Yes, indeed, the Splitterbot is a friendly little white guy (I mean he’s made from white plastic) who sits on your keychain waiting for your need to share a banging tune with one of your mates.

At this point, his head conveniently comes off (completely, mind you, not just tilting back like our R2-D2 trash can) so you can plug him into your PMP and then (kids, look away now) shove a couple of headphone jacks into his eyes.

I feel more could have been made of this robot. Maybe a Splitterbot Deluxe is called for, where his antennae become useful switches or dials that control volume.

Take a look at those feet, though. They’re almost LEGO-like. Of course, they’re not, but how cool would it be if he could stand around at home with your collection of personalised LEGO people on a piece of that weird chunky bobbly green plastic grass?

Anyway, Splitterbot is yours for the tidy sum of $7.99. Grab one now.

Via

Well, it seems Logitech has applied this approach to the latest set of portable speakers. The Z205 is a speaker ‘bar’ that attaches to the top of your notebook’s screen and delivers a much more powerful sound than you’d expect from the internal speakers, while you don’t have to worry about standalone speakers disappearing while you’re on the move.

The picture shows the speaker centrally located, which is probably the optimal position. However, if you have a laptop with a built-in webcam you may well have to site it to the left or right so it doesn’t obscure the lens.

It’s not a huge speaker, though, measuring just 1.35 x 2.5 inches. It connects up via USB for both power and audio. Available for around £35 ($50).

The only thing that worries me is that the specifications page makes no mention of the power output or anything else. Either that means it’s really poor, or it’s a silly oversight by the usually attentive company.

Product page

In fact, after years of wanting a digital recorder, I now use my iPhone. However, there are still some nice features on these new recorders from Sony that would make me look twice at getting one.

Obviously they’re digital. That means you can store a huge amount of audio on the solid state disk, with no fear of quality degradation. It’s all nicely indexed, so no fast forwarding and rewinding (unless you liked listening to high-pitched squeaking as you tried to find your place).

Claiming to be unique, these recorders feature three microphones. Two allow stereo sound to be recorded, while a powerful direction mic is in place for singling out distant speakers.

As well as long-record mode for cramming up to 1,505 hours on up to 4GB of memory, there’s Linear PCM mode for recording high quality music and other audio. As it’s all USB based, the devices can also be used as portable drives for other files.

Available in eight models of varying capacities and types of battery (either rechargeable or AAA) and bundled with digital voice editing software from Dragon.

Sony

Take a look at S&J’s new “Eggy” speaker. We can easily see why it has the name, and it’s not far off the size of a chicken’s egg either, because it can fit into the palm of your hand.

Unscrew the two halves of the egg and you have two speakers complete with their own mini stands.

The units are driven from micro-mini 20mm units and feature a digital amplifier powering two watts of output per channel. Available in white and baby shades of blue and pink, because we know how important cutesy colours are.

If you want some music on the move, the “Bike Speaker” does exactly what its name suggests. Safer than wearing headphones while cycling, the speaker is based on the same technology as the Eggy and can be mounted on the handlebars. Additionally, the unit features an FM radio, watch and stopwatch.

The units will be shown off at this year’s CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany.

On the back of the shirt we have all the standard connectors you could want, from the (nearly) bygone SCART and S-VIDEO through to HDMI and digital inputs/outputs.

On the front, simply a standby button and a phones jack.

Sadly, this is just a printed shirt, with no working or moving parts (other than the human body wearing it, of course). I’m surprised it doesn’t come in an iPod version.

$18.

Tee (Via)

Now, Linn offers a one-box system that claims to be able to do away with all that.

While many everyday music lovers will happily download or rip compressed versions of their tunes, Linn’s MAJIK DS-I is all ready to take advantage of lossless audio formats such as FLAC and ALAC, including 24-bit Studio Master downloads that are identical to stereo Super Audio CDs.

It can be connected up to other home entertainment components such as Blu-ray players and games consoles.

What’s more, the unit can be controlled from a variety of sources including PC or PDA.

Other key specifications include six digital and five analogue audio inputs plus phono and AUX input, two channels of 100W Chakra amplification, UPnP media server compatibility and up-sampling of audio.

It’s not a cheap option, though, coming in at £2,500 (about $4,000).

Linn UK

Not all of it’s brand new, but CES is a great place to showcase it. There are geekier conventions, of course, but what would it be if Forever Geek didn’t give a decent nod Vegas way and showcase some of this year’s highlights.

The show is still rolling as we speak, so we may not have captured all the best bits yet. Still, let’s take a look at what’s hot at CES.

3DTV

You don’t have to look far before you find someone talking about 3D TV. It’s set to be one of the next big things and major players are lining up to get a piece of the action.

CyberLink, working in partnership with the Blu-ray Disc Association and major chip manufacturers including NVIDIA, Intel and AMD, has been showing off its 3D Blu-ray for PC solutions. That hopefully means lots of compatibility and less confusion for consumers.

XpanD showed off its latest advanced 3D active-shutter glasses designed to work with 3D-ready LCD, plasma and DLP displays. Any content encoded in 3D and that plays back at 120fps will compatible with the glasses, which are remarkably sleek given the technology hidden inside.

Dell has jumped on the 3D bandwagon with its 23-inch Alienware OptX monitor. As it shares its name with Dell’s inherited line of gaming PCs and notebooks, you can be sure that it’s aimed at gamers. Oh, and the Alienware M15x gaming laptop is also 3D-ready.

Many other manufacturers have decided to put “3D” in their blurb, including Toshiba on its new Qosmio X505 multimedia laptop.

Both Toshiba and Samsung have declared TVs containing processors which are capable of converting standard two-dimensional content into three-dimensions, and no doubt other top TV manufacturers will be doing the same.

And in case you think 3DTV is a long way off, the Consumer Electronics Association — though they may be over-optimistic — reckon that some four million 3DTV-ready sets will be sold this year.

Audio

CES always sees a huge range of speakers, headphones and other audio products come into the market and there’s no way we can cover them all, but enough interesting developments caught my eye to mention them here.

Firstly, Bowers & Wilkins has extended its range of good-looking, highly functional products which include the amazing looking 800 Series Diamond loudspeakers. They’re backed by names such as musician-producer Dave Stewart, film composer James Newton Howard and Abbey Road sound engineer Peter Cobbin. You can find out more at Bowers & Wilkins web site.

There are also some far-from-run-of-the-mill iPod docks and speakers including the Zeppelin.

Another Great British audio manufacturer (not that I’m biased or anything) is Naim Audio. They’ve just launched the UnitiQute high-end all-in-one audio player that’ll handle FM, DAB and Internet radio, streaming audio, iPod and USB sources. Find out more here.

Display and Touch

Pushing on with new technology in the world of touchscreens, Pacinian introduces its Surface Actuation system that offers a thin, responsive and power-efficient feedback system for use particularly in mobile devices.

Darice has already reported on a new material being considered for e-book readers. LG Display has created “metal foil” e-paper technology which is not only touch-sensitive and fairly high resolution but is also bendable.

Jayvee looked at Samsung’s transparent AMOLED screens which are sure to find some interesting applications over the coming few years.

Processors

Intel has introduced new features and processors including Turbo Boost Technology on its mainstream processors, the first 32nm processors, and Core i5 processors which are supposed to be around twice as fast as existing PCs.

Overall, Intel has introduced some 25 processors, wireless adapters and chipsets.

Gadgets

The Photosimile 5000 is an interesting product that will take a professional photograph of any object within seconds. It includes a 28-inch light box with 6500K daylight bulbs, automated camera positioning system and a turntable together with a Canon DSLR and imaging software.

Not only do you get a range of photos but also 360˚ and hemispherical Flash files. Neat.

Phone Halo Protect is a small Bluetooth-enabled device that can be attached to valuables and then used to locate them from an enabled smartphone.

Sticking to the location theme, Lok8u intros its GPS locator watch: the multi.m8 allows the wearer to be located with a 10-foot accuracy.

For those who just can’t survive without the magic of instant pictures, Polaroid has created a 12MP digital camera with a built in photo printer. It’s Polaroid for the 21st century.

We’re only partway though CES, so when the dust has settled we’ll take a look at some of the other gadgets that made it big here.

Low on features (plays music in the order it’s stored on a memory card) but high in visual appeal, it’s 8cm (about 3 inches) in length and authentically detailed.

It should be, in fact, because it has been officially licensed by Taito. I’m sure you can get knockoff variants for less than the $23.90 being asked here — they might even have an LCD to view your music track details on. This one doesn’t, but then it worked for Apple so that shouldn’t bother you much.

OK, fair dos — you can’t use it as a real lightsaber. I bet you’re shocked to learn that.

Anyway, it’s been online for a couple of months but won’t be available until February. If you’re interested in pre-ordering it, head over to the Star Wars Light Saber Kei MP3 Player product page.

Via

Clearly not, as there’s a big red line under it in my text editor, but I think it has to be one for next year’s update of the Oxford English Dictionary, because it seems that you can stick an iPod on just about everything these days.

Take an everyday object and iPodify it by sticking an iPod-friendly dock on it.

Electrolux wants to iPodify one of its own products: a vacuum cleaner.

My first impression is a definite WTF because vacuuming is not generally known as a quiet activity. Yet the home appliance giant reckons it has created a cleaner that is “as silent as normal conversation”.

In other words, you can do the vacuuming and listen to your music at the same time thanks to the dock and built-in speakers.

Of course you need to have conducted a research study, too, and Electrolux has found that people get the vacuuming done more quickly and with less stress when listening to music.

That’s all very well, but if this wonder cleaner is so quiet, why can’t I just use my regular hi-fi to listen to music?

Via

(If you think this is the best gift ever, you need to read our 12 tips for buying geek Christmas presents)

Right, so what is it?

Forget dictaphones and other recording devices. Nothing says “I’m a geek making it in the business world” more than turning up with one of these pens, recording memos on it, and then pretending you’re an ace ventriloquist by playing it back, at which point the creature on the end of the pen moves its mouth in sync with the audio.

Honestly, you’re definitely going to be the office fun guy with this. Colleagues will be itching to spend time with you just so they can see your hilarious act one more time.

$12.99 is a small price to pay for such amusement. Heck, why not get all four — frog, dinosaur, parrot, dolphin.

Product page

Maybe for you, but for those audiophiles who can afford high-end equipment (and are probably not listening to compressed MP3 files on their iPod) comes the likes of the Harman Kardon GLA-55 speakers.

They’re not carved from ice (because they’d melt, duh) but they’re exquisitely formed from clear glass.

My audiophilia isn’t advanced enough to explain the tech involved in these speakers, but I can tell it’s cutting edge. Here’s the lowdown as explained in the press release:

The GLA-55 features many proprietary technologies to provide the highest quality sound possible; including:

• Atlas AL and CMMD Transducers – The CMMD drivers provide accurate high frequencies, but are capable of low-frequency extension to four octaves; the Atlas AL drivers are capable of nearly 2,5 cm peak-to-peak travel for tight, accurate bass reproduction. Their pairing provides a full, rich frequency response, from the lowest bass to highest highs.
• Slipstream Port Design – The GLA-55 port minimizes boundary layer separation, providing high-output bass with low distortion.
• COE (Computer-Optimized Equalization) – The system equalization is computer-optimized to provide a rich, complete soundstage over a wide range of listening positions.
• OCT (Optimized Compression Topology) – The GLA-55 system utilizes a proprietary compression technology to ensure clean, accurate sound at high output levels.
• The Harman Kardon GLA-55 system is compatible with desktop computers (all platforms), laptops and MP3 and portable media players. In clear with chrome accents.

So, basically, they look great, sound great, and work with pretty much everything.

Price? £750 ($1,250 equivalent)

Harman Kardon

That’s why Pacemaker has decided to relaunch its website as LetsMix.com.

An email to its fans says that most people who visit the site don’t own a Pacemaker, but they use the downloadable Pacemaker editor, create their own mixes, upload them to the website, and listen to other people’s creations.

The new site is supposed to make finding and listening to mixes more streamlined, intuitive and interactive. Think of it as YouTube for audio mixes.

The beta version launches tomorrow (Thursday December 3rd), with updated mix software also available then.

LetsMix.com

I can see why it’s aimed at 3G S users, because when you’re video recording the built-in mic is angled the wrong way (given that in the past it’s only really been used for making phone calls and for playing ocarina).

This Mini Capsule mic is flexible so you can angle it where it’s needed. It has the added “advantage” that it makes your iPhone look a bit like an old-style cell phone with visible antenna. Yeah, like that’s a feature. The real feature is a claimed 10x better audio reception.

I’m sure we’ll see plenty of new ways of getting audio on to the iPhone as manufacturers make use of the improved dock connector, particularly as there are some kickass music creation apps available now. Some headsets also have decent mikes built in which are up to the task, but this is definitely one of the dinkiest solutions.

It’s only $14 too. Go grab it from Brando.

Via

The Mod1 satellite speakers are just four inches in diameter and made from high carbon steel. There’s a lot of sound technology in there, too, including rare earth magnets, Santoprene, Nomex and CCAD voice coils.

The speaker system is also easily upgradable, just by adding more speakers to form a Mod2 or Mod4 setup. There are compact subwoofers available too.

You can get two satellite speakers for $239 or the Mod1 Plus Home Theater System, which includes 5 speakers, the Super Eight subwoofer, a handmade stainless steel speaker stand and all of the wires and cables needed to set up the system for $999.

Members can now get access to three lossless music download file formats – Apple Lossless, 16-bit FLAC and now 24-bit FLAC.

Membership is £23.95 for six months or £33.95 per year, and for that you get to download an album every month, recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios.

This isn’t iTunes or any other mass-download music site, so it probably isn’t for everyone, but it does offer a range of alternative music for those who like to branch out a little.

In the first year, artists who have recorded albums or tracks have included Gwyneth Herbert, Dub Colossus, former Suede frontman Brett Anderson, guitarist Tom Kerstens, Mercury Award nominees Portico Quartet and Eurythmics star Dave Stewart.

Future releases include the new album from Dengue Fever, a band that blends Cambodian pop music with West Coast psychedelic rock.

Check it out here

Operating via USB, the speakers are downward facing which makes me think a lot of the sound is going to bounce off the desk or distort in some way.

Is this a case of cuteness before sound quality?

Surely if you wanted some animal ornaments you’d be better off investing in some fine porcelain ones that don’t try to do anything technological at the same time.

I suppose it’s a small mercy that these haven’t been combined with those dogs that run along yapping and then flip over backwards. You’d need wireless audio for that, for a start.

Still, if you really want to listen to your music coming out of a dog’s stomach, these are for you.

More pictures at the link.

These are glass speakers with white and blue LEDs, and they can even be supplied with some stands that also have lights built in.

Trouble is, they cost close to $1,000 and yet they only offer 10W of output per channel, which is pretty pathetic.

They might look great, but as far as I’m concerned speakers have to perform. I’d rather have boring speakers that pump than underperforming fancy ones.

Nice try Kenwood but give me something I actually want to play my music through.

(Via Akihabara News)

The stereo Aqua Soundz Speaker (I’ll forgive them using the letter ‘z’ in the title to make it sound cooler) will happily float on water or sit on any flat surface.

Not only that, but you don’t have to worry about getting the sound source wet because it comes with a transmitter with a wireless range of around 50 metres (150 feet) that you plug into any audio source using a standard 3.5mm jack.

It costs around £40 (about $60).

Product page (via The Insider)

Still, the retailer has launched a high-end iPod dock made from environmentally-friendly material.

M&S reckons the BLOK comes in at an “affordable must-have price”, though my wallet shrivelled at the sound of £229 ($321). Mercifully it’s not called an iBLOK.

So what do you get for that? Sound-wise, you get 40 watts of sound from the Class D amplifier – not huge but far from pathetic. The eco-warrior in you can relax because the casing is made from natural, chemical-free bamboo, while the aluminium is 100% recyclable.

It works with all iPod models, and probably the iPhone as well if you turn it to airplane mode. It’ll be available from next month, and you can get it shipped to the States too.

Marks & Spencer

Take this Gemei HD-660. Sadly it’s only available in China at the moment, but it features a 4.3-inch LCD with a 480×272 resolution and can handle most popular video and audio formats (AVI, FLV, MPEG, MP3, WMA, FLAC and more).

Now, obviously, playing back 720p video (or even standard DVD video) on something with this resolution is fairly pointless as you won’t see the difference but it comes with an external video cable so you can hook it up to a TV.

It even has a remote control so you could take it with you, plug it in to a home entertainment system and control it from the comfort of your chair. 32GB of memory means you should be able to fit a decent amount of high definition video onto it, or tons of music.

(Via Akihabara News)

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Features:

The SoundShelf designer (Polish designers Witek Stefaniak and Anielka Zdanowicz ) nailed it when they observe speakers are literally shoved in a corner and adorned with “novelty” items just to make it “blend in” with all other furnishings. This concept takes the speakers and “makes it” part of any room by making it serve a purposeful role. A hanging bookshelf or a standing DVD rack, good ideas!

Sure, the design may not be just as able to produce great sounds like traditional speaker sets, BUT as it is only a concept I’m sure if this takes off it will sound acceptable. I’ve seen speakers as small as a mouse from Pioneer, this shelf needs that type of sound technology.

This is a little odd, when I first saw this I thought a digital camera was supposed to be up there. But close study would show that the plug is for audio. The Portable Tripod Speaker is supposed to be “clever” until you take a step back and think is my precious MP3 gadget safe on top. Hmmm… valid question indeed.

If you’ve got a steady table to put this on top of, AND if you’ve got careful kids at home, then maybe your MP3 player IS safe. With the specifications below the jump, it does offer decent sound for a US$20 speaker set.

Size: 177x65x65mm, or 6.97×2.56×2.56in
Net Weight: 304g, or 10.72oz
Isolated Rate: >=65dB
Output: 4Wx2
Impedance: 4 Ohm
Speaker Unit: (70mmx30mm)x2
Power Supply: DC3-5V
S/N Ratio: >=90dB

It’s a new take on surround sound. I think it’s perfect for table activities with friends… like say scrabble? Definitely NOT Jengga!