These days, earphones can easily become one of the most expensive aspects of your mobile music experience.
The latest AH-C751 earphones from Denon – a replacement for the AH-C700s – are a perfect example of this since they will set you back £150. Of course, they have been crafted by 500-year old Master metalworking dwarves in the deepest mines and invested with magical spells and ....OK, not really.
Denon do say though that they have been crafted by the same engineers that make its £5,000 CD players so they should sound that bit better than whatever Lloytron is offering.
The ‘Metal Bullet’ design uses ‘ultra-rigid machined aluminium’ that does not resonate, as opposed to the plastic housings used in cheaper in-ear offerings. Denon's 'Acoustic Optimiser' balances the sound pressure before and behind the diaphragm to give ‘greater dynamics and fast transient response’.
All the contacts are gold, as is the 3.5mm plug. They come with 3 pairs of ear adapters, an 0.8m extension cord and rigid travel case.
If £150 is just silly, then you can get the predecessors - the AH-C700s - for a less painful £70, or less, these days if you hunt around. -Martin Lynch
music earphones denon
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If the HD DVD movie format was a Rocky movie it would be the one where he doesn’t manage to get back on his feet after having the crap punched out of him.
Wal-Mart in the US – which also owns Asda in the UK - has just landed what is probably the knock-out blow for the troubled format.
It’s announced that 4,000 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores in the US will go with Blu-ray players and movies exclusively from June. It said it will quickly phase-out HD DVD and ‘reorganise its shelves’ within the next 30 days.
“We’ve listened to our customers, who are showing a clear preference toward Blu-ray products and movies with their purchases," said Gary Severson, senior vice president, Home Entertainment, Wal-Mart, US. "With the customers best interest in all we do, we wanted to share our decision and timeline with them as soon as possible, knowing it will help simplify their purchase decision, increase selection, and increase adoption long term.”
Considering all the other blows HD DVD has taken in recent weeks – Warner Bros., Netflix, Woolworths, Best Buy - it’s hard to see Toshiba carrying on the fight.-Martin Lynch
blu-ray HD DVD movies
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It seems that 10MP compact cameras are old hat already with Sigma launching a new compact camera with a whopping 14MP resolution.
The DP1 won’t be cheap though, with an expected price of £550 when it lands next month. For that money, you could get yourself some cracking digital SLR cameras from the likes of Canon, Olympus, Nikon and others.
Still, it’s not just about cramming in pixels with the DP1, which has been delayed again and again thanks to constant redesigns and tweaks. The camera boasts a three-layer image sensor which is significantly bigger than what you normally find in a compact. According to Sigma:
“The Sigma DP1 compact digital camera uses three silicon embedded layers of photo sensors stacked to take advantage of silicon’s ability to absorb red, green and blue light at different respective depths. The size of image sensor used in DP1 camera is approximately 10 times larger than those used in an ordinary point and shoot digital camera.”
The DP1 has a 2.5in LCD display, and now also sports an external viewfinder and a ‘hotshoe’ for attaching a dedicated external flash.-Martin Lynch
[Sigma]
photo digital camera photography
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We’ve heard a lot about cheap and budget HD DVD movie players over the past year but dedicated Blu-ray players have been consistently overpriced.
Now, French outfit Sigmatek is planning to launch a budget Blu-ray player in April for £185. The new SBR-1000 would finally put Blu-ray players in the same price orbit as some of Toshiba’s HD DVD models. As news goes, it’s just more bad news for the HD DVD camp, which has always been able to boast about having cheaper hi-def movie players. Here’s what’s on offer:
* Output Resolution: 1080p (24/60) / 720p
* HDMI Version: 1.3
* Audio Decoding: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, MP3
* Media Support: BD-Rom/DVD/VCD/CD/CD-R/DVD+R (RW)
* Video Output: HDMI/Component/Composite
* Audio Output: Coaxial
The Blu-ray laser inside the SBR-1000 is one of the new, low-cost ones developed by Sony with Nichia, which will also appear in forthcoming laptop and PC Blu-ray drivers.-Martin Lynch
[Blu-ray.com]
blu-ray HD DVD movies
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It’s not just little bespoke gadgets pimp outfits that do ridiculous things with phones and iPods you know?
High St. retailer Selfridges is about to offer a blinged out iPod touch designed for those looking to pop the question with something a little less traditional than ye olde ring.
This iPod Touch has been smothered in hundreds of black Swarovski crystals and emblazoned with a big fat engagement ring motif, comprised of 24K gold and silver studs. You can even get your intended’s name engraved on it. The Wedding iPod touch goes on sale this week and will cost £899 – cheaper than the real thing but much harder to get on your finger.
A crystal-studded iPod nano is also on offer for £749. In both instances, I’d have to say, ‘I don’t’ although the likelihood of anyone proposing, or buying me something this expensive, is unlikely. -Martin Lynch
[Crave]
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
