Tag: Digital

VTech announces baby monitor range

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Sure, having a baby can be a huge drain on your finances. Yes, having a baby will seriously impact your 8-hours-a-night sleep-plan. And, of course, you may as well forget about any sort of social life you may have had.

But a baby also brings with it new possibilities – including a whole new world of tech you were probably never even aware of.

Tech like the range of baby monitors announced by VTech. VTech has taken its expertise in telephony technology and applied it to the range. Technology such as the DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication) and HD sound, which guarantees crystal clear sound and zero interference from any other device.

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First up is the VTech Clear Sounds Digital Baby Monitor Deluxe which includes a temperature sensor with set limits to allow parents to ensure the best temperature for their baby’s sleep.

The parents can talk to their baby via the monitor as well as recording songs. There are 50 pre-recorded melodies, including 4 sung-songs and gentle nature sounds. There’s also line-in for an MP3 player. I hear babies love The Prodigy.

The VTech Clear Sounds Digital Baby Monitor Deluxe is £69.99. There’s also a non-Deluxe version available that’s £20 cheaper. You don’t get the temperature sensor or the LCD display and there’s only 20 melodies and just a solitary sung-song but, come-on, it’s cheaper.

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The pick of the bunch, as far as baby will be concerned, is the VTech Sleepy Bear Digital Baby Monitor. You see, for this model baby gets a teddy-bear based monitor.

It’s got the same DECT technology as the Clear Sounds models and comes with 30 melodies including two sung-songs as well as those gentle nature sounds. There’s also a soft, glowing night-light that should help baby drift off to sleep.

Parents can even activate features without disturbing their little one’s sleep, as the portable parent unit operates the monitor remotely.

If you’ve got babies or you’re expecting one soon then these could be just the job for you. Get them direct from VTech. If you haven’t got babies and you’re not planning on having them some time soon, then you really have to ask yourself why you’ve just read this post. That’s five minutes of your life you’re never going to get back.

Paul Lamkin Baby Gadgets

DAB receives major setback as Germans and Swiss say no

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The future of DAB radio took a bit of a kicking today when Germany and Switzerland’s commercial radio stations refused to invest in developing the DAB system to replace existing FM/AM transmissions. Their argument was that it didn’t make financial sense to do so.

The news has big repercussions for the UK and the rest of Europe. The Digital Britain report stated that the government would “work with our European partners, including the European Commission, to develop a common European approach to digital radio”. Well, it seems like all of the European partners aren’t interested in coming to the party.

The move could also be bad news for consumers. DAB radios are already much more expensive than their analogue brethren and the lack of a Europe-wide market is hardly going to help the cause. Car manufacturers are also less likely to include DAB radios in cars if they’ll only get maximum usage in selected countries.

The whole DAB scenario has been a bit of a shambles from the start really. Some DAB radios in the UK- reportedly as many as 9million – won’t even work if/when the system gets upgraded to the superior DAB+ system.

Campaigns such as Save FM argue that there is no need to take radio digital anyway – with many people arguing FM audio quality is, in fact, superior. The rise of internet radio also raises questions for the need of a digital radio network.

(via The Register)

Paul Lamkin DAB