm thingy?

Never mind.

This Sooloos is prepared to drag you away from your Sonos media hub.

After getting the details I have to admit I’m adding this system to my ‘If I Had The Cash I’d Buy One’ list.

Sooloos has matched a great server interface with ear-loving compression free audio. Yup, all of your music is stored at optimum-quality Flac for playback through your hi-fi.

You can tell the market that this aimed at when you discover that the system can be sent to 100 rooms (or you can give all your neighbours a treat in the highrise!).

Sooloos are a helpful bunch as they even offer to preload your system with the first 2500 CDs in your collection for free so once you’re hooked up you can play - to add to that the system will also make a 192kbps MP3 file of the same tunes for transferring to your iPod.

Nice

The Control:One control hub looks pretty clean and intuative and centres around the 17in touchpanel that displays all you need to drive the system. It is also the point that houses the CD drive for ripping discs.

You can also port the interface on to your iPod Touch or iPhone!

Control:One links via Ethernet to Source:One which is pretty much the preamp and hooks up to your hi-fi like a seperate CD player, etc.

Then there’s the bit where all of your tunes live. Store:One.

It looks like it is advised that you have 2 of these: One for the choonz and the other as a backup.

The storage seems to come in 1TB chunks which is able to hold 2500 albums in Flac.

Up to 3TB can be installed in each mirrored pair (7200 albums in total) and you can continue to add Store:Ones.

As you can imagine this is not budgety basement stuff and in this current crunchy climate the price may send most of you running shrieking the anthem of “HOW MUCH!!!???!!” but, as I’ve already said, if I had the money………..£11,2700 worth I’d probably be ordering one right now.

Say hello to Versimo Networks VuNow Pod set-top box.

The VuNow is a hand-sized set-top box that picks out channels across the interweb and sends them straight to your TV without requiring your puter to be hooked up.

The channels include one solely for YouTube content, another for CinemaNow, a BitTorrent codec option and a “Global’ select channel that takes in choice clips from around the world.

VuNow’s Pod comes in a couple of flavours: The HD version is priced at $150 and a standard definition at $100.

The user interface is apparently pretty easy to find your way around with and is said to be basically modeled on the Apple TV UI.

The VuNow Pod also comes with the necessary video search engine, it’s wireless (though it does have an HDMI port), and requires no subscription fees.

You can also use the pod as a streamer for your personal media on a PC.

The VuNow pod is available now people!

BlogWired

I know some of you are rocking some pretty impressive audio kit.  With that you’ve proabably got some sweet, sweet headphones for when your partner doesn’t want to hear Jaco Pastorious get experimental or Opeth chugging away.

Unfortunately not all media players have the power to make those hefty drivers in your cans really work.

Little things like iPod Nanos have enough to drive tiny in-ear headphones and earbuds, but at some point you get headphones where that signal just isn’t enough.

All you need to do is drop less than £15 and get yourself this itsy amp from Fiio .

The E5 replaces their E3 and boosts the signal without adding noise and makes your nice audio gear sound great when you’ve gone all portable.

It’s not yet ready on their website but I’m certainly tempted for when I’m wanting to use my fully enclosed monsters on the train, etc

Slashgear

Yesterday it was announced that Telia customers might be getting an MMS app for their iPhones.

The application was being developed by the carrier themselves and that they were planning its release in a couple of months.

Which sounded promising for the rest of us…………

I’ve just got word that Mobispine is probably the developer in question, and that they have plans to offer it to carriers all across this glorious globe of ours.

Mobispine says that the app will be branded to each particular operator, and distributed via Apple’s App Store - but the little blighters aren’t telling when.

The other thing of news is: 

If you notice on the pic above someone actually missed the news and needed telling (on November 15th!) that “Obama will be our next president.”  They obviously had a go at that space tourism thing!

Hmmmmmm……………

1972 - I was one year old, still in Calgary and did not yet have a brother.

At the same time Pong, the world’s first successful video game, hit the market.  Nobody could even begin to guess how big video gaming would become.

But it has become huge; both financially and culturally. 

So much so that people are taking steps to ensure the preservation of the medium’s history.

On September 19th, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) announced the creation of the UK’s first official National Videogame Archive (NVA), a joint venture between Nottingham Trent University and the National Media Museum in Bradford, which will catalogue gaming’s history “from the humble beginnings of 1972’s ‘Pong,’ to the blockbusters of the 21st Century.”

The aim of the NVA is to “preserve, analyse and display the products of the global videogame industry by placing games in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts.”

So we’re not just talking about a collection of consoles and cartridges here!

October also saw the announcement of the Archive’s related initiative, Save the Videogame, where game developers have already begun making their cases for games they believe are worth preserving.

Check out: National Video Game Archive and Save The Video Game.

Thanks to Kareny Karen for the email!! 

I’ve been pointed in the direction of this rather natty media device called the TouchDiva.

Nope, I’d not heard of it before either - which is worrying as it is supposed to be released in the UK and Europe in a matter of weeks!

The specs match the looks with the guts of a B&O in the two 125W ICEpower (Bang & Olufsen-manufactured) amps and that 15.4-inch touchscreen.

You pay a subscription of  around a tenner a month and for that you can download as much music as you wish.

The Danish manufacturers claim to have “agreements with the four major music companies in the world (Warner, EMI, Sony-BMG and Universal),” giving them access to over 2 million songs.

The Diva itself has just two buttons - on/off and a reset.

If you like the idea of having a touchscreen digital jukebox you’ll be looking to have to pay around £750 from December 1st apparently.

TouchDiva

iRiver is a name that you’d generally associate with media players but they have been flashing their phone concept at various shows.

I’m guessing that all the feedback was positive as it is a dream no more! 

Wave hello to the iRiver Wave!

This Wave is a bit of a looker as well.  Check out that large touchscreen and that lovely, metallic case.  

It’s from iRiver so media-playing is pretty much a given, with video streaming on that large screen that flips from horizontal to vertical viewing……I’m sure something else does this….. 

Also squeezed in are an FM radio, handwriting recognition and a dictionary - Naturally!

Wi-Fi and card expansion is all very groovy but I would have expected digital TV as well - Am I being unreasonable?

The iRiver Wave is set for launch in Korea in March 2009.

If you fancy one it might be worth noting that iRiver products have a habit of getting into the UK

HallyuTech

Looking for a true all-in-one media thingy?

Say Allo to the Allio HDTV with built-in PC and Blu-ray player!

No more will you need to multi-task from laptop to tele and back again - this 42-inch 1080p TV has cojoined with a high spec PC that holds an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, a massive 1TB of storage and Windows Vista Premium.

It’s no surprise really that it is also packing plenty of connectivity including wireless networking.

You can still multi-task (of course) with this big TV as the split screen/picture-in-picture options are a go-go!

To ensure that all boxes are ticked there’s that Blu-ray player - surly making this the first high-def all-in-one to hit the market.

Silicon Mountain is offering up six flavours of the TV, starting at $1,599.99 for the 32-inch model, jumping to $2,799 for the big boy.

No news of a UK launch as yet but don’t question about future upgrades or “what happens if this bit breaks?”………….

Silicon Mountain via Engadget

If you’re looking for something that’s like an iPod then you could do a lot worse than to check this little beauty out!

The Cowon O2 is coming to the UK and it is more than adequate to taunt the iPod and blow raspberries at the best of the rest.

Memory for all your media ranges from 16GB to a lovely 32GB of flash storage.

That’s not enough? Then whack in an SDHC card for up to 32GB more!

Video caresses those eyes of yours via the HD-friendly 4.3-inch TFT LCD screen and there’s compatibility for just about every audio and video format around - yes, even MP3’s!

If it wont play; well……you’ve probably made it up yourself!

Throw in video recording, photo viewing, a respectable battery life of 18 hours of music per charge and an open source operating system - the latter of which could bring forth some interesting downloads, stuff and things.

There’s no pricing details as yet, but as most of us know, Cowon players are generally very competitively priced

Cowon

The N7010 is pretty much a full featured laptop with its 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor, 16-inch 16:9 LCD, Blu-ray ROM drive and HDMI-out.

It also packs up to 4GB RAM, 256 MB ATI HD 3470 video card, SD card reader, 1.3 MP Camera, eSATA port, Bluetooth, 802.11N wi-fi and hard drives come as big as 320 GB.

Nice but nothing outstanding - so why have it on this wonderful blog?

Well - look at the pic a bit closer my friends…………go on - click the pic to make it easier for yourself!

The cool part about the Lifebook N7010 is the 4-inch, 480×272 pixel touchscreen integrated into the keyboard area.

It works as an application launcher, but according to Fujitsu’s Paul Moore, you can use it as a second (really teeny-small) screen, with the ability to drag whatever you want down to the second screen like any other external monitor.

Aside from the app launcher, its intended to be used as a CD/DVD control panel, or as a photo viewer.

This groovy feature is considered to be an industry first for laptops but it probably is worth noting that it isn’t connected in any way to Windows Vista Sideshow.

The N7010 will begin shipping on November 10 and will start at $1500 on the Fujitsu website.

Fujitsu

Ok tightwad!

Yeah, you know who you are.

Perhaps you see yourself more as being frugal - no matter.

You opted for the 40GB PS3 and have discovered that the number of USB 2.0 ports isn’t enough.

In strides the Nyko Media Hub+ like a cheap mercenary.

In addition to adding some much need USB ports it has a memory card slot that reads both SD and Memory Stick cards, further expanding its media capabilities without looking out of whack when connected to the PS3.

And, even better, it’s self-installing and requires no additional power.

Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to the price!

Can you spare $19.99?  Of course you can

Source: IGN

Here we go!

This is a pic of the in-game XMB (Cross Media Bar) demonstrated on a firmware 2.40 PS3 for the very first time!

Sony also reveals that the 2.40 firmware update will deliver the Google search bar (like the PSP update I reported on last week) and the ability to play and control your own music stored on the hard drive in-game.

 Wohoooooooooooo!

If you were in any doubt; it looks like interest in the 3G iPhone is almost four times more than that generated by its 2G predecessor.

This comes direct from O2, Apple’s UK network partner for the device.

They say that over 130,000 people have pre-registered their interest in the new handset via O2’s website since the phone was unveiled a week ago.  Yup, that includes yours truly.

Compare that to the 35,000 people that pre-registered their interest in the previous phone between its unveiling on September 18 last year and November 9, when it went on sale in the UK.

Let’s face it.  The £269 initial price and being cuffed into an 18 month contract for the first iPhone was a bit scary, so Apple has allowed O2 to heavily subsidise the new handset giving it away ‘free’ on some contracts when it goes on sale on July 11.

O2 UK chief executive, Ronan Dunne, said that the cost of the 2G iPhone had been “an issue for some segments of the market”, but added that iPhone customers were spending 30% more a year on their mobile bills on average.

The fact that the iPhone has settled into a more standard UK mobile phone purchasing model and with that long awaited addition of 3G should see it breaking some records, if only those set by its trailblazing sibling.

Asus has launched the world’s first VGA and multimedia docking station.

The lovely ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamer) XG Station has gained the red dot design award honorable mention 2008.

The Asus XG Station is bundled with the EN8600GT/HTDP/256M graphics card and is equipped with an Express Card interface “seamlessly integrating notebook computing with powerful PC graphical power”.

It also incorporates 4 USB 2.0 ports and Dolby Technology – doubling as a USB hub that delivers true AV enjoyment.

Read the full press release at New Launches

If you’re looking for one of those funky lounge chairs but are put off by their way not cool prices - check this out!

The Maxlounge Inflatable Lounge Chair is a pretty cool looking chair complete with built-in speakers that costs under £30!

Simply plug the audio jack into your MP3 Player and “experience total comfort and immersion in your media”.

Due to the durable PVC design you can even take it outside, so it’s perfect for the beach, garden or live it up at a festival.

Choose from either the Maxlounge Bossa (Right), or the Maxlounge Liquid (Top).

Features:

• Easy to inflate and deflate
• Made out of very durable PVC
• 2 built in speakers for optimal sound
• Standard 3mm Jack for audio devices such as iPod, MP3 or CD player

gadgets.co.uk

iRiver has followed up the launch of its iPod rival, the Spinn PMP, with an updated model for those lucky Koreans!

The new P10 features a 800×480 res 4.3 inch LCD,  33GB of internal memory, supports WMV and MPEG videos and Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (the TV version of DAB).

It also has handwriting recognition as well several dictionaries including English, Chinese, Japanese.

It can also be used as an e-Book reader as it supports PDF, Word and Excel.

Two versions will be available - a basic version (without DMB) for 200 euros, and a pro version (with DMB) for 250 euros - yup, lets hope we can use those Euros to buy one over here soon!

Via - Akihabara News

Personally, with the weather as it is here in London, this is the only time I’d ride a scooter in a faux Italian kinda way.

But i’d still miss the car-bound comforts such as hi-fi, video screen, etc.

Not so fast! How about a scooter that packs a PC with a 1.2 GHz Mini-ITX motherboard, 1GB of RAM, a 2GB SSD, Bluetooth, and wireless internet into the frame along with a TV and radio tuner, 8″ LCD touchscreen, GPS, web cam, system status monitor, a mobile PVR and even an electric guitar PC uplink?

The Lab will be putting instructions on how to build this media hub on 2 wheels on their site.

So if you feel like a ride out just check your GPS, hit the open road to write some killer riffs as well as surfing the net whilst chatting over Skype at the same time as broadcasting your own pirate radio station and watching the news (and taping your favourite shows) as well as sharing your love as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot - get ready to build!

I can’t see how the police would have anything against it.

If, like me, you occassionally have cause to miss your UK tele programmes when you’re out and about and the catch-up services don’t actually service your needs sufficiently. Well, you are now able watch all your favourie programmes from BBC 1 and 2, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 via the Zattoo online media player.

The service already offered a host of satellite channels but now is claiming to be the first of its kind to offer all five of the UK’s terrestrial channels and the best bit is that it’s FREE! 

Content will be streamed live to Zattoo subscribers and joins financial news from Bloomberg, children’s programming from Cbeebies and special interest channels such as AutoMoto TV and The Poker Channel.

All you need to do is download the free Zattoo media player to your computer (Mac, PC and Linux systems) from zattoo.com and then set up your preferences through the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and Channel Manager functions - easy as that :0)

Loewe’s latest gogglebox is the Connect 37.  It’s a 37-inch LCD TV with built-in media streaming capabilities.  It’s a ‘Full HD’ 1080p TV, with support for 24p playback from HD media. 

Having Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet options means it can connect to a PC running Windows Media Player for lovely file sharing. 

Socket-wise there’s the specially sorted SCART so it can display component video, two HDMI sockets, and RCA digital audio inputs and outputs for connecting a home-cinema system.

You also get two USB sockets for photo and music playback.

The even-higher-end DR+ model comes with a built-in 160GB hard drive, for recording TV without the need for an external set-top-box style PVR.

The Connect 37 is available direct from Loewe for around £2,150 but adding extra options means stacking on the £’s.

Crave