When we showed you those Sharp X-series ultra-thin LCD TVs recently, we mentioned how Sharp had achieved the slimming down: by putting most of the electronics in a separate box, connected by a single cable. Well, now there’s news that Sharp has teamed up with AMIMON to do away with that cable and transmit the HDTV signal wirelessly to the display from the tuner box. The “WHDI” technology has a range of 100 feet, a latency of less than a millisecond and can transmit through multiple walls. So while the 37-, 42- and 46-inch TVs will now have an optional wireless video transmitter with AMIMON’s tech inside, there’s no info on the price yet. Read on for the full press release.
While mobile TV mobile phones are ten-a-penny in the Far East, the West is pretty much virgin territory for them. Samsung’s P960, however, may have got the ball rolling, a mobile TV phone aimed at European consumers. A sleek grey slider, the P960 supports both European mobile TV standards, DVB-CBMS and OMA-BCAST, and its 2.6-inch QVGA TFT screen even lets you watch two channels at the same time. As to whether we’re going to see a US-friendly version later on in the year—well, that’s not clear yet, but since the menu behind the dude is in dollars, perhaps the Koreans are making their press budget go a little further. Press release is after the jump. galleryPost('samsungp960', 4, 'Samsung P960');
Even though Paramount has taken longer to announce their Blu-ray slate than the other former HD DVD lackey, they’re getting ‘em out the door quicker, surprisingly. The first three BDs (I hate the acronym, but let’s go ahead and digest it) from Paramount arrive May 20: Face/Off (yes!), Bee Movie and Next. Then it gets kinda sparse, with intermittent releases through the rest of the summer (AU winter), though its first simultaneous new release w/ DVD will be The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24. Not the hot roster I was looking for (Woo’s opus excepted), but at least the Blu ball for every major studio is finally rolling. Update: We just did one better and got Paramount’s press release with the full list (which confirms HR’s report), check it out below.
The chowed down fish crowding the shot almost gives a new meaning to “in the wild” pics, but I digress. Until now we’ve only seen the bigger, badder Eee PC 900 in that single shade of paleness (unlike its little bro), but this shot seems to confirm that a veritable rainbow (or um, a pair) of colour options is shortly on the way. So what’ll it be folks, black or white? More shots at the link, if you need help making up your mind. And yes, the fish is in all of ‘em. [Flicka via EeeUser]
Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to sit down with Jim Carlton, Director of Streaming Media Systems at Logitech, and have a play around with their new Duet Network Music System. For those who don’t remember, the Duet is a little bit like the Sonos Music system, where you use a single remote to control music throughout your house, using networked boxes that connect to your hi-fi gear anywhere in the building.
And while I’ll be delivering a full review to you guys in a few weeks once I get my hands on a proper unit to put through its paces, I think I can fairly safely say this: “awesome”.
Fans of Australian artists like John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Rolf Harris, Anne Geddes, Ken Done or The Wiggles are about to get a big treat – themes for iGoogle!
The themes were designed by the artists as a massive marketing ploy way of offering fans another way of expressing their support, and part of Google’s global effort to let people personalise their online experience.
John Butler, that hippy rockstar with a social conscience, loves the idea: “The term Google has become part of the English vernacular as a way to say go find out yourself…get informed. As someone who is part of a progressive generation who sees this small world as one interconnected community, I’m proud to represent the Australian arts scene on a global level.”
You can click here to see which other Australian artists are available, or if you want to widen your reach to see what the rest of the world is offering, check here.
Camcorders these days are all about the vision. I mean, you’re hard pressed to find a model that isn’t High-Def on the shelves of your local Bing Lee. But what about sound quality? When you’ve got your camera at the maximum 20x zoom trying to capture what somebody’s doing 30 metres away, can you ever hear what they’re saying?
The answer is generally no, although you may be able to lip read with some of the better cameras. That’s why Sennheiser has come up with the MKE-400 add-on microphone for compact cameras. Sure, it makes your camcorder just a little less compact, and it does look a bit like a giant phallus, but if it means you can hear your nephew yell out “help!” when your videotaping his first swim in the ocean rather than just read his lips when you watch back the footage, then that’s worth the $329 asking price, wouldn’t you say?
[Syntec]
What do you get when you combine Australian ingenuity (and wool) and Japan’s hot, sweaty climate and love for crazy products? The answer is a suit that you can wear in the shower.
Crazy? Or brilliant? After getting past the question of why you would wear a suit in the shower, we’re opting for the latter. You see, you wouldn’t actually wear the suit in the shower – the fast drying Australian Merino wool simply lets you hose the suit down to wash it, then you hang it up and let it dry. While it’s drying, the suit will regain its shape, meaning that you don’t have to take it down to the dry cleaners to get it spruced up.
The main feature of the suit is the quick-dry aspect, which comes from using natural water-repelling amino acids found in hair, nails and skin. That might sound gross, but if it means a daily clean suit just from showering, who cares? And when you see the price – about the equivalent of $530 – you’ll want to wear all your suits in the shower.
Sadly, it’s only available in Japan at the moment, although The Telegraph is reporting that the company behind it wants to launch the suit in Britain soon. There’s also a video of the suit being washed here.
[The Telegraph via The Earth Times - Thanks Yash!][Photo from The Telegraph]
You know how in cop shows they seize deviants’ computers and bring them back to the lab for some good ol’ latex gloved analysis to prove how obviously guilty or sick the suspect is? That’s old hat. Microsoft’s latest treat for law enforcement is COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), a USB drive that’ll cut through whatever flimsy security miscreants have slapped on their computer in a flash, and then automatically analyse the dirty bits the cops need to bust their arse, from internet activity to stored data, no pwnage skillz or trips to the lab needed. Microsoft’s giving the wonder tube to lawmen for free, and 2,000 officers in 15 countries are already using it. But will it work on Macs? [Seattle Times, Thanks M]
If you had US$15 million to spend on a home, would you choose to drop that cash on this concept home set to be built in a Cotswold nature reserve? Apparently that is just what an anonymous buyer did recently, making the “Orchid House” the UKs most expensive country home—and it won’t be completed for 3 years. For that money the buyer (rumoured to be in the entertainment industry) will get a home shaped like a bee orchid that should produce more energy that it consumes thanks to an underground pump and geothermal heating. Great, so the house will pay for itself in about a 1000 years. Additional pic after the break.
