Lexicon have announced their BD-30 Blu-ray player, which they describe as being truly “future proof”. As well as playing Blu-ray, BD-Live, BonusView, DVD, upscaled DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, and CD content, the BD-30 has a USB port which Lexicon suggest will “enable access to future formats”. Now to us, that sounds more like loading media onto a memory key and using the BD-30 as a very shiny mediaplayer, something a whole lot of other decks will do, but we’ll let them have their fun.
If you’re responsible for recharging the iPods and iPhones of a couple of soccer teams then Parat’s Parasync is going to save you a whole lot of plugging and unplugging. The desktop charging station packs a full twenty slots for various combinations of iPod nano 4G, touch, iPhone and classic, but even better can be used to synchronize them all with iTunes.
Video demo after the cut
Logitech have announced a pair of new wireless presenter remote controls, the Presenter R400 and Presenter R800. Each offers a laser-pointer and presentation control keys; the R800 adds an LCD display with timer and a vibrating alert which can warn you when you have five, two, and zero minutes left on-stage.
Nanovision have updated their range of MIMO USB LCD sub-displays with a new travel-friendly model. The Nanovision MIMO 710-S “Mobile Slider” keeps the same 800 x 480 resolution 7-inch LCD display from the existing range, but pairs it with a new folding, twisting clamshell stand that can be used to protect the display during transit.
That’s handy, because these mini-displays perhaps make most sense when used to add a little more screen real-estate to a laptop. Connecting via USB and using the DisplayLink virtual monitor system rather than a computer’s own video card, the 710-S boasts 350 cd/m2 brightness and a 500:1 contrast ratio.
Logitech have announced a new “unifying” USB receiver for use with its latest wireless keyboard and mice, which allows up to six of the company’s compatible devices to be connected with the one receiver. The Logitech Unifying Receiver will land in the US and Europe in September 2009, bundled with the new Wireless Keyboard K350 and K340 models, the Marathon Mouse M705 in early 2010, and the Wireless Mouse M505 in August this year.
BeamBox have taken a few minutes out of their busy pico-projector schedule to give us this, the surprisingly useful MiLi universal charger. A palm-sized block with interchangeable US, UK, Australian and European plug adapters, the MiLi also has a flip-out in-car plug, and provides juice to two USB ports.
With most people having regular access to more than one computer, especially with the growing popularity of netbooks, we’re all for anything that lets you easily share files. USB file transfer cables are nothing new (if still under-rated) so Hawking Technologies have gone one step further with their Easy-Link Data Sharing Hub by adding a three-port USB hub to the middle.
Samsung have unveiled their latest HDTV range, the 8500-series, complete with local dimming for the LED backlighting and Yahoo!’s widget engine. Available in 46- and 55-inch sizes, the 8500-series supports 1080p High Definition playback, with a 7,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response time and 1.6-inch thick chassis.
It’s not just their Zi8 HD camcorder that Kodak have for us today; the company has also announced a new media-adapter, the Kodak Theatre HD Player. Designed to plug directly into your HDTV together with your home network – either via WiFi or ethernet – the Theatre HD Player can show images, video, podcasts, music and web content.
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At first glance this may look like a compact DVD case, but it's actually Pioneer's latest external DVD burner intended for mobility-concerned ultraportable and netbook users. The Pioneer DVR-XD09 tips the scales at 8oz and gets both power and data from a single USB 2.0 connection.
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