News: Toshiba Announces Sleek Consumer Line-up

Posted on February 6th, 2012

Unveiled today by Toshiba (New Zealand) Pty Limited, the range boasts a number of new, high-performance treats, including the latest …full story

News: Kiwi IT Firm Joins Top NZ Companies on German Stock Exchange

Posted on February 3rd, 2012

A Kiwi company founded in a bedroom eight years ago with just $10 start-up capital has now been listed on …full story

Cambridge Audio NP30 Network Music Player – Review

If I asked you to list how many network music players you could name, how many would spring to mind? That’s a question that I considered when I was given the opportunity to review the Cambridge Audio NP30. To be honest, I could only list a handful, but a quick Google revealed that there are more than you might think. Indeed this is an area of the audio market that is presently enjoying a significant level of growth.

So why do we even need such a device and how do you decide which one is the best one to buy? Let’s look more closely at the NP30 and see what it has to offer and see if it is worthy of a place in your entertainment system.

I think it’s safe to assume that all Tone readers understand the basic concepts of digitally stored music, podcasts and managed music services such as Rhapsody, so I won’t dwell on that. What I would encourage you to do though is take the time to ...full story

Posted by Tone on October 8th, 2011 in Hi-Fi | | Tags: , , , , ,

Conran Audio Speaker Dock – Review

I have to be honest – I had never heard of Conran Audio so was more than a little intrigued when asked to review their Speaker Dock. It had been a particularly busy week for me and when I arrived home with the Conran in tow, I was feeling pretty lazy. I opened the box, unwrapped the dock, plugged it into the power then pushed my iPhone 4 into the cradle. There are no user controls on the speaker dock other than a volume knob on the side, so I had concluded immediately that this was a pretty basic device.

I pressed the remote’s on button and music started to play straight away. How simple was that! I played with the remote and pressed all of the seven buttons, the outcome was predictable… and the sound was pretty good, better than I expected from such a small device. I saw the instruction manual and thought blah – I don’t need that. This wee dock thingy is simple! Upon reflection, as they say, I should have known better. (more…)

Posted by Tone on October 6th, 2011 in Hi-Fi | | Tags: , , , , , ,

iPhone 5 no show

Apple’s big iPhone announcement today did not reveal the next generation model of the smartphone as many had hoped but rather an update to the current iPhone 4.

Called the iPhone 4S the new model looks identical to the previous version but has had significant internal tweaks, including an updated processor, improved camera and upgraded operating system.

The new phone is now running the same A5 dual core processor that powers the iPad 2, which the company claims has boosted the phone’s graphical capacity to 7x that of the iPhone 4.

The iPhone’s rear-facing camera has been boosted to 8-megapixels capable of capturing 3264×2448 pixel images at a speed 33 percent faster than the previous model, says Apple.

The new phone will also be the first device running Apple’s updated mobile operating system iOS 5, which reportedly packs some 200 new features including the iMessage system that allows unlimited messaging between any iOS device – similar to the BlackBerry Messenger service.

The update also brings with at a handful of features that will not be available in all countries and it looks as though New Zealand will likely fall into that unfortunate category.

Both the much ...full story

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

Toshiba scales back tab

Having taken its first step in the tablet game with a 10.1-inch slate earlier this year Toshiba is now introducing a smaller 7-inch model.

The smaller Toshiba AT1SO tablet features similar specs to its big brother, the AT100, including a dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and Android 3.2, or Honeycomb, operating system.

Being angled as a portable multimedia device, the tablet weighs 399g and is supposed to sit comfortably in the palm of your hand with a 1200×800 LED backlit display.

The slate is also designed to slot easily in to a home theatre setup with a plethora of connection options, including Micro USB and Micro HDMI ports, a Micro SD card slot, wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

The AT1SO will be available at the end of this month at a recommended retail price of $699.

Toshiba isn’t the only company focusing on the 7-inch form factor as the ideal secondary tablet size; Samsung has also recently unveiled its Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus to back up its 10.1-inch flagship model.

Check out issue 91 of Tone, on sale soon, for a complete rundown of the best tablets currently available.

Posted by Tone on October 3rd, 2011 in News | | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Smartphone – Review

In a short time smartphones have redefined mobile gaming and taken a significant bite out of the home console market. While there may be a vast reservoir of quick-hit gaming apps available, it wasn’t until rumours of a ‘PlayStation phone’ began circulating that serious gamers ears perked up.

The Xperia Play is a device designed to serve the smartphone user who prefer their gaming a little more Half-Life than Angry Birds. Sony Ericsson has gone about merging the two markets by developing a handset that transforms smoothly into game control.

The Play’s thicker-than-usual form slides apart to reveal a PSP-esque control interface, with traditional directional inputs to the left and the PlayStation’s iconic face buttons to the right. The device also takes a shot at incorporating analogue stick substitutes in the form of two round touch pads. Using touch controls without blocking the screen is a nice feature. but squeezed onto the small panel they do feel a bit cramped.

Sliding the controller out results in a satisfying snap, the mechanism ...full story

Posted by Tone on September 24th, 2011 in Gaming, Phones | | Tags: , ,

Nokia E7 Smartphone – Review

Nokia is a company renowned for quality and synonymous with mobile phones for years. However, over the past couple of years it has struggled at the high end and has recently hit the headlines with poor financial results and a major shift in strategy; outsourcing its flagship phones operating system to Microsoft with its Windows Phone 7 OS. The Nokia E7 marks the end of an era, one of Nokia’s last high-end phones to run Symbian.

The phone is clad in a stunning anodised aluminum finish, giving it a solid feeling in the hand and, at 176g, it certainly is one of the heaviest phones on the market. The clean design of the body tapers at the top and bottom with just one button visible on the face. Sliding the large 4-inch AMOLED touch display reveals a full QWERTY keyboard. The small keys are convex and protrude from the body of the phone creating one of the best keyboards we have seen on a mobile device.

This is a device you want to ...full story

Posted by Tone on September 21st, 2011 in Phones | | Tags: , , , , , ,
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