Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Got a favourite album or track that’s so damn good you want everyone to hear it? Well then step forward the BoomBench. Created by German designer Michael Schoner of NL Architects, it’s a park bench sized Bluetooth compatible sound system with twin 60-watt co-axial speakers and two subwoofers built in. There’s also a bass shaker in the seat which we’re guessing simply vibrates to the music and it was demoed in Amsterdam last month for the Urban Play event. The idea is that those sitting on the bench can pair their portable Ṃ player/mobile phone and pump tunes through it, which is a great idea in principle, though some numpty is bound to turn up with a ‘Best of Michael Bolton′ album and ruin it for everyone. Sadly we don′t think these will be replacing the boring old wooden benches any times soon, but you can check out the video of it in action below. - Paul Lester [HackADay] BoomBench Bluetooth speakers

Original post by nafiz

When it comes to MP3 players, Sony tends to be a choice for the audio purist, and has consistently been at the top of the pile when it comes to clarity and music management for many a year. There’s usually a price to pay for this kind of credibility but not so with its new NWZ-B133, which is available for under £30.It’s basically a snazzy-looking USB flash memory stick that also plays back your tunes. There’s a crisp three-line colour LCD display on board for showing ID3 tag information and browsing your collection, support for MP3 and WMA formats and an audio equalizer and bass boost for tweaking the sound. It also offers a ‘quick charge’ of just three minutes for 90 minutes playback, which is ideal for the commute, and a full charge jacks up listening time to an impressive 16 hours. That’s about it in terms of features but for the price even this is pretty impressive. What isn’t unfortunately is the capacity, just 1GB for the time being. The NWZ B133 is available now from Play.com for £27.99. - Paul Lester [Sony] Sony MP3 player portable audio

Original post by nafiz

The results of AMD’s European survey into notebook usage paints a clear picture of our digitally oriented future as 77% of respondents claim they could not live without access to the internet. Compare this to 54% of people who say ‘car’ and 61% who say ‘washing machine’ as things they couldn’t live without and there’s no doubting the importance of the world wide web to our lives. People aren’t just browsing around either, since the biggest market that has driven this interest is digital media. 81% of people have uploaded digital photos over the last year, 77% watch videos on YouTube and 66% download music. In addition, 76% have gotten their hands dirty with online gaming, 51% of people have downloaded and 43% have streamed movies. In terms of the future many are citing visual quality as high on their list of demands, with almost half saying that graphics play a large part in a purchasing decision and further figures showing that the demand for HD content is always on the rise. With all these high-bandwidth activities sitting at the top of our list of priorities, we think it’s about time BT and pals put high-speed broadband a bit higher on theirs. - Paul Lester [MarketWatch] internet digital media online

Original post by nafiz

PURE is ramping up its Christmas offerings with the launch of some very brightly coloured DAB/FM radios. The new Mio retains the retro design look of existing Evoke DAB/FM radios but they’ve been dipped in some strong colours to brighten up your gloomy, winter kitchen. There’s chilli, chocolate, moss, candy and midnight, with a two-tone leather and cream suede effect finish. Most notably, it comes with an integrated rechargeable battery - not PURE’s usual “optional ChargePAK rechargeable battery” - which makes the Mio good for 24 hours of playtime per charge. Very handy indeed. The Mio sports an OLED (Organic LED) display which is “crystal-clear from any angle” and there are manual and automatic brightness controls. There’s an input for an iPod/MP3 player, Intellitext and textSCAN for pausing and controlling scrolling text and storing information for browsing later, an alarm, kitchen timer and 30 presets. It due to arrive out in the coming weeks in time for Christmas and will set you back an equally colourful £150.-Martin Lynch [PURE] radio DAB news

Original post by nafiz

When a company launches something called ‘Dark Fire’, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a perfume from some B-list celebrity or, what happens to your ass after consuming a Chicken Naga curry. Thankfully, it’s neither. Dark Fire is the second robot guitar from guitar masters, Gibson. Check out the first one here. This time around, the name comes from the colour and, no doubt, all the Satan-worshipping guitar riffs you’ll be coaxing out of it on your way in the fiery pits. Dark Fire can now tune itself in under a second - faster than the original - meaning you can tune numerous times while playing a single song if necessary. It’s lighter and smaller than its predecessor and you can tune your axe up to 500 times between charges - again, a big improvement. The onboard Chameleon Tone technology also has Gibson being incredibly confident by stating that “never before has one guitar been able to produce every imaginable guitar sound”. Fighting talk indeed. It comes with the Robot Interface Pack (RIP), a box for acting as a conduit between your riffing and whatever digital audio system or PC you’ve connected to. There’s no price yet but considering the first one cost £1,300, you may want to hang onto your trusty secondhand Les Paul. Out on Dec 15th.-Martin Lynch [Music Radar] guitar music robot

Original post by nafiz

We ran a 007 Quantum Of Solace competition with Sony Pictures last week to celebrate the latest Bond movie release and to give one of you lucky Gizmodo readers the chance to win a fantastic home cinema set-up. It comprised a 40in BRAVIA W4500 TV, a BDP-𔖖 Blu-ray player, HT-I𔒜 BRAVIA Home Theatre system and the 2-disc Collector’s Edition of Casino Royale on Blu-ray Disc. There were also 3 runners up prizes of the Casino Royale movie on Blu-ray up for grabs too. We really wanted to keep these goodies for ourselves but, being the honest types that we are, we have picked the winners. There was a huge response to the competition so jump now to see who nabbed the Grand Prize and the runners up prizes. The winner of the Grand Prize was Nicky Fruin of London - well done. The 3 runners up were Hazell Evans [Wrexham], Diane Goulding [Lancashire] and Ross Gardiner [Hertfordshire]. Sony - not us - will be in touch with you all to finalise things. Again, congratulations to you lucky sods, and commiserations to everyone else. Us included.-Martin Lynch blu-ray bond movies

Original post by nafiz

The BBC has recently responded to a raft of complaints regarding the quality of its HD channel, with users targeting the programme ‘Amazon’ as being well below the expected standard. Amazon is an epic journey along with world’s most infamous river and principal technologist Andy Quested addressed this particular issue by arguing that it’s not safe to use HD equipment in these sorts of locations. “Programmes like Amazon will always have sequences where conditions mean no matter how good the broadcast technology, domestic cameras that are always much smaller and less conspicuous will be used to reduce risk to the crew with a resulting loss in picture quality.”In reacting to the more widespread argument about quality, he goes on to say that until new technology is unleashed that can handle an HD picture in such environments, programmes will be set a standard that means HD images must comprise a minimum of 75% of the content. He argues that different people expect different things from HD and that some expectations are too high, though in truth this is the only channel we’ve heard of receiving a substantial number of complaints. When you consider that rivals such as Discovery and National Geographic are shooting similar footage in HD it begins to start sound like more of an excuse than a reason. - Paul Lester [TechRadar] BBC HD TV

Original post by nafiz

AudioCodes has now entered the IP phone arena with a phone that supports wideband codecs (HD) for superior sound quality. Seems a bit odd for a company that makes VoIP PCI and cPCI communication boards and VoIP media gateway modules (PMC form factor) and Analog Media Gateways (2/4/8/24 ports) to be entering the crowded VoIP arena, but enterprise IP phone market is expected to quadruple, from $2.1 billion in 2007 to $8.4 billion in 2001, with some 63 million endpoints being shipped by that time, according the Synergy Research Group. So there is a pretty big pie to go after. Traditional network hardware vendor Adtran has also recently entered the IP phone arena with their Adtran I𓬼 series (see Adtran IP706 review).

The AudioCodes 300HD Series includes three models: The 310 HD entry level phone with a basic display and interface; the 320HD premium endpoint with a larger screen, and the 350HD executive phone with a color LCD screen. All three models are based on AudioCodes newly announced VoIPerfect software, and include the most commonly used wideband codecs. Of course they are SIP-based so they should work on standards-based IP-PBXs such as Asterisk and these phones are also PoE (Power over Ethernet) compliant.

For more details, check out TMCnet reporter Erik Linask’s article. One interesting take Erik has is when he writes, “First and foremost, it owns the DSPs that enable the higher quality, which means it can provide its HD VOIP-enabled handsets at a price point comparable to other high-end non-HD devices″.

Now I just have to get my hands on on to review. Stay tuned…

Tags: 300HD, 320HD, AudioCodes, Erik Linask, HD, ip phone, PoE, voip, wideband codec

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Original post by nafiz

To commemorate the October 31st release of the new James Bond movie, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, Sony Blu-ray is giving Gizmodo UK readers the exclusive chance to win the ‘Ultimate Bond Experience’. One lucky reader will get their hands on the Grand Prize valued at over €2,000 worth of the latest HD equipment, including a 40″ BRAVIA W4500 TV, a BDP-S350 Blu-ray player and an HT-IS100 BRAVIA Home Theatre system. Included is the 2-disc Collector’s Edition of Casino Royale on Blu-ray Disc for the ultimate Bond Full HD experience in your own home, thanks to Sony Blu-ray. Additional copies of Casino Royale on Blu-ray Disc are up for grabs for three fortunate winners! To enter for the chance to win, just answer these 2 questions: Q1: Which is not an ingredient in 007’s Vesper martini? a) Kina Lillet b) Gordon’s Gin c) Vodka d) Olive Q2: What is the start-up time for the BDP-S350? a) 10 seconds b) 16 seconds c) 6 seconds d) 20 seconds Hint: you might find clues to the questions here: www.sony.co.uk/bluray. Why not ready your senses for Bond by visiting Sony’s Bond experience at www.sony.co.uk/bravia Email your answers along with your name, permanent address and telephone number to ukgizmodo@vnu.co.uk before 23:59pm on November 7, 2008. Please take time to read the Terms & Conditions after the jump. Quantum of Solace © 2008 Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. 007 Gun Logo and related James Bond Trademarks © 1962-2008 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. Quantum of Solace, 007 and related James Bond Trademarks are trademarks of Danjaq, LLC. All Rights Reserved.Terms & Conditions 1. To enter the Prize Draw participants must be UK resident and aged over 18 2. No purchase is necessary to participate in the Prize Draw. In order to be eligible to enter the Prize Draw you must have answered the two specified questions correctly All participants who answered the two specified questions correctly will be eligible and automatically entered in the Prize Draw to which winner will be randomly chosen providing that participant has answered the two specified questions correctly Sony’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into Sony reserves the right to refuse any invalid or incorrect entry and will disqualify any persons abusing the Prize Draw, including via the sending of electronic spam mail 3. The winner will be drawn at random from all eligible entries for the Prize Draw 4. The Prize Draw will be open from 1 November 2008 and will close on 7 November 2008. No entries will be accepted after 23:59:59 CET on 7 November 2008 5. The prize of a Sony BRAVIA W4500 40″, Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player, BRAVIA Home Theatre HDS-S1300 and James Bond Blu-ray Collection Vol 1with an approximate value of £1900 will be awarded to one participant of this Prize Draw 6. The winner will be notified within one week of closure to confirm his/her details 7. If no response from the winner to the notification after 14 days, Sony reserves the right to award the prize to an alternate winner 8. The prize will be delivered by Sony no later than 28 days of the announcement of the winner. Neither Gizmodo nor Sony will be responsible or liable for any prize damaged in transit 9. Taxes on the prize will be borne by Sony 10. There is a limit of one participation per person, household and e-mail address 11. The prize is not transferable. No cash or credit alternative is available. The prize is not exchangeable. Only one winning entry per household will be accepted 12. Should the prize become unavailable for any reason, Sony reserves the right to provide a substitute prize of equivalent value 13. The Prize Draw is not open to employees of Sony and other Sony affiliates, their family members, Sony and Sony Group dealers or distributors, dealers/distributor or other retail staff or anyone connected with this Prize Draw 14. By entering this Prize Draw, applicants will be deemed to have accepted and agreed to be bound by these rules, terms and conditions. Any further entry instructions given by Sony and posted on this website will form part of these rules Promoter or “Sony” for purposes of the above terms: Sony United Kingdom Limited, The Heights, Brooklands, Weybridge, Surrey K⃝ 0XW Gizmodo for the purposes of the above terms: Gizmodo, Incisive Media., 32-34 Broadwick Street, London, W1A 2HG blu-ray bond movies

Original post by nafiz

With TV prices plummeting over the last year, companies like jazz things up a little by released special edition versions of their tellies to keep our wallets thin. Pioneer has released two new Limited Edition versions of its award-winning KURO plasma TVs. Available in white and ‘beige-grise′, the 50 in Full HD TVs stand out a little from the usual black or silver offerings. They’re also really skinny at just 64mm deep and they both won’t allow a tangle of cables to mess up those good looks either because they come with a separate media receiver that hooks up to the TV via a single HDMI cable. The TVs feature 4 HDMI connections each and have an enhanced Optimum Mode with optical light sensor for automated adjustment of picture settings according to the light in the room. There’s even a Pure AV mode used to reproduce exactly what’s on your HD disc by bypassing any other picture enhancements you have set on the TV. The beige grisé KRP-500ABG will be produced in a limited quantity of 1,000 across Europe, while 1,500 white KRP-500AW models. There will be matching optional stands and other peripherals when they arrive next month but don’t expect any of those rapidly falling plasma TV prices to matter here as the TVs will set you back around £2,900 apiece.-Martin Lynch [Pioneer] TV plasma news

Original post by nafiz

JVC was one of the last manufacturers to be producing standalone VCRs and in case there was any doubt, has confined the archaic format to the media graveyard by halting production of its players. The electronics giant has been one of the most influential parties in developing the format over the years and produced the first recorders back in 1977, so it’s almost fitting that it should see things out right till the end. JVC will still be building DVD combo recorders though, so if you haven′t gotten around to converting all your old tapes or have some precious memories stored on VHS somewhere then fear not, you will still be able to watch them. It’s not DVD that has been ringing the bell that is the death-knoll of VHS though. The dropping prices of PVRs and services like Sky+ and Sky HD, which let’s face it are infinitely more convenient than both formats, is perhaps also a sign that DVD may end up going the same way to make room for wireless streaming and flash drives full of media that play back directly on your TV. - Paul Lester [Wired] JVC VHS digital media

Original post by nafiz

We all know that the cost of LCD TVs is coming down but according to DisplaySearch, Europe led the way with prices dropping 30% in the past 12 months. In its annual look at global pricing of LCD and plasma TVs, the biggest drops in e-tail and Net-based LCD TV prices were in Europe, followed by China, North America and Japan, down 20%, 16% and 4%, respectively. The price of plasma tellies fell 27% year-on-year to September 2008 while older CRT TV prices actually rose by 4%. In general, larger screens saw more price erosion with 52in LCD TV prices coming down almost 30% in the past year while prices for 20in LCD TVs fell by just 4%. In Europe, 46in TVs recorded the biggest e-tail price reduction, dropping 37% from an average of around £1,300 in September 2007 to around £850 in September 2008. Strangely, while we all moan sometimes about Japan getting all the hottest techs and gadgets first, I′m glad I buy my TVs elsewhere. According to DisplaySearch, Japan continued to have the highest LCD TV pricing during September in almost all screen sizes - on average 25% higher.-Martin Lynch TV LCD shopping

Original post by nafiz

With most other players in the HD market trying to bring out cheaper Blu-ray players, Denon is sticking to its high-end roots with the launch of the recession-snubbing DVD-3800BD, a snip at just £1,600. Most of us are happy with the blistering images we get from spinning our Blu-ray movies on the PS3 but this is for folk with eyes keener than ours and pockets deeper than a Welsh coal mine. It uses the Realta sxT2 HQV video processor for top end video processing and supports the HDMI 1.3a interface standard for the highest level of colour and sound support. It will also do a miraculous job of upscaling all those DVDs you [and we] can’t afford to replace with Blu-ray versions. On the audio front, it’s all ear candy too with the Denon D.D.S.C.-HD internally decoding higher-quality surround Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio soundtracks. It’s a big beast too as you can see from the shot and along with supporting most disc formats, it will also playback DivX files and has a useful SD Card slot. Maybe not for us mere mortals but AV fanatics are probably selling their children right now.-Martin Lynch [Denon] blu-ray movies AV

Original post by nafiz

To be honest we’d have expected this to be going on for some time, but apparently it’s only just been revealed that shipments of high definition screens have finally surpassed standard definition in 2008. Despite the current economic climate these figures are expected to rise due to price deductions and the availability of content, with a predicated annual growth rate of 20%. This means that by 2012 there will be over 240 million units shipped in comparison to 97 million last year. iSuppli analyst Sheri Greenspan cites market exposure as the main reason for the boom: “The technology is everywhere these days, on broadcast television, on cable, on satellite, and on the Internet. You can’t escape hearing about something being broadcast in HD or getting the most out of your HD receiver or the most HD channels available.” HD-enabled set top boxes will account for around 50% of all STBs by 2012, currently it’s less than 20%, and on the flipside, SDTV sales are expected to fall at around 27% per year Viva la HD revolution! - Paul Lester [InformationWeek] HD LCD plasma

Original post by nafiz

To be honest we′d have expected this to be going on for some time, but apparently it’s only just been revealed that shipments of high definition screens have finally surpassed standard definition in 2008. Despite the current economic climate these figures are expected to rise due to price deductions and the availability of content, with a predicated annual growth rate of 20%. This means that by 2012 there will be over 240 million units shipped in comparison to 97 million last year. iSuppli analyst Sheri Greenspan cites market exposure as the main reason for the boom: “The technology is everywhere these days, on broadcast television, on cable, on satellite, and on the Internet. You can’t escape hearing about something being broadcast in HD or getting the most out of your HD receiver or the most HD channels available.” HD-enabled set top boxes will account for around 50% of all STBs by 2012, currently it’s less than 20%, and on the flipside, SDTV sales are expected to fall at around 27% per year Viva la HD revolution! - Paul Lester [InformationWeek] HD LCD plasma

Original post by nafiz