One Minute Video Review: Harmon Kardon/JBL Spyro Speakers

I took a look at the Creature II and Spyro speakers from JBL whilst I was in Berlin, including the limited edition shiny siver ones. The Creature II models are available now from £58 whilst the Spyro is yet to be released.

To subscribe to the Shiny Media YouTube channel click here.

One Minute Video: The Real IFA 2006

IFA has been and gone for another year, and if you've sadly missed the show, I edited to together a little treat for you courtesy of Adobe Premier Elements, so you can feel like you were there. Enjoy.

IFA 2006: Harman Kardon Go + Play iPod speaker system

Remember the Cadbury's Smash robots? Well, you'll soon be able to pick up an iPod speaker system that looks uncannily similar in the form of the Harman Kardon Go + Play, which got an official launch at the IFA.

Apart from its strange looks, the Go + Play has one other stand-out feature - it's been designed for your iPod to lie flat, as opposed to sticking out from the top, which is probably more secure and certainly gives more of a streamlined look. The sound is boosted by a combination of bi-amped digital amplification, DSP (digital sound processing) and Ridge and Atlas transducers, with volume and music selection controlled by remote, which operates up to 30ft away and through walls. It also connects via S-video to your TV if you want to watch your video clips on a bigger screen.

The Harman Kardon Go + Play should be in the shops in time for Christmas, priced around 349 Euros (around £235).

Harman Kardon website

More speaker systems:
Cygnett GrooveBase iPod speaker system
Altec Lansing iM9 iPod speaker system and rucksack

IFA 2006: Linksys launches WIP330 Wi-Fi VoIP phone

The rush to get us away from the PC continues with the Linksys WIP330 Wi-Fi-connected VoIP phone, which has been announced at IFA.

The WIP330, which features a 2.2-inch, 65,536-colour display, connects to 802.11b and 802.11g wireless hotspots and supports the SIP 2 VoIP standard - which means it's not Skype friendly. Features include caller ID, call forwarding, speed dial, last number redial, a vibration alert, call waiting and conference calling. The battery should be enough for three hours's talk time and 50 hours in standby.

It should be available from  Linksys distributors in the coming weeks, priced around the £270 mark.

Linksys website

Via The Register

More VoIP:
USRobotics introduces USR9630 cordless phone for Skype and domestic calling
Is ROK set to introduce free mobile VoIP?

IFA 2006: SanDisk reveals Sansa Base Station, licensed accessories

The Sansa e200 proved itself to be a pretty versatile and reasonably priced MP3 player and it looks like the upcoming c200 will follow suit. But killing the iPod will take more than the player alone; Apple's players are as much about the wide range of avaible accessories as the distinctive design and the iTunes Music Store.

Therefore SanDisk has just revealed its first Sansa accessory, the Sansa Base Station, as well as announcing an agreement with several other manufacturers to start producing Sansa compatible accessories including travel cases, wireless earphones and portable speakers.

The Base Station will support the e200 and c200 players and will act as platform for transferring data to the player or as an audio output (using RCA) so you can play your tunes through your Hi-Fi. It also comes with a remote and will charge your player for you. It has a similarly reasonable retail price of $69.99 (about £36) and should be available in Europe in October.

IFA 2006: SanDisk V-Mate memory card recorder

There aren’t many gadgets coming out these days that don’t come with some kind of movie playing capabilities, no matter how impractical the screen size is. However, actually getting video content on to them is usually a real pain. The SanDisk V-Mate, announced today at IFA, looks like a practical solution to this; it connects to an analogue audio and video output from pretty much any source you like, then records straight to the card. And it has been designed with small portable video players in mind.

It has a maximum recording resolution of 640 x 480, which makes it suitable for small screens, and means you can fit around three and a half hours of footage per gigabyte. The V-Mate is compatible with SD, MMC, MMCplus MMCmobile, SDHC, MiniSDHC, MicroSDHC, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo – that should have all your bases covered then.

IFA 2006: USRobotics Skype DECT Phone

Yet another company is joining the race to get every home using Skype. This is USRobotics’ Skype compatible USR9630 cordless phone. It has one obvious flaw already – other companies, such as Philips, are cutting out the middle man and making DECT Skype phones that work independent of a PC. Unfortunately the USR9630 will still need to be tethered to your home computer to work with Skype.

The system will support up to four handsets and will let you make and receive ordinary and VoIP calls from the one handset.

Launch dates and price are still a bit tentative – it looks like a September launch in the US with a price tag amounting to something around £60. Additional handsets, USR9631s, will follow a month later.

Via Pocket Lint

IFA 2006: More Philips amBX details

It looks like Philips’ amBX vision for gamers doesn’t solely consist of an Ambilight monitor. Instead, a whole range of accessories will be launching over the course of next year aimed at extending the immersive aspects of gaming. Philips explains that this will consist of the following:

• A series of LED based multi-colour lights that engage the eyes and increase realism

• A powerful 2.1 speaker sound system providing booming audio that gives authenticity to the rumble of thunder or the blast of a gunshot

• Several fans that bathe gamers in air movement and wind effects

• A vibration unit that conveys the action and excitement completely in sync with the game situation

One Minute IFA Update: Philips Blu-Ray players and recorders

Ashley looks at Philips Blu-ray DVD players/recorders - the Media Center PC, the MCP9480i, and the  Blu-ray player - the BDP9000. For more info, check this link.

One Minute IFA Update: Philips WACS7000 wireless music system

Ashley looks at the Philips WACS7000 wireless music system, which was announced today at IFA. For further details, click here.