Freesat Launches In UK

Freesat, the free UK satellite TV service, launches today. The free service, established by the BBC and ITV, will reach an impressive 98% of the population including many people that have been previously unable to receive freeview through their terrestrial TV aerial. Prices start at £49 for a standard box, plus £80 installation and set up, with no monthly charges following that payment.

A High Definition version is also available, costing a little more at £120 for the box – installation remains £80. All viewers will initially receive the full 80 channels on offer, and this figure will rise to more than 200 by the end of this year. Both the BBC and ITV hope that the new service will especially encourage an icnrease in HD TV viewing.

Pretty much all new TV sets are HD ready, but few people either have access to HD channels or are willing to pay extra for an HD subscription. With the new Freesat service this should be less of an issue and the service will launch with a BBC HD channel included. ITV HD is set to follow shortly.

The only people that will be unable to receive Freesat are those that do not have a clear line of sight of the satellite, and those that live in listed buildings and therefore cannot erect a satellite dish on the outside of their homes.

Power Your Gadgets With The Solar Coffee Table

Gadgets don’t exactly have to fulfil some groundbreaking task to be appealing. In fact, more often than not, they’re the kind of thing that many of us could do without. However, the solar powered coffee table seems a little extravagant and, for us Brits anyway, completely pointless. The solar powered coffee table is just that – a coffee table that collects and stores power from the sun.

Intelligent Forms, a Canadian design company that are in the latter stages of creating an entire catalogue of “green” products, claim that placed outside or given a lot of exposure to sunlight, the table-top solar panel will store roughly the equivalent of 17kw a year. That’s about enough power for 80 laptop charges, 2,000 digital camera charges, and 1,500 mobile phone charges.

For those of us based in the UK, and not Canada, and those of us that don’t relish the prospect of leaving the contents of our home office in the garden all night, it should be about enough to keep the universal remote and the wireless games controller charged.

In terms of form and design, I can’t help but think of the old Space Invaders table games. It’s supposed to look modern, sleek, and even futuristic, but only in a Buck Rogers TV series kind of way.

9X Media Wins Multiple Monitor Peeing Contest

I didn’t really know one existed either but apparently so. The Masterplex started it all with a six screen multiple monitor rig. More entries subsequently joined the race, but all have been competely eclipsed by the 9X Media system. While it would work with as few as two monitors, it’s the bigger end of the boast that we’re particularly interested in.

The X-Top enables users to combine up to 64 screens in a multi tiled display spanning 1 to 3 rows. The screens on offer range in size from 19” to 40” and are high spec LCD monitors. 9X will completely customise your rig for you, and it’s a hardly surprise when you consider how much you would probably have to pay for this kind of set up.

I say “probably have to pay” because try as I might I can’t find any indication of a price, even for the “smaller” set ups. Again, though, if you have to ask… you know the rest. Incredible though it looks, I do tend to question the actual deployment of a 64 screen multi-tiled display using 40” monitors. I think you’d struggle to play GTA IV on a video wall that size. And another point, presuming you use 3 rows of monitors, that would require two rows of 21 monitors and a single row of 22 monitors. That’s just not symetrical.

Sony breaks out 2.1 BRAVIA DAV-F200 home theater system

Sony has just launched the DAV-F200 Bravia home theatre system, sony sound bites “Bringing cinema sound without cluttering up your living room with speakers” as the major selling point. In terms of specifications its not amazing but fine for casual home use.

DAV-F200 Specifications

• 2.1 channel home theater system

• 300W amplifier

• HDMI output

• MP3 recording via USB

• Playback of MP3, WMA, AAC, and JPEG via USB

• Internal playback of MP3, JPEG, and DivX formats

• BRAVIA Sync

The control box can be mounted to the wall or placed in a cabinet and the hideaway speakers as small enough to hide in any number of crevasses in the living room.With a total amplification output of 405W claims to create virtual surround effects from only two hidden speakers and the reasonably compact sub-woofer. Worded another way sony are selling you 2.1 surround sound but fobbing it off as virtual 5.1 surround sound. unfortunately, there’s no word on price or availability in the US, however in the Europe our sources tell us June 2008 release.

Samsung Soundbar HT-X810T Due For Release In May

Samsung will release its all in one Soundbar HT-X810T next month. First announced at CES 2008, the all in one wall mountable home theatre system is the perfect accompaniment to a wall mounted LCD TV. The Soundbar itself includes an upscaling DVD player that takes standard DVDs and essentially converts them for top notch HD viewing. A wirelessly operated sub woofer is also included to maximise your audio experience.

Despite being a single unit, the latest Soundbar will deliver an impressive 300W of 5.1 surround sound. Plus, it will deliver the depths of sound that only a dedicated sub can produce making your home theatre enjoyment even more enjoyable.

The DVD Player is an impressive piece of gadgetry goodness too. It upscales virtually any DVD, in a majority of formats (including DivX, WMA, WMV, and all the recordable formats) up to 1080p.

In terms of form and design, the HT-X810T is designed to sit neatly below 40-inch wall mounted televisions and larger so not exactly ideal for your 15 inch portable.

Alas, there’s no real indication of a price as yet, which makes me a little apprehensive but I guess if you have to ask then you probably can’t afford it, right?

Home Networking Using Phone, Aerial, And Electrical Wires

Home networks aren’t exactly renowned for being intuitive to set up. In fact success can come at the price of family relationship breakdowns and years of trauma counselling. No matter how plug and play a new bit of kit claims to be, this is rarely the case unless you have the exact computer running the precise software on the appropriate platform with the necessary hardware.

Then, of course, there’s the wireless or ethernet debate. The fact is that wireless networks are more convenient unless you have one of those peculiar homes that uses walls as a form of partition between rooms.

In all honesty, the ways of wireless home networks have improved markedly in recent years and they look set to improve a little bit more. Four major manufacturers (Panasonic, Intel, Texas Instruments, and Infineon to be exact) have waged war on the current wireless networking setup.

The aim is to create a simple and enjoyable experience for everybody that wishes to network their home appliances. They want to do this by introducing a standard that uses the existing wires already installed in your home. Your aerial coaxial cables, electric wiring, and phone wires could take the place of precariously balanced wireless routers that are positioned in the optimal position away from electrical items, bluetooth devices, and elevated at a suitable height.

The new super group predict that the first items using this standard will be available for purchase some time next year.

A Wireless Router Without A Single Green LED - Belkin N1 Vision

OK, first things first – I’m a complete nerd and an unashamed geek when it comes to home networking. It’s truly one of my big loves in life, although such is the way with home networking equipment that it can also pretty quickly become on of my biggest waking nightmares.

The fact is that you can pay a fortune for pretty much any gadget and then struggle endlessly to actually understand just what it’s supposed to do.

Then, at the other end of the spectrum, are the absolutely essential items that make your home network tick but are far less glamorous. Typically, this lack of glamour means we pay much less heed to their features and trimmings.

The wireless router is one such glaring example. A bad one will limit your download speed and make connecting any device more than 3 feet away a near impossibility.

And, as for the blinking lights, just what are they trying to communicate to us? They serve, in most cases, to do little more than cast an eerie glow around the back of the television.

The Belkin N1 Wireless Router is different. In fact, it’s almost worth getting excited about because it does a damn good job at letting you wirelessly hook up your 802.11n home network. It also does away with the front room illuminations, and replaces them with a genuinely useful display.

The display shows you your current broadband speed (please don’t start me on how irritated I get over advertised and actual broadband speeds), your bandwidth usage, and the status of any and all connected devices. What’s more, it does it without the inclusion of a single green LED.

Prepare For A New Spate Of Wii Related Injuries

Finally, it’s here – the Wii Fit. Following a slew of software and uniquely entertaining additions to the Wii line up, the Wii Fit hit UK stores today. Bearing in mind the number of broken bones, smashed televisions, and assorted injuries already attributed to Wii gamers, this latest addition looks certain to attract a more cardiovascular range of injuries. But, it does look like it should provide a few giggles along the way.

Unfortunately, like all the latest video game fads, actually finding one might prove more difficult. Over quarter of a million unites are available throughout the country but if you haven’t already pre-ordered then you need to act quickly or face paying well over the odds on Ebay.

The Wii Fit includes the Wii Fit balance board and while the whole thing is unlikely to instantly convert anybody into an ultra-fit Adonis, combined with an hour or two of Wii Sport workout it will make an excellent introduction. What’s more you don’t have to embarrass yourself in front of the gym regulars.

The Wii has become renowned for being more accessible to a greater range of people compared to other games consoles. As well as looking certain to continue this trend, the Wii Fit board looks like being yet another popular addition to an already successful line up.

Landmann 3 burner gas BBQ

Landmann 3 burner gas BBQ only £99.99

We have been having some great weather over the past couple of days and it has got me thinking about barbeque’s and garden parties.  I am glad to announce that the days of praying the charcoal will light are over.  As it seems that the only way to BBQ these days is by ‘cooking on gas’. Read more

Cordless qwerty phone with IM Facilities

If your anything like me, then instant messenging plays a pivotal role in your day to day existence. So when I heard of the Vtech’s IS6110 cordless phone which they say is the ‘worlds first cordless phone to enable instant messaging using a QWERTY keypad’. I just had to blog about it.

The phone offers free access to MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. but wait, here’s the catch, the base unit needs to be connected via a USB port to the PC. So if again your like me and are a complete ‘peripheral whore’ then using up one USB exclusively for the base unit, is a real draw back.

It sports a high-res color LCD and full keypad to read messages and text buddies simultaneously. Additionally, the “click-to-talk” feature enables instant voice (peer-to-peer) chats with friends. not forgetting about the actual phone which offers handset speakerphone and phone book directory.

So if you have a spare $99.95 / £50 and are addicted to IM. this one’s for you.

<« Previous page 1 2 3 4 Next Page »