Minimalist Mobile, Where Less is Less June 28, 2007
READ MORE Mobile phones
This cellphone design by Jacob Palmborg is for all those who loathe the iPhone and are sick and tired of hearing about it. This one's just a cellphone that plays a bit of music and stores a list of your contacts, nothing more. What a concept! It has an attractive OLED touchscreen interface that appears underneath its spooky-looking black façade, and on the back there's a fingerprint ID screen so the phone will know that you are actually you.
|
|
Review: Philips SHB6102 Bluetooth Headphones Rock June 28, 2007
READ MORE Gadgets , Mobile Devices , Mobile phones , Music , Peripherals , Smartphones , Wireless
Verdict: Outstanding. Not very cheap but very cheerful indeed.
Stereo Bluetooth headphones are nothing new. In fact, the variety is mind-boggling, spanning cheap and nasty to top-of-the line, in terms of both quality and price. Still, it’s refreshing to come across a set that stands out in a crowd. The Philips SHB6102 Bluetooth headphones do just that. They are stylish and comfortable and, thanks to the bundled 3.5mm Bluetooth adaptor, capable of so much more than entry-level kit.
First off, they look good, clad in that same glossy black piano finish as Philips’ AmbiLight TVs. After the first charge [six hours] they were a doddle to set-up and I was taking calls like a professional PA in no time. The controls are intuitive, making swapping between phone-based tunes and calls a one-click deal. Having worn them most of a day, they are comfortable – thanks to the behind-the-neck design. However, it’s beyond the office desk that the Philips headphones excel.
Taking the dinky little Bluetooth adaptor, I plugged it into the headphone jack of my non-Bluetooth MP3 player and within seconds I was rocking out without the annoyance of wires. There’s even handy lycra band to hold both your player and the adaptor. I took them for a run and ,while a little big to be truly portable, the headphones performed admirably and didn’t break my neck in the process. The sound reproduction is excellent, with sold bass and clear presentation.
I tried the adaptor on my Hi-Fi/radio with similar results – just make sure there’s some line-of-sight. I even hooked them up to my TV – which is not in the manual - and, despite a little syncing lag [a la Bluetooth], they worked fine. Anyone with kids will appreciate this simple method of enjoying TV at whatever volume you like without disturbing the precious cherubs.
Stand-by is rated at 260 hours, and it’s good for 12 hours talktime and 10 hours of music playback. Overall, this is an excellent little Bluetooth offering and since it no longer costs the original RRP of £100 [around £65-70 now online], I can’t even complain about the price. Jump now for the full specs.-Martin Lynch
BBC iPlayer Goes Live In July June 28, 2007
READ MORE Entertainment , Laptops , Online , PC , TV
The BBC’s on-demand TV service, iPlayer, goes live on July 27 as an ‘open beta’ – at least for Windows PC users. Apple fans will have to wait for a few months – possibly up to six - for their version.
Ashley Highfield, Director of Future Media & Technology, said:
“BBC iPlayer is a free catch-up service for UK licence fee payers. Your favourite programmes from all the BBC's network TV channels will be available to download over the Internet, and watch on your PC without advertising for up to a week after transmission.”
Viewers will need to go here to access the iPlayer and start downloading programmes [right now though, it's just a password protected page used by those in the closed beta]. When live, you will then have up to 30 days in which to watch your downloads. Once watched, the programme self-deletes. BBC iPlayer will also become accessible through the BBC Web site as well as through YouTube links. Distribution deals are also being discussed with MSN, The Telegraph, AOL, Tiscali, Yahoo!, MySpace, Blinkx and Bebo.
Despite the Apple gaffe, this looks like a good service for most TV lovers and I will certainly be checking it out. Let’s hope the reality matches the hype. A full launch with bells and whistles is due in the Autumn.-Martin Lynch
Portege R500: World’s Skinniest/Lightest Notebook June 28, 2007
READ MORE Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Mobile Devices , Portable Media
As soon as I hear of a product with ‘world’s whatever’ attached, especially when it comes to skinny notebooks, I sigh inwardly and ask: ‘What have they left out this time?’
Happily, with the new Toshiba Portege R500, not a lot. Weighing in at an anorexic 1Kg, the R500 sports the first 7mm optical disk drive, a 120GB hard disk drive (HDD), a 12.1in widescreen trans-reflective LED display, which means it’s easier to read outdoors and lighter on the juice. The notebook is just 0.77in thin.
In terms of what else you get, it’s not that bad for a supermodel: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 1.2GHz and 1GB of Dram. Toshiba is even promising to lighten the R500’s load considerably later this year when it swaps out the HDD for a 64GB solid state disk drive which will bring it in at just 779g.
Based on configuration it will also have a claimed battery life of between 7 and 12.5 hours, which is good whatever way you look at it. The HDD version will cost £1100, ex VAT, from July. -Martin Lynch
Old Xbox 360s To Get 1080p June 28, 2007
READ MORE Consoles , Games , HD , HD DVD , HDMI , Home Entertainment , Xbox
The Xbox 360 Elite, due later this year, seems like the best way to get Full HD, or 1080p, gaming on your swanky new flat TV.
Still, it’s of absolutely no use to the millions of owners of the white Xbox 360, unless of course, they are desperate enough to actually go buy the black Elite console for the sake of the HDMI and a bigger hard disk drive.
Cable manufacturer XCM may have a solution for us though, claiming it is nearly finished development on a cable [that odd-looking thing above] that will allow 1080p output via HDMI from your current Xbox 360. The timeframe is four weeks but there’s no detail on this product, how it works and whether or not it will actually work.
Still, if real, it could be a great - and cheap - solution for the 360 horde who are feeling a little left out in the hi-def cold.-Martin Lynch
- Blogroll
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
RSS Feed
