Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Samsung is treating all you couch potatoes out there with their latest products that might make you burn your wallets—the HTS-AS720 Home Theater System and the BD-P1500 Blu-ray player. Samsung is really teasing us with these new products as you would certainly want to have not just one but both of them. Because how good is a home theater system if you don’t use a BD player with it, right?

So, first up we have the HTS-AS720 Home Theater System with its 5.1 channel receiver, subwoofer and six satellite speakers all boasting of 650 watts total power. Adding pleasure to the viewing experience is an amplifier that features Dolby True HD Support and DTS HD pass through. 

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While we are taking some time getting our full thoughts down, we wanted to show off the pics of the latest gadget to make its way into the Gadgetell headquarters. Its the Kicker iK500 iPod speaker system. While we have the iK500 which is made exclusively for the iPod, Kicker also has the zKick ZK500 for the Microsoft Zune.

Aside from the obvious difference that one is made for the Zune and the other for the iPod, they both offer the same features. The systems both ship with a remote control that offers a full range of options, and have two 5-inch woofers, two 3/4-inch tweeters, one 6-inch square reflex subwoofer that are powered by a 40-watt stereo amplifier. In addition they both have a 1/8-inch stereo aux-in jack and stereo RCA out. They both measure in at 8.5 x 19.2 x 8.4-inches and weigh 9.2-pounds.

The iK500 includes eight dock inserts that will allow for just about any iPod to fit snugly in place, and the ZK500 comes with three inserts to fit the various available Zune players. The iK500 and ZK500 both retail for $299.99 and are currently available. During our (so far brief) testing the system sounded great and worked well with a variety of iPods, to include the nano, Shuffle and even the iPhone, while in airplane mode. Be sure to check back for our full review and in the mean time enjoy the pics…

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Buffalo has announced a new digital media player that links users digital content into their home entertainment center – the LinkTheater HD DMP (LT-H90LAN). The LinkTheater allows users to view videos, pictures and music stored in users computer, network-attached-storage (NAS), USB hard drive or DNLA media servers. Compatible with both Mac and Windows computers, the Buffalo LinkTheater HD has an auto-backup feature which automatically performs back ups of any content stored in either a flash memory based video camera or USB drive. 

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Though many Americans are obsessed with their home “theater-in-the-box” systems and many more are dying to have one, about half of these owners are not installing their rear-channel speakers. If you’re wondering why, it’s because of lack of technical expertise as well as aesthetic issues such as wire visibility.

This so-called “surroundaphobia” hinders the great home theater experience. The study conducted by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CE manufacturers reveals that 74% of consumers prefer as few wires and connections as possible. Also, 34% said they wanted to improve the “visibility of wires” in their current system setups.

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Meet the Micropod SE from Scandyna, a Danish speaker company (the country, not the pastry).  Scandyna has been at making speakers for 40 years and does so with a certain flair.  Kinda makes you want to crawl inside one of these things and make some honey.

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So far, the quality of docks for iPod use had been varied. There are always the cheap, plastic ones with poor audio quality and lack of remote controls. There are also classier ones such as the Shanling MC-30, which retails at £500 (around $950). This month in the UK, high quality audio company Krell, will release a beast of an accessory, marketed as “The world’s best sounding iPod dock”, it sure looks it.

The KID, (Krell iPod Dock) was released in the US in December, but now coming out in the UK, it has been severely marked up. It retailed at £750 (around $1400) in the US, but now in the UK will cost £1,350 ($2,500). It is well suited to up-market audiophiles and also professional DJ’s and musicians. It doesn’t have built in speakers but is much like the amplifiers which control surround sound systems. It contains top-notch circuitry and will certainly be the talking-point of any living room.

Read [Gizmodo]

Yahoo has announced that they will be replacing their Yahoo Unlimited Music service with Real Networks Rhapsody for their on-demand music service. All current Yahoo subscribers will be transitioned over to a Rhapsody account within a few months. Once moved over the users will be able to enjoy their music service on more devices that were not available as Yahoo customers to include the Squeezebox and also TiVo set top boxes.

In addition to switching over to Real, Yahoo also announced they have acquired FoxyTunes. According to Yahoo, this will allow them to offer a “more open” music playback experience. FoxyTunes currently offers a browser plugin that has controls for offline and web-based media players.

Read [electronista]

At CES I got a chance to sit down with Larry Smith, COO ARCHOS, and talk about his ARCHOS TV+.  To say he was passionate about this device would be a gross understatement; he was downright giddy about it.  Since then, Apple has re-intro’d their Apple TV so I thought I’d get Larry’s response to it.  In short, he still isn’t impressed.

Why?  Well the biggest difference is TV+s ability to be your DVR.  Oh yeah, and a WiFi DVR.  That combination seems to me like a knock out punch, but throw in more memory for the price Apple is charging and you’ve got a compelling value proposition.  Here is is the interview:

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tvCompass is mostly known for their innovative and unique remote controls. This new one, is arguably the most unique so far. Televisions and HDTV’s have become very popular in the past few years and remote controls have struggled to keep up, but this is one that is sure to keep you on top of things, as one of its main features is Wi-Fi, yes that’s right Wi-Fi. When I saw this, I was thinking why would anyone need Wi-Fi on their remote, and I’m still wondering that.

Anyway, you can browse the web while watching TV on it’s 2.2-inch cell phone-like LCD screen. The SR 1500 Digital Media Remote can control up to 24 electronic devices, “hot keys” for real-time information updates. It even boasts a built-in speaker “to hear alerts and play back digital audio.” One more thing to make the Wi-Fi easy for you, is that it comes with a locater so you can walk around trying to find the best Wi-Fi signal. Naturally, this remote probably appeals to many people, except no word on pricing or availability at this time.

Via [Crave]

A recent partnership between Logitech and Last.fm will allow users to enjoy free personalized radio. The radio can be listened to using select internet radio receivers from Logitech to include the Squeezebox and Transporter. Users will be able to have an on-the-go experience with Last.fm, taking the PC out of the picture.

Sadly as of now the support is limited to just the Squeezebox and Transporter, however more support is expected to come via a “software update due before the end of the year.” Users will then be able to enjoy their personalized Last.fm radio stations using a wider selection of Logitech’s boxes.

Via [Boy Genius Report]