News: Telecom Announces 4G Customer Trial

Posted on May 17th, 2012

Telecom announced today that it will be conducting live customer trials of Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technology later this …full story

News: Dell Revolutionizes Design and Performance with New Line of Dell Precision Workstations

Posted on May 15th, 2012

Redesigned tower workstations give creative and design professionals new levels of performance New Dell patented technology eliminates nearly all memory …full story

M-Audio Studiophile AV-20 and AV-40 Speakers – Review

The computer speaker category has the unfortunate distinction of being the dumping ground for all manner of cheap and shoddy merchandise. Some of the worst transducers ever made have been bundled in with computers since the desktop PC first crawled out of the primordial ooze. Which is why I always recommend buying a set of decent aftermarket speakers for your computer setup, especially if you’re into gaming or music.

The two speaker sets on review here are from M-Audio, a company with a product portfolio deeply steeped in the world of studio monitors and music creation. The most expensive monitor loudspeaker in the range sells for $1200, so M-Audio isn’t competing with the big B&Ws at Abbey Road but is rather a player in the growing market for smaller or home studios.

The AV-20 is the baby in the range and is more of a computer speaker than anything like a studio monitor, while the bigger AV-40, at double the price and with four times the power, is a different proposition. Both ...full story

Posted by Tone on April 9th, 2011 in Hi-Fi | | Tags: , , , ,

Sony reveals new flagship Blu-ray player

Sony has officially revealed the much-anticipated replacement for its top-shelf BDP-S770 player.

The BDP-S780 3D Blu-ray player made its debut as the centrepiece of two new home theatre systems from Sony.

Flanked by the previously announced BDP-S380, BDP-S480 and BDP-S580 players, the new high-ender is capable of 3D upscaling, has built in wi-fi and uses new noise-reduction tech to improve dicey internet video.

The new player will support the full range of Sony’s network-focused home entertainment services including Bravia Internet Video and compatibility with the Media Remote smartphone app (pick up Tone 88 for a full run-down of Sony’s new network offerings).

Those looking to pick up a complete home theatre system featuring the new player can choose from the new BDV-EF200 and BDV-L600 2.1 packages.

Both new systems come with the full swath of internet-connected features, S-Force Pro 3D technology, built-in iPod dock and web video noise reduction.

Prices and release dates for the stand-alone payer and 2.1 systems are yet to be confirmed.

Posted by Tone on April 7th, 2011 in News | | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Quake may delay NGP release

Originally planned to be released in time for year-end holidays, Sony’s Next generation Portable (NGP) console may now be delayed due to damage caused by Japan’s earthquake.

Initially the next-gen handheld was supposed to be launched globally before the year was out but the company is now indicating the release may have to be staggered into 2012.

Sony says the new device might only reach one of the three major markets, US, UK and Asia, this year.

Putting on a sunny face while speaking to Bloomberg, Sony Computer Entertainment’s president Jack Tretton said the delay would give developers extra time to polish their new games.

Any delay will also give Nintendo a further lead with their newly released 3DS handheld console, which dropped in New Zealand on March 31.

Sony’s portable gaming rival is already reporting 800,000 units sold in Japan with New Zealand’s own release seeing many retailers sell out of the device on launch day.

The 3DS allows gamers to play in 3D without the aid of glasses where the NGP’s big draw is its reported power said to reach almost PS3-levels.

Posted by Tone on April 6th, 2011 in News | | Tags: , , , , , ,

Sony Bravia KDL52LX900 3D TV – Review

For a range of psycho-social reasons that we really should not get into, I’ve wanted a monolith like the one in 2001: A Space Odyssey. When the Sony Bravia KDL52LX9003D arrived, I wasn’t disappointed, for it delivers on the “monolithic design” promised on the packaging.

Big, black yet sleek, Sony again shows with the 52-inch LX900 that the masterful industrial design of its past products was no accident. A big backlit LCD TV with 3D capabilities, the Bravia is a stunner that won’t shame any living room.

Sadly, the Bravia isn’t supplied with the dancing apes that made Kubrick’s epic so thought-provoking, but it’s a safe bet that it’ll dazzle couch potatoes everywhere with its
sheer presence.

At just over 36kg the set is moderately heavy mounted on the sideways swivelling stand, and uses around 185 watts of power while the monkeys boogie around the set. Make sure your entertainment altar can support the weight of the 132cm diagonally measured KDL52LX9003D, in other words, or people will be impressed by the set in ...full story

Posted by Tone on April 5th, 2011 in Home Theatre/TV | | Tags: , , , , , ,

Android overtakes iPhone in UK

 

Smartphones running Google’s Android operating system now outnumber the iPhone in both the UK and US according to a recent report.

Market research group Intelligent Environments has conducted a study showing Android devices now make up 28 percent of smartphones in the UK, with the iPhone at 26 percent.

This is the first time Google’s system has outranked Apple’s in the UK and Android also continues its upward trend in the US.

The study shows Google now has a 33 percent share of the US smartphone market ahead of Blackberry’s 29 percent and Apple’s 25 percent.

The Google system’s representation has undoubtable been helped by the fact it appears on a large array of devices from different manufacturers, as opposed to Apple’s proprietary iOS system.

In terms of phone manufacturing, Samsung leads the US market making 25 percent of all smartphones, followed by LG’s 21 percent, Motorola’s 16 percent, RIM’s 9 percent and Apple’s 7.5 percent.

Of course these results look a lot different in the rest of the world where Nokia, almost unheard of in the States, commands a huge share of the manufacturing market.

 

Posted by Tone on April 5th, 2011 in News | | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

HTC Flyer tab to get Honeycomb

The forthcoming Flyer tablet will eventually get an upgrade to Android 3, or Honeycomb, HTC has revealed.

The company had initially stated that its tablet would not ship with Google’s slate-optimisied operating system, instead running Android 2.3.

The update was officially confirmed through the company’s Twitter feed although no timeframe was specified.

The manufacturer had originally stated the reason for not bringing the slate out on Honeycomb was because it had not yet had time to develop the proprietary HTC Sense interface for the new system.

HTC unveiled the slate at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, touting it as the go-to tablet for gamers.

The seven-inch tablet will sport a 1.5 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM with 32GB of flash storage and connection to the OLive gaming service.

The Flyer will also utilises a chunky stylus that HTC is calling the magic pen, which can apparently draw, paint, write, highlight and retouch anything on the screen.

There is no official release date of pricing for the HTC Flyer yet although some online retailers have the device scheduled for a mid-April launch.

Posted by Tone on April 4th, 2011 in News | | Tags: , , , , , ,
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