Samsung-DVD Player - inexpensive
At a fantastic £49.99, this Samsung DVD-H1090 Player takes a bit of beating as a powerful home theatre system of the future.
First thing you notice about it is that it’s almost round – DVD players are never round! But what a great idea! It looks contemporary, stylish and slim. It’s also very lightweight and thanks to 1080p up-scaling, means that you can watch your normal DVD movies in high definition quality resulting in vivid, crystal clear images. The HDMI v1.3 technology gives faster data transmission to create deeper blacks and natural colours and achieve a quality that is normally only shown on Blu-ray discs. A progressive scan irons out blurs and distortion that scans individual picture lines in sequence rather than alternately as is usually the case.
The connection can be used to link all your devices to your TV and can be operated with one convenient remote control. Playback formats cover all the most popular multimedia like DivX, MP3, WMA, JPEG and MPEG-4 clips. Also solving the perennial problem of jumbled up wires, the HDMI uses a single cable wire to transfer video and audio to your TV. A USB device or MPE player can be easily connected and used to download content on to a disk. Plus, you can simply plug in a portable digital device into the USB port to listen to music, watch video clips or view photos.
Sony NW-A840 Walkman - the thinnest ever
Now that Sony’s latest portable media player, the NW-A840 Walkman Series has been launched in Japan to wide acclaim, we can’t wait to get our hands on it. Unfortunately, we have to wait a bit longer – when we spoke to Sony in November, we were told that as yet no date has been announced for the launch in the UK or US – but never fear – we’ll keep you posted.
That doesn’t stop us from telling you what delights you have in store once the OLED Walkman is eventually released. Sony has brought the portable media player bang up to date – albeit with retro styling. Available in mahogany brown, reminiscent of wartime radios or in sleek black, the NW-A840 is the thinnest Walkman on the market at 7.2mm. Its slim build doesn’t mean a compromise on display however as it comes with a 2.8 inch OLED and up to 64GB of flash storage.
It ships in three models – the 16GB NW-A845, the 32GB NW-A846 and the 64GB NW-A847. With a 720×480 resolution option to playback video through your TV, the battery lasts for 29 continuous hours of music or nine hours of video. The Walkman incorporates an S-Master digital amplifier and FM radio for crystal clear sound quality but Sony’s digital noise cancellation MDR-EX300SL ear-buds mean that you won’t be annoying anyone next to you on the tube. Note that support Wi-Fi networks are not provided.
With dimensions of 104.9 x 7.2 x 46.8mm, the Walkman weighs approximately 62g and is available in Japan at prices ranging from £160 to £266 – a rival to Apple’s iPod Shuffle if ever there was one.
Boynq Vase Speaker
Well known for their pioneering and iconic design, Boynq’s Vase Speaker offers the ultimate in pink audio power. Demonstrating that speakers don’t always have to be black and utilitarian functional boxes, these are futuristic design statements that combine technical wizardry with a modern, shapely blueprint.
The Vase incorporates a speaker for your PC and mP3 player, powered by a USB port using the table surface as an Audio lens to create a surround sound experience for the user.
No AC Adaptor or software is required; you just plug in and play. Controls are easily adjusted and are incorporated in the bands in the stem of the vase which are turned to alter. The on/off switch is easily reached on the top of the unit which is lit by a subtle orange glow.
The Vase stands on cushioned feet which are slightly raised for optimal sound quality with the tweeter speaker positioned on the acoustic lens. The whole unit is magnetically shielded against mobile phone interference with a total output power of 3w RMS with an impedance of 40hm.
Where to get it >>
Monitor Audio Airstream 10
Here’s a revolutionary radio that was designed in Britain.
If you’re tired of listening to mainstream stations all the time, the Monitor Audio Airstream 10 not only possesses a unique and beautiful shape, it’s also opens up entirely different worlds of broadcasting. With user-friendly controls, it uses Wi-Fi technology to access over 15,000 Internet radio stations, podcasts and music services all over the globe, plus your own music files downloaded on to your home network.
The DAB technology transmits digitally and results in a higher quality audio sound without the interference crackles and hisses that you often get with other systems. The sheer variety of radio stations you can access is phenomenal – you simply search by name, location or genre and the broadcasting information is shown on the clear black and white LED display. You don’t even have to have the computer switched on as the Monitor Audio can connect through your router and if you don’t have a router, an Ethernet cable is supplied to link the Monitor Airstream up with a standard router. With touch sensitive buttons, and ergonomic, clear control dial, browsing the menus is a simple task.
Technology apart, the Monitor Audio is actually a very attractive piece of design with a real wood veneer and low resonance, high-quality aluminium shell. It has both a contemporary and a retro feel to it so it’s at home in any environment. A unique factor is that you can either stand it upright with the controls on top or on its side with the controls facing the front, meaning that it can be positioned on shelves, near a wall or on a bedside table.