OK, so it isn't the finest week for free-energy machines, but perhaps the boys at Steorn are just giving this category a bad name. Some seemingly free-energy concepts make sense, because they are powered not by mystical cosmic vibrations, but actual earthly ones. Scientists at the University of Southampton have created a generator that is fueled by the tremors of everyday life. It makes a trace amount of electrical current, but it's enough to power sensors and, eventually, small machines.
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Plug Beatmix Bumblebee into your MP3 player and he'll dance to his own mix of your music library, adding beats and sound clips from the movie, for as long as his four AA batteries last. Since he plugs into portables, you'll be able to take him everywhere. Transformers get-togethers. Work. Put an upside down hat next to him on street corners. As a Transformer, though, it looks like poor BM Bumblebee is forever locked in robot mode.
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The Nixon Lodown has 15 years worth of preprogrammed tidal info for 200 beaches all the world over. Right at your wrist you can monitor the height of the waves, and don't be afraid to jump right in when the surf looks good—the Lodown has a water resistance rating of 100m. The Lodown's simple presentation of data with its gray-on-black blocks makes it look pretty stylish, but is it $90 worth of stylish?
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Bj will be the new robot mutt in town when it arrives worldwide this autumn. It may not have Sony's pedigree, but it's smarter than any other pup-bot ever. Designed for research and hacking, the fully programmable Bj uses Linux and is loaded with an i.MX 533MHz processor based on an ARM core with 64MB of RAM. The rest of the technical specs makes Bj almost as smart as my Border Terrier*.
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It was bound to happen and, despite Sony’s recent protestations to the contrary, it has.
The PS3 is getting $100 lopped of its US price - a 17% reduction designed to help boost the sluggish sales Stateside where the diminutive Wii and older Xbox 360 continue to outsell the pricey PS2 successor.
This brings its US price to $500 [£250], just $20 higher than the Xbox 360 and should boost sales in the coming months. Will it take sales away from the forthcoming Xbox Elite? According to Jack Tretton, Sony Entertainment America chief executive:
“Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum. We've gotten our production issues behind us on the PlayStation 3, reaching a position to pass on the savings to consumers, and our attitude is the sooner the better.”
He also officially announced that the 80GB version of the PS3 will arrive in August with a price tag of $599.
The pricing move is well overdue but I imagine Europe is going to get nothing for months to come, if at all. What’s new there then?-Martin Lynch
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Apart from HannSpree, not too many companies bother injecting much in the way of style into small LCD TVs.
LG is hoping to attract the designer set though with the attractively curved LG LS3R [pictured]. This is a 20in widescreen LCD TV with a cool, glowing red pedestal with in-built speakers.
The display resolution is 1366 x 768 pixels, making it good for HD video and there’s a handy HDMI port, alongside the Scart, Component and PC inputs. It has a brightness rating of 450 cdm2, a claimed contrast of 3000:1 and a respectable 5ms response time.
There’s also a 17in, 19in and 22in version coming too.
No official price yet, but there is a Euro price of 384, around £260 – which ain’t half bad. You can check out some more specs and a photo of its ass, after the jump.-Martin Lynch
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Last month, I covered the arrival of the Philips AmbiSound HTS8100 SoundBar and now we have Denon wanting a little bit of that single-speaker surround sound action.
Meet the Denon DHT-FS3 X-SPACE surround bar, giving people the option of having a classy-looking pseudo-surround option to the traditional 5.1 surround sound speakers and the cabling that comes with it. It has an unusually slim subwoofer for low-end rumbles and boasts an overall output of 150W.
Like the AmbiSound, it purports to deliver a enveloping sound from just one speaker. The bar sports seven digital amplifiers, several DSP chips and six speaker drivers but does not rely on bouncing the sound around your walls for the surround effect [unlike the original and great YSP single-speaker systems from Yamaha].
This is similar to how the Philips offering works but it does lack the in-built, upscaling DVD player of the AmbiSound. Considering Denon wants the same money for it - around £700 – this could be an oversight. Due out next month.-Martin Lynch
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
