Most electronics has advanced greatly in one way or another over the past 5 years. The only piece of technology that I have seen remain at the same level which it has before is HiFi stereos. They have made a few modifications but nothing to show a trend in stereo products changing, but Sony has taken a step in that direction to make a very full featured HiFi Stereo.
Features:
- Full color screen for a fantastic user interface
- 80 GB HDD and can store all music in MP3, Atrac3, and PCM format
- Can rip music from CDs, MDs, Tapes, LPs, and Radio to MP3
- Can connect by USB to a Thumbstick, MP3 Player (Sony/iPod/or Other)
- Can download album information from the net when connected by wireless optional adapter
They have said the speakers are a bit lacking but the rest of this machine packs more features then any HiFi set in this price range. Who wouldn’t want to get their hands on this machine as a stereo and music storage. Just start ripping all your music automatically to the HDD and then transfer it out.
Price: £499
Link: Sony.co.uk
Now this couldn’t get any more entertaining then this. I previously mentioned about the USB Rocket Launcher before, but they took it to another level and gave this Rocket Launcher more articulation and Twice the Distance that it had before. Check out the video on the link below, I wouldn’t mind having a row of these, I would shoot people out of the air without any issues, people would be falling left and right.
Price: $40.00
Link: ThinkGeek
People have always said its difficult managing music, and this is with only a few Gigabytes worth of music, maybe even 20 or 50 Gigabytes. What would you do if you had over a Terabyte worth of music. It seems Qsonix have thought about it and they have developed a product specifically for that application and more. The is a fully featured music management system with all the possible options possible. This product is engineered to make music management as easy as possible with all the features you could want, the best part is integration capabilities.
Features:
- Touch-screen music management system, GUI is very simple and user friendly.
- Takes care of your archives.
- Control four zones independently with their own tunes, volume and other settings.
- Recommends and builds custom play lists based on moods and themes.
- It automatically retrieves of album art and liner notes.
- Transfers music to and from any iPod product automatically as well as any MP3 player.
- Can automicatlly convert iTunes format to MP3 and back.
- Will automatically rip from any audio CD and retrieve album art and liner notes for, as well as ripping from compilation CDs and letting you assign the correct information for it.
- Can rip to different quality of music such as: CD Quality Lossless Compression, High Quality (320 Kbps), or Normal Quality (192 Kbps).
- Can integrate into home automation system, or remain as standalone system to integrate into any speaker system.
- Fast Preview – Can preview music without interrupting playlists.
Who said the best doesn’t come for a price.
Price: $5900 – $7900 (250 GB – 1 TB)
Link: Crave.net
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Who said listening in isn’t fun?
 This is probably an interesting gadget for lots of people, it is designed to be used in office, home, or any other situation. A chargable listening device which can be placed some where remote or under a desk, and can last as long as the chraged battery on it lasts. You just have to insert your SIM card and be ready to listen to any conversation occuring where the Spy Ear was placed.
You can technically call in from international areas and listen into conversations or what is going on. How would this be abused? Well that would be up to the owner, for only $85 you can call in and listen to all the different places that you want. You can have it on a fixed location with the power connected or having it run off the battery for a certain amount of time, it can be charged by USB. You would also have to get a lot of different phone numbers with all the different locations you would have for the Spy Ear.
Link: OhGhizmo
Apple has gone through with their threat, they have made all Unlocked iPhones “permanently inoperable†with the new security and Wifi feature update. Reports are coming in that the iPhones are completely useless and you can barely make an emergency call and it isn’t covered under warranty.
Even trying a work around of installing new AT&T Chips isn’t getting the iPhone. This is going to be another challenge for the hackers to work on but those who have updated and their phones have bricked then they are out of luck.
Link: Crave.net
So after looking around for a good work phone I decided to go with the HTC Touch because of my requirements and the features of the HTC Touch fit my requirements.
- Integrates Directly with Outlook without any third party software
- Compact, Simple, and Light
- Battery Lasts a good amount of time.
- Good touch screen interface
- The Touch Flo interface is very useful and configurable
- Charging by USB
- Plays MP3s and other forms of media
- Wi-Fi Connectivity
- Arabic Language
Some people were asking me why I didn’t get the Apple instead of this, I think the main reason I would be too entertained by it. A few other reasons is that there is no Arabic Support, I have to use a third party software to integrate with Outlook, and its a bit bigger then what I need.
Price: 180 KD
Link: HTC
After looking at a lot of reviews I’m going with the Kenwood DDX8019 for my headunit since it fits perfectly into the Landcruiser’s Double Din Space for the Radio. It also has all the features I’m looking for and has a smooth interface. It was between this unit and the Alpine unit, and I know that the Alpine Units produce better sounds but I wanted a smooth interface which I would be getting with Kenwood.
Some Features I’m looking for, the features it has is too damn long:
- 6.95 inch screen which fits double din size opening
- Touchscreen controls and selectable backgrounds
- Plays DVDs, DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, Video CDs, JPEG images, and AAC/MP3/WMA discs
- DVD Audio compatible
- Inputs: two 2.0 USB ports, two audio/video inputs, rear-view camera input
It comes with its own amplifier but I’m going to get a stand alone amp for the sake of sound quality, and I’m getting better speakers then what it can support.
Link: Crutchfield
This has been in the air but nobody has really discussed it until Apple has come out and made an official statement. It seems they are hell bent on keeping the iPhone locked, and if an update is applied it will most likely brick your phone on purpose. The update shouldn’t have anything to do with the status of the lock but seems they are tying it to it, and if the Phone bricks because of the update it is not covered under warranty. This update will give your iPhone the ability to go to the Wifi Music Store, but it might have other affects which are yet unknown. Check out the link for more information.
Link: Crave.net
I have thinking about this idea for a little while and I have come to the conclusion that I am going to go through with it. The Landcruiser’s sound system is pretty bad compared to other vehicles out there, but now the CD changer has shorted out and it will cost a large amount to replace which I didn’t think was worth. It would be better to spend a little more an get the system that you can. I would get the right system for me since I like to listen to music loudly and clearly.
Right now Crutchfield are helping me with all my choices which is great, all through email and they are giving me reasons to why to take specific products then I would go through the reviews.
The list of items:
- HeadUnit
- Front Speakers
- Rear Speakers
- Wiring
- Amplifier
- Dynamat
I don’t want a Subwoofer if the speakers can handle a little bass in the songs, I don’t want too much of a thud in the sound system so I am going without subwoofers, but I’m keeping them in mind. I know a place that would do a good installation in Kuwait with clean wiring, and I am getting all the components from the states including the wiring since in Kuwait even if you do get certain brands they would be manufactured different then the units you get from the states. I’m looking forward to this but it is taking sometime with the research, and I have wanted to upgrade the sound system for years.
For work I use a second line because I don’t like giving out my personnel number since some of these people would call at the oddest of times. So for work I got an I-Mate so I can sync it with Outlook and I would keep charging from that USB connection. And so I have been depending on the phone for the details and keeping all the information, but most of it is backed up on my laptop.
Suddenly I went to charge the phone, and I left it overnight. The next morning the light was red not green or orange, I haven’t seen red before so I wasn’t sure what was going on. After dropping it off at the phone place they said it shorted it would cost 35 KD to fix it and a couple of weeks, I thought that was ridiculous. So I’m using a temp phone for now and I’m looking at different HTC phones since I want a light Windows Phone for work.