Audio/Video, Home Theater

Spracht AURA BluNote Bluetooth Speaker & Speakerphone – stream your music from your phone

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day, Phones, Portable / By /

If you’ve managed the migration of your music from your MP3 player over to your phone, but would like to hear it from a speaker instead of through headphones, then this Bluetooth speaker may be just for you.

The Spracht AURA BluNote speaker lets you stream your music via Bluetooth from your phone. Includes bass boost and ‘stereo widening’ feature.

It stores up to 8 BT profiles, so your friends can pair their phones with it [wonder what happens when you try to compete to use it?!] It can also be used as a speakerphone.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $92.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Netgear’s PTV1000 puts your laptop’s display on your HDTV wirelessly

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Computers, Networking & Internet / By /

netgear ptv1000Without needing a media streamer device, the Netgear PTV100 Push2TV gadget can display anything from a laptop with Intel’s Wireless Display technology.  The PTV1000 is a small lightweight box that connects to your HDTV via HDMI and connects to your laptop wirelessly via 802.11.

The PTV1000 can also connect via AV composite.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $99.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

One-Button VHS to DVD Converter

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day / By /

vhs to dvd converterHere’s another VHS to DVD converter that’s an all-in-one unit being sold at Hammacher. It’s a one-touch system – stick in the VHS tape, and a blank DVD and press a button for conversion.

This also includes a built-in HDTV tuner so you can record from your TV/cable/satellite as well. It can also read and convert DV/Digital8 camcorder videocassettes. Includes an HDMI output.

A bit pricier than the other hardware/software options, but you may prefer the easier learning curve.

Buy now!
Price: $349.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Mvix updates Ultio media player – Ultio Pro can now record with DVR

2 Comments / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Books, Music and Movies, Gizmo of the Day, Networking & Internet / By /

mvix ultio pro mx-880hdMvixUSA has updated their flagship media center product, the Ultio, to now include DVR (digital video recording) capabilities. The Ultio Pro plays back Blu-ray quality 1080p hi-def video, photos, and music on your high-def TV via HDMI and stores it all on its internal hard drive which you can get as large as 2TB.

And now, the Pro can record video on the fly from your cable/satellite TV, your camcorder or from DVDs, instead of acting just as a repository. The Ultio Pro is a virtual Swiss Army knife of video, image and audio formats including: mp4, avi, iso, asf, wmv, flv, mkv, rm, ts, mpg, vob, mp3, wma, aac, ogg, flac, jpg, bmp and gif. To see the full list, download the Formats PDF from MvixUSA.

And of course, the Ultio Pro plays back media from your network and the Internet, including from your computer and from services liks Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and more.

Buy now!
Price: $169 without hard drive; $384 with 2TB drive. (You can buy the barebones version and insert whatever sized drive you’d like.)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Watch TV on the go with Flo TV Personal Television

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day / By /

flo tv personal televisionQualcomm is now pushing FLO TV somewhat independently of Verizon of AT&T by offering the FLO TV Personal Television, a handheld 3.5″ QVGA gadget that you can watch live TV on.

You can also get FLO TV on select phones as well as in your car. The monthly rate is $14.99 and you get over 15 channels.

It’ll be interesting to see whether this takes off, given the limited # of channels and monthly fee. I’d much rather have a placeshifter like a Slingbox.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $249.99 plus monthly service fee
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Western Digital’s WD TV Live plays/streams full 1080p HD, music and photos and Internet radio

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Books, Music and Movies, Gizmo of the Day / By /

wd tv liveWestern Digital is still in the media player game, and their latest model improves upon the last one. The WD TV Live plays back HD video, music & photos whether they’re on your computer, your USB drives, or the Net on your TV.

It still comes in an ugly little black box with what looks like an elf’s remote.  One nice feature is that you can connect as many USB drives as you want to it for practically unlimited storage.

WD TV Live can connect to the Net to play back YouTube videos, Flickr photos and stream music from Pandora and Live365.com.

Like the Netgear EVA2000, this is a pretty inexpensive media player, and would be a decent introduction to the media streamer gadget.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $119.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Record high quality audio with the Alesis ProTrack add-on for iPod

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gizmo of the Day, Portable / By /

alesis protrack stereo recorder for ipodThe Alesis ProTrack Stereo Recorder for iPod is perfect if you’re a journalist or conduct interviews or like recording lectures/classes, but would rather not walk around with yet another gadget.

The Alesis ProTrack is a stereo recorder and you don’t need any additional cables, just plug it into your iPod. You can record 44.1kHz or 22kHz digital audio via its condenser microphones and what’s nice is that there’s an app for you to view the levels.

PS> If you’re a student who would like to record your class lectures, but don’t need this level of audio quality, you really need to take a look at the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen.

Buy now!

Price: $399.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Take your Home Theater/Gaming experience to the next level with BodySound Audio Furniture

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Gaming & Toys, Gizmo of the Day / By /

Take your home theater seating and audio experience up to the next level with BodySound’s custom built fusion audio-seating furniture. BodySound Technologies builds fine seating like recliners, love seats, & couches finished in Italian leather that hides a 7-channel surround sound system.

bodysound recliner

Each seat comes with its own remote control that includes a number of presets, which you can change to suit your preferences. BodySound can also translate specific frequencies into certain low frequency vibrations again per your own tastes, which is great for movies and gaming.

BodySound seats are obviously not cheap, starting at $6000 for a basic recliner, but if you’re interested and there isn’t a dealer near you, BodySound will reimburse you up to $1000 if you came to their showroom in Minneapolis to try the chairs out.

Buy now!
Price: starting at $6000
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

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