Orbitsound unveils new iPod dock
British audio company releases Wi-Fi-enabled digital radio and iPod dock, and a 'soundbar' using spatial stereo technology Orbitsound , the British audio company created by sound engineer and one-time session musician Ted Fletcher, will today unveil a new range of gadgets using its innovative spatial stereo technology that are likely to have audiophiles drooling. Alongside the T12 – a new version of its "soundbar", which sold out within a few months of being made available in John Lewis last year, amid widespread critical acclaim – Orbitsound is releasing a new gadget: a Wi-Fi-enabled digital radio and iPod dock, called the T4 Radiopod. Both gadgets make use of the company's airSOUND system, Fletcher's patented technology that produces clarity and depth of sound wherever the gadget is positioned. With a traditional stereo system there is a "sweet spot" a certain distance from the speakers in which the listener will experience perfect sound. Orbitsound maintains that its products produce fantastic stereo "spatial" sound with depth and clarity wherever the system is positioned, creating a so-called "infinite sweet spot". The technology was developed by Fletcher in 2004, but the first devices were not unveiled until the Consumer Electronics Show in 2008. Fletcher's experience of the audio industry stretches back to the early 1960s, when he worked with music producer Joe Meek – whose most famous hit was Telstar by The Tornados – first as a session artist and then as a sound technician
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Orbitsound unveils new iPod dock
TDK WR700 wireless headphones review | Technophile
If you want to be wired for sound without any wires, TDK's WR700 wireless headphones are a decent – if pricey – option TDK's Life on Record WR700 wireless headphones sounded much better than I expected, but I admit I'd feared the worst: wireless headphones are not generally known for high fidelity. TDK has got close by following Sennheiser and using the Kleer (PDF) wireless system , which can carry full CD-quality sound. This is impressive, and depressing.
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TDK WR700 wireless headphones review | Technophile
PURE Sensia touchscreen digital radio | Technophile
PURE packs a lot into its promising all-singing touchscreen radio, but it's more than its poor little processor can handle Last year, digital radio maker PURE began integrating DAB with internet radio with their Flow range . Now they've taken this one step further with the Sensia , bringing internet applications to your radio. Shipping with two of what PURE says will be many applications, the Sensia's 5.7in capacitive touchscreen allows you to check the weather or update Twitter.
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PURE Sensia touchscreen digital radio | Technophile
Technophile | Chumby widget gadget
The Chumby does nothing you couldn't with an iPod touch – yet, it has a peculiar, clever charm Once upon the dotcom boom, 3Com announced a product called Audrey. Audrey was to be an internet device that would sit in your kitchen, and which you would use to do little online tasks. It would cost about $499. It never arrived; and it's not even clear whether there are any Audreys still in existence. (Dreadful name, of course, didn't help.)Now, though, there's the Chumby. And the Chumby is everything the Audrey wanted to be, and much more. It's a small, mains-powered device, about the size of two of those juggling beanbags, and about as soft (or hard); it looks and feels throwable. It also has a little screen (3.5in, 320x240, which doesn't sound enough, but is plenty). And Wi-Fi. And an alarm clock function. And some USB sockets for connecting, occasionally, to a computer
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Technophile | Chumby widget gadget
Choosing a voice recorder
Peggy Pelrine wants to record classes and get clear playback I'm looking for a decent recorder for my classes – one that records voices and is clear when played back. There are so many to choose from that I am totally confused. I want to spend $50 to $125
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Choosing a voice recorder
Ask Jack | 15 October 2009
Choosing a voice recorder I'm looking for a decent recorder for my classes – one that records voices and is clear when played back. There are so many to choose from that I am totally confused. I want to spend $50 to $125. Peggy Pelrine JS: If you decide on the features you want, you will find that many of the choices disappear.
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Ask Jack | 15 October 2009
Technophile | Apple iPod nano reviewed
The third incarnation of Apple's iPod nano brings two features that at once put it on a par with two other groups of device: FM radio reception, which brings it up to date with pretty much every other mid-priced non-Apple digital music player for the past five years; and video recording, which puts it on a par with the Flip devices that are selling like hot cakes. It also ushers in one of the worst pieces of usability design I've ever seen on an Apple product. But we'll come to that. After Steve Jobs impossibly pulled the first iPod nano from his jeans' change pocket in 2005, the design has gone from long and thin (but only able to display photos) to short and squat (but video-playing enabled) and back to long and thin. The shape doesn't evolve so much as mutate. Happily, the new screen is far more scratch-resistant than the first generation. Like Joseph's coat, it comes in many colours; unlike it, prices range from £115 (8GB) to £135 (16GB). By now you know the routine for an iPod: cover art, "Genius" playlists that can be created on the fly from a single track (usually, I find, closely matching the artist and/or year), a couple of games, a fiddly screen lock. The new nano has also got "VoiceOver", which will tell you the name of the track playing in a Stephen Hawking-style disembodied voice. And rubbish earbuds. (Truly, it is time Apple improved this aspect of its product. The standard ones are shockingly bad.) And so to the new. The FM tuner is serviceable, as they are on all such devices: if you could buy headphone leads 2 metres long, you'd probably get a good signal. It does add the ability to pause the stationwhich is neat; I suspect it uses the video processing chip to compress the radio signal, so probably uses about 3.6MB for 10 minutes of storage. You're unlikely to run out of radio storage in a hurry)
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Technophile | Apple iPod nano reviewed
Ask Jack: 25 June 2009
Laptop DJ I am a DJ making tentative steps into digital music. I have a MacBook, which I will incorporate into my sets. How can I ensure music CDs are imported at the highest possible quality? Also, what is the difference between a music file of 320kbps and a WAV file? Stuart Eve JS: For maximum sound quality you will need to do some "secure ripping," where the standard is a Windows-only program, EAC (Exact Audio Copy). The guide at Hydrogen Audio reckons XLD (X Lossless Decoder) is a Mac equivalent, and "it's the only application for Mac OS/X that uses the AccurateRip database used by both EAC and dbPowerAMP". Max looks like a good alternative. WAV, the waveform audio format, is a Microsoft file format that usually contains uncompressed audio using linear pulse code modulation or LPCM. Audio CDs also use LPCM encoding, so a WAV file can provide the same sound quality as the CD. (The Mac equivalent is AIFF.) WAV files are easy to edit but very large, as shown by the number of tracks on an audio CD. Their size can be reduced by using a lossless compression system such as FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). However, most people convert to a "lossy" format such as MP3, AAC or WMA. This produces very small files, but there is inevitably some loss of quality. Whether the difference is audible is another matter. Briefly, very few untutored people can hear the difference between a 256kbps LAME-encoded MP3 file and a WAV file. (You can learn to hear differences, but why would you want to?) However, this depends on the quality of the reproduction
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Ask Jack: 25 June 2009
Technophile: Sony’s X-Series Walkman reviewed
Sony's X-Series Walkman has a lovely screen and sounds good, too – such a shame about the browser Pretty much the first thing you say when you turn on the Sony Walkman X-series is "wow". A simple Home button at the bottom illuminates a touchscreen that has a set of simple logos – only one of which, for YouTube, requires words. Touch an icon and it beeps (you can turn the beep off) and lights up and you're into the next level. The 432 x 240-dot screen, which uses OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology, is marvellous. It seems to have an inward glow, with incredible detail; the film clips come up more than pin sharp.
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Technophile: Sony's X-Series Walkman reviewed
Microsoft plans new Zune - but no gadgets for UK
• Gamesblog exclusive: What Zune Marketplace means for you • Zune's history of misfortune Microsoft has announced plans to launch a new version of the Zune media player, its competitor to Apple's ubiquitous iPod - but only to customers in the United States. The Zune HD, which will go on sale in the US next month, is the latest addition to Microsoft's family of music and video players - a range which first launched in 2006 to mixed reviews. But instead of being able to get their hands on the new gadget, shoppers in Europe will have to make do with access to Zune Marketplace - a download shop that Microsoft hopes can compete with Apple's popular iTunes store. Zune Marketplace enables users to download music, television and movies to their Xbox 360, and existing subscribers to Xbox Live are expected to be offered unlimited access to Microsoft's catalogue for a single extra payment each month. Chris Stephenson, a spokesman for the project, said that the news marked a "turning point" for Zune, and the first step in an international expansion plan. "Eventually we'll offer the full digital entertainment experience spanning screens, devices, platforms and geographies," he said. That optimism comes despite estimates that the Zune has sold just 3 million units over the past three years - in comparison to Apple, which has sold 156 million iPods over the same period. Microsoft is still hoping it can make inroads into the lucrative media player market, however. The new Zune HD will include a low-power OLED screen, HD radio, Wi-Fi capabilities and high definition video output - enabling it to push pictures out to full-size HDTV sets. In an interview with the Guardian's Gamesblog , Stephenson said he thought the new Zune was well-matched against the most popular iPod models. "This is a fantastic piece of hardware and absolutely it's going right up against iPod Touch; it's hyper competitive against that product. I think in many ways, we look at our consumers and what's really motivated them. "The radio functionality is something that people really talk about – the HD radio receiver, with radio tagging, with track tagging, is a great differentiator for us. It's going to be an interesting and competitive year for us in the market – we think we've got a great product; we are going to compete." Gadgets Microsoft Xbox iPod Digital video Digital music and audio Games Software guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Microsoft plans new Zune - but no gadgets for UK