Shiny Video Reivew: iMu Vibrating Speaker

Yes, it looks like a stunted dildo. But this isn’t a dildo. It’s the previously reported-upon iMu “Singing Table” that’ll turn any surface you place it on into a speaker. Awesome, right? Shame it costs £50.

I know! £50! I couldn’t believe it either. Seriously, what are you going to use this thing for? Especially as it plugs in to mains power. If you can think of a situation where this would be a lifesaver, and a cheap pair of travel speakers wouldn’t, then let us know in the comments.

Homeless man designs revolutionary speakers

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A homeless bloke called Kevin Nelson who lives in California has managed to find a way of getting two distinct stereo sound channels out of a single cabinet. He’s calling it “Crossover Imaging”, because it involves wiring the crossover in a very special way. Each speaker delivers both a left and a right channel.

He’s been working on it since 1989, but despite winning out in comparisons with Polk, KEF, and Klipsch, and a low low price of less than $1,000, he’s only sold 35 pairs. That might be why he’s homeless, I suppose. His company – Zealth Audio Loudspeakers – is currently looking for investors to start full-scale production.

Cnet (via Crunchgear)

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iMu Vibrating Speaker – less rude than it sounds

Although the name conjures up memories of the Ohmibod, the iMu is totally safe for work. So long as people don’t get annoyed by you turning the big conference room table into a huge speaker anyway. That’s right – the iMu claims to turn any hard, flat surface into a speaker.

How does it work? Well, it turns music signal into vibrations via a compound called Terfenol-D – developed by the US Navy. Place the Terfenol in an aluminium case, wrap a coil round it and pass a current through, and it’ll vibrate with the current – playing your songs.

The frequency response isn’t great – 70Hz to 30Hkz – but you’ll get 30W out of this thing. I’ve asked if we can get one in to see what it sounds like in person, and how loud you can get it without shattering whatever you’re vibrating. That could be fun. If you’re already convinced, then it’s £50 and available now.

Gadget Shop

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Know a clown who's desperate to listen to music on his bicycle?

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Okay, maybe that was mean. But you can’t claim that that thing over to the right doesn’t look like a pom-pom of some sort. It’s actually a speaker. The Yuen’To Music Ball, to be precise. Straight outta’ Japan, it’ll plug into anything with a 3.5mm jack connector and blare out sounds and music for upto five hours. After that, it’ll need recharging via USB.

It comes in red, blue, yellow, black and pink – nice bold colours – and costs $76.16 (£55 or so). That’s amazingly expensive. Still, no-one ever said that being a contra-auguste was cheap.

GeekStuff4U (via Akihabaranews)

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Insane Bandai 'Diorama' speaker

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File this one under ‘crazy’ and ‘Japanese’. It’s a pair of speakers, 2x1W, with a mounted diorama of a Tokyo street scene slapped on top of it. It’s so wonderfully tacky that I’m actually rather fond of it.

Want one? No? Okay. Well, if you know anyone who does, then tell them that it’s limited edition – just 2000 are being made – so get moving sharpish. It’ll cost them ¥198,000 (£1,640). That’s what’s known in the trade as ‘too much’.

Bandai (via Akihabaranews)

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Lightbulb/speaker mashups suddenly all over the web

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Okay, ‘all over the web’ is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but just the other day, we spotted the Soundbulb over at Yanko Design. Today, I spotted this concept Bulb-Sound-Speaker over at Crunchgear. Two lamp-speakers in a week? I’m calling that a trend. Before the end of the month, we’ll be swimming in the things.

Silliness aside, it’s quite a cool concept, and could prove useful in public places – restaurants, elevators, etc. Of the two, only the Soundbulb works as a light as well, but they both rely on Bluetooth to ferry the music around the place wirelessly. Would I use one of these? No. Do I think they’d sell? Most definitely.

(via Yanko Design and Crunchgear)

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IFA 2008: Logitech unveil Squeezebox Boom, Digital Video System and Z-500 wireless speakers

Three radically different products, one post. I call that a challenge. Logitech have just unveiled a host of new products aimed at wildly different markets. They have just one thing in common. They’re all actually really useful, in their own ways.

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First up is the Squeezebox Boom. Now that’s a fantastic name. I’m sitting here saying it right now, and enjoying every moment of it. It’s a network music player, meaning that it’ll let you listen to your music collection from anywhere in the house. Just plug it into the power, give it your wireless network’s password, and you’re off…