IFA 07: Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny live from Berlin

By

Stuart Waterman

on August 31, 2007

Susi, Alex, Chris, Ashley and Kat have all stormed Berlin, Germany, en masse for three days full of convention centre-trudging, otherwise known as IFA. No news as yet on what IFA actually stands for, but stay tuned to see if anyone finds out. More importantly, keep checking back here all day for all the latest news concerning consumer electronics - you'll find the latest links here for your reading pleasure...

IFA 07: Video of Sharp's prototype 20mm thick LCD HDTVs

IFA 07: HD-DVD (and Toshiba) bite back

IFA 07: Loewe's stylish BluTech Vision Blu-ray player

IFA 07: Panasonic's latest SLR - the DMC-L10

IFA 07: Samsung's BD-UP5000 - the world's first Blu-ray/HD DVD player?!

IFA 07: Video of Sharp's prototype 20mm thick LCD HDTVs

By

Katherine Hannaford

on August 31, 2007

Remember those speccy new LCD TVs Sharp showed off in yesterday's press conference at IFA? Yes, those stick-thin prototypes, just 20mm thick and weighing 25 kilos? Here's video proof they exist, and four different ways of mounting them. I'll take all four, please, Mr. Sharp...

Possible Zune V2 and Zune Flash sighting...

By

Gary Cutlack

on August 31, 2007

And here in Europe we're still waiting for the rubbish old brown one. Still, the redesigned Zune looks like a vast improvement, coming in more contemporary colours and featuring what experts are calling a HUGE BUTTON in place of the old Zune's central knob.

The redesign also reveals some updated specs, with the standard hard drive-packing Zune apparently getting an upgrade to a huge 80GB, while the flash version is going to come in 4GB and 8GB sizes.

Hopefully this leaked image is the real deal - Zune V2 looks like a vast improvement over the first monstrosity, with the little red Zune Flash bordering on the desirable. Now, we've been nice about it, so can we have a UK release, please?

Via (Gizmodo)

IFA 2007: HD-DVD (and Toshiba) bite back

By

Susi Weaser

on August 31, 2007 Comments (4)

So, yesterday we heard about how Blu-ray is taking over the world. They're winning the war. They're the format of choice. Or are they? I'm here waiting for the Toshiba/HD-DVD press conference to start, and wondering if there's another side to the story....

First up, we get a look at the new stuff coming from Toshiba though.

Apparently the man on the stage is a German TV presenter. Bless him, I think he's used to people being more impressed. He's just branded himself a 'movie freak'. That's all I can tell you about him, to be honest. So, to Toshiba.

Oh, no. First we're sitting through a bizarre showreel of some cogs that turn into a boat. I'm not sure why. It's quite a nice boat, but I'm pretty sure Toshiba haven't branched out into sailing equipment... Don't worry. We'll get to the good stuff in a minute.

God. It's going on for hours. This is bizarre.

YouTube Video of the Day - Blackburn Rovers players have a dance-off

By

Mof Gimmers

on August 31, 2007

Thank God for camera phones. Why? Well, you can catch Premier League footballers making fools of themselves in dodgy nightclubs... namely Damien Duff and David Bentley having a dance off in Squire's nightclub in Preston. Will you be there tonight? Bust a move for me if you are...

[As featured on WhoAteAllThePies]

IFA 07: Loewe's stylish BluTech Vision Blu-ray player

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

Loewe is known for having some of the most stylish TVs on the market, so it is no surprise to see an eye-catching Blu-ray player from the German technology company - the BluTech Vision.

Available in a black or silver finish, it has all the features you would expect, including HDMI, 24p film-like motion, TrueHD, DTS HD and 7.1 surround. But I suspect it has a few other tricks on the aesthetics front - like some novel way of inserting the disc, as the picture doesn't give much away on that front.

Releasd in Europe in October, no price available as yet.

Loewe website

Via Engadget

IFA 07: Panasonic's latest SLR - the DMC-L10

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

Panasonic has used IFA to launch its latest SLR - the DMC-L10.

It features a 10.1-megapixel Live MOS sensor, 2.5-inch LCD with permanent live view and 270-degree rotation, a dust reduction system for the sensor via Supersonic Wave Filter system, Venus Engine III image processor for high quality image rendering, Face Detection, Intelligent ISO Control function, optical image stabiliser and nine scene modes.

It's sold with a lovely 14-50mm Leica lens and should be available in October. No price as yet.

Panasonic website

IFA 2007: Samsung's BD-UP5000 - the world's first Blu-ray/HD DVD player?!

By

Ashley Norris

on August 31, 2007 Comments (1)

Samsung, more than any other company ever, loves its world firsts and surprise, surprise IFA is teeming with them. The one that is getting the hacks most excited is the BD-UP5000 Duo HD player, which it is billing as the first ever dual format optical high definition player. By that it means the first to have both Blu-ray and HD DVD players on board.

In reality Samsung is taking a liberty or two as LG got there first with the BH100. The big difference is that the Samsung is compatible with both BD Java and HDi which means it can access all the interactive goodies that you get with the disc – the LG can’t. It also has the edge in the audio stakes in that supports Dolby Digital 7.1, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby True HD.

Evesham introduces Sound Stage X2 home theatre system

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

Six months is a long time in technology - long enough for Evesham's original Sound Stage to be replaced by the Sound Stage X2 home theatre system.

If you're not familiar with it, the Sound Stage X2 home theatre system combines the home theatre stand with the actual system - no cables to worry about. In piano black, its built-in audio system is pre-wired and ready to use straight out of the box, only one connection directly to any DVD player, games console or TV receiver and you're away. There's even connectivity for an MP3 player if you want to play your tunes.

IFA 07: Cowon launches Q5 Wi-Fi media player

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007 Comments (1)

More interesting technology straight out of Korea, this time from Cowon, which has unveiled its Q5 media player.

It features a 5-inch, touch-sensitive display, up to 60GB hard drive, MP3, Ogg, FLAC, WAV, WMA and ASF audio compatibility, AVI, ASF, WMV, MPEG 4 and DivX video playback, not to mention JPEG, BMP, PNG and Raw photo display - on its small screen on via TV-out. Even better, it packs in Wi-Fi connectivity as well as Bluetooth and USB.

According to Cowon, the Q5 will arrive in Europe late September, priced around £439 for the 40GB version or £473 for the 60GB model.

Cowon website

Via The Register

IFA 2007: Liveblogging Philips going green

By

Susi Weaser

on August 31, 2007

You can't get away from it. The future is green, and any CE company that doesn't react to that isn't going to last much longer. That's why Philips are holding a workshop dedicated to their sustainability. So here we go.

From 2000, coverage of green issues in the media has increased 200%, apparently. It's a hot topic for everyone from Richard & Judy to the Daily Mail. Philips want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Nice soundbite.

There's a target to save 20% of current energy levels by 2020. The slide has got a load of global leader on it - weirdly, George Bush doesn't feature...

The late 2000s is going to be identified as having 'glamorous independence'. It's called 'egology' - personalisation, different identities online, and making things convenient for us. How does sustainability fit in?

IFA 07: Fujitsu Siemens launches two new AMILO Xi notebooks

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

Two new notebooks launched by Fujitsu Siemens at IFA, with both the AMILO Xi 2428 and 2528 likely to be in the shops before Christmas.

According to the company, both are specifically designed for video telephony, chat, digital films and MP3 sound files, with the smaller AMILO Xi 2428 offering a 15.4-inch screen and weighing just 3kg, while the AMILO Xi 2528 has a 17-inch screen and comes in at 4kg. The 2428 also features Intel Centrino Duo processor technology with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor up to T7700, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS graphics with 256MB dedicated Video RAM, 2MB of memory, up to 250GB of storage, integrated camera, loudspeakers and microphone and a wide range of connectivity, including HDMI, 3x USB and a five-in-one card reader.

IFA 07: Liveblogging Creative press conference - new Zen!

By

Alexandra Roumbas

on August 31, 2007

creative%20zen.jpg Summary: Lots of X-Fi wireless excitement but the big guns were launched ten minutes from the end in the form of the brand new Creative Zen player (Zen Vision M in miniature, essentially). Read on!

11:30 - Telling us about the history of the company in pictures. I can't tell you how exciting Soundblaster chips from 1989 are not - especially in pictures. Oooh, daring, a picture of an iPod and some Apple-baiting plus a claim that the interface of the iPod was invented by Creative.

11:40 - X-Fi Xdock Wireless - "improving the sound experience of the iPod". X-Fi crystalliser enhances normal MP3 quality - there's a demonstration coming up...

11:45 - Showing us how to stop bass get "soggy and lifeless". There is a noticeable difference in crispness (I'm not sure I'd miss it if I didn't know the difference, but it's a convincing demonstration).

IFA 07: Casio developing world's fastest-shooting digital camera

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

Casio is using IFA to demonstrate a work in progress - an as-yet unnamed model claimed be the world's fastest-shooting digital camera.

The prototype of the six megapixel, 12x optical zoom camera features a new high speed CMOS sensor and a high speed LSI image processing chip with a CMOS-shift image stabilisation function that offers not only ultra high speed burst shooting for still images (60 images per second at maximum resolution), but also high speed movie recording - capturing movement so fast that it cannot even be seen by the human eye. There's also a Pre-shot Burst Mode for capturing shots before you even press the shutter button and capture of movies at VGA resolution at 300 frames per second, able to record movies for replay in ultra-slow motion - usually associated with professional movie kit.

This is a prototype and as such, we have no idea of when it will be available. But it's nice to get an insight into the future.

Casio website

IFA 2007: The future of Philips

By

Susi Weaser

on August 31, 2007

philips%20boy.jpg

There's always th chance to see what's in R&D for the consumer electronics giants at these things, and today at Philips is no difference. They've got a couple of interesting products on display, and of course the inevitable 3D screens. Feeling like I'm feeling today, I can't look at one for longer than about 3 seconds without wanting to curl up in a corner and rock.

One of the other products on display is the Personal TV channel application. It's essentially a system which Philips are hoping to install in TVs and DVRs, which will rival (and hopefully beat) Tivo. And it won't just be for Philips - they'll license it to other companies. Essentially, the system will learn what you like to watch and record you stuff accordingly. This is a massive step forward, since we've suffered from Tivo-envy here in the UK for far too long.

Pure launches Chronos iDock - DAB/FM radio with iPod connectivity

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

More DAB goodness from Pure, which has launched the Chronos iDock, adding FM radio to DAB, as well as iPod functionality.

Dock your iPod into the iDock and it charges and plays back your tunes, controllable with an included remote. The remote also controls access to DAB, with the ability to scroll through stations, viewing station information via textSCAN. As a bedside companion, you can set four independent alarms, set a sleep time, snooze and wake up to your iPod tunes.

Available from October in black or white, it retails for £99.99.

Pure website

IFA 2007: Samsung round up - VP-HMX10 HD camcorder, Internet on your TV, YP-P2 MP3 player and more

By

Ashley Norris

on August 31, 2007

Just landed at IFA, a day after everyone else admittedly, but I get to stay longer so while they will be sleeping off their hangovers I’ll be combing the halls for those weird and wacky stuff.

For now though I am with Samsung and Anthony Marsella (UK and Ireland’s Chief Marketing Officer) who is giving an overview of where Samsung is in the UK and Europe and what the key products they have at IFA. So read on for more on new HD flash memory cam, MP3 players, new LCD TVs.

Pictured is the new YP-P2 audio player.

Lenovo 3000 Olympic Games-inspired desktop PCs

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

Lenovo has a sponsorship deal with the Olympics - and it's going to make the most of it. The latest tie-in is the Lenovo 3000 desktop PC range, with each model displaying the Lenovo Olympic Games composite logo.

The first batch of models are the silver and black Lenovo 3000 J200, J200p and J205 tower and S200 desktops. The J200p features Intel Core 2 Quad processors, the J200 and S200 desktops come with Intel-based processors and the J205 comes equipped with an AMD-based processor. The desktops also include Gigabit Ethernet, integrated graphics, six USB ports, a chassis intrusion lock, PC lock slot, optional DVD multi-burner along with TPM 1.2 data encryption on select models.

The Lenovo 3000 J200 and J205 desktops start at approximately £246, and £309 respectively, and the S200 desktop starts at approximately £263. The desktops are available now.

Lenovo website

IFA 07: Fujitsu Siemens Scaleoview PC monitor with video telephony

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

It's hard to get excited over the launch of a monitor, but Fujitsu Siemens is doing its best to impress with the 22-inch Scaleoview monitor, available to use for video calls.

It's equipped with a camera and two microphones, integrated within the display housing and operated by connecting a USB cable to a PC. The camera provides pictures at 30fps, while the integrated microphones are positioned to ensure 'optimum sound quality'. Other features include a standard PC connectivity, along with S-Video, Composite Video, HDMI and DVI, picture-in-picture for video calls and side-by-side for browsing/document viewing.

It should on sale in time for Christmas at approximately £299.

Fujitsu Siemens website

Eclipse launches TD307PAII high-end desktop sound system

By

Dave Walker

on August 31, 2007

You store half your music on your computer, so why not show it the respect it deserves - with a sound system like the Eclipse TD307PAII.

Claimed to be the best quality desktop sound system available, TD307PAII consists of two audiophile-grade computer audio monitor speakers and a matching stereo amplifier with up to 24w of output. The system is constructed from zinc alloy and dense polymers, with that rigid structure cutting out any resonating sound from the cabinet - meaning a cleaner/clearer output of your music.

There's also 360 degree mounting for desk, wall & ceiling use and a choice of colour - black, silver or white. Expect it in September, priced around £400.

Eclipse website