One of the surreal things about being a tech journalist is having to think Xmas on a sweltering July day because a PR department wants me to look at upcoming products. Yesterday Alba PLC, a huge budget brand consumer electronics manufacturer, held such a show, but luckily there were some interesting products on offer. So here’s the best of them. Oh and to save your guesses, the theme of this upcoming season may well be ‘USB enabled’.
First up the Goodmans Digital Active6 USB (click on thumbnails for larger images) – a 10W desktop speaker system with USB socket and plug-in MP3 player included. Around £30.00.
The Ministry of Sound licensed MP081 Headset, comes with a removable 128MB MP3 player which slots into a socket on the side of the unit. Neat idea, especially since the player is also a standalone USB model. Paltry memory makes this more of a kids toy though really, doesn’t it? £79.99.
The iDrops junior MP3 players are due out early next year for around £40.00, come in a range of child friendly colours and include a selection of audio stories pre-loaded. Parents can also customise the display with the little one’s name and pop off to the company website to download more stories as required. Get ‘em young, we say.
The Bush iD iDaptor Digital SCART adapter is fiendishly clever way to convert your old analogue TV to digital. Just plug this puppy into your television, attach the aerial and remote control unit and off you go. How they’ve managed to cram all that set-top box tech into a SCART sized device is a mystery, but there again so is biotechnology, so what the heck. £59.00.
