Digital Trends
Boston Acoustics has pushed out an update to its dual-alarm iPod speaker system, dubbed the Duo-I plus. The unit works with iPods and is now “Works with iPhone” certified, and features dual alarms, an AM/FM tuner (with 15 available presets), and a 360-degree “snooze ring” handy for slapping when you just don’t want to get up yet.
Magellan originally announced the Maestro 4370 GPS way back at CES, promising the unit would ship during the first quarter of 2008. It’s now the last quarter of 2008, but he Maestro 4370 is apparently out the door, offering a 4.3-inch touchscreen and a revamped interface that offers 3D land guidance as well as 3D views of buildings and landmarks to help travelers recognize their surroundings.
When you have four HDMI cables headed to one TV, you know you’ve got a complex home theater install on your hands, and probably a headache in the works as well. A new switchbox from Gefen is designed to alleviate the problem of running multiple cables to the TV by automatically switching between four HDMI inputs and forwarding signals through to a single output.
Automatic switching restores the last video choice at the time over power down when the unit powers back up, while manual switching is accomplished with a small handheld remote. The unit also temporarily switches to new sources whenever signals from them are detected, as a way to verify that they work. Besides switching signals, the box also amplifies them, and passes on HDCP encoding.
Harman/Becker Automotive Systems has announced a new in-car GPS system for the U.S. market, the Traffic Assist Highspeed 7934. Set to be offered exclusively through Office Depot, the unit offers more-or-less standard mapping and navigation features, plays music over a set of integrated stereo speakers, and—get this—even offers voice warnings when a driver is speeding.
“We recognize that there are a variety of choices when it comes to mobile navigation,” said Ralf Hoellmann, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems’ VP of sales and marketing, in a statement. “Drivers will notice right away the Becker difference—quality German engineering backed by more than 60 years of automotive electronics experience.”
At a product showcase in New York, electronics maker Samsung has shown off several consumer electronics offerings it plans to market for the upcoming end-of-year holiday season, including the high-end BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player, which supports both HD DVD and Blu-ray high-definition discs as well as their respective interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java. The unit marks only the second hybrid player to be put on the market; the first was the LG’s Super Multi Blue, which has been available since February but doesn’t support interactive features.
Epson has formally taken the wraps off its PowerLite S5 multimedia projector, bringing a strong selection of features to a lightweight unit to be offered for just $649.
“The PowerLite S5 brings versatility, power and affordability to entrepreneurs, educators, and business professionals alike,” said Heather Litus, Epson America’s A/V product manager, in a release. “Presenters will benefit from the ease-of-use, flexibility, and industry-leading image quality and performance that are inherent in Epson’s award-winning projectors and 3LCD technology.”
Display maker ViewSonic is aiming at the back-to-school and off-to-college market with its new 20-inch N2060w All-In-One PC TV, intended to be a single display which can meet a wide variety of needs—from computers to gaming consoles to high-definition television—all with one unit priced below $500.
“Back-to-school spending is predicted to reach $17.6 billion this year and PCs and televisions are expected to top every freshman’s shopping list,” said Jeff Volpe, ViewSonic’s vice president of marketing, in a release. “The multifunctional N2060w enables students and consumers alike to experience the digital world while saving time, money and space.”
Leading navigation device maker Garmin has introduced its new zūmo 550 GPS unit designed specifically for use on motorcycles. The zūmo features a glove-friendly touch screen with left-handed controls so its simple to operate on the road, along with otherbike-friendly features like a motorcycle mount, special bike console, waterproof and fuel-resistant construction, and Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free voice prompting and calling.
Now that you have all sorts of high-tech toys to keep you and yours alternately entertained, distracted, or pacified during mind-numbingly long flights, you’ve probably noticed you’re carting around all sorts of extra batteries to keep those gizmos going
“The interactive unit of Nielsen Entertainment conducted a random survey of 1,500 people in January and February for its report. Nielsen Entertainment, a unit of VNU NV of the Netherlands, is best known for its benchmark SoundScan music sales service. Its corporate sibling Nielsen Media Research is the standard for TV ratings.
For males, Nielsen said, games now rank only behind DVDs as a purchase category, ahead of CDs, digital downloads and other ways of buying music. ”
Everyone wants to be an insider, and you can be one too! Choose your poison: sign-up for our Newsletter, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. Do all three and you'll be swimming in the the latest news, reviews, videos and more gadget goodness!
Become a DT soldier! Join us on Facebook and share the best news, guides, videos and other cool information directly with all your friends. Some might even thank you for it!
Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Facebook.
Do you like information in small snippets? Then our Twitter feed is just for you. Follow Digital Trends and you'll be able to catch up daily on our latest content, or even interact directly with our team. Tweet Tweet!
Join the thousands and follow the best of us on Twitter.
That’s Right, Sign-up For Our Monthly Random Prize Drawings and You Could Be That Winner.
