Tech Digest

One Minute Video Review: Harmon Kardon/JBL Spyro Speakers

I took a look at the Creature II and Spyro speakers from JBL whilst I was in Berlin, including the limited edition shiny siver ones. The Creature II models are available now from £58 whilst the Spyro is yet to be released.

To subscribe to the Shiny Media YouTube channel click here.

One Minute Video: The Real IFA 2006

IFA has been and gone for another year, and if you've sadly missed the show, I edited to together a little treat for you courtesy of Adobe Premier Elements, so you can feel like you were there. Enjoy.

IFA 2006: Harman Kardon Go + Play iPod speaker system

Remember the Cadbury's Smash robots? Well, you'll soon be able to pick up an iPod speaker system that looks uncannily similar in the form of the Harman Kardon Go + Play, which got an official launch at the IFA.

Apart from its strange looks, the Go + Play has one other stand-out feature - it's been designed for your iPod to lie flat, as opposed to sticking out from the top, which is probably more secure and certainly gives more of a streamlined look. The sound is boosted by a combination of bi-amped digital amplification, DSP (digital sound processing) and Ridge and Atlas transducers, with volume and music selection controlled by remote, which operates up to 30ft away and through walls. It also connects via S-video to your TV if you want to watch your video clips on a bigger screen.

The Harman Kardon Go + Play should be in the shops in time for Christmas, priced around 349 Euros (around £235).

Harman Kardon website

More speaker systems:
Cygnett GrooveBase iPod speaker system
Altec Lansing iM9 iPod speaker system and rucksack

IFA 2006: Linksys launches WIP330 Wi-Fi VoIP phone

The rush to get us away from the PC continues with the Linksys WIP330 Wi-Fi-connected VoIP phone, which has been announced at IFA.

The WIP330, which features a 2.2-inch, 65,536-colour display, connects to 802.11b and 802.11g wireless hotspots and supports the SIP 2 VoIP standard - which means it's not Skype friendly. Features include caller ID, call forwarding, speed dial, last number redial, a vibration alert, call waiting and conference calling. The battery should be enough for three hours's talk time and 50 hours in standby.

It should be available from  Linksys distributors in the coming weeks, priced around the £270 mark.

Linksys website

Via The Register

More VoIP:
USRobotics introduces USR9630 cordless phone for Skype and domestic calling
Is ROK set to introduce free mobile VoIP?

IFA 2006: SanDisk reveals Sansa Base Station, licensed accessories

The Sansa e200 proved itself to be a pretty versatile and reasonably priced MP3 player and it looks like the upcoming c200 will follow suit. But killing the iPod will take more than the player alone; Apple's players are as much about the wide range of avaible accessories as the distinctive design and the iTunes Music Store.

Therefore SanDisk has just revealed its first Sansa accessory, the Sansa Base Station, as well as announcing an agreement with several other manufacturers to start producing Sansa compatible accessories including travel cases, wireless earphones and portable speakers.

The Base Station will support the e200 and c200 players and will act as platform for transferring data to the player or as an audio output (using RCA) so you can play your tunes through your Hi-Fi. It also comes with a remote and will charge your player for you. It has a similarly reasonable retail price of $69.99 (about £36) and should be available in Europe in October.

Meanwhile, other accessories will be unveiled towards the end of the year from companies including Altec Lansing, DLO, Griffin Technology, HandStands, Macally Peripherals, Maximo Products and Speck Products. Eric Bone, SanDisk’s director of consumer products marketing, had this to say: “With each new addition to the line of licensed Sansa accessories, we are creating a more complete ecosystem for enhancing the user experience among the growing base of Sansa owners.  Now our users will have many options to enhance, customize and personalize their SanDisk players.”

Accessories offered under the Made for Sansa license program include:

• Portable stereo speakers from Altec Lansing and Macally Peripherals.
• Travel cases and armband holders from DLO, Griffin Technology, HandStands and Speck Products.
• Wireless headphones from Macally Peripherals and wired earphones from Maximo Products.
• USB cables, chargers, adapters and other peripherals from Griffin Technology, Macally Peripherals and Maximo Products.

 

IFA 2006: SanDisk V-Mate memory card recorder

There aren’t many gadgets coming out these days that don’t come with some kind of movie playing capabilities, no matter how impractical the screen size is. However, actually getting video content on to them is usually a real pain. The SanDisk V-Mate, announced today at IFA, looks like a practical solution to this; it connects to an analogue audio and video output from pretty much any source you like, then records straight to the card. And it has been designed with small portable video players in mind.

It has a maximum recording resolution of 640 x 480, which makes it suitable for small screens, and means you can fit around three and a half hours of footage per gigabyte. The V-Mate is compatible with SD, MMC, MMCplus MMCmobile, SDHC, MiniSDHC, MicroSDHC, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo – that should have all your bases covered then.

To program it you can use a TV-based interface that lets you adjust control settings, record and access content. The unit also includes an infrared emitter.  This will automatically turn on the TV tuner box (cable/satellite/terrestrial receiver or VCR) and select the right channel when programmed to record.  You can connect it to a computer using a mini-USB connection.

What isn’t immediately clear is how you make sure your recorded videos are saved in a file structure compatible with your media playing device. Anyone who has tried to move digital videos to their PSP will know you need to use the right folder and a specific file naming system to make them viewable. Hopefully SanDisk will have found a way to solve this problem.

The V-Mate is coming out in October and has a retail price of $130 (around £70).

Update: I asked a SanDisk representative about the file structure recording issue, he explained that the V-Mate will have special 'end-device' modes (it looks like PSP will be one of those) that can be selected and will record to the right location specific to your player. Firmware updates should mean that SanDisk can cover most major devices as well. You will also be able to name your files whatever you like. 

IFA 2006: USRobotics Skype DECT Phone

Yet another company is joining the race to get every home using Skype. This is USRobotics’ Skype compatible USR9630 cordless phone. It has one obvious flaw already – other companies, such as Philips, are cutting out the middle man and making DECT Skype phones that work independent of a PC. Unfortunately the USR9630 will still need to be tethered to your home computer to work with Skype.

The system will support up to four handsets and will let you make and receive ordinary and VoIP calls from the one handset.

Launch dates and price are still a bit tentative – it looks like a September launch in the US with a price tag amounting to something around £60. Additional handsets, USR9631s, will follow a month later.

Via Pocket Lint

IFA 2006: More Philips amBX details

It looks like Philips’ amBX vision for gamers doesn’t solely consist of an Ambilight monitor. Instead, a whole range of accessories will be launching over the course of next year aimed at extending the immersive aspects of gaming. Philips explains that this will consist of the following:

• A series of LED based multi-colour lights that engage the eyes and increase realism

• A powerful 2.1 speaker sound system providing booming audio that gives authenticity to the rumble of thunder or the blast of a gunshot

• Several fans that bathe gamers in air movement and wind effects

• A vibration unit that conveys the action and excitement completely in sync with the game situation

Ambilight technology is still the real selling point here; vibration functions have been around for a while (and in the case of Sony, they’ve gone again). I can’t say I’m too sold on the idea of fans blowing at me while I’m gaming – I think my PC produces quite enough fan noise and heat already.

The first game to get the amBX treatment will be Broken Sword: Angel of Death form THQ. Philips has been working closely with THQ to provide the resources and technology to develop the game alongside the new technology.

Philips website

One Minute IFA Update: Philips Blu-Ray players and recorders

Ashley looks at Philips Blu-ray DVD players/recorders - the Media Center PC, the MCP9480i, and the  Blu-ray player - the BDP9000. For more info, check this link.

One Minute IFA Update: Philips WACS7000 wireless music system

Ashley looks at the Philips WACS7000 wireless music system, which was announced today at IFA. For further details, click here.

IFA 2006: Samsung's six megapixel SDC-MS61 digital camera

  Another sleek little black number from Samsung and unveiled at IFA - the SDC-MS61 digital camera.

The looks and small size are obvious selling points as a a fashion camera, with the six megapixel sensor coming in lower than most of the recent new models. However, it does have a few interesting features, including an impressive 3-inch LCD screen, which has a 16:9 aspect ratio, MP3 recording and playback, MPEG4 recording (which you can shoot in widescreen) and the ability to use it as a live webcam, when connected to your PC.

No price or availability details - expect something in the run up to Christmas.

Samsung website

More cameras:
Ricoh Caplio 500SE Model W digital camera with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Olympus mju:1000: 10 megapixel, 3x optical zoom, compact digital camera

IFA 2006: LG unveils super 3G U830 clamshell handset

With some of the HSDPA networks in place already and the rest to follow in the next few months, it's no suprise to see the super 3G phones making their mark at IFA, including the U830 from LG.

It's a slimline clamshell phone that may ship under LG's "Chocolate" banner, though this isn't as yet comfirmed. What is confirmed is that the phone will be available on the 3 network and it will feature a two megapixel camera, an impressive 200MB of storage space, Bluetooth connectivity and support for various audio formats, including  MP3, AAC and WMA.

No news on price or specific release date - more when we have it.

LG website

More HSDPA:
Orange announces SPV M3100 with HSDPA connectivity
T-Mobile launches MDA Vario II with HSDPA connectivity

IFA 2006: Samsung's October Blu-Ray launch

Samsung has revealed more details about the launch of its debut Blu-Ray disc player, the BD-P1000. Available from mid-October, the BD-P1000 - which went on sale in the US in July - plays content at native 720p, 1080i or 1080p video resolutions. Additional features include DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R compatibility, 10 in 2 memory card reader, Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound.

IFA 2006: Samsung launches BD-P1000 - Europe's first consumer Blu-ray player

More from Samsung at the IFA, this time with the unveiling of the BD-P1000 Blu-ray player - the first Blu-ray player to be available commercially in Europe

The BD-P1000 plays content at native 720p, 1080i or 1080p video resolutions, with full 1080p output via HDMI. The player features one pickup with two lenses, which allows it to also play standard DVDs and CDs in addition to Blu-ray discs. The supported DVD formats include DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R. There's also up-conversion for improving the picture of standard DVDs. Additional features include memory card reader, full audio format support, pop-up and always-on menu options, a full colour high-definition animated button and improved bitmap and text subtitles.

And of course, there's the benefits of Blu-ray's capacity, with 25GB of content on a single-sided disc (or 50GB on a dual layer), which is nearly six times the capacity of traditional DVDs and enough space for two hours of high-definition movies or recorded content.

The player was launched in the US in June and should be available to buy here from mid-October. Pricing is still to be confirmed.

Samsung website

More Blu-ray:
IFA 2006: TDK announces 200GB capacity Blu-ray disc
Sony announces AR series VAIO – world’s first Blu-ray notebook

IFA 2006: Samsung's stylish K5 music player with slide-out speaker

We gave you a peak of Samsung's new K5 touch screen music player last month - now it's had an official launch at this year's IFA.

It's a very stylish - and small - device with one particularly eye-catching feature - sliding stereo speakers that hide away when not in use. According to Samsung, they also deliver sounds beyond their size - "no distortion, great volume, and a defined deep bass". Upping the style factor still further is the touch screen OLED screen, which can be used both horizontally and vertically - and of course, is only visible when the player's powered up.

The K5 is available in both 1GB, 2GB and 4GB sizes, offering playback of all the expected file formats plus DRM and Linux-friendly Ogg files. There's also an FM radio, an alarm feature and the option to upload images, which can display as a slideshow as you listen to your tunes - nice (if slightly cheesy) touch. Transfer of tracks and images is via USB 2., battery life is 30 hours (or 6 hours in speaker mode).

No confirmed date of availability or price as yet. We'll keep you posted.

Samsung website

More portable players:
IFA 2006: Philips GoGear SA9200 1/2Gb portable music player
Asono M1 portable multimedia player

IFA 2006: new Sharp Aquos LCD models

Our roving reporter, Susi, has all the latest information on Sharp's latest range of LCD TVs.

IFA 2006: More Blu-Ray titles confirmed

Blu Ray took another step closer to becoming the next high definition disc format ahead of rival HD-DVD with most of the major movie studios lining up at IFA to announce Blu Ray titles from this November.

Despite the very public split between Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures, Mission Impossible 3 will be one of Paramount Pictures' first Blu Ray titles when it launches at the end of November. Meanwhile Warner Home Video ("we have been late coming into the Blu Ray fold, admitted Stephen Nickerson, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Warner Home Video) announced it will launch titles in several European countries including UK, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.

"We will have at least ten core titles in each European country before Christmas," said Nickerson. These will include latest releases such as Harrison Ford's Firewall and George Clooney's Syriana as well as vintage titles such as Full Metal Jacket and Space Cowboys.

As we have already reported here, 20th Century Fox has announced it will release several Blu-Ray titles this autumn, most notably Kingdom of Heaven, Behind Enemy Lines and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And from October Sony is set to release several Blu-Ray titles including Hitch, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, RV, The Fifth Element, Hostel and A Knight's Tale.

Other news from the Blu-Ray camp is that Sun Microsystems has become the association's latest board member.

More Blu-Ray stories:
TDK working on 200GB Blu-Ray disc
Philips launches Blu-Ray drive - the Triple Writer

IFA 2006: Daewoo plan for wireless high-def TV

A whole host of manufacturers have recently been teaming up with MetaLink, a company that specialise in wireless media streaming technology based on the draft 802.11n specification - the next generation, higher-bandwidth wi-fi that should have sufficient capacity to stream multiple HDTV around the home.

The latest to partner is Daewoo, as announced at IFA 2006 today. It's next-generation set-top box (STB) will allow for just that - multi-streaming video around the home.

There's not a huge amount of detail on Daewoo's next-gen equipment yet, but other manufacturers to do the same thing include Philips and LG, so it's something that is sure to gain ground as both HD and wireless comms move forward over the next few years.

I've written about the concern over standards compliance - but if things continue like this we may just end up with a de facto standard with everyone using MetaLink WLAN technology to power their connected homes and worlds (oops sorry that's a Philips-ism). What I'm wary of is seeing a standard turn into a manufacturer tie-in (Microsoft anyone?) - hopefully that won't happen despite 802.11n not due to be officially ratified until at least mid-2007.

MetaLink do seem to be the real winners here so far, but in an consumer electronics world currently dominated by cables, a decent wireless solution that's as good as wired is a very welcome prospect.

Daewoo UK website
802.11 specifications explained at Wikipedia

IFA 2006: Commodore Gravel - downloadable entertainment on the move or in the home

I mentioned earlier in the week that the first viewing of the new Commodore (the Mpet II mp3 player), but the new Gravel entertainment system seems altogether more in line with the Commodore name.

Commodore's latest baby is Commodore World and the Gravel entertainment systems. The Commodore World website promises "a large variety of entertainment content - music, videos, games, favorite radio and TV programs", accessed on demand via the Gravel devices. As yet, the site is unavailable to view, so we can't confirm what exactly is on offer.

What we can see are the Gravel devices. The Commodore Gravel In Pocket is a pocket-sized multimedia device with built-in Wi-Fi. It supports all major file formats, including MP4, MPEG, DivX, Xvid, WMV, streaming WMV, JPEG, BMP, GIF, along with MP3, WMA, WAVE music files. There's 1GB or 2GB internal flash memory, expandable by SD card and comes with the claims that it's world-first, high-quality flash video device that plays full screen, full motion (24 fps) on a 2.8-inch TFT screen.

The Commodore Gravel In Home is a home entertainment centre which provides access to Video On Demand, Replay TV and streaming music services directly to your TV. It comes with an 80GB drive, with all services accessed via the single jog remote control.

Both sound interesting - and both are up against some pretty strong competition in both the mobile and home-based entertainment market. We'll porbably find out how well the systems will do once we see the downloadable content - and the prices charge for hardware and downloads.

Commodore website

IFA 2006: TDK announces 200GB capacity Blu-ray disc

It's sometimes hard to illustrate a jump in technology, but TDK has made it that bit easier, unveiling a disc for Blu-ray drives with a whopping 200GB capacity.

TDK's new 200GB Blue-Laser disc doubles the capacity of their existing 100GB Blu-ray prototype and could store approximately 18 hours of high definition video (encoded at 24Mbps). The initial Blu-ray disc standard offered a choice of 25GB single layer Blu-ray discs or 50GB dual layer discs (as pictured). However, TDK has now managed to cram 33.3GB on each of the disc’s six layers to hit the 200GB mark on a single-sided disc.

The disc is currently a working prototype, with no shelf date confirmed as yet. We'll keep you posted.

TDK website

More Blu-ray:
Lite-on unveils external Blu-ray disc writer
Sony announces AR series VAIO – world’s first Blu-ray notebook

IFA 2006: The highlights

Hello and welcome from Berlin where the Tech Digest team, that's Ash, Chris and Susi, will be bringing you all the breaking news from the world of consumer electronics. At the moment the stands are still half built so we haven't been able to check out what's new, but here's a taster of what's in store just to whet your appetite.

Philips: The press conference begins 2pm Berlin time and you can log in at www.ifa.philips.com to get all the latest product information. For now we know that Philips will be announcing a new Skype VoIP phone which also doubles as a DECT phone (the product was first shown last year). Also there's a new Windows XP Media Center for the living room with 250GB hard drive and Blu-Ray (again the product was first shown last year).

LG: We went to the press conference this morning but new product information was disappointingtly scarce. What we do know is that they plan to launch new TVs with built in DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) following the success of the 43inch plasma model launched in May. After toying with the idea of a combined Blu-Ray and HD-DVD player (now isn't that a good idea) it seems they've ditched that plan in favour of backing just Blu-Ray. No plans to launch a new a player this year though. Apparently LG has shifted two million handsets of its 'hero product', the chocolate phone, but now news on a successor yet. However, we do know they will show off another mobile TV phone which uses the DMB standard.

Samsung: Among the new products will be the company's Blu-Ray DVD players which are due to go on sale before the end of the year. Also showing off an LCD TV that uses LEDs as a backlighting source.

Grundig: Now part of the Alba Group, Grundig is showing off a pair of wireless stereo speakers which according to the blurb 'have the potential to be design icons'.Mmm. Let's wait and see on that one.

Thomson: Unveiling a completely wireless (2.4GHz) system for linking up various devices in the home, including DVD player, set top box and TV screen. Could just be a fancy video sender, but sounds intriguing nevertheless.

Yamaha: The company plans to launch two new Sound Projector models (a single speaker mounted below the TV screen which replaces five or more surround speakers).

Daewoo: An interesting sounding GPS system with built in DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) system so you can listen to the radio and watch TV - though probably best not to do the latter while driving. Don't know if it will come to the UK though.

IFA 2006: Philips refines its Entertaible interactive gaming table

Remember Philips' prototype interactive board game from this year's CES? Well, they've refined it and its ready to face the public.

The idea of the Entertaible is to mix the flexibility of the electronic games arena, such as dynamic playing fields and varying levels, with the traditional social interaction of the board game. The Entertaible features a 30-inch LCD, sophisticated touch screen-based multi-object position detectors, plus supporting control electronics.

According to Philips Research spokesman Gerard Hollemans, the idea in the short term is to "reinvigorate established board game classics", then create "brand new games offering unprecedented levels of user interaction - games that would never become predictable or ever quite ‘feel' the same twice, however often you played them."

You should get an idea of what that all means towards the end of this year, with Philips set to pilot the Entertaible in a number of public locations.

Philips website

IFA News 2005: Sony Style (over content?)

If there was an award for the most innovative stand at IFA it would surely have to go to Sony. The 'stand' was more like a lavish theatrical set in which an interior designer's imagination had been left to run riot. Walk into one room and it was a digital hall of mirrors. Walk into another and it felt like one of those Japanese hotels where you have to sleep in a tube. All the separate rooms were divided by floor-to-ceiling drapes (a bit like those you get at the car wash), leaving maximum opportunity for collision between visitors. I wouldn't like to be in charge of that accident book.

Also the layout of the stand meant that it was quite easy to miss entire rooms altogether - it took me four attempts to find the PSPs, for example. Not great planning me thinks. Though Sony was at least living up to its 'Like.No.Other' tagline, most journalists thought the style of the set was really to hide a dearth of any really innovative products, a complete contrast to the neighbouring Samsung set where content, rather than style, was king.

IFA News 2005: Thomson's mobile set-top box

Here's another IFA 'world first': a portable digital terrestrial (Freeview) set-top box with a built in 11cm LCD screen. Measuring 17cm x 9cm and tipping the scales at 425 grammes, the mobile set-top box can be connected to a TV using composite video or Scart. There's also a USB port for software downloads via the PC and an optional external antenna for digital TV reception at high speeds. The mobile set-top box operates on a rechargeable battery that provides up to 2.5 hours playtime. A 12 Volt car adaptor is available as an optional extra. The DTI0601 will be available in the UK, Australia, France, Germany and Italy in early 2006.

www.thomson-broadband.com

IFA News 2005: rollable displays coming soon

Philips demonstrated a number of interesting research projects at IFA - most of which are nearly ready for launch. There was a 3D flat screen display which will be used mainly by advertisers and for specialist medical applications (ie baby scans). There was also a display of the company's 'photonic textiles' which will eventually enable you to create your own electronic clothes (see Philips Homelab for more information). However the product we got most excited about was the rollable display which has been developed in conjunction with Polymer Vision. It was first demonstrated at IFA a couple of years but seems very close to becoming a reality, albeit initially in black and white rather than colour. Using ultra-thin 25 micron plastic substrates, combined with flexible organic electronics technology, the display is intended - eventually - as an integrated solution for a mobile phone. The QVGA resolution display is scheduled for manufacturing in 2006.

IFA News 2005: Pana's 4 in 1 one recorder

Not sure about which recording format to go for? Panasonic has announced a recorder that covers most of the bases - at least as far as standard definition goes anyway (we won't even get into the high def recording format war that is still looming). Unveiled at IFA was a four in one recorder, comprising 200Gb hard disk drive, VHS VCR, DVD recorder and SD Memory Card. Called thd DMR-EH80V it comes with its own electronic programme guide, Guide Plus, and a built in DV terminal for dubbing DV-quality images from a digital video camera to the recorder's hard disk drive or DVD disc. Panasonic claims the 200Gb hard disk can hold up to 355 hours of footage and the DVD recorder can record on DVD-RAM, DVD-R, +R and DVD-RW discs.
www.panasonic-europe.com

IFA 2005: Humax 160Gb Freeview PVR

Humax announced a new digital terrestrial (Freeview) set-top box at IFA. The PVR-9200T features 160 Gig hard drive for 100 hours recording time, two tuners (so you can record two channels at once) and a USB port for PC connection so you can store MP3 and JPEG files onto the hard drive. It also comes with 7 day EPG and Dolby Digital Audio output.

www.humaxdigital.com

IFA News: Samsung's 102 inch plasma!

IFA News: Is this the biggest plasma in the world. Well yes I think so. It is apparently a 102inch model and though I didn't get the ruler out to measure it, it's pretty darned huge. Picture quality from this 1920 x 1080 resolution screen isn't bad either and, according to Samsung it offers 6.4 billion colours (how do they measure that?) Obviously the product will never come to market, it's simply there to pull in the punters to the stand - which it did in a spectacular fashion.

However if you do want a commercially available plasma and have more money than sense then you could always invest in the 'tiny' 80inch model (PS80X5H). Picture quality from the 1920 x 1080 display is even better than the 102inch and I was quite impressed by the surround sound system which comes with it. It also comes with Picture in Picture (PIP) and a double screen facility. Another 'world's largest' claim comes from Samsung's SP71 L8HX - the world's largest DLP projection telly. It has a screen size of 71inches, also offers 1920 x 1080 resolution and comnes with HDMI inputs.

IFA News: Samsung shows mobile TV

Last week Samsung in Korea anounced the SCH-B250, a fourth generation mobile phone which enables you to watch digital TV on the move. Today at IFA it unveiled a complete range of portable devices which use DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) technology for mobile digital TV - apparently at speeds of up to 200 kph. Among the products on display was a 5inch handheld PC with digital terrestrial antenna (the XP40), a 12.1 inch notebook (the Q30+) and a 7inch portable DVD player, the SV-L77DM13. It also demonstrated how the technology could be used within a car. Now all we need is the mobile digital TV content!

IFA 2005: The smallest projector ever?

At IFA Toshiba unveiled what has to be the smallest and most unusual projector in the world. Rather than using a hot projector lamp, the tiny Toshiba - which measures just 136 x 39 x 100 mm - boasts low-voltage LEDs. It's the first projector we know we to run on batteries (they provide about two hours running time) and, unlike conventional LCD and DLP projectors, it starts up and switches off instantly.

Picture quality isn't the best and maximum image size is around 30inches but it's ideal for business presentations and for portable applications (ie taking on holiday). As well as the usual video/audio inputs it also comes with a USB port for easy transfer of data, pictures etc. from your PC. It's expected to go on sale before Christmas for 999 Euros (£700) including foldable white screen. Also announced at IFA were several larger and more expensive projectors from Tosh including the MT400 and the HD Ready, MT700.

IFA 2005: Terratec's titchy TV tuner

Just time to tell you about a new device from Terratec that turns your PC into a digital TV box. Rather than the usual clumsy digital terrestrial (DVB-T) adaptor that bolts onto the side of your PC, this neat little TV tuner plugs directly into the USB 2.0 port of your computer and is, apparently, no bigger than a Swiss Army knife. It also comes with software for digital video recording on your hard drive. Must confess we haven't seen it yet but will check it out and get a piccie tomorrow when the show officially opens.

IFA 2005: Philips launches Windows Media Center

Further proof, if it were needed, that this year's consumer electronics show in Berlin is all about convergence and HD. Consumer electronics giant Philips has announced it is launching an HD-compatible Windows Media Center in October as part of its 'Connected Planet' range. Called the MCP9350i, this all-in-one entertainment solution comes with 250GB hard drive and features wi-fi (802.11b/g connectivity) and Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz processor. Importantly, it's a silver and black coloured set-top box which looks like it should sit neatly under the TV. The only downside is the price. Expected to go on the market for 1499 Euros, it seems a little on the pricey side at the moment. However prices are expected to fall.

IFA - instant guide

So IFA is over for another two years and fortunately there’s no more barging past mullet-haired, frankfurter-toting, red-sports jacket-wearing types (and that’s just our fellow UK tech journalists) to grab the scoops.

And if you can’t be bothered to wade through all those news IFA news stories, here’s your easily digestible quickie guide to the world’s biggest consumer electronics show.

IFA top products

We asked several of the UK’s leading consumer electronics journalists to pick what they believe will prove to be IFA’s key products.

1 Broadband Box – The Swedish company has taken a fully specced Windows XP PC, shoehorned it into a DVD style box and grafted on a second very consumer electronics style interface. Journalists were knocked out not only by the way this box literally does everything (TV, DVD, music, Internet) but also boast some neat features like seamless music and video on demand. How many they shift when it arrives in the UK for around £1500 is another matter

2 Sharp’s Japanese phones – While most Germans were ogling the GX20 (the latest version of the Becks phone) UK journalists were getting very excited about Sharp’s collection of Japanese phones. With fantastic screen resolution, one-mega pixel cameras, SD card storage and even a mini integrated scanner they take the camera phone to yet another level. A version of one of the pair should be hot footing to the UK in the spring.

3 Metz hard disk TV with Internet control – Although Metz is little known in the UK the German CE manufacturer certainly gained a few fans with its widescreen set with integrated hard disk recorder. Its most impressive feature was the way in which its electronic programming guide can be controlled via the Internet. Can’t be too long before setting your PVR via a PC/mobile phone is a standard feature on sets.

4 Bluetooth personal CD player – A wireless personal CD player that plays tunes even while it sits metres away in your bag sounds like a great idea to us. Not entirely convinced by the company, Naf Naf Electronique’s demo though.

5 Philips Hdd100 – The Dutch company’s hard disk personal MP3 player is growing on us, especially now that it appears it will rival the 15gig iPod in price at £300.

Also rated

Perstel’s DAB video player – Great idea, not sure it’ll catch on in the UK though.

Nokia’s satellite hard disk recorder – With an 80Gig hard disk this really gives Pace something to think about

LG’s 3G mobile phone – So much smaller and neater than its rivals. We want one.

XDA 2 – Excellent screen resolution and an integrated camera make the second incarnation of the XDA Pocket PC PDA/phone a much stronger proposition than its predecessor.

Aitpek DV4 – Now selling via the Firebox site. This SD-based camera/camcorder has much of the functionality of rivals like the Panasonic SV-AV100 yet at a fraction of the price.

The jury’s out

Panasonic SV-AV100 – The first camcorder to record MPEG2 (DV standard images) on to an SD. Yet it is hideously expensive and only stores twenty minutes of video on its accompanying 512MB SD card.

Philips video streaming devices – Not entirely convinced families will want to watch video streamed from their PC on their main living room screen.

Sharps’ wireless TV – Neat idea, but let down by a battery life of just two hours and a prohibitive price tag.

LG’s ultra large plasma screens – Look superficially impressive, but needs work to improve image quality.

Philips hdd60 – Tiny MP3 player with a 1.5gigayte hard disk. Sounds great in theory, and 1.5 Gig is enough storage for most people. However, its price tag of £250 is at least £100 off target.

Key trends

Hard disk video recorders – Everyone had them, coupled with DVD recorders (Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp) or built into TVs (Philips, Metz). Storage capacity is up too with almost all models boasting at least 80Gigabytes.

Hard disk/flash memory based camcorders – Who need DV tape or MicroMV? The new breed of camcorders is small and gadget-packed. They can’t yet store enough MPEG2 quality video though.

High-end AV – Back with a vengeance from Sony’s Qulia SACD player to top-end beauties from Meridian Audio and Denon. Someone has obviously got some money to spend.

PC/Internet content in your living room – Philips now has a whole range of products that deliver MP3, JPEG and MPEG4 video files wirelessly to your living room’s home entertainment system. KiSS has a good selection too and most manufacturers were displaying prototypes of wireless broadband-connected devices.

Hard disk MP3 players – With launches from Philips, Samsung and Thomson, the CE giants have decided they are not going to leave the MP3 personal market to Apple.

IFA round-up

Here's the Tech Digest round-up of the best of the rest of the world's largest consumer electronics show IFA. We'll have detailed analysis of the show along with a easily digestable instant guide later in the week.

* Bluetooth personal CD player
* The fantastic Broadband Box
* Samsung votes for DAB
* More digital radio
* Philips' coin-sized optical disk
* Recordable DVD price war

Bluetooth personal CD player

No we didn't believe it either as we assumed Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth to carry audio data, but, unless we are the victims of a huge French practical joke, a Blueooth wireless personal CD player will be in UK stores by the end of the year.

The perpetrators are NafNaf Electronique, a high-tech wing of a fashion house, who were extremely excited about their innovation. It plays back both standard audio CDs and CDs with MP3s outputting its signal to a Bluetooth headset. Given its 10 metres radius, its user can listen to music even if their player is in a bag. Controls for the player are integrated into the unit’s headphones. The included rechargeable battery will function for around four hours

The demo we received was passable - the sound quality was fine, but the music did keep disappearing. NafNaf clearly has some work to do before it can get the product to market.

Still it hopes to launch the product in Europe (including the UK) before Christmas costing around 20% more than high-end personal models. (apologies for the rubbish picture and hearty thanks to eagle-eyed Tom @ Stuff for the tip-off)

How cool is this?

Fancy binning your DVD player, VCR, CD player and, while you are at it your PC, and replacing them with one box that sits under your TV? Well we'd read about the Broadband Box that does all the above and more, but when we saw it in action at IFA we were simply blown away.

It's not just that the features list is awesome

* Full Windows XP Intel Pentium 4 PC
* A huge 256Gigabyte hard disk
* DVD player/CD-writer
* Digital or analogue TV tuner
* Hard disk video recorder with two week electronic programme guide and cool search facility
* FM tuner
* All the usual PC applications (Internet Explorer, Outlook, Word etc)

But the really cool thing is the way it has this superb interface which gives it a proper consumer electronics feel. It really is a cinch to use.

There's also the possibility of video-on-demand to complement its streaming facilities. It has wireless functionality, virtually every connector you can think of and it is all controlled via its accompanying wireless keyboard. It is compatible with all screens from plasmas to conventional CRTs.

Best of all it is coming to the UK (apparently a deal has been signed) very soon. You'll pay around around £1800. Alternatively for around £4000 it can be purchased in tandem with a 42inch plasma screen.

Read more here

Samsung votes for DAB

IFA had plenty of good news for digital radio, or DAB (Digital Audio Broadcating) to give it its proper title. While Perstel were unveiling some innovative devices in the Hong Kong hall (see below), Samsung was taking the wraps off a home entertainment system with an integrated digital radio tuner.

The HT-DB770 is a compact home cinema model complete with a DVD player, surround sound decoders/amplifiers (Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro-Logic II) and a total power output of 600watts via its six speakers. It is expected to go on sale for around £400 in September.

Samsung also gave another fledgling technology a well-needed boost by delivering the HT-DB390 - the company’s first home entertainment system to feature wireless Bluetooth rear speakers (fellow Korean company LG also unveiled a similar package. The system also features a DVD player, surround sound decoders etc, but it significantly larger and comes with thin floor standing speakers. Coming next month for around £400.

Samsung is also following Apple, Philips and co into the hard disk MP3 personal market. Due in October the YP-900 features a 20Gigabyte hard disk, has rechargeable batteries with a life of around ten hours and connects to a PC via its USB2.0 socket. Its price will be around £300 the same as the 15Gigabyte Apple and Philips devices.

More digital radio

More good news for digital radio. British-based company Perstel is readying a device that will pick up video signals transmitted via DAB. Although so far no group has yet committed to launching video over DAB in the UK, experiments are underway in Germany and broadcasters are aiming to broadcast the 2006 Football Word Cup in this format. The device, the DMR23, features a 7inch TFT LCD screen, an MP3 player and storage via an MMC card.

Due later this year is the DR 301, a portable digital radio receiver that also includes an integrated FM radio tuner, an MP3 player and voice recording facilities. Users can also record digital radio, which is then saved on to a MMC card. Expect to pay around £150.

Philips puts its money on coin-sized disc

It's been shown before in various guises, and at various shows including last year's CEATEC show in Japan, but now it seems that Philips is nearly ready with its 'Portable Blue' optical disk.

Instead of the conventional idea of using revolutionary Blu-Ray laser technology for greater storage capacity on DVD discs (as is popular in Japan where extra storage capacity is needed for high def TV) Philips has turned this idea around and miniaturised the disk while keeping storage capacity as high as possible. The end result is a device that can hold up 1Gb – that’s 1.4x as much as a CD-Rom – on a single layer, single sided disk measuring just 3cm across.

Philips claims the tiny optical disk will be incorporated into portable audio devices, mobile phones, PDAs, notebooks and digital cameras but hasn’t yet given a launch date for specific products. It could also be used for audio storage.

More

Mobile phone takes control

With all these incompatible wireless formats kicking around, taking control of everything in the home certainly isn't going to be easy. But Philips has come up with a potential solution.

Demonstrated at IFA was a new application that enables the user to control wireless household products - including those boasting 802.11, infra-red and Zigbee technologies - via a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. A ‘connectivity mediator’ device automatically detects when a mobile phone is in its vicinity and sends an appropriate control menu to the handset.

Commands from the user are transmitted to the mediator via Bluetooth and then converted into the appropriate technology (such as wi-fi or infra-red) so the TV, DVD player or even wi-fi household device can be controlled at the touch of a button.

More

Recordable DVD price war

How far is the price of DVD recorders going to fall this year? Well we’d been promised that a glut of cheapo DVD+RW recorders from the far east would drive the price down, but they don't appear to be arriving. Weirdly, the cheapest player at the moment is Philips DVDR70.

Perhaps Hong Kong based company Mico will come to the rescue. It has a DVD+RW recorder, the DVDR300, ready to launch in the UK in October. Available exclusively from Sainsbury’s supermarket, the recorder will retail for between £250-300. Unlike the DVDR70 the recorder also has an ilink digital video input.

Mico is also set to move into the LCD market offering a 20inch 4x3 TV next year for £1000. A 30inch widescreen model will follow later in 2004.

IFA News Friday

IFA, the world's largest consumer electronics show with over 1000 exhibitors, got underway in Berlin yesterday. Click here for full stories

* Philips unveils world's smallest MP3 hard disk player
* Philips to debut video streaming devices
* Garden chair speaker
* Nokia to deliver digital TV receivers/recorders
* Panasonic reinvents the camcorder
* Pioneer unveils DVD hard disk recorder
* LG announces world's largest Plasma display

Philips gets connected

As usual Philips hosted one of IFA’s most high profile press conferences, wheeling out a succession of company bigwigs to outline its strategy for the coming year.

Although the company majored on technological innovations – it is particularly keen on the wireless home – very little new product was displayed. This was largely because it paraded many new items to journalists at a conference in the Netherlands several months back.

There were however a few surprises:

World’s smallest disk audio player

Following on from the HDD100 hard disk MP3 player, Philips had added a second HD model – the HDD60, which it is billing as the smallest hard disk MP3 player available. Almost certainly using the latest version of IBM’s Micro Drive the device has a storage capacity of 1.5 Gigabytes (enough, so Philips claims, for 375 MP3 tracks).

We reckon it will be very similar to the Rio Nitrus, which was announced earlier in the month The device is due on sale in Europe in October (no definite date for a UK arrival) with a retail price of around £250.

Video streaming devices

Philips also confirmed the specifications of its range of video streaming devices. Its flagship product is likely to be the MX6000i audio and video streaming home entertainment system. The successor to its existing Streamium hi-fi system the MX6000i enables the user to stream audio and video files from their PC to the product, which then displays the content on a TV screen.

The product sports a ‘walled garden web browser’ that offers access to video and audio content. Video content will be provided by partners Ivideo and Yahoo. Unlike the original Streamium, the MX6000i will be compatible with wireless systems 802.11g which offers faster transfer rates and therefore smoother video than the more common 802.11b wireless format.

Philips is also offering two wireless multimedia links that perform a similar function to the 6000i. These will also use 802.11g to stream video. The difference between the two is the SL-400i includes a USB dongle so that it can be incorporated into a wireless system while the SL-300i is designed for homes that already have wireless. All three products will be launched early next year.

Philips is also going to take its streaming video concept to displays. Next year it will launch an LCD with Wi-Fi enabled broadband connections.

more here

Garden chair speaker

Probably a little too late for this summer, but Elac has developed a speaker integrated into a garden chair. By means of an exciter using DML flat membrane technology recliners can both hear and feel the sound. The system was originally developed for use in private jets.

Nokia to deliver digital TVreceivers/recorders
In what could be worrying news for Pace, Nokia has anounced plans to launch a pair of digital TV decoders with integrated hard disk video recorders. At present Pace dominates the UK market with its Sky Plus (satellite) and Twin products (terrestrial).

NokiaMediamaster 260 S (satellite) and Nokia MediaMaster 260 T (terrestrial) give the user to ability to 'pause live TV', tapelessly record entertainment and create Image Albums for personal images transferred from camera phones supporting Bluetooth wireless technology.

Both products sport electronic programme guides and feature basic games. Crucially they boast an 80Gigabyte hard disk - twice the size of the Sky Plus box and four times the size of Pace's Twin box. However, it is unlikely the satellite product will ever be able to receive or record Sky programmes.

Both will be availble before Christmas in Europe. There's no confirmed UK launch, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out. Nokia also announced a free-to-air digital terrestrial set-top box for Freeview (the Mediamaster 110T).

More here

Pioneer unveils DVD/hard disk recorder

Pioneer has joined Panasonic and Toshiba in bringing a combined hard disk/DVD video recorder to the UK. Available next month, the DVR-5100H-S records on to an 80Gigabyte hard disk, which Pioneer claims can store up to 102 hours of video footage. Users can then archive the video on to DVD-R and DVD-RW discs.

Included is a feature called One Touch Copy which allows programes stored on the hard disk to be transferred at high speed to DVD. The model has many of the usual features associated with hard disk video recorders including Chase Play, which lets the user store live TV, and simultaneous recording and playback.

The company also unveiled many other new products including:

* New 50inch and 43inch plasma TVs
* DV-565 DVD player with SACD and DVD-Audio playback
* NS-DV990 home cinema system with NXT flat panel speakers
* A range of new AV receivers

All the products will be on sale this autumn

More here

Panasonic re-invents the camcorder

Must admit we’ve not so far been convinced by Panasonic’s attempts to produce a video recording/image snapping/MP3-playing gadget. The SV-AV10 from two years ago was a complete dog's dinner with a very poor camera, while its recent update, the SV-AV20, was only a marginal improvement.

The key issue centres around storage. The Panasonic gadgets use SD cards, which up until recently had a maximum storage capacity of 256MB – small beer when compared with the 20 and 30 Gigabyte hard disk recorders from Apple, Archos and the like.

At IFA Panasonic has just unveiled two additions to its D Snap range – the SV-AV100 and the SV-AS10.
Due in October, the SV-AV100 bills itself as ‘the world’s first MPEG2 SD camcorder'. Great, it can record MPEG 2 video. The bad news is that the 512MB SD card that it comes with can store only twenty minutes of MPEG2 video. Of course when the one Gigabyte card comes later in the year this doubles the storage to 40 minutes. Yet the 1 Gig card is likely to be around £300.

Around twenty minutes is actually enough for all but the most-demanding camcorders users. However with a hard disk it could have been so much more.

Still the SV-AV100 looks good, has an 800,000 pixel CCD, MPEG4 and still image recording and a 10x optical zoom. It can also be hooked up to either a TV or a PC. The clincher though is the price. At around £1000 it is ridiculously expensive. Neat product, but can’t believe there will be many takers.

Likely to be much more of a hit is the D-Snap SV-AS10. It has a two mega pixel digital still camera, five x digital zoom, Motion JPEG video, MP3/AAC/WMA playback and a voice recorder all wrapped up in a really thin (9.9mm) casing. It is also available in rather funky blue and orange colours and will retail for around £250. You have to your own storage cards. Also due in October.

Also new from Panasonic

· Panasonic E-100H hard disk/DVD-RAM recorder which will replace the now-legendary DMR-HS2. Has a larger hard disk (80 Gigabytes) and comes with an SD card. Users will be able to record programmes on to SD in MPEG4 which they can then play back on the any of the D-Snap video devices. No electronic programming guide though.

· DMC-FZ2 digital camera. Rather cool two mega pixel model with a 12 x optical zoom. Due next month for around £400.

· New line up of plasma and LCD screens.

LG feels the width

There are two ways of grabbing headlines at IFA. Either introduce a useful product that’s going to make people’s lives better or, if you can’t do that, at least make sure it is the world's biggest or the world's smallest.

It seems LG has got both bases firmly covered at this year's show with two of the ‘world’s biggest’ displays on show as well as some interesting, if not exactly revolutionary, products.

First up is the world's biggest plasma TV – a whopping 71inch widescreen model with picture contrast ratios of 1000:1. Then there’s a 52 inch LCD TV that LG claims provides a viewing angle of nearly 180 degrees. Of course you probably won't ever be able to buy these products in the shops and even if you could they would probably cost a year’s wages – but no matter.

And if it’s innovation you want then LG has that too – well sort of. At IFA it’s showcasing an all-in-one home cinema system (the DA-SW6100) which doesn’t require wires trailing across the living room from the rear speakers to the AV amplifier. OK it’s an idea that’s been tried before (most notably by Philips) but it’s never really worked properly because of interference problems. Here’s hoping the LG product fares better.

Perhaps most interesting of all is LG’s home network demonstration area. Featuring a kitchen, a living room and bedroom it shows how a home server could be used to operate a number of digital home appliances via a mobile phone connection.

Other products on display:

• A DVD/VCR recorder combi (the RC5900) which LG claims is one of the thinnest available (83.5mm)
• New LCD monitors and flat screen 16:9 TVs named the Lafinion series

Posted by Shiny Media on August 29, 2003 in IFA news | Permalink | Comments (3)