CES 2008: World’s Biggest Digital Picture Frame January 3, 2008
READ MORE Digital cameras , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Peripherals
The world and his dog might be going nuts for 7in digital picture frames right now but there’s something bigger on the way next week. Much bigger.
Smartparts, makers of many digital photo frames including a big 15in model [pictured], will unveil a whopping 32in picture frame at the CES 2008 show in Vegas next week. The gigantic SP3200 is a 16:9 widescreen LCD panel that displays photos in high-definition, with a resolution of 1366x768.
Many might say that’s way too big to view photos of the mother-in-law but I think, hung like a painting in a room – and with all mother-in-law photos deleted – this could be quite an interesting buy.
Smartparts will also be showing off the SP8PRT, the world’s first digital picture frame with a built-in photo printer. No prices for either yet but I’ll update this when I know.-Martin Lynch
photo digital photo frame camera
|
|
Fujitsu Ditches Plasma TVs January 3, 2008
READ MORE Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HDTV , Plasma , TV
Intense competition from LCD TVs and increasing price pressure have been cited by Fujitsu as the key reasons why it is pulling out of the consumer TV business.
The surprise announcement arrived just as Sony announced its retreat from the rear-projection TV arena. Fujitsu’s Plasmavision and Aviamo plasma TVs were aimed at the higher end of the home entertainment segment but from March 2008, Fujitsu will wash its hands of the consumer TV market. In a statement, the company – a pioneer in the plasma panel market – said:
“The focus of our marketing was high-end value added products, and our marketing direction was to concentrate on the Custom AV market specialising in advanced AV systems and high end custom installations in North America and the United Kingdom. During the past several years, the pricing and profitability of this segment has compressed beyond the point which our company could realise a satisfactory return on investment. We expect that this market situation will continue in the future.
In light of these conditions and the business structure of our company, we have decided that we will discontinue participation in the visual display business at the end of March, 2008 and concentrate our operating resources on our core business of heating and ventilation equipment instead.”
Although plasma TVs haven’t lost the battle to LCD TVs just yet, the shrinking number of plasma TV makers are finding it increasingly difficult to make any money. According to DisplaySearch, the average selling price for 42in plasma TVs fell 9% per quarter last year.-Martin Lynch
Definitive Unveils New One-Speaker Surround System January 3, 2008
READ MORE Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , Hi-fi , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , Movies
I’ve already said that 2008 would be the year of fashionable, yet hamstrung, surround sound bars and we’re barely a few days in when we get the first one of 2008.
US audio specialist Definitive Technology will be bringing its latest Mythos Solo surround bars to the UK in the coming months.
The SSA-42 [due in February] and SSA-50 [due in May] will sport price tags of around £450 and £550 and promise to bring users the latest in one-speaker surround, a.k.a. pseudo surround. In quality terms, you're looking at something a lot better than TV sound but probably not on a par with dedicated 5.1 or 7.1 speaker set-ups. Although, they are a lot neater for all you cable-phobes.
The SSA-42 is designed to sit happily under TVs up to 46in and has three 8.3cm drivers with coincident array 20mm tweeters, two 8.3cm full-range drivers, and four 7.6cm surround drivers. The SSA-50, for bigger tellys over 50in, has three 11.4cm drivers with 25mm tweeters, two 11.cm full-range drivers and four 8.3cm surround units. Definitive Technology is sold through Pulse Marketing in the UK.
Other one-speaker surround systems Gizmodo has featured include the Yamaha YSP series, Philips AmbiSound HTS8100 and Denon’s DHT-SH3 X-Space.-Martin Lynch
£27,000 Mobile Phone Bill For UK Factory Worker January 3, 2008
READ MORE Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Mobile Devices , Mobile phones , Online , Smartphones
Ian Simpson, a factory worker from Darlington, was no doubt revelling in just how good surfing the Net via his mobile phone was until he got his latest bill from Vodafone. The £27,000 heart-stopper was laughed at, at first, but now the poor sod's facing bankruptcy.
Simpson had his mobile connected to his laptop as a modem and downloaded over 20 TV shows and some albums before the bill pointed out that his £41.50 per month contract did not include unlimited Net downloads. Oops.
In fact, it only covered a measly 120Mb of downloads a month. That said, after he exceeded the amount, Vodafone started charging him at an extortionate rate, sometimes up to £18 per minute. As far as I’m concerned, that’s criminal and I hope they never see a penny of it.
Simpson and Vodafone are now in talks to reduce the amount to a more manageable sum. A spokesperson for the operator told the Northern Echo:
“Few customers exceed the fair usage. But it seems clear Ian has run up these charges legitimately. The rules are clearly stated. Mobile web pages use fewer megabytes. That package is not designed for large-scale downloading or computer-speed web use.”
Now there’s an understatement. Last month, one unlucky phone user in Canada faced a similar scenario with Bell Mobility, which wanted £41,000.-Martin Lynch
- Blogroll
Editor | Martin Lynch
RSS Feed
