Tech Digest

Akai releases budget 30-inch LCD TV

A promising budget TV is out from Akai. This 30-inch flat screen, LCD TV, dubbed the LM-H30CJSA, is set to retail for a very reasonable £799.99. In a neat little add-on the TV can also function as a 1280x768 WGA monitor for your PC, and has picture-in-picture, meaning that you can watch the footie while using your computer. The monitor also comes with a pan-European tuner, has two built in stereo speakers, 2 x 10 watt RMS amps, and for you DVD fanatics and gamers out there, the TV also comes with progressive scan support via component input

The Shawshank Redemption released for Mobile Phones

Those of you out there owning phones with MMC slots might be pleased to hear that Nokia, Granada Ventures and ROK Player have teamed up to start releasing films on memory card. The first to come out is the classic “Shawshank Redemption” (see it if you haven’t), which comes preloaded on a memory chip for £16.99 from mobile phones stores or is available to order online for a slightly pricier £19.99.

Sony releases Silver edition of Slimline PS2

Sony Playstation fanatics may have heard rumours of a new slim line PS2 silver edition after Argos mistakenly posted it prematurely on their website. Well, it won’t surprise you to find out that the rumours are true, and the new silver PS2 will go on sale on the 13th of May for a suggested £114.99. The price will include the console, a controller and a silver DVD remote. Also on sale to complement your PS2 will be the Vertical Stand, Memory Card, DUALSHOCK 2 Controller and Eyetoy, available seperately. And all in silver of course.

Griffin release iPod battery backup

iPod meister Griffin has rolled out a surprisingly practical new addition for everyone’s favourite MP3 player, the iPod. The Griffin Tunejuice employs a single 9V battery to give an extra power boost to your iPod: 8 hours of additional play if your iPod has some charge, and 4 hours if your iPod is completely drained. The device will work both for iPod and iPod mini. The Tunejuice retails here for $19.99, not including international shpping charges.

Griffin

Bloggers chase the Mongolian Death Worm

It sounds like a pitch for a bad Blair Witch project spin-off, but a group of intrepid zoologists are going to go hunting for the mythical Mongolian Death Worm in the harsh Gobi desert. While they’re there, there going to upload their experiences onto their blog using a GPS 1600 satellite connection to the net. Will they find the worm? Or die trying? Find out by following the blog or waiting for the inevitable cable TV special, When Worms go Wrong V.

Samsung release the MP3 friendly E720 phone

Samsung has released the new MP3 friendly E720 phone. Apart from featuring an intergrated megapixel camera with a 4x zoom, an internal 260k TFT screen measuring176x220 pixels and an external 65k one measuring 96x96 pixels, the phone will feature an MP3 player. Although a lot of phones try to be MP3 players as well, Samsung seems to making a more determined effort with the availability of external player controls on the phone.

The phone has an OK 88.5MB of memory and can play music in MP3, AAC and AAC+ formats. It hooks up to your PC via USB. The phone also comes with the regular current generation phone features: GPRS and bluetooth among them.

The seven metre tall WEEE man

The WEEE man isn’t so wee. What is he? A seven-metre tall tall human figure made of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE, for those of you who hadn’t guessed). The WEEE man, unveiled by Canon Europe and the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts) is built out of three tons of electronic and electrical waste, apparently about what the average consumer will produce in a life time.

He will be on display London City hall for 28 days until the May 27th , when he moves to the Eden project in Cornwall.

Canon, who jointly launched the event, has said in a press release that it will "help promote and encourage better waste management and recycling in the community, in a bid to make the disposal of electrical and electronic goods as widely accepted as the recycling of newspapers, glass bottles and aluminium cans."

James Leipnik, chief of communication and corporate relations at Canon Europe added that "Last year, 1,000 business machines a month were either reused or recycled by Canon‘s UK operation to prevent them being added to landfill sites. This figure represents 100 percent of the machines returned to Canon by UK businesses."

The WEEE man also draws attention to legislation going through the European parliaments at the moment, which would ensure that retailers would have to take back WEEE, inform customers of their WEEE recycling schemes and ensure that that the WEEE is recycled. A joke here would be cheap, so don't even think about it. The UK government has announced that these laws would not come into effect until at least Janaury 2006, postponing it by 5 months.

Bags more sound for your iPod

Japanese company BrightonNet has joined in the iPod cash-in frenzy with the release of two new iPod bags: these vinyl bags have special slots for your iPod and feature integrated speakers. Although these bags do broadcast the presence of your iPod to any potential mugger within a 500 yard radius, they do look quite fashionable and are both available in handbag and shoulder bag style. Both weigh about 800g, and use four AA batteries to power the speakers. The bags also let you hold a bit of stuff, both measuring in at about 34 x 13 x 22mm. Unfortunately, these bags are only on sale in Japan. If that changes, I'll let you know.

via Techjapan

Water out of thin air

Hippyshopper has found an interesting little toy: a water cooler that dehumidifies the air, purifies it and the gives it to you in the form of drinkable water. This product from Pure Water Technology claims, amazingly, to be able to draw an amazing 38 litres of water in a mere 24 hours. If it does what it says on the tin, then this could be a really could make a splash. Sorry, couldn’t resist it.

Read more at Hippyshopper.

Wristwatch MP3 player/recorder

Looks like that James Bond fantasy is a little closer with help from Thanko Corporation’s new Analog MP3 watch with voice recorder. Released in Japan, the watch features a microphone that can record monoaurally in 64kpbs, 16kHz audio. The recordings can be played through on the watch itself, which also functions as a flash MP3 player, and it comes with an adaptor for your standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

The watch connects to your machine using USB 1.1 and has an internal rechargeable battery to keep things ticking for 9 hours. The watch is available in three fruity flavours: 128MB for 12,800 yen, 256MB for 15,800 yen and 512Mb for 19,800 yen. Now if they could only release a laser and grappling hook USB watch, my life would be complete.

via TechJapan

More USB toys

USB novelty items: you gotta love ‘em. So, you’re a die hard tekkie and you have your USB phone, your USB mug warmer and your USB kettle. What next? Well, you could take a look at Boynq’s new line-up of USB powered goodness, ranging from an LCD clock that also functions as a cable extension, to a speaker with built-in USB hub. They look a little nicer than your average USB fare as well, coming in a white finish that looks suspiciously iPod-ish. No word on a UK release or pricing yet.

via Everything USB

Join the political debate (yawn!) with 3G

Less than a week to go to polling day and perhaps the most interesting thing to have come up out of the election campaign so far. No it's not the party differences on health, education, the economy, taxation (let's face, there aren't any), but the fact that you can use your 3G handset to send a video mail to the BBC. Just make a video call to 07888 100100, watch the greeting from that strange looking Andrew Marr fella then leave your comment - the temptation to bare your bottom or flick the Vs might be overwhelming, but it probably isn't a great way of getting your views across. Click here to see what other people have got to say about what must be the most dull election campaign ever.

Apple Cinema Displays price crash

Apple has announced that its slick Cinema Displays have undergone a price drop. These screens are compatible with any Mac or Windows based PC that have a DVI output. And how much are they? The 30” is still a bit of a wallet-stinger at £2,099 but lets face it, screens just aren’t meant to be that big. For the 23” it costs £1,049 and, even after the seven inch drop from the larger model, is still one of the largest displays available. The 20” model now costs just £549 which, when coupled with the fast latency (16ms), makes it a good choice for gamers.

The 20” model plus the 23” HD and 30” HD models have seen this re-pricing to make “widescreen flat displays affordable to even more people”. The 23” model is capable of 1680x1050 resolution, 16.7 million colours and contrast ratio of 400:1. The 23” version is capable of up to 1920x1200 pixels and the 30” 2560 x 1600.

Wi-Fi LCD TV from Philips

The Philips 23iF9946 is a 23” LCD screen sporting a 400:1 contrast ratio, 450cd/m2 brightness and 176 degree viewing angle, it also has a built in FM tuner . However, though this little telly might appear ordinary, it also boasts something extra; Wi-Fi. The integrated 802.11g connection is part of Philips’ Streamium concept, which is aimed at linking computers, home cinema and stereos together so that digital media can be shared throughout the home.

The 23iF9946 is able to browse stored media files across a network or stream live from the internet if you prefer. Supported codecs include MP3, MP3 Pro, PCM, Wave, MPEG1, 2 + 4, DivX, XviD, JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG which covers pretty much every conceivable base. As it’s equipped with a 1280x768 resolution and virtual Dolby surround sound, makingr a great alternative for viewing digital videos rather than needing to be hunched over a computer.

Philips’ 23iF9946 is available now with an RRP of £1499.95 but can already be found for less than that.

Ricoh unveils 8.2 megapixel compact

Ricoh Japan has announced the successor to the Capilo GX, the GX8. This has to be one of the most powerful compact cameras ever conceived of capable of a massive 8.2 megapixels, besting some bulkier digital SLRs such as the Nikon D50. The GX8 weighs around 200 grams with dimensions of 114 x 29 x 58mm

The GX8 boasts a 28mm wide-angle 3x zoom lens with an 18 x 24 mm Macro mode and a 1.8” LCD screen. It turns on in 1.3 seconds and auto-focuses in 0.1 seconds. Shots can be repeated every 1.7 seconds and in continuous shooting mode this is increased to 16 consecutive shots in roughly two seconds.

Exposure lengths are variable from 30 down to 1/,2000 seconds and an Auto Bracket function can automatically take three shots of different exposure levels for use in tricky lighting conditions. Connectivity to a computer is handled by USB 2.0 and it uses an SD memory card, however the supplied card only has a measly 26MB capacity and so will probably need to be upgraded quickly. However, given that the camera is set to cost just £299.99, that doesn’t seem too unreasonable. Ricoh’s Capilo GX 8 will be available from next month.

Nyko iTop iPod button relocator

Anyone who fell victim to the problem that Apple’s distinctive white earphones not only say “Look at how cool I am” but also shout “Please mug me” will put the Nykon iTop to good use. This ‘iPod button relocator’ does exactly what it says on the tin and places all the buttons you need for music and volume control on top of the device, so should you be walking crime ridden streets you don’t need to wave your iPod about in front of you.

Each button has its own texture so that you can easily remember which is which for ultra-stealthy track changing. Nyko's iTop is available from Amazon.com for $19.98 but there is no word of a European version yet.

Via I4U

8GB USB flash drive from SanDisk?

Hmm, the picture with “for internal distribution only” written over the top is a good indication that news of the 8GB Cruzer mini was not quite ready to be aired just yet. None the less, word has leaked that SanDisk are preparing this huge drive to expand on the Cruzer mini range, already capable of up to 4GB. Currently, USB flash drives of such capacity are few in number and cost a packet so it’s good to see more companies setting their sights high. Given that we’re not certain of the origin of the picture, it is no surprise that price and availability remains unknown.

via Engadget

Carphone Warehouse offering Spinvox's Talk2Text

Good news for mobile phone users as major mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has announced a deal with Spinvox to bring ‘Talk2Text’ to high street customers. The service, which we have reported on before, converts your voicemail messages into text, then sends them directly to your phone, as if that person had just texted you. The service, launched in October of last year, costs £8 a month, but Carphone Warehouse customers can enjoy a month of free service, or 55 converted messages, whatever comes sooner.

Trust releases budget WiFi network locator

If you want to find a WiFi network on the cheap (I’m still not convinced that that Pringle tin things works, dammit!) then you could do worse than the Trust WiFi hotspot finder (you may remember Trust as those enterprising bods who brought you that battery tester not so long back). The signal strength of the available WiFi network (both 802.11b and 802.11g) is shown with five LEDs on the front, allowing for a quick survey of potential internet access points without resorting to pulling your laptop out. The scanner has a 150m range and goes for £19.99.

Trust

Xfm and Tech Dynamic releases DAB radio

Looks like London alternative station Xfm has teamed up with Tech Dynamic to release this rather nice piece of kit: a DAB radio player that will play both DAB and normal FM radio, has a slot for playing MP3s stored on SD and MMC cards, and can capture and record ten minutes of audio for you. The player also features a line in and has stereo sound, which is always nice. It’s sleek and will definitely appeal to you iPod design fans out there. It's going for £99.99 at Dixons and Currys.

Sweex release digital camera

Newbie manufacturers. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re oh so bad. However, this latest digital camera offering from newcomer Sweex holds promise, however. Going for £170 on crazyaboutgadgets, the camera offers an impressive array of features, for its price. It shoots at a resolution of 3.3 mega-pixels (or 6 interpolated mega-pixels, after the camera software messes around with it), has 2x optical and 2x digital zoom, records video at 320x240 resolution, has a 1.5 inch LTPS TFT screen, and comes with 16MB of onboard memory. It takes its memory in the form of SSD and MMC cards and runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, hooking up to your machine with USB 1.1.

crazyaboutgadgets product page

The RAZZ Star Wars headset

Wow! Another piece of Star Wars merchandise? Surely not! The Star Wars Razz headset comes with ten preloaded Star Wars dialogue clips, all from different characters, that you can seamlessly splice into any mobile phone conversation. No word yet on whether this gizmo, retailing for $19.95 in the States will make it over to the UK. All together now: “You underestimate the power of the dark side…”.

via Engadget

Superjumbo takes off on maiden flight

Here’s a little snippet for all you plane spotters out there: the A380 has just taken off on its maiden flight. For those of out of the loop in aeronautical matters, the A380 is a double-decker super jumbo plane. According to rumours, Virgin airways has planned to buy a whole bundle of these babies and outfit with casinos and bedrooms,  to make for a smoother flight, so to speak. The plane is also likely to have wireless internet access, as the number of planes offering wireless continue to increase, as we have reported. You can watch the takeoff courtesy of the good ol’ beeb, right here.

via the BBC

USB flash drive chic?

USB flash drives: incredibly useful and functional, but they’ve yet to hit the dizzying status of fashion accessory in the same way that mobiles and MP3 players have. Which is why it’s rather nice that PNY is having a crack at designing some more fashionable ways of carrying your data. Each flash drive comes with a different set of interchangeable covers, and the prices range from £24.99 for a 128MB drive with interchangeable blue metallic and blue matte colours, and £89.99 for a 1GB drive with white metallic and black covers. OK, so we still have some way to go before we hit iPod-level trendiness, but it does have appeal.

PNY

M1NT member's bar to offer free WiFi

Okay, in our WiFi watch we’ve come up with some pretty exotic places that offer the internet. The north pole for one. Little Chef for another. And the m1nt bar in London looks like its set to join the ranks as it offers a free wireless connection to the net. Situated on the oppressively classy Sloane street in Knightsbridge, this member’s bar does allow visitors during the day. The best bit? It’s free. I do like places that offer free wi-fi internet, wherever they may be.

Nokia's N91 four gig hard disk music phone

At a press conference last year Nokia acknowledged that it was working on a hard disk based music phone – and here it is the N91. Probably the most eagerly awaited of all the new Nokia N series handsets, the N91 trounces rival music phones not just in storage (it has a 4 Gigabyte hard disk on board) but also in terms of looks thanks to its elegant chocolate bar style design with music playing buttons that pull down to reveal the numeric keypad.

The N91 boasts MP3 and AAC (though it isn’t compatible with songs downloaded from the iTunes music store) playback, has a remote control in its accompanying earphones and features an FM tuner. Unlike any other phone it sports a 3.5mm headphone jack, so users can team up the handset with some seriously large cans if they fancy. Battery life is reasonable with the phone running for 12.5 hours as a music player, though this way short of the 30 hours offered by the Sony Ericsson W800. It is 7 days standby and 3-4 hours talk time.

The hard disk is also shock proof, Nokia staff have apparently been throwing them around to test this, and the company is saying that users can store up to 3000 tunes on the hard disk. The N91 will also playback AAC+ files - which are used by European networks as over the air music downloads and also has an audio out so you can hook it up to external speakers etc.

The phone has loads of other facilities including a two mega pixel camera, web browser (made by Norwegians Opera? Nokia isn’t saying), email, and, unusually for a phone of this size, integrated Wi-Fi. It runs the Series 60 interface and is compatible with both 3G and EDGE networks.

From the spec sheet it looks like like Nokia has taken the music phone to the next dimension. Whether people start ditching their iPods and Walkmans in favour of their mobi though remains to be seen.

Nokia N90 - camera phone with Carl Zeiss optics

After seeing rivals Sony and Ericsson and Sharp steal a march in the camera phone market the N90 is Nokia's attempt to grab the high-end back. Its headline facility has to be its integrated two mega pixel camera which features apparently Carl Zeiss optics – a first for a Nokia phone.

The handset itself is clamshell style with a rotating head like other Nokia and Sharp phones. Nokia has stacked the phone out with many photographic features so the N90 boasts a macro option, an autofocus, flash and a 20x digital zoom. The phone also grabs video too in MPEG4 and 3GP formats and has an 8x digital zoom. There’s a second camera too so the phone can be used for person to person video calling.

The 3G/Edge handset also features MP3 and AAC music players and has good quality speakers. It runs on Nokia's Series 60 platform and boasts a whole host of ‘prosumer’ facilities including email with attachments and a full HTML web browser. Battery life is up to 10 days in standby and 4.5hours talk time. It goes on sale in the summer.

Nokia N70 3G phone

It might be the least exciting of the trio of phones Nokia has unveiled today but that’s only because the other two boast such innovative features. The N70 is in fact a good all round 3G/Edge handset in a small fairly smart upright style.

It boast all the N Series core features, so is kitted out with music playing facilities, a two mega pixel camera with a 20x digital zoom and web browsing facilities. Running on Nokia's Series 60 platform it supports email, can open many file types and comes with an FM radio on board. It has two cameras so it can deliver 3G video calling, features an integrated speaker and has Bluetooth connectivity.

The only fly in the ointment is that it uses the rather pesky cut down MMC card, which the last time we looked was only available up to a pathetic 64MB.

Nokia takes wraps off N Series phones including its 'iPod killer'

Nokia today launched its first new series of phones in years. Aimed squarely the top-end gadget-loving/business user market. All handsets in the new N Series will sport music playing facilities, feature at least a two mega pixel camera and come with web browsing facilities, quite possibly from ace Norwegian company Opera.

They will all be 3G compatible and run using the Series 60 Symbian based interface. If the first three phones, the N70, N90 and N91 (pictured), are anything to go by they will also combine traditional Nokia designs with rather classy components. Next year N Series phones will almost certainly also be kited out with digital TV tuners.

First to market is the N90, a classy 3G camera phone, which is slated for a summer launch. It will be followed later in the year by the N70 and N91. Read more about the phones on their individual posts.

Best of Bayraider

Techy stuff on Bayraider, our new online auction spotter blog.

Good old British red telephone box
Star Wars screening tickets
Guerilla remote control
Sony PSPs that can be shipped to Europe

Nintendo "Revolution" rumours spiral out of control

Sister-Blog Games Digest sums up the wealth of speculation surrounding the mysterious new console from Nintendo:

Spong.com are at it again. Call it halfway between rumour-mongering and investigative journalism, but seeing as it's fun, we'll join in... Games site Spong.com has grabbed some copy off Brooke Burgess' website regarding industry speculation on Nintendo's next console, currently codenamed "Revolution". Burgess is creator of an online anime comic, and has been in discussion with both film companies and games companies about adaptations of the comic, Broken Saints.

Burgess' website musing, posted on Spong.com, lists several things he's heard the "Revolution" will contain, to whit:

Gyroscopic control – In other words tilt the controller.

Touch-screen – Like the DS, but in the Revolution controller. This could make the controller a "proprietary PDA device". Not so wacky an idea, when you consider Nintendo have partnered with Palm for its PDA software recently.

Wireless – Widely expected, but Burgess believes this will go beyond simply wireless controllers, to being able to hook up, presumably via Wi-Fi, DS handheld consoles, multiple Revolutions and Revolution controllers.

3D Image Projection – The wildest, woolliest and wackiest of Burgess' predictions. Burgess puts together online reports of a Nintendo 3D imaging patent, an off-the-cuff quote from a 3D film director saying there was "a game machine beating them to the mainstream" and a supposed showing of a 3D add-on for the GameCube, shown behind closed doors at last year's E3 to predict that the Revolution will feature a 3D holographic-style display.

New TH-series home cinema range from JVC

JVC has revealed three new complete DVD home cinema systems offering an easy setup 5.1 surround sound package. Each, like previous models, is compatible with DVD-Audio, DVD-RAM, WMA, and DivX, but new to this year is added support for MPEG4 (for the TH-S66 and 55), DVD+R and +RW. A selection of optionally wall-mounted and/or free standing speakers provide the sound, which varies from 140W in the TH-S66 and TH-S55 to a smaller 33W in the TH-S11.

As home cinema owners will know, setting up surround sound properly is time consuming and you will always be left thinking that just a little more tweaking could radically affect the quality. Fortunately, for the less obsessive home cinema user, JVC has introduced a new “Hand Clap Setup” which will automatically set speaker levels and delays for you without need for microphones, stopwatches and tape measures. The TH-S55 now comes with the Omni-Directional Surround Speaker, which has an interesting upwards facing design for wide sound dispersion.

The two larger models also benefit from 810W RMS and PAL progressive scan to generate clear pictures and reduce noise. An Ultra-High-Performance 1-Chip AV Decoder, which integrates a 12-bit/108kHz video D/A converter and other devices on a single chip further improves the image. More exciting is the Express Play Start that eliminates the long arduous wait that many DVD players suffer from when loading up a DVD.

Sadly there is no hint of prices or availability just yet.

JVC

Scotland the broad

No, this isn’t about over-consumption of Haggis, Scotch pies and deep-fried Mars bars; a deal between the Scottish Executive and BT will see every Scottish household able to access affordable broadband by the end of this year. To combat the problem that telephone exchanges in many smaller isolated communities lack the commercial viability to be converted to cope with broadband, public funding is subsidizing BT’s investment.

In even more distant locations like the Western Isles wireless projects are being implemented to ensure that no-one is left without high speed internet access. Enterprise Minister Jim Wallace said "We made a commitment in our Partnership Agreement to ensure that every community in Scotland has access to broadband by the end of 2005. We are now well on the way to delivering on this."

Yahoo! mobilizing

Nokia has joined forces with Yahoo! to provide a mobile internet solution and hopefully one that is a little more practical than previous incarnations of WAP. Email, entertainment, including ring tones, wallpapers and games, plus Yahoo! search for mobiles are amongst the features that will be pioneered on the Series 60 platform accessible through Nokia’s smartphones.

The Nokia 6680, 6681 and 6630 are the models that will be first to enjoy the Yahoo! mobile service, but more will be announced tomorrow, April 27.

TV killer

Watch out couch potatoes! Our eBay blog Bayraider  is reporting on a new gadget TV-B-Gone, that hangs on your keychain, and can turn off virtually any TV within a 45-foot radius. It costs $14.99, and is being used by protestors to disrupt TV-watching in public spaces such as bars. "A TV that is powered on fills the room with its sights and sounds, impinging on everyone in the room," says the maker's website. "It's similar to a smoker who fills a room with smoke." The devices have been selling like hot cakes, so it's no surprise to find a number on eBay already, like this one.

High performance projectors from InFocus

We've seen a fair few high tech projectors emerging in recent weeks, but InFocus seems to have the edge in terms of practicality. The LP860 and LP840 offer advanced features and user-friendly interfaces coupled with 3,500 lumens suitable to large presentation rooms, the difference between them being that the LP860 features native SXGA+ resolution.

However, a more exciting feature is InFocus’ LiteShow module, which enables secure wireless connections ensures that users can not only avoid grappling with reams of VGA cable but that multiple PCs can connect in for speed and convenience. It is therefore no surprise that these mega-projectors come with a price to match; the LP860 is set to retail for €6999 and the LP840 €4499, each will be available before the end of the month.

InFocus

iPod Stereo Adapter

Here's a handy piece of kit for anyone frustrated by the iPod's too-personal nature; some clever chap at PodGear has created the Audiobuddy, a retractable stereo adapter for the popular digital audio player. For just £14.99 you get a 70cm cable, which plugs into the dock connector to produce a safe level of sound and retracts at the touch of a button. This means that far from needing a dedicated docking station and speaker package, any home stereo can play music from your iPod. In fact this device seems so indispensable that I'm inclined to agree with managing director, Tom Dudderidge who observes that "this cable should have been included with all iPod’s a long time ago”.

The Audiobuddy is available now from all PodGear retailers.

PodGear

The Personal Supercomputer

When I think of supercomputers, I see room sized monstrosities, probably belching steam and requiring their own nuclear power station to light the millions of glowing LEDs. However, Orion Multisystems has unveiled two supercomputers that require no special technology to operate; far from a dedicated power plant, all they need is a standard power outlet! Orion’s 12-node desktop Cluster Workstation was launched last year and is now complemented by a massive 96-node deskside system.

For the uninitiated, think of a node as "a computer", now consider 96 of these nodes running simultaneously in a cluster system that facilitates parallel computing to generate extremely high performance. Obviously the new Orion 96-node deskside system isn't for the home user and would set you back something in the region of £54,000 if you wanted one, therefore it is more likely to appeal to specialist industries and laboratories.

It provides a practical way of supercomputing; the case is only 27”x 25"x17”, which is barely bigger than an ordinary server. Orion’s 12-node desktop Cluster Workstation and 96-node deskside system are currently only available direct from the manufacturer, but Orion is now in talks with distribution companies.

Orion Multisystems

Sony PSP UK launch - now it is September

Pah! Well it looks like we Europeans are going to have to wait even longer before getting our mits on a Sony PSP. After those greedy Americans and Japanese snapped them all up, Sony is short on stock and has put back the PSP Euro launch until the begining of September. That's the date that is plastered all over the Your PSP website here. More at Games Digest.

Firebox.com coming to a phone near you

If you’re into gadgets then you’ll no doubt have heard of gadget site Firebox.com. It may please you to know that Firebox is getting more, well, gadget-like, with the announcement that it has partnered with Reporo, the mobile phone shopping application. As an introductory offer, those who sign up to Reporo will get a £10 gift voucher to spend on gadgets of their choice, which definitely sweetens the deal a little.

Firebox.com

Sony releases new versatile V3 series.

Finally an amazingly cool bit of digital convergence that doesn’t make me cynical about technological innovation. And from Sony no less. Sony has announced the new VAIO v3 line. Not only will it be a PC, but a TV and sound system as well. First the basic specs: the v3 series comes in two fun (but doubtless expensive) flavours: the VGC-V3S, which comes with a 3.4GHz HT Pentium 4 chip, 20-inch WXGA screen and integrated 802.11b/g wireless networking; and the VGC-V3M which has a 3.2GHz HT Pentium 4 chip, and a 17-inch screen, but doesn’t feature wireless networking.

The v3 monitors are set to impress as well. While they may not be the size of a large TV screen, they do feature an impressive 1280 x 768-pixel widescreen resolution and are Sony’s trademark X-black LCDs, giving really sharp picture quality. Both models come with a 250GB hard drive as well as 512MB of PC3200 SDRAM. On the TV side of things, both models come with remotes and support digital recording off your telly. Both also feature DVD recorders capable of writing in both DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW. Like their T2 laptops, the v3 comes with the Adobe starter pack, featuring Adobe Photoshop elements 2.0, a special edition of Adobe Premiere 6.0 as well as Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition. The desktops will also come with Microsoft works. We’ll give you word on price as soon as it comes to us.

Xbox 360 pictures flood internet

Sister site Games Digest has distilled these internet ramblings about the Xbox360 for your pleasure:

Images purported to be taken by fans from Microsoft's Xbox 2 teaser site, ourcolony.net, show the final name and look of the Xbox 2. The Xbox 360, as named on its front fascia, is indeed an off-white, silvery slimline beast, confirming earlier rumours. Other pictures available on the internet suggest the presence of a removable 40GB hard drive located to the side of the unit. And the lack of front controller suggests that, as suspected, the Xbox 2 is going to rely on wireless controllers as standard.

Time for some Reflective Phone calls

Continuing on the mirror theme, Oregon Scientific has released the mirror phone. The LS238 is a DECT phone that comes with a separate mirror display. As soon as you make or take a call, the mirror will display call and clock information. The cordless handset will give you 7 hours of talk time and around four days of standby – not bad. It also provides last 40 caller ID memory, space for 50 numbers in the phonebook as well as remembering the last ten numbers for redial. An intercom function is included and the phone will also double as a speakerphone. It costs £99.99 from Oregon.

Oregon Scientific

The mirror that tells you the weather

I always like gadgets that make me feel like part of a sci-fi show. And this latest toy from Oregon Scientific definitely fits the bill: a mirror that shows the weather in clear letters at the bottom. The mirror weather station, or MR238, gives temperature both indoor and out, and the remote sensor supplied helps gather weather readings outdoors. Also included is a calendar, radio controlled clock and alarm. The set is retailing for £129.99. Now if only a company could come up with a working Star Trek replicator...

Bose release new wave music system

Bose has just released another oh-so desirable black box, called the Bose WAVE music system, which functions as a combined CD player and radio. The system uses two 2.5 inch speakers, and will allow for higher sound quality by employing a “unique dual tapered waveguide structure that features two 26-inch waveguides with a common output.”

Among the more easily understandable features is an auto dimming fluorescent display, a Bose link interface that allows the system to link with other Bose products, and a talk radio mode, to enhance the sound of your favourite talk show programs. The device also supports MP3 cds and comes with a cool remote the size of a credit card. As you might expect from Bose, it ain't cheap, going for a RRP of £449.

Blue is the colour for Samsung

It is hokey cokey time in Premiership football sponsorship. After Arsenal nabbed Chelsea's sponsor, Emirates, the Blues have now bounced back and pinched one of Arsenal's key sponsors - Samsung. As from next season the Korean company's logo will feature on Chelsea's shirts in a deal which is apparently the biggest ever sponsorship deal signed by Chelsea and the second largest by Samsung after its sponsorship of the Olympic Games. The deal, which should ensure that Arsenal and Tottenham fans ditch their Samsung phones in their thousands, lasts for five years.

Press release on turn

Chelsea Football Club announces Samsung Electronics as Official Club Sponsor London, U.K. – April 25th, 2005 -

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd as its new Official Club Sponsor. The agreement was signed today at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's stadium, by In-Soo Kim, Samsung European President, and Peter Kenyon, Chelsea FC plc Chief Executive. The five year deal, which starts on June 1, 2005, is the biggest ever sponsorship deal signed by Chelsea and the second largest by Samsung after its sponsorship of the Olympic Games. The logo of 'Samsung Mobile' will appear on the new Chelsea Centenary shirts for the first time on its pre-season tour this summer.

Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said: “We are absolutely delighted to have Samsung as our new official club sponsor. The company is one of the world's largest brand names, and we are excited about what it can offer Chelsea. “Samsung has a key part to play in the future global development of Chelsea and we believe we can play a similar role for it in its strategic aims. There is a great synergy between the two brands in terms of recent dramatic growth and success, levels of performance and market targets. “As a company it has already shown a strong commitment to sport through sponsorship of the Olympic Games and in football through its ownership of Suwon Bluewings, the champions of Asia. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.”

The agreement gives Samsung exclusivity with Chelsea in product categories such as mobile phones, AV, white goods and IT equipment. “Samsung and Chelsea Football Club are organisations with a huge presence in their respective global markets,” said In-Soo Kim, President & CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe. “Samsung is already a leading global brand in digital technology and is enjoying dramatic growth in Europe, success that is being replicated by Chelsea's impact in the UEFA Champions League and the English Premiership. “Chelsea is making its mark on the world stage as one of the rising stars of football, and the association with the club will not only help drive and enhance Samsung's image on a global scale but also allow us to get even closer to our customers. Samsung is an equally ambitious company, and we are looking forward to sharing that drive and momentum to build on our success and boost brand awareness.” In-Soo Kim added: “Chelsea Football Club has a stylish heritage that is reflected in Samsung's passion for design and innovation. Samsung has highlighted its leadership in mobile and therefore has chosen this to appear on the Chelsea shirt. Samsung Mobile is already a leading brand globally. I am convinced that the association with Samsung Mobile will create a positive spill-over effect for other product categories.  We will be undertaking a range of marketing activities to support this partnership and will look to strengthen the value of both brands as well as drive product sales on a global scale.”

Chelsea Football Club Manager and First Team Coach, Jose Mourinho, was also present at the announcement, and posed for photographs with In-Soo Kim and Peter Kenyon, as was Chelsea's Business Affairs Director Paul Smith, who made the opening press conference address. Paul Smith said: “Our relationship with Samsung is the next, and very important step, in the Chelsea business plan of working with global, blue-chip partners at every level. “In the last two years Chelsea's UK fan base has increased by 300 percent to an impressive 2.9 million. Worldwide, the fan base is approaching 20 million. That represents amazing growth. The Chelsea brand is seen as dynamic, cosmopolitan and successful which represents an attractive platform for our partners.”

Sponsorship activities between Chelsea and Samsung will run in the UK and across Europe, Asia as well as in North and South America. This will drive further sales and marketing activities, starting with Samsung's Mobile division. Samsung will promote the company's expertise in telecommunications and digital convergence, and grow its position in Europe as leading design and development for consumer technology. About Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2004 parent company sales of US$55.2 billion and net income of US$10.3 billion. Employing approximately 123,000 people in 93 offices in 48 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business.

Recognized as one of the fastest growing brands, Samsung Electronics is the world's largest producer of colour monitors, colour TVs, memory chips and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com For more information, please visit http://www.samsung.co.uk/

Coming soon: the Rio CE-2100

Looks like there might be some slightly better news for MP3 player fanatics today, with the upcoming release of the Rio Audio CE-2100 2.5GB MP3 player in the UK. As its name suggests, it features 2.5GB of memory, and plays MP3, WMA, and tracks downloaded from Audible. That’s enough memory for about 625 songs. The device comes with USB 2.0, can charge from USB or a power adaptor, has a built-in mic for recording and you allows 20 hours of play off the rechargeable battery. Although on the downside it doesn’t look like a bullet. No word on a price in the UK yet, though it’s American cousin retails for $179.99.

The RC-300 MP3 player, err with a bullet

You’ve read the headline: another MP3 player is released by Skywood. “What makes this one different from any of the others?” I hear you cry. A massive hard drive? Nope. A new internet, Bluetooth feature, perhaps? Nope. In fact, the RC-300 from Skywood looks like a fairly standard MP3 player, offering USB 2.0, capacity from 64MB to 1GB, and an internal microphone. So what makes it new? Well, looks a little like a bullet, I guess. Or a depressingly small phallic symbol.

via dapreview