The CnetUK review is unfair to the macro ability of the A480. The 1cm super macro mode works great for me and it’s as g View full post on Latest
Archive for September, 2010
Exemode Yashica ADV-565HD Camcorder
Exemode Japan has proudly introduced their latest Full HD camcorder namely the Yashica ADV-565HD. This video recorder is able to record video in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 in 1080/30p as well as 720/30p. The camcorder features a 5x optical zoom and a 128MB of internal memory, which is expandable via an SD/SDHC card slot. The Exemode Yashica ADV-565HD camcorder is priced at 17,800 Yen ($213). [Product Page]
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Bose VideoWave: Company’s first TV unveiled
46-incher is a fully functioning surround sound system too
American audio specialist Bose has entered the TV market for the very first time, but promises that its newly-crafted 46-inch VideoWave is more than a simple screen.
For starters, it isn’t actually a TV as such; it doesn’t come with a tuner. It is designed to be hooked up, via its separate Unify control console, to separate sources, such as a Virgin Media or Sky box. One lead then connects the media device to the screen itself.
However, what it lacks in internal content shenanigans, it more than makes up in innovation. Not only is it the very first component in Bose’s arsenal to utilise the company’s trimmed down, back to grass-roots remote control, the Bose Click Pad, it features an array of speakers within its beefy footprint that would make most home cinema systems go green with envy. It gives the VideoWave audio performance unlike any other flatscreen that has come before it.
At the front is a CCFL LCD, supplied by a “leading manufacturer”, whereas the rear is where the magic happens.
The subwoofer, and low bass response, is supplied by the company’s proprietary WaveGuide technology, cunningly looped in an “M” formation in the bowels of the beast. It downfires, so much so that Dr Hilmar Lehnert, manager of audio engineering, jokes that, “the side benefit is that if you sit it on a table, you never have to dust anymore”.
Mid-range frequencies are supplied by a seven driver array; three on the left, three on the right and one in the centre. These beam sound around, bouncing off walls to create a pseudo surround sound effect.
Lastly, the high frequencies are achieved with the use of PhaseGuide sound radiator technology. But it is the digital signal processing that makes the whole unit sing with both precision and guts.
There is a price to pay for such innovation though, ?6000 to be precise (6800 euros). However, it really needs to be heard to realise that this is in a class of its own. Expect it to hit retail in October.
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Televisions Audio Home Cinema Bose Bose VideoWave
Bose VideoWave: Company’s first TV unveiled originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:00:00 +0100
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PHOTOS: Bose VideoWave TV hands-on
Playtime with an extraordinary screen
When?Marc Jourlait, vice president and general manager of Bose Europe, announced that his company was about to reveal “what we believe is a game-changing new concept in home entertainment”, it started tongues wagging and side bets to be placed among the UK’s press.
All manner of of devices, content delivery services and weird and wonderful innovations were guessed at, including the concept of a Bose-branded Scrabble-playing monkey. However, even the unveiling of a word game-fancying simian would’ve been less surprising than the idea that Bose was moving into the TV market.
It’s rare to render a room of tech journalists speechless, but it did. Bose just doesn’t make TVs.
But, after playing with the 46-inch VideoWave and its separate media box, it actually makes for a good fit in the American audio specialist’s range.
To start with, the VideoWave should not be considered a television as such. Not only does it lack a tuner, so is technically just a screen, it sports a standard CCFL-backlit LCD panel, rather than the LED-lit equivalent so popular with major telly manufacturers these days.
Instead, Bose’s innovative device should be seen as an all-in-one sound system that just so happens to have a screen.?Therefore, it’s uniqueness, and major selling point, comes from the speaker array crammed into the belly of the beast. It is not a rival for the Panasonics or Samsungs out there. And while the price point of ?6,000 may put it on a par with Bang & Olufsen and Loewe, neither brand has anything quite like it.
From the side, it’s no looker. Indeed, we’ve seen a smaller footprint in the dirt outside a clown’s caravan. But that’s because of the six subwoofer drivers, “M” WaveGuide, seven mid-range drivers, and Phase Guide high frequency speaker. There’s some serious air being pushed out of this monster, and a thin waistline just couldn’t accomodate it.
That will immediately put some people off. The craze for superslim screens continues apace, and this is not designed for them. It’s most likely to appeal to those who want robust audio performance, but don’t have the space for a 5.1 system. Certainly, it is capable of a soundstage – thanks to bouncing off tables, backwalls, sidewalls and anywhere else within reach – that’s beefier than licking the side of a cow.
It’s definitely at its best when the volume control is raked up a notch, and that, in itself, features another innovation for the company: Bose Click Pad.
Along with the VideoWave, the manufacturer has taken another of Marc Jourlait’s adages to heart: “Make home cinema and content delivery in the home simpler,” he says. “Ease of set up and ease of operation; these are what consumers have asked for”. And the Click Pad certainly does that.
At present, the stripped down remote control only works with the VideoWave. It has simple buttons for volume, channel changing, on/off, that sort of thing. However, there’s also a touch sensitive panel just above centre which brings up an onscreen menu when you lightly brush it.
Depending where you put your finger or thumb, the?corresponding?section of the menu lights up. Click the centre button and you’ve performed that action. It’s staggeringly simple to use, yet we found that every possible thing we’d want immediate access to was there for us within seconds. A lot of research has gone into the Click Pad, and it shows.
We also noticed other areas of the screen to be simplified beyond what normal manufacturers would offer. To start with, the set comes with the Bose’s proprietary Adaptiq auto calibration system. Wall-mount or put it on a stand, switch in on and the software will come up with the most suitable audio configuration for your surrounds, so that you don’t have to. Also, there seems to only be two picture modes, for light and dark room ambience. That’s it.
There’s no denying that the VideoWave, with its overly simple feature-set, Unify control console, iPod dock, and Click Pad remote control, is an esoteric product, and its ?6,000 price tag will marginalise adoption, but Bose should, at the very least, be applauded for attempting something new.
We still reckon the next launch will be a lemur with its own Boggle set, though.
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Televisions Audio Home Cinema Bose Bose Click Pad Bose VideoWave
PHOTOS: Bose VideoWave TV hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:01:00 +0100
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HTC Spark: leaked photos show up
How many Window Phone 7 phones are HTC planning
With the Windows Phone 7 launch just days away, handsets are turning up all over the place.?The latest is the HTC Spark in Egypt.
It’s yet another HTC handset (how many is HTC going to launch?), and follows hot on the heels of other HTC Windows Phone 7 leaks like the HTC Mondrian.
“Today I met a friend who has a Windows 7 HTC Spark phone for testing purposes. Since I found nothing on it online (even GSM Arena & XDA), I took some snapshots,” writes the Fishawy a senior member of the XDA-Developers forums.?
According to further posts by the forum user it sports a 1GHz processor and a 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen display as well as HTC Hub.
“HTC hub has nothing extraordinary .. Calculator, Converter, Flashlight, Phone Enhancer, and some other stuff.”
The news comes as the Wall Street Journal?confirms what here at Pocket-lint we’ve know for some time – that Microsoft will be launching Windows Phone 7 on 11 October in New York with AT&T, LG, Samsung and of course HTC.
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Phones Windows Phone 7 HTC HTC Spark Microsoft
HTC Spark: leaked photos show up originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:38:00 +0100
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