Cygnett has released its latest product for iPods and other media players, the GrooveBassball portable speaker. The device integrates a rechargeable battery, claimed to last for three hours of playback time. The speaker resembles the shape of a ball, but extends when the end is twisted. The additional length is designed to improve bass response. A USB cable is included for recharging the lithium-ion cells. Any MP3 player or device with a 3.5mm jack can be connected.

The device is similar to the collapsible iHome iH77, although the Cygnett speaker is a single mono speaker while the iH77 offers two sides for stereo audio. The GrooveBassball is now available in red, silver, or black color variants, from retailers such as Easyishop.co.uk, with a price of $30.

Mitsubishi makes us busy with their new projectors. Dubbed as the WD510U and WD500U-ST, both projectors features 1,280 x 800 native resolution with 16:10 aspect ratio, 4,000 hours lamp life, Texas Instruments DDP 2230 DMD chip with DLP technology, VGA inputs, DVI-D with HDCP support, 3.5mm audio jack, contrast ratio of 2,000:1 (WD510U)/ 2,500:1 (WD500U-ST) and 2,600 lumens (WD510U)/ 2,100 lumens (WD500U-ST).

The Mitsubishi WD510U and WD-500U-ST are priced at $1,495 and $1,695, respectively.

YAMAHA DVX-1000

The Yamaha DVX-1000 promises to be the last word in 2.1-channel home cinema, delivering a level of surround sound not heard before from a three-speaker system. Or so Yamaha would have us believe.

It claims the DVX will deliver a 7.1-channel experience from just three speakers, a technique Yamaha’s marketing droids have dubbed Air Surround Xtreme. Let’s see if it manages it.

The first clue to the genuine power under the DVX’s hood comes when you unpack the sub-woofer, an absolute brute – do not drop it on your foot – with a top vent, large heat sink and 16cm driver. Also housing the 2 x 90W amplification unit, the sub boasts a decent sized transformer, custom-made capacitors, separate analogue/digital sub-systems and shielded digital circuitry, all designed to prevent signal interference. Continue Reading…

BeoSound 5 - Bang & Olufsen

An amazing and sleek audio jukebox is being released today by Bang & Olufsen. Since this name is associated with the digital jukebox, we know it has to be one of the best in the market. The BeoSound 5 is the pioneer in introducing the technology called “MOTS” which is short for “More of the Same”. The Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence developed the MOTS algorithm. What it does is reads your music selection and finds similar tracks based on criteria such as rhythm, syncopation, key tonality, and vocal harmonies. This adds a new edge to play-lists. Continue Reading…

Thiel Audio has released a new signature version of their popular CS2.4 speaker, which occupies the middle ground in their floorstanding line between the CS1.6 and CS3.7. The driver complement for the CS2.4SE is the same as the standard version. It’s a 3-way, time-and-phase accurate design that uses an 8″ aluminum diaphragm woofer augmented by a 7.5 x 11″ “race track” passive radiator, and a 1-inch dome tweeter and a 3.5-inch midrange driver in a coincident array.

The CS2.4SE features a new crossover that incorporates high quality polypropylene and custom-made polystyrene capacitors for claimed improvements in precision, balance, and detail, a new hand-selected Birdseye Maple finish stained in deep red that Thiel calls “Vermilion Maple”, stainless steel hardware securing the drivers to the baffle, milled aluminum Outriggers and highly polished stabilizer spikes, and Jim Thiel’s signature on the rear of the cabinet. Production of the CS2.4SE is limited to 150 pairs, priced at $8,000. Continue Reading…

Careful assessment of customer needs is one of the most essential factors to create an innovative product and enlarge one’s market share in a particular industry. As a market leader for mobile computing products, Toshiba truly understands this principle. The launching of its latest feature-rich mobile projector, TLP-WX100U, highlights this.

The product is offered at a very competitive and affordable price, and targeted particularly at business users and educators. Priced at $959 and granted a 3-year standard limited warranty, the Toshiba TLP-WX100U is designed to meet customized business consumers’ needs in terms of mobility, convenience, quality display, performance and cost. Weighing just 4.0 pounds, less than 3-inches high and about the size of a hardcover novel, business users could easily bring it around for business presentations. It is slim enough to keep in any bag while traveling without taking much space. This new mobile projector utilizes 3LCD technology for outstanding color reproduction and offers an impressive 2,200 ANSI lumens for bright display in any setting. Its 1280×800 native WXGA resolution with 600:1 contrast ration displays a superior and brilliant image for professional presentations and larger-than-life images for digital home entertainment. Continue Reading…