Humax has extended its range of LCD TVs with another pocket-friendly model, the 32in LGB-32DST.
At £440 – on Amazon UK – it’s certainly one of the cheaper ones out there from a company with a decent track record in making affordable HDTVs that don’t completely suck. Humax is well-known for its HDTVs with internal 160GB hard disk drive recorders.
The display has a resolution of 1366x768 so its capable of handling 720p/1080i HD video and there’s a 8ms response time. Contrast is rated at a reasonable 1200:1 and there are two, all important HDMI inputs for hooking up your Sky HD box, HD player or games consoles. Other hook-ups include component, Scart, composite and S-Video.
It comes with a single digital TV tuner, can display picture-in-picture and there’s also a PC input. Could be good for anyone looking for a second TV without sacrificing on the size or burning a hole in your pocket. OK, a bigger hole in your pocket.-Martin Lynch
[Amazon]
TV HDTV LCD
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Have yourself a DABby DABby Christmas. OK, sorry. PURE is on the ‘green’ offensive this festive season by hoping some of you out there have plans to minimise your environmental impact with the gadgets you are about to buy.
The company has expanded its EcoPlus range of green DAB radios to 15, comprising DAB clock and portable radios, a micro hi-fi and DAB radio with iPod dock, the Chronos iDock [pictured].
The EcoPlus family now consists of: Move; ONE; PocketDAB 1500; Élan DX-40; Élan RV-40; EVOKE-1S; EVOKE-2XT; EVOKE-3; Oasis; TEMPUS-1S; Siesta; Chronos II; Chronos CD; Chronos iDock and DMX-20.
“The only environmental impact our customers want to have this Christmas is a little noise pollution as they blast out the festive hits,” said PURE General Manager, Paul Smith, “and with a full range of radios and a new CD-microsystem with reduced environmental impact we’re glad to be able to help them give a present to the planet.”
The EcoPlus range boasts power consumption during use and standby that's "significantly lower than the industry average”.
The packaging is equally planet-friendly with cardboard boasting a minimum of 70% recycled material, and finished using water-based varnish. The internal pulp trays are 100% recycled, as is the user documentation which is written in soya ink.
So, if you need a good solid, feelgood reason to convince yourself to buy even more gadgets this year, then green is the way to go.-Martin Lynch
[PURE EcoPlus]
ipod dock DAB MP3 music
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Rockstar Games has managed to win its appeal against the BBFC’s ban on the controversial Manhunt 2 game.
We recently covered Rockstar’s appeal - and tongue-lashing of the BBFC - to the Video Appeals Committee (VAC), who have now come back 4 to 3 in favour of the game getting a release and a classification from the BBFC. Rockstar stated:
"We are pleased that the decision of the VAC has recognised that Manhunt 2 is well within the bounds established by other 18+ rated entertainment."
A less pleased David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:
“The BBFC will carefully study the judgement by the Video Appeals Committee when it becomes available. The BBFC exercises great vigilance and care in ensuring that all violent games which are submitted to us are correctly classified.
“The BBFC twice rejected Manhunt 2 for its focus on varied and cumulative killings. We recognize that rejection is a very serious step, in which the desire of publishers to market their games, and that of gamers to buy them, must be balanced against the public interest, including the full range of possible harm risks to vulnerable individuals and to any children who may be wrongly exposed to such games.”
While this might be a major victory for Rockstar it does not mean that gamers will get to see Manhunt 2 on UK shelves anytime soon since the BBFC will not issue it a rating (18+) until a full report of the decision has been examined. Even then, there is the possibility of the BBFC taking this matter to the High Court.-Martin Lynch
games PS2 rockstar manhunt
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Over a year after Microsoft introduced video downloads on the Xbox 360 in the US, the service is coming to the UK. From today, UK gamers [along with those in Ireland, Canada, France and Germany] will be able to download standard definition and high-definition movies via the Xbox LIVE service, for viewing during a certain window of time before it expires.
The line-up, to begin with, is paltry with 27 movies on offer but Microsoft is promising to flesh it out quickly. Movies on offer today include 300, Training Day, The Matrix Reloaded, Swordfish, Mars Attacks, and Superman III – that last one for those who missed being hugely disappointed the first time around.
Standard definition movies will cost 250 Microsoft Points (£2.13), while HD movies are priced at 380 (£3.23) Microsoft Points. With the addition of DivX support recently, the Xbox 360 really is being re-positioned as a one-stop movie box, as well as gaming console. Pity it's still so damn loud though.
Jump now for the full list of movies.-Martin Lynch
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The auction of the Batmobile from the 1995 movie excrement known as Batman Forever, spectacularly failed to impress bidders at a recent auction.
Like the movie, it had high expectations with a reserve of $600,000-$800,000 but, in the end, crashed and burned by selling for just $297,000. That’s just over 10% of what it cost to build in the first place. Here’s what the auction site said:
"The Batmobile presented here is a running and driving example constructed in Australia with a fiberglass body and a custom tubular chassis. Its mold cost a reported $2,500,000 and an additional $300,000 was invested to complete the vehicle. As a promotional vehicle, not used in filming, it embarked on various promotional tours around the world before its eventual acquisition by Mr. Wiseman in 1999. It remains fully intact and functional with no damage to speak of. Despite a certain degree of surface texture and minor paint cracking and scuffs, the car remains in very presentable condition. The interior has held up nicely and is entirely custom made, while the undercarriage has been detailed to the standards required for cinema productions. Bat-gadgets such as the rear jet flame are completely functional."
Sold through RM Auctions the Batmobile was expected to draw big publicity and bucks so what happened? It's all in the fine print. A quick look reveals an insane list of conditions attached to the sale by movie studio, Warner Brothers. These included one that said the owner, now down almost $300,000, cannot drive the Batmobile in public. Ever.
You can read the rest of the conditions after the jump.-Martin Lynch
[RM Auctions]
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I love LaCie’s designer approach to storage, even if it does dent your wallet that little bit more than the competition. Who remembers the snappy Lego Brick storage drives, the alien-looking Huby connectivity hub, or the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain drives?
I’d be quite happy shelling out a few quid extra when I get to stare at the company’s latest designer external storage drive than the fugly grey lump plastic on my desk right now. This is the Hard Disk, Design by Neil Poulton, which owes more than a nod to the floating monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and which is why is looks very cool indeed.
Poulton is a multi-award winning designer and the man who invented the Ageing Pen back in the 1980s, made from a plastic that aged and changed colour the more it was used.
The glossy drive, finished in ‘mirror black’ comes with LaCie ‘1-Click’ Backup Software for PC and Mac.-Martin Lynch
[LaCie UK]
storage USB HDD lacie
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Following hot on the heels of the BBC’s official launch of its HD service, Channel 4 will offer HD content on Sky from today.
The HD content line-up will contain a ‘proportion’ of its regular programmes in HD, like Ugly Betty and some live gigs from The Scissor Sisters and Keane. There will also be some ‘classic and contemporary movies’ - the lack of detail here hardly inspires confidence in what’s coming though.
From Spring 2008, a HD version of Hollyoaks soap will also starting beaming into your homes. Riveting. Those with a Sky HD box will find the new content on channel 140, where available.
"Channel 4's mission is to innovate and provide its high quality programming across all platforms in formats that consumers want," said Rod Henwood, director of new business at Channel 4. "By launching the UK's first terrestrial simulcast service, we are living up to our reputation as an innovator in television and providing a unique service to our viewers."
The arrival of Channel 4 makes 14 HD channels on the Sky platform, although not all of those are free to regular subscribers.-Martin Lynch
[Digital Spy]
TV c4 HD HDTV
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For those inevitable trips to see the relatives over the Christmas break, you may want something to keep the rugrats under control in the car.
While much of the world is moving to portable video players, the vast majority still uses DVDs and a portable DVD player is the simplest option for entertainment on the go. HannsG has introduced its HP076VD player with a 7in screen for a bargain basement £65.
The rechargeable battery offers an underwhelming two hours of playback but at least you get a 12Vcable for running it off the car cigarette lighter thrown in too. The player also supports Kodak Picture CDs, MP3s and JPEG photos from CD. The composite AV cable will allow you to hook it up to a larger screen once you get where you’re going.
Cheap and cheerful, this hardly sets gadget world on fire but then it won’t burn a hole in your pocket either.-Martin Lynch
[Misco]
gadgets movies DVD portable
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Nintendo has pulled its Christmas Wii adverts in the UK because it’s already unable to meet current demand.
You may have read our earlier reports about impending Wii shortages but they are well and truly here so start thinking 2008 for your chance to hurt a relative with the Wiimote.
The company has decided that Wii fever is already at dangerously high levels and, since it’s already running out of its wildly popular console, it would be irresponsible to run a Christmas Wii ad campaign.
The ads have been replaced by ones for the DS – which is already the second most searched for item on the Web in the UK, after the elusive Wii. Speaking to Marketing Week, a Nintendo spokesperson said:
“We have been running the campaign all year round, but we want to take a responsible stance this Christmas and not fuel demand.”
Nintendo has already upped production to 1.8m units a month but most UK shoppers will still have to wait until 2008.-Martin Lynch
wii console nintendo games
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Portable storage is going bonkers these days and that’s all for the good too, especially since you can now cart around a cracking 16GB on a single SDHC card.
That’s what’s on offer from the new Transcend 16GB Class 6 SDHC card, one of first out there. It only seems like a few months ago that we were agog over 4GB and 8GB SD Cards. The card is based on SD 2.0 technology and since it’s Class 6, it supports fast data transfer speeds with a guaranteed minimum write speed of 6MB/s making it ideal for use with high-end digital cameras and HD camcorders.
The company says that 16GB is enough to store over 8,000 high-resolution 7MP photos, not to mention a lot of video, and even full-size DVD movies for entertainment on the go. The card sports a mechanical write protection switch to protect your precious moments from accidental deletion and ECC (Error Correcting Code) which wards against data corruption during transfer.
It is priced at around £100. At this rate of development, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a 32GB version on the horizon by next Easter.-Martin Lynch
[Transcend]
storage SD Card memory gadget
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee Contributor1 |Tamlin Magee
