Sony SRS-Z510 Speakers

Sick of the tinny sound emanating from your computer? Want to watch YouTube videos with clear audio? You need to get hold of a set of desktop speakers. They don’t need to be expensive but you can bet your onboard soundcard that they will improve the quality of the audio on your PC. Upgrade your sound card as well and you can blast your neighbours with heartfelt Celine Dion choons all day long.

For less than £40, which is still in the budget range of speakers, you can buy a set of Sony SRS-Z510 desktop speakers. 2 way audio input enables you to plug your PC and your mp3 player in at the same time so you can enjoy 7W total output from any music source. Detachable guards enable you to choose between the industrial natural look, and the desktop look while the Mega-Bass provides you with a powerful bass sound and improved overall sound quality.

If you’ve been relying on your tower speakers and you want a little more richness from your audio then buying an inexpensive set of speakers is the way to go. Alternatively, upgrade to 5.1 or 7.1 sound card and buy a multi-channel set of surround speakers to get an even heavier, crisper, and neighbour-annoyingly loud experience. The Sony SRS-Z510 speakers offer a sensible and affordable solution.

The TVR Tuscan Mouse

The TVR Tuscan Computer Mouse is the perfect blend of functional and beautiful. Even a second hand Tuscan is probably a little unaffordable for the majority of us, with prices from £15,000 for an 8 year old model to £50,000 for last year’s model getting you one in good condition. In contrast, the Tuscan Mouse could be yours for less than £20.

There’s a wireless and a wired model available for £19.99 and £14.99 respectively, both featuring realistic light-up headlights, a scroll wheel on the bonnet, and realistic styling. Unfortunately, this model won’t do 0-60mph in under 4 seconds like the latest life size Tuscan models and we wouldn’t recommend throwing it past those funky speed displays at the side of the road (it doesn’t work).

There’s no chameleon paint jobs either but you can choose between the sporty red in the picture or a classy silver when placing your order. The 800dpi optical, two button mouse, is a genuinely good mouse that happens to be formed in the shape of one the greatest sports cars ever made and designed.

The Future Of TV With Sky HD

We’ve all been buying HD ready TVs and listening to reports banging on about how we need to get HD TV, but do we really take advantage? Short of playing a few next gen console games in the definition they were truly designed for it’s unlikely. Fortunately, Sky HD has everything that’s needed to make the most of your new HD TV including the PVR.

The Sky HD Box currently costs between £199 and £249 when purchased with a subscription. As well as enabling you to watch a hefty chunk of High Definition channels, the HD box is also a PVR (Personal Video Records) enabling you to record up to 80 hours of television. It also lets you record one channel while you watch another.

Of the HD subscription packages currently available, Sky has the most expansive and it is constantly growing. In the last month or so various new channels have been added including FX HD, Rush HD, and various new movies and sports HD packages. Sky currently boasts the largest collection of HD channels in Europe with approximately 20 channels available with programs broadcast in 720p and 1080i resolution depending on the broadcaster’s preferences.

High Definition Television offers a greatly improved viewing experience when compared to Standard Definition. Colours are improved, images are crystal clear, and even the sound is improved when you plug the Sky HD box into a Dolby 5.1 surround system.

The $6m Home Theatre System!

Having watched the Gadget Show on 5 the other night, it got me thinking about the most ridiculously priced set of speakers money can buy. To be honest I gave up my search feeling rather inadequate and forlorn but I did find a collection of some of the most ridiculous, over the top, and plain silly home theatre/video gaming rigs imagined. And, damn, do I want one.

The audiovideointeriors blog contains a showcase of some of the finest amateur (I use that word alarmingly) and professional set ups. You can even choose by budget (a sliding scale from one $ symbol to 3 $ symbols – obviously, I plumped for the three).

One such rig, dubbed “the greatest show on earth” contains a staggering 16 subs, 8 tower speakers, 10 super tweeters, and 3 centre channel speakers. We haven’t even touched on the 35 amplifiers that have been employed.

The screen measures 18ft by 10ft and is used to display images from the Sony professional video projector. It has just about every conceivable form of media player including a Sony Blu-Ray player, Toshiba HD DVD player, SATA Drive, DVD/CD Media Player, Laserdisc Player, oh and a Sony PS3 for good measure.

You would need to invest approximately £3m in order to buy a rig like this. Plus, there’s the expense of finding a house big enough with very understanding neighbours. If you are interested you can visit the Kipnis Studio website for more details (clearly not a £6m budget on the website, unfortunately).

Computex 2008. A Wii Theme?

Computex is an annual trade and industry show for the computer industry, held in the Taipei World Trade Center in Japan. It’s one of those events where the new and innovative combine with the odd and unnecessary, and is a show that everybody involved in the computer industry wants to attend. It is also now believed to be the second largest show in the computer industry with major companies showcasing new technologies and products.

Netbooks, the micro laptop with a tiny budget, will be a prominent addition to the show. Asus, manufacturer of the Eee Pc one of the more prominent netbooks, will be making headlines for a couple of other reasons this year as well.

They are likely to unveil a new desktop PC that bears a striking resemblance to a Nintendo Wii. Oddly, and continuing in the same vein, they are also expected to release details of their own Eee-mote which is a motion sensor remote exactly like the wii-mote. I think I’m noticing a theme emerge for this years Computex.

As well as various product showcases from a number of leading manufacturers there are also several awards being given for innovation in design and a best in show categories.

Microsoft Echoes To Combine All Communications

Microsoft is not a company to do things by halves, and in one of their more recent attempts to take over the world, they have announced Echoes. Echoes is a communication platform that Microsoft believes will eventually combine every form of communication into a single uber MSN Messenger. This, in turn, will negate the need for phone numbers and everything will be perfectly synced.

Microsoft is constantly trying to find ways to force people to inadvertently use their platform. With every new release of the Windows operating system, there are new calls to develop a more open platform. If Microsoft were ever to take over the world then you can bet your house on their being an underground people’s liberation army fronted by the Open Source community. There is also likely to be another guerilla group run by Steve Jobs.

The theory of a single, unified communication system is a great thing, but the practicalities are unnerving. If you’ve ever tried, unsuccessfully, to sync files or contacts from one machine to another imagine the fun you’re going to have on a regular basis when you want to update your uMSN Messenger and your mobile devices.

The Solar Powered Backpack

Solar is the big thing in ecogadgets. Portable, light weight, and surprisingly inexpensive solar chargers can be used to encourage life into most of your portable devices and at gadgetshop they also have a solar powered backpack. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that you charge it up and then it packs and carries your personal belongings.

The bag includes a rechargeable battery pack for emergencies as well as various mobile phone connectors and a mini USB cord. Inside the bag you get numerous compartment type walls that you can use, ignore, or swear at when you’re attempting to single handedly juggle your laptop, mobile phone, and mp3 player into its cushioned confines.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on how effective the charger is but it does act as a moderately more subtle alternative to wearing a neon sign reading “Gadgets Found In Here”. Headphone access means you can listen to your mp3 player or mobile phone while storing it in the conveniently included storage compartments. A rain proof sleeve ensures that you’re protected against all eventualities including the unpredictable British summer.

The bag is designed for comfort with a padded back and numerous buckles placed so that they will take some of the strain when carrying heavier items.
 

All Things Digital News

D: All Things Digital may not be as popular an event as CES but it certainly attracts some major names in the technology fields, and has clocked up some fairly serious online headline inches – not least because of the Dell netbook. A number of other stories also reared their heads.

Amazon announced it will launch a for-pay video streaming service that will roll out virtually immediately. In five weeks we will be able to buy streaming videos from Amazon.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer had quite a bit to say. He mentioned the advance of OLED TV technology, and showed off another flexible display that can be twisted, turned, and pretty much everything you would want to do with a display. He also stated that a new PS3 game release in June will use the full capacity of the machine.

Activision, meanwhile, announced Guitar Hero: World Tour. The guitar, bass, drum, and microphone set is a real step away from the guitar only games closer to Rock Band style. It also enables you to compose your own tracks, post the music to the web and enable others to pick it apart at will. Tony Hawk and a few others cranked out a Lenny Kravitz tune on Guitar Hero III.

There’s sure to be more news appearing from D soon.

The Rise Of The Netbook

Those netbooks, eh? They seem to be cropping up just about everywhere. The Asus Eee PC has gone down a storm and a number of other netbooks have also emerged. Gizmodo’s Brian Lam met Michael Dell at the All Things Digital event last night where he saw the prototype of an as yet unnamed small form netbook.

Netbook is the term that has been given to small laptops designed to make connecting to the Internet a simple and more affordable option. These notebooks have ultra small form and limited options in order to minimize the size and weight of the device. By also using inexpensive chips, netbooks are also usually well within the budget laptop range. Read more

The World’s Smallest Projector - The Earth Trek 90-805R

Numerous blogs and related websites are talking about the Earth Trek 90-805R as being the smallest projector available. The fuss has been started primarily, it seems, because of the Pico projector boasting that it uses new technology to create even smaller projectors. However, where the Earth Trek wins out is in the fact that it is a standalone projector whereas the Pico is bedded into other items.

The Earth Trek will display images up to 22 inches in size from this remote control sized device. The only format it will play is MP4 so it is limited in this respect but it does have a number of connections so that you can stream content from mobile devices, external storage devices, and laptops.

Battery life is expected to be around 2 hours, so just long enough to watch most films, although you won’t be watching Titanic without having to re-charge the battery for a little while. Image quality won’t be great, in part because of the MP4 format dependency, but for a tiny projector it packs a more than reasonable punch.

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