Surf in the sun
Ever dreamt of sitting in your garden checking your e-mails on your laptop via your home phone line? BT is claiming you'll be able to do just that with its new DECT wireless phone system and modem.
The £250 BT On-Air 1800, consists of a base station that is home to the modem and a module that attaches to a PC via its USB socket. The two connect wirelessly enabling users to surf the internet or send e-mails via their laptop, within 50 metres of the base station indoors, and up to 300 metres outdoors. The system is compatible with Windows 98, Me and 2000 but not Macs (although Apple users could use the Airport system to do the same thing for around the same price). Also featured in the base station is a digital answering machine that can store 15 minutes of messages.
The On-Air 1800 goes on sale in two weeks - details from www.bt.com
Always there
If the idea of having your personal digital assistant (PDA) surgically implanted has ever crossed your mind you'll probably want to try out a new gadget from US-based Orang-Otang Computers.
The company recently launched the Peel-It, a $50 device that enables users to keep their PDA in view at all times. It works by securing the PDA to a swivelling platform that is worn around the wrist. According to Orang-Otang the PDA is held very securely. To prove the point, company photos show users playing the guitar and bouncing a basketball with their PDA permanently in eye-view. The Peel-It also comes with a case that wraps around the PDA when it is not in use. Take a gander at the parade of wearable gadgets the company has recently patented. These include the Cuff-Cam Wearable Camera, Flippo Phone and Flippo Audio Recorder, all of which pop out from devices that are tucked under the user's sleeve. See it all at www.orang-otang.com
Hard disk hi-fi
Yamaha is set to become the first mainstream hi-fi manufacturer to launch a hard disk based hi-fi recorder in the UK. The Japanese company will launch the £600 CDR-HD1000, below, later in the summer.
The unit is different to models available in the US from companies like Audio ReQuest in that it does not use the MP3 compression format. Music is ripped from its CD player and then stored on its 20 gigabyte hard disk in its original format.
Yamaha claims that it is refusing to cut corners in terms of sound quality, although without compression this limits the number of discs the unit can store to 30. Music can then be burned on to CDs via the unit's CD recorder. Yamaha is unlikely to have the market to itself for long as Philips, Sony and Harman Audio are all rumoured to be launching hard disk based recorders by the end of the year.
Also new from Yamaha is a range of home cinema/audio components that connect to PCs and Macs via their USB sockets. The £250 AP-U70 two channel amplifier/ processor, £330 RP-U200 five channel surround sound amplifier complete with an integrated tuner, and £220 DP-U50 personal surround processor will all be on sale by the end of the month. See www.yamaha-audio.co.uk
