Denon started encroaching on Yamaha’s territory last July when it launched its first surround sound bar, the DHT-FS3 X-SPACE. It also cost around £700, which meant it wasn’t going to appeal to everyone, no matter how much they hated the clutter of wires in living room.
As a result, there’s a new one on the horizon, the DHT-FS5. It’s looks quite different to its predecessor and, unlike the FS3, doesn’t come with a separate subwoofer. The X-SPACE technology promises to recreate that enveloping 5:1 surround sound experience by firing sound around the room.
The power output rating is the same at 150W, thanks to an internal amp and 6 full-firing speakers. It measures 750×138×118mm and weighs 5.1Kg.
There’s only Japanese pricing right now and that’s a very attractive £305. You can safely expect that to bloat to £400, and maybe even higher, by the time it travels the globe to get here in the coming months.-Martin Lynch
movies home home cinema
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I hate people talking to me while I eat but I guess it’s different for animals.
The Chatter Bowl Talking Pet Feeder is designed for those of you who suffer massive guilt whenever you slope off for a dirty weekend by the sea, leaving your cat or dog all aloney woney at homey.
This way, you can record a 10 second message to your favourite furball, which will play whenever the sensor detects your pet is near:
“Hello Tigger Wigger. Mommy loves you so much, my liddle-widdle, cutesey-wutesy, snuggly-wuggly diddums.”
Yuck.
The makers say: “It was quite entertaining watching our cats interact with the Chatter Bowl. At first they looked around, trying to figure out where the voice came from, and later they got very comfortable with it and seemed to enjoy walking up to the bowl, hearing our familiar voice, calling them to "eat." We think this would make a great gift for any dog or cat lover, especially someone who is gone from home, when the comforting sound of their voice would be a welcomed sound for the pets who miss them.”
Great, a bowl that encourages pet obesity. Anyway, it will probably sell a million. It costs around £13 here.-Martin Lynch
[Red Ferret]
pets gadgets food
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Since the world has gone security mad, what better way to indulge your new found paranoia than a Fingerprint USB Flash Drive from Apacer.
This 4GB drive seems like it was especially created for MoD staff who just can't seem to stop losing their laptops and other devices filled with highly sensitive information. This way, when they leave their USB stick in the back of a taxi or in their car overnight, there’s at least some chance that the culprits won’t get your National Insurance, NHS, driver’s licence, passport and bank account details. Which is nice.
The Apacer drive is rubber-coated for durability and uses “advanced fingerprint recognition technology”. And best of all, it only costs £30 here. Jump now for the full specs.-Martin Lynch
[GeekAlerts]
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There’s nothing like taking forty winks when you’re tired - just not while doing 70mph on the motorway.
Toyota is working on a system that could help save lives by monitoring a driver’s eyes for signs of drowsiness or lack of attention to the road.
The Lexus LS600H already has a face monitoring system in front of the driver that emits a loud alarm if it catches you spending too long looking away from the road and will apply the brakes if it thinks a crash is imminent. The new twist employs an eye monitoring camera that first stores what the normal position of your eyelids are and then watches for signs of sleepiness. Very sci-fi indeed.
Again, an alarm will sound if it looks like you’re nodding off and the system will hit the brakes if the proximity sensors sense anything coming up too fast. Like a wall. In a statement, Toyota said:
“Driver-condition evaluation technologies are vital to improving overall vehicle safety performance, as driver condition is a key factor in traffic safety, with driver error being the main cause.”
Toyota says the new system will be deployed in more of its cars in the coming years.-Martin Lynch
cars driving technology
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Fujifilm has launched a bag full of digital cameras this week, including the new FinePix F100fd, a 12MP compact.
The F100fd not only pushes the up the pixel count but features a Fujinon 5x wide angle optical zoom, wide dynamic range, dual image stabilisation, face detection 3.0 technology with automatic red-eye removal and ISO settings of up to ISO 12800.
The face detection technology promises speedy face focusing, detecting up to 10 faces in a scene in .035 seconds, and automatically correcting focus, exposure, and white balance.
David Troy, senior product manager, Consumer Digital Cameras, Electronic Imaging Division, Fujifilm says: “The features packed in to this camera like ISO ranges and wide dynamic ranges are unprecedented for a compact consumer model – they first appeared in our Professional line. Combine these advances with our new Face Detection 3.0’s faster, 360 degree detection ranges and Dual Image Stabilisation and you have the ultimate consumer digital photography experience.”
The camera will hit the US first in March with a price tag of around £160. Jump now for the full feature set.-Martin Lynch
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
