DigitalBurn.com

So you’ve converted all your music to MP3 and bought yourself an iPod, but the only way to listen to it via your old stereo is with a ghastly cable, or fuzzy FM sender. Not to mention that your old HiFi isn’t quite as pretty as your shiny new designer iPod. You start browsing the ever increasing selection of funky-looking, space-saving, iPod speaker systems that are available, but none of them really pack the room-filling sound of your old stereo. Until now, that is.

Say hello to the rather unusual looking Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin.  Hidden under that sleek fabric covered Hindenburg-esque exterior are two 1″ (25mm) tweeters, two 3.5″ (90mm) midrange drivers, and a 5″ (125mm) bass driver. While the mids and tweeters get to share 25W per channel, the bass driver gets its own dedicated 50W amp to ensure rich, powerful bass.  It’s this bass that is the most remarkable thing about the Zeppelin, as looking at its minimal dimensions you would never imagine that it could produce such a powerful sound.

Bowers and Wilkins have used their extensive audiophile knowledge to create a music system that embraces the modern iPod fetish and accommodates the current lust that consumers have for tiny all-in-one speaker systems to use them with. Unlike most other iPod speaker systems, the B&W Zeppelin isn’t just a collection of tiny speakers thrown into a plastic casing. Instead, it could be thought of as a piece of musical art that features a collection of specially designed drivers, assembled together to produce the most cohesive and full-bodied sound possible. And boy does it sound good.

Read the rest »

Popularity: 17% [?]

Zune

Today Microsoft confirmed specs on its upcoming Zune digital media players.  The Seattle based giant will offer a 120GB, 16GB, and 8GB model with the 120GB version being hard-drive based and the smaller 16GB and 8GB being flash-based.

The new Zunes will allow users to easily download tunes from Zune Marketplace with the device’s on-board WiFi connection, make music recommendations, FM song tagging, support audio book playback, and will ship with two games.

Microsoft expects to offer the large 120GB model for US$249, US$199 for the 16GB, and US$149 for the 8GB version.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Sanyo Xacti E2

Although a bit late for summer, Sanyo has introduced its second generation waterproof digital video recorder today, the Xacti E2.  The small one-handed recorder can shoot up to 8 megapixel stills and high quality MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video.  The waterproof housing protects the E2 up to depths of 5 feet for up to one hour and offers the latest in image technology including image stabilization and face detection.

Features of the Xacti E2 include:

• 2.5-inch LCD color display with rotation
• 60fps recording
• 5x optical zoom
• Image stabilization
• Face chaser technology
• 8 hours video or 2000 8mp stills (8GB SDHC memory card)
• 9.1oz with battery and memory card
• 2.8″x4.4″x1.6″
• SD/SDHC memory cards

The Sanyo Xacti E2 is available now for US$399.99 and comes in blue or white.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Our friends over at Sony Ericsson have provided us with a device we last saw at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the W980 Walkman.  The  latest clamshell device in Sony Ericsson’s arsenal is a HSDPA 3G capable handset and fully supports the 2100MHz 3G networks that exist in Europe as well as offering quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz).

This global clamshell-styled phone offers a 3.2 megapixel camera with video, Bluetooth A2DP stereo, FM radio, 8GB of internal memory, and an FM transmitter to broadcast your tunes with.  The W980 Walkman sports dedicated music keys on its front along with a large colorful display externally.  The phone also has SE’s Shake control so users can jump to the next track with the flick of the wrist.

The W980 clamshell is very light (100g/3.5oz) and feels pretty solid in hand.  The phone offers up to 9 hours (GSM) of talk time or 15 days of standby.  The Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman is available now.

Stay tuned for a full review of the W980 on our parent site MobileBurn soon but in the mean time, enjoy our attached photo gallery.

[Show as slideshow]

Popularity: 24% [?]

WorldofGood.com

Online retailer eBay has gone green with WorldofGood.com, an online market for consumers looking for eco-friendly and ethically sourced products.  All products, makers, and sellers are verified as trusted providers and will offer shoppers a new option when searching for environmentally friendly products.

The new site covers 15 different consumer categories including home and garden, art, and clothing, as well as food.  WorldofGood.com also features the Goodprint labeling system, which allows consumers to see the purchase impact and displays different positive attributes such as People Positive, Planet Positive, Animal Friendly, and Supports a Cause.  Users can also search on each category to focus on what matters most to them.

“WorldofGood.com by eBay gives shoppers who care about making a difference access to great products that help people and the planet,” said Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces. “Socially responsible shopping just got bigger and better.”

To check out the new site, jump here.

Popularity: 19% [?]

AT&T BlackBerry users are looking to get a special treat this month with a new firmware update for their devices.

RIM’s BlackBerry OS update 4.5 is set to feature improved web browsing, an enhanced email and music player user interface, which will include HTML email and remote server search amongst many other new features.  The update also includes a 8820 and Pearl 8120 WiFi client for free login at AT&T hotspots and simultaneous voice/data support when using WiFi.

The new OS is expected to be available later this month and will come loaded on new devices starting in October.

Check out the photo for more details.

[via BGR]

Popularity: 25% [?]

Chrome

Google, wanting to loosen the grip of Microsoft’s IE and downsize Mozilla’s Firefox internet browsers, has introduced its own browser, Chrome.

Google’s Chrome browser is free for users and is expected to be available for download today.  The official announcement comes hot on the heels of a leaked screenshot yesterday. Google Chrome is still in beta and is only available for Windows now with Mac and Linux versions hopefully coming soon.

The new browser is based on Webkit and will include Google Gears and V8, a javascript engine. Chrome is open-source for developers and offers a ‘incognito’ feature, which lets users surf the web without being tracked.  Hmmm.

Download here.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Logitech Illuminated Keyboard

For those that sneak out of bed in the middle of the night to update their To-Do list or for those that just plain old like to work in the dark, Logitech has the perfect thing for you - the Illuminated Keyboard.

Taking backlight technology one step further, Logitech has added microlens reflectors and laser etching to the keyboard to provide the best backlight keyboard experience.  The keyboard measures just .37 inches (9.3g) thin and sports a palm rest for long night typing sessions.

The Logitech Illuminated Keyboard will be available in October for US$80.

Popularity: 20% [?]

New WiFi Standard

The latest version of WiFi, 802.11r, has received approval from the IEEE. However, given the fact that 802.11n is still a draft, we have to question why IEEE approves standards no one is using, while does not approve standards that Intel have been embedding into their platforms for nearly three years.

Nonetheless , 802.11r will offer access point transfers for authenticated connection of less than 50ms. This is much faster than the 802.11n standard, and is perfect for those of you who have already stepped into the realm of VoIP calling because it will allow you to successfully maintain a VoIP call between WiFi access points. For the none-technical among us, this basically means that we are one step closer to free-for-all city-wide access to the internet, although the step is pretty small, since we will need the physical infrastructure to support the new technology.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Lossless MP3 player from Samsung

As many will have picked up on, IFA is currently taking place in Germany right now. There has been a lot of news emanating from the event, but on this occasion, courtesy of TR, we would like to draw your attention to Samsung’s new ‘Diamond’, also known as the YP-Q1.

This device is effectively just another MP3/PMP player; what makes it special is the fact that it offers lossless play back of MP3s. Using the 2.4in LCD display, you can navigate through your music or tune into your favourite radio station via the FM radio. Taking further advantage of the screen, the Diamond offers play back of video in landscape mode, as well as a decent text reader and voice recording capabilities. The real jewel of the Diamond is the fact that it supports MP3, WMA, and OGG codecs, as well as the lossless FLAC format.We should expect to receive 30 hours of music play back, but only 4 hours of video (which is a little disappointing). I expect we’ll be just fine waiting on this to hit our shelves, but it might be worth a look at once it does.

Popularity: 21% [?]