Hasta La Gadget!

Unless you’re a math prodigy, you probably need a calculator. HP is launching three new calculators at CES.

• The HP SmartCalc 300s scientific calculator ($14.99) has a remarkably large, muli-pixel Textbook Format Display which allows students to see math problems as they look on paper. Students can use the navigation pad to move around within an expression to change it and watch the result. The calculator has 249 built-in functions.
• The HP EasyCalc 100 ($7.99) will make a nice, light, compact calculator for a young student to carry in their backpacks. Pretty basic, but the bright blue color will make your student that much cooler.
• The HP OfficeCalc 300 ($29.99) has a special “Check and Correct” function that allows users to edit any of their last 105 entries without having to re-enter the whole problem. The calculator also has built-in functions for common business calculations like tax and percentages. <./ul>

  The calculators will be available in March through HP Home and Home Office Store, HP Small and Medium Business Store , and other retailers.

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Thiel will demonstrate the IP-addressable speakers are part of its zöet system, which it calls "the first truly plug and play, multi-room, premium quality distributed audio and home theater system that anyone can set up and use in under an hour."

Sonos, whose multi-room digital audio system also uses a wireless mesh network, might beg to differ, but Thiel’s approach looks pretty slick. And unlike Sonos’ system, it sends sounds directly to speakers rather than requiring a head unit in each room and streams in surround sound and stereo modes.

Both threaten to disrupt the home audio installation business by offering well-synchronized, lossless multi-room audio that otherwise must be installed by professionals, and also to expand the market for multi-room audio to include digital music consumers who may not have already invested in high quality sound.

An ethernet-only version of the Thiel zöet will be available in 2009
(pricing TBD) with a wireless mesh model to follow. Both will ship
with a set of Thiel’s IP-addressable stereo or surround sound speakers,
which build on the company’s extensive experience with traditional
speaker manufacture. Supported surround sound codecs include PCM, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital and DTS.

"zöet is a ‘front-burner’ project and everyone at Thiel is working
with
intense focus to deliver zöet as early in 2009 as possible," said a
spokeswoman for the company via e-mail. The company plans to
determine which of its higher-end speakers should get Ethernet and
wireless capabilities over the coming year.

The system uses two-way communication with each speaker, so you
can point the remote at any speaker in the house to control what’s
playing. You can use the included remote, but more promisingly, the company has already
developed an app for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows either to control the system via WiFi. Other nifty features include automated
subwoofer integration and surround sound mixdowns to 2- or 2.1-channel
audio when needed.

The front panel of the Thiel zöet db1 sports a clean, modern look:

But the back panel packs in a bevvy of useful ports, including HDMI pass-through and enough inputs and outputs to send various
configurations of stereo, 5.1- and 7.1-channel audio to up to 64
channels-worth of zones within the house (32 sets of stereo zones, ten
5.1-channel zones, eight 7.1-channel zones or a combination of those):

See Also:

• iPhone, Free Radio Enhance Sonos Multi-Room Music System
• CES 2008 Preview: Home and Portable Audio to Gain Wireless Features
• Radiient Technology Touts Wireless Audiophile Speaker Solution
• Own Your Own Remote Control Castle Today!

Go ‘head, D-Link, get down with your bad self. Seriously, we can’t remember the last time a router got us all hot and bothered, but this one’s just too wild to not get stoked about. The Xtreme N DIR-685 is hailed as an “all-in-one home network router,” and we’d say it puts a new meaning to “all-in-one.” Aside from handling the normal duties of an 802.11n wireless access point, the device also includes a 3.2-inch LCD for displaying photos and / or widgets. As if that wasn’t zany enough, it also supports both UPnP server functions and BitTorrent downloads. How so, you ask? The twin USB ports on the rear enable users to plug in vanilla external hard drives and essentially convert them into NAS drives, making the data on each accessible over the web. Sadly, no price is mentioned for this conglomerate, but we don’t expect it to come cheap.

Filed under: CES, Digital Cameras, Displays, Networking

D-Link’s Xtreme N DIR-685 router is also a digiframe / NAS device originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitech’s last Harmony launch was of the subtle and sneaky variety, but there’s nothing at all quiet about this one. The big, bold and brash Harmony 1100 is showing itself here in Las Vegas, and the primary selling point is the customizable, 3.5-inch QVGA full-color touchscreen. Rather than getting your buttons all gummed up with pizza grease, you can now smear a nice, innocent panel as you attempt to alter volume and change channels. As expected, the unit packs a rechargeable battery and RF capabilities, and the guided online setup should make programming a lesson in simplicity. Can’t wait to get your own? Tough luck, ’cause this one’s not shipping to the US and Europe until next month for $499.99.

[Via Electronic House]

Filed under: CES, Home Entertainment

Logitech’s Harmony 1100 remote is more touchscreen, less buttons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We all yearn for a life lived sans wires, yet many of us still find our media players dangling from the things. Mono Bluetooth headsets are already everywhere, but this could be the year that those of the stereo variety take off, and Altec Lansing’s hoping its new BackBeat series will be a contender. They’re made in partnership with earpiece-guru Plantronics, so callers will find integrated voice dialing, omnidirectional microphones, 7 hours of talk time, and AudioIQ to boost volume when you’re in a noisy situation. For the music listener the sets include tune-channeling, canal-sealing buds, a behind-the-head band, and support for A2DP, AVRCP, HSP v1.1 and HFPv1.5. For those devices that list doesn’t cover (we’re looking at you, iPhone), the $130 BackBeat 906 includes a small transmitter. Everyone else can opt for the otherwise identical but transmitter-less BackBeat 903, which is $30 cheaper. We look forward to getting our ears on these at CES — hopefully after they’ve had a thorough cleaning.

[Via iPodNN]

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

The word is on the street about Altec Lansing’s BackBeat Bluetooth headphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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