Syabas, makers of the Popcorn Hour A110 and C200 network media tanks, have announced yet another streaming device called the Popbox. Unlike previous offerings the Popbox has no internal hard disk and relies on streaming video from external sources such as; USB devices, a local network and the Internet.

The Popbox supports a number of content providers (see screenshot above) however due to copyright some services, such as Netflix, are unlikely to be available to UK users.

According to Syabas the Popbox uses much of the C200’s hardware and is just as proficient with audio and video formats. One notable difference though is the interface which looks a lot more professional than the C200.

On that note Syabas are also promising a much improved and Flash based UI for the C200 early in 2010.

The Popbox will feature an App store allowing the user to download and install applications to the device. The Popbox is due in March 2010 priced at a very reasonable $129 although there is no word as yet on the UK price or delivery date. If Syabas run true to form expect bulk deliveries to be patchy for the first month or so.

Audio/Video outputs:

• HDMI v1.3a (up to 1080p)
• Component video (up to 1080p)
• Stereo analogue audio
• S/PDIF audio

  Interfaces:

• 10/100 Ethernet interface
• 2x USB 2.0 ports (1 front and 1 rear mounted)

via Digitalera

The new LG LU7000 LCD TV was launched at IFA back in September 2009 and we’ve had the 22” version on long term test for 6 weeks now, so how’s it performed? Read on and find out……

First Impressions

The LU7000 is finished in a very classy looking piano black, has a DVD player tucked away in its sloping stand and looks a million dollars. A thin transparent section below the frame finishes the TV off nicely.

The TV can be mounted on a standard bracket or you can use the inbuilt stand. A small base plate is slipped on to the slopping DVD to make the bottom flat when using the stand. This keeps the TV looking neat when it is hung from a wall.

The viewing angle from left and right is good however, as usual; it’s not so good from below. The LU7000 isn’t full 1080P HD and isn’t 720P either it’s the rather unusual, for TV at least, 1360×768. It does produce some damn good pictures though.

Setup and Menus

As with almost all modern TVs the first time you switch it on it automatically scans for both analogue and digital TV channels including digital radio. All very simple and clear so far but how about the menus that are used to tweak the TV after initial setup?

I’m pleased to report that LG have used a very simple and clear icon based menu system allowing you to easily make adjustments to settings on the TV without the need to move closer. As always inputs can be labelled to make selecting the correct input a simple operation.

One pointer to the intended audience are the clock settings that allow you to specify an on and off time along with a channel and volume level making it the perfect alarm clock for the bedroom.

Integrated Freeview

The integrated Freeview picture quality obviously relies on the quality the channel transmits at. Overall the LG handles Freeview well and the resulting picture quality is bright and sharp with only the occasional artefact.

The EPG is clear and simple and the only real negative is the slight pause when you switch between channels. The LU7000 is not Freeview HD compatible but then there aren’t any other TVs out there at the moment that are either.

Integrated DVD

The integrated DVD player is built into the TV stand and has a novel sliding door mechanism rather than the more usual side mounted slot loader. DVDs are upscaled to 720P and look sharp, bright and vivid. The DVD player isn’t region free and despite searching I couldn’t find a hack to unlock it. Obviously I’ll update this post if I find one.

MP3s and JPGs are handled well although unfortunately DIVX and XVID videos can’t be played. Response and loading times are pleasingly fast and the DVD mechanism is very quiet in operation, you can hardly hear it even when the TV is on mute.

The blue lights around the disc flash on loading and ejecting but fortunately are left off during playback.

HDMI picture quality

The picture quality when using an HDMI source is simply gorgeous whether playing videos or gaming. For reference my source was an Xbox 360 and I couldn’t detect any obvious motion blur during games or video playback. The Xbox correctly identified the 1360×768 resolution of the TV. 

Sound

In common with most with most flat panel TVs there are no obvious speakers on the front and LG use Invisible Speaker technology to achieve this. Sound through the invisible speaker system is good without being great although it is a small TV so this is understandable and there’s an Optical Digital audio output if you want to connect to a more serious sound system.

ECO function

The remote has a dedicated ECO button that allows you to set the level of power saving from minimum through to screen off if you’re listening to music. Also available from the same button are picture mode, sound mode, audio mode, aspect ratio, sleep timer and USB eject as appropriate to the input you’re viewing.

Connections

The LU7000 sports a plethora of connections which is especially impressive considering it’s a relatively small TV. 

Rear connections

• 1 x RGB in PC plug and play.
• 1 x Audio in (for RGB in).
• 2 x HDMI
• 2 x Scart (1 full)
• 1 x Component
• 1 x Composite
• 1 x Optical Digital Audio output.
• 1 x RF Antenna In.

Side connections

• 1 x USB 2.0.
• 1 x CI slot.
• 1 x 3.5mm Headphone socket.

The connections make this an ideal student TV as it can be used as a PC monitor, Freeview TV and games console screen with inputs to spare. When using the screen as a PC monitor the resolution is detected correctly and results in a very usable PC display.

Pros

• Integrated DVD.
• Stylish looks.
• Connectivity.
• USB input.
• Front loading DVD is neat and saves scrabbling around the side for the more usual slot loader.
• Nice remote.

Cons

• No DIVX/XVID from the USB or DVD.
• Slight pause before a Freeview channel is displayed when stepping through channels.

Conclusion

The LG LU7000 LCD TV is a very competent all rounder with excellent connectivity for digital and legacy equipment making it the ideal student TV. It’s also well suited to smaller rooms such as kitchens and bedrooms.

On the negative side it’s a shame that it doesn’t handle DIVX or XVID files like the LG TVs launched at the same time as the LU7000. It is rather a lot to expect from a TV of this size and price though.

All in all if you’re after a TV in the 19 to 22” size range then you should take a serious look at the LU7000. Expect to pay around £300 for the 22” and a little less for the 19” version. 

SPEC

• Size 19 and 22” widescreen (16:9).
• Built-in DVD player.
• Invisible speakers, 10W.
• 1360×768.
• HD ready.
• Digital Audio Out.
• SRS TruSurround XT.
• Freeview.
• USB 2.0 (JPEG/MP3 Playback).
• Energy Saving Recommended.

Sony are bringing back the “Walkman” brand quite aggressively with various new models at different price points and capabilities. Today we take a look at one of the entry level models, the Walkman B series.

Features and design

Specifications:

• Width (mm): 86
• Height (mm): 23.6
• Depth (mm): 14.5
• Battery life – continuous playback music (h): 18
• Charging time (full charge) (h): 1h 10 min
• Available sizes – 2GB and 4GB

The B series has a simple design, incorporating a 3 line display that shows current track information and allows navigation of the menus (just). Physical buttons are provided for recording, volume and track navigation – for anything more complex than that you’re into the control menus.

In common with most players you get functions to repeat the track or playlist as well as a shuffle option. An FM radio is included and you also get a recording function which can record both voice and radio content.

Voice recordings don’t need a separate microphone or specialised headphones; the device itself has a built in mic which seems to work well for recording simple memos.

There’s also a “zap” button which runs through your playlist, diving into the middle of each song to play you a few seconds of it before moving on to the next. A second press of the button starts playing the selected track properly. It’s a convenient way of navigating through an album or shuffled playlist without resorting to the sometimes fiddly display, but I could have done without the chirpy “Zappin’ in!” and “Zappin’ Out!” voice on each button press.

In use

In common with the X series walkman we previously looked at, connectivity is a breeze. The B series plugs directly into a USB port and is recognised by Windows as a music player. It synchronises with Windows media player if that’s what you want, or you can just treat it like a USB stick and drag MP3s directly onto it.

The compact dimensions of the player lead to a necessarily small screen, which in turn means navigating the menus can be fiddly. Everything is fairly logically laid out so there’s no problem finding anything but you’ll probably want to set up some playlists or browse your music via album/artist/genre as navigating a single folder with several hundred tracks in it takes some button pressing!

Sound quality

The B series is a budget model so the included headphones are fairly basic and you don’t get the electronic enhancements of the more expensive X series. That said, you do get a 5 band equalizer to tune the sound to your taste and with some decent earbuds it sounds fine.

Conclusion

At the £30-£40 price point Sony have some competition from other devices on features but the compact styling and ease of use of the B series makes it stand out.

Sony Ericsson launched their new Windows Mobile powered X2 smart phone at the London Design Museum this evening. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.5, has a 3.5” resistive touch screen and is available exclusively on Vodafone from the end of November.

SE have a range of home screens available preloaded on the phone as well as more that are downloadable. Take a look at the pictures above to see two of the panels and the panel picker. Panels range from the typical Windows Mobile look through to something that looks very much like Sim City complete with animated trains and boats. You can add widgets to these panels to further customise the phone to suit your personality.

The X2 has a side slide full QWERTY keyboard to compliment its touch screen and this will probably be the text input method of choice for most people as it feels very stable in use. Having said that if the handwriting recognition is up to the job that might be an even better option. A stylus is neatly stored in the body of the phone to help if you choose the handwriting route.

The screen is clear and bright with video looking quite impressive and I’m glad to see that a 3.5mm standard headphone socket is provided. The X2 has an optical mouse pad allowing you to move around the screen and select functions with ease. Sony Ericsson have made this even better by using icons in place of menu options where possible.

The 8.1 mega pixel camera has autofocus, geo tagging, image stabilisation, face detection, an LED flash and is capable of recording video as well. The X2 comes packaged with Windows Office Mobile and a TV Out cable for those emergency PowerPoint presentations or perhaps just for showing off your family videos.

The phone is aimed at both the business and consumer markets so it will be up against both the Blackberry and HTC phones. Time will tell if it has what it takes to compete with them. Vodafone are promising that the X2 will be available free on contract from the end of November.

We’ll post a review in a month or so once we’ve had a chance to use the phone day to day for a while.

Specifications

• 3.2” resistive touch screen. (WVGA) 800×400 Pixels, 65,536 colours.
• Dimensions: 110 x 54 x 16mm.
• Weight: 115g with the standard battery.
• Claimed: GSM: Up to 10 hrs, Standby time GSM: Up to 500 hrs.
• Claimed: UMTS: Up to 6hrs Standby time UMTS: Up to 640hrs.
• Claimed music listening time: Up to 20hrs
• Quad Band.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (A2DP) and USB.
• USB mass storage.
• 8.1 Mega Pixel camera, Auto Focus, Geo tagging, Image stabiliser, Send to web, Touch focus  and LED flash.
• Video WVGA 30fps
• Up to110MB internal memory.
• Memory card support: Micro SDHC™, up to 16GB of additional memory.
• A-GPS
• Microsoft Office mobile, PDF and text viewers.
• TV out via included cable.
• Standard 3.5mm headphone connection.

In the Box:

• XPERIA™ X2
• Battery
• Battery Charger
• Stereo Portable Hands free MH500
• USB cable
• TV out cable
• 4GB SanDisk Micro SD memory card
• User guide

See the Sony Ericsson website for more details.

The LG 22” LU7000 released back in September has just arrived for review. We’ll take a good look at it and report back fully in a few weeks but in the meantime here are our first impressions of the TV.

The LG is quite a looker with a DVD player built into its sloping stand and a nifty pair of sliding doors for the DVD.  This makes a nice change from the more conventional slot loading mechanism and gives the LG a very sleek and stylish look.  Unfortunately it doesn’t share the gorgeous Borderless design of it’s larger siblings.

The LU7000 has a full set of inputs including a USB 2.0 port that can be used to display your digital camera pictures as well as play your MP3s.

Expect to pay around £300 for the 22” and a little less for the 19” version.

LU 7000:

• Built-in DVD player
• Invisible speakers, 10W
• 1386×768
• HD ready
• 2 x HDMI
• 2 x Scart (1 x Full)
• 1 x RF
• 1 x Composite
• 1 x component
• 1 x PC input Plug and Play
• Digital Audio Out
• SRS TruSurround XT
• Freeview
• USB 2.0 (JPEG/MP3 Playback)
• Energy Saving Recommended

Back in March I enthusiastically extolled the virtues of my original Sennheiser CX300 in ear headphones. This outburst was brought on by the release of Sennheiser’s CX300 II Precision in ear headphones.

At the time I hadn’t tried a pair but after seeing them on sale for £13.99 from both www.7dayshop.com and www.play.com I took the plunge. These are in fact the Eco version which simply means that they are packaged in recycled cardboard rather than the traditional, impossible to get into, plastic.

In use

I have to admit I was worried that these new headphones wouldn’t live up to my expectations.  Their massively discounted price did nothing to reassure me either although it did make buying them much less of a risk.

I’m very happy to report that the sound quality that made me love the originals is still there in spades.  Sennheiser have boosted the bass and and volume levels and the result is a very clear and rich sound that’s a noticeable improvement over the originals.  Another improvement is in the wires which are now more supple and have less of a tendency to curl and tickle your chin.

In the Eco friendly box

• CX 300-II in ear headphones
• Ear pieces (Small, Medium and Large)
• Carrying pouch

Features

• 2-year warranty
• Noise-isolating
• Ear pieces to suit various ear canal sizes
• Frequency response: 19 to 21000 Hz
• Impedance: 16 ohms
• Connection: 3.5 mm angled plug, gold-plated (2.5mm available in black only)
• 1.2 m, asymmetrical cable
• Available in; black, white, silver, pink and red
• Weight: 11g

Conclusion

The proof of pudding is that they’ve replaced my original CX300’s which have been relegated to being the backup set.

With an RRP of £39.99 they’re a good buy but heavily discounted down to £13.99 they’re an absolute bargain and not to be missed.

It might be time to upgrade my trusty Squeezebox. A recently announced addition to Logitech’s range of networked music players is the new Squeezebox Touch.

It has the same core capabilities of the squeezebox line (great sound quality and a very hackable server component) but adds a 4.3” touchscreen. This displays album art and details about the currently playing music, as well as allowing direct control with the touch interface.

Listed on the Logitech website at £259 it directly replaces the old Squeezebox model.

The SL 8000 (left) is a full HD TV with 200Hz TruMotion starting at 32” and going up to 47”.  It’s another very slim Borderless LCD TV with LED backlighting and shares the green credentials of the
SL 9000 series.  The TVs are also able to playback DIVX, DIVX HD and MKV files from USB drives of up to 1TB. 

The 19” and 22” LU 7000 TVs, (right) are aimed at the smaller rooms in your house. Having a built in DVD player they are ideally suited to the bedroom, kitchen or even a student pad. The DVD player is built neatly into the TV stand which slides open impressively when ejecting the DVD.  The LU 7000 also features LGs Invisible Speaker Technology just like the SL 8000 and SL 9000 so sound quality should be impressive for a small TV. 

As yet there is still no word on pricing for either TV series but, as with the SL 9000, it is said to be “competitive” so we’ll have to wait and see.  Both TVs should be in shops sometime in October.

SL 8000 Features:

• 32, 37, 42 and 47”
• Borderless design
• Super Slim 4.5cm (42”)
• TruMotion 200Hz
• HD Ready 1080p (Full HD)
• Resolution – 1920 x 1080
• Picture Wizard
• AV Mode
• 24p Real Cinema
• Expert Mode (ISF Ready)
• Bluetooth for use with headphones or for streaming audio and pictures to the TV from a Bluetooth source.
• JPG, MP3, DIVX, DIVX HD and MKV files from USB drives of up to 1TB.
• Intelligent Sensor II
• Energy Saving Recommended
• Invisible Speaker

LU 7700 Features:

• Built-in DVD player
• Invisible speakers
• 2 x HDMI
• 2 x Scart (1 x Full)
• Freeview
• USB 2.0 (JPEG/MP3 Playback)
• Energy Saving Recommended

LG launched their new Chocolate BL40 widescreen phone last night at a swanky party in the London Design Museum. I was lucky enough to get some time with the BL40 and as you’d expect it excels at displaying video on its 4” 21:9 aspect ratio screen.

The Chocolate uses an updated version of the “S Class” interface used on many of the recent LG phones. The rotating cube has been stretched and now mimics the applications and shortcuts setup on the phone. The interface is noticeably quicker than earlier LG phones such as the Arena I reviewed earlier in the year. This is no mean feat as the Arena is no slouch.

The BL40 isn’t just an awesome multimedia phone though, it also has some other neat tricks up its sleeve. The screen can work in split screen mode for certain applications such as messaging, the scheduler, web browsing and MP3 playback.

Web browsing works well with the panoramic screen allowing many web pages to be displayed full width. Pinch and Pull zoom can be used on web pages and photos. Gesture shortcuts can be setup to access phone applications and one touch copy and paste is also supported.

Although the new Chocolate has a wide screen it isn’t particularly bulky and fitted nicely into the pocket of my jeans. Unfortunately I was spotted before I could leave the venue but we have been promised a review phone a little later in the month.

The BL40 Chocolate should be available from The Carphone Warehouse and Orange from late September.

Specifications

• 4.01” panoramic (21:9) capacitive touch screen. WVGA 345 x 800 Pixels.
• Dual screen UI.
• Dimensions: 128 x 51 x 10.9mm.
• Weight: 129g with the standard battery.
• 1000mah Battery.
• Claimed: 370 hours standby (3G) and 5 hours talk time (3G).
• 7.2 HSPDA.
• Quad Band.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (A2DP version 2.1) and USB.
• 5 Mega Pixel camera, Auto Focus and LED flash.
• 1 GB internal memory and Micro SD slot for up to 32GB of additional memory.
• Audio codecs: MP3, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+ and WMA9.
• Video codecs: H.263/MPEG4: VGA 30fps playback and recording.
• FM radio.
• Microsoft Office, PDF and text viewers.
• TV out via optional accessory.

For more information take a look at the LG web site.

Berlin played host last week to the IFA show. IFA is the “other” big event on the Consumer Entertainment calendar after CES and provides an opportunity for manufacturers to launch products to a European audience.

Sony were amongst the first companies to announce a raft of new products and here are the highlights:

W5810 and Z5800 Freesat TV’s (pictured). Both these sets offer 1920×1080 HD screens and built in Freesat tuners. You also get the latest version of the BRAVIA processing engine (Bravia Engine 3) and 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The Z5800 also includes MotionFlow 200Hz processing for smoother pictures.

Next up we have a couple of WiFi enabled Blu-Ray players, the BDP-S560 and BDP-S760. WiFi is used to enable the BD-Live technology allowing Blu-Ray disks to become more interactive and deliver content from the internet.

Of more practical benefit is the quick start feature these players offer, allowing them to start up in under 6 seconds.

The home cinema receiver range is being updated with the STR-DA5500ES 7.1 channel unit boasting 6 HDMI ports, picture-in-picture from two video sources, upscaling and a fully automated setup.

Lastly we get a teaser for a new Blu-ray “Mega Changer” available in 2010. This multi-disk behemoth can hold up to 400 CD/DVD/Blu-ray titles. Given that a hard-drive based library of Blu-ray media isn’t really practical at the moment this looks like a nice way of having all your movies on tap.