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Electronista: Denon at its special event has revealed the AS-3 series of Network-Enabled clients. Two docks — the Ethernet-only ASD-3N and 802.11g-based ASD-3W — connect to any receiver, stereo, or TV set to stream audio and video from the user’s local network; a remote control navigates tracks, and on TV setups provides a visual menu for browsing content. Dockable iPods can also attach through a special slot to share their media separately from other devices. The system recognizes metadata such as album artwork and doesn’t rely on Denon AV equipment as the destination, the company says.

The ASD-3N arrives first due to its simpler networking features and will sell for €130 in August. Adding Wi-Fi to the ASD-3W places its release in September, when it will sell for €170.

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Akihabaranews: Buffalo doesn’t ONLY make products for the PC, there are a few for MAC too like this DVSM-XL1218IU2 which is an external DVD burner capable of 16x (R) and 10x (DL), you can plug it in USB or FireWire …and of course a white version is available. 100€.

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Absolute Gadget: Marantz has announced a seriously beefy Super Audio CD hi-fi system for those wanting something a bit less puny than so-called designer audio equipment. Tipping the scales at the weigh in, this system comes in at disc-slipping 19 stone.The whole package includes the SA-7S1SACD player, SC-7S2 pre-amp and the MA-9S2 mono block amplifiers made “of the finest materials possible” by Marantz.

The system is capable of shifting 5,000 watts of power as well as frequencies between 3Hz to 150kHz.

Of course there is the old adage ‘size doesn’t matter, its how you use it that counts’, but this kit promises to deliver the finest signals with extreme precision.

Built with care to avoid vibrations, the system features a range of parts designed to enhance the listening experience such as silicon shielding plates covered with aluminium which is then copper-plated. Combined with shock absorbing feet, Marantz claims this provides its best ever sound.

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Just Another Mobile Phone Blog: Microvision yesterday announced that it has signed an agreement with Motorola to develop pico projector display solutions for mobile applications leveraging Microvision’s ultra-miniature laser based display engine, called PicoP(TM).

Tiny laser-based projectors are expected to enable a “big screen” viewing experience from mobile devices. By projecting content displayed on the device screen onto a wall, object or even a curved surface, mobile users could easily share Websites or multimedia applications such as movies, personal videos, mobile TV, photographs and presentations with friends or business colleagues.

“Motorola is committed to driving technology innovation that will enable the next generation of great consumer experiences,” said Rob Shaddock, CTO, Motorola Mobile Devices business. “Working together with Microvision, we are pursuing ways that projection technology can redefine how mobile consumers view and interact with the media they take with them.”

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NaviGadget: LR 9750 and LR9752 are new additions to Leadtek’s line of GPS devices. They both use SiRF Star III GPS receiver and have text-to-speech functionality to pronounce street names in addition to support for RDS/TMC live traffic info. LR9752 is slightly different than LR9750 for it includes hands free bluetooth capability but the rest of the specs are pretty much identical.Worthy of consideration here is the big wheel button on the front of the device that makes it easy to search for POIs that’s not found in other GPS navigation systems.

Both LR9750 and LR9752 also handle media files doubling as a mobile media center.

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Engadget: Researchers in the UK have all but debunked the theory that cell phone towers, or electronic interference, is making people physically ill. A recent study done by Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that they could find no scientific evidence that feelings of anxiety, nausea, and tiredness occur due to the presence of electronics, or GSM and 3G cell phone equipment.

The tests, carried out in 2005 and reported in Environmental Health Perspectives today, claim that when neither the researcher nor the subject knew if cell signals were being emitted, the number of symptoms reported was not related to signals present. Participants did report feeling ill, but it was independent of any cell phone signals, “Hence the range of symptoms and physiological response does not appear to be related to the presence of either GSM or 3G signals,” the study said.

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Electronista: As a complement to its Blu-Ray players, Denon yesterday launched a new remote control system it hopes will be truly useful for multi-room home theater setups. The RC-7000CI is said to have one of the largest electronics databases of any home theater device and can be programmed over a USB connection for most any AV hardware in a given room. The 7000CI also chooses RF over infrared to eliminate the line of sight issues that plague most other remotes; owners don’t need to be in the same room, Denon claims. Newer gear from the company will also display digital track information, such as iPod track data or the current music on an XM satellite radio station.

More complex arrangements are possible with the RC-7001CI base station that serves as a companion, the company points out. The hub both amplifies the range of the remote beyond that of the immediate equipment and potentially creates a network of remote control around a house. Up to 16 remotes and stations can mix together without interference, the company claims. Each hub also offers six IR blasters to translate controls to legacy devices.

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Absolute Gadget: God knows we bring you enough new and er, exciting alarm clocks but the ideas behind them never stop being interesting. This latest one is a bit puzzling to say the least.The Puzzle Alarm Clock wakes sleepyheads by blasting pieces of puzzle into the air. The only way to stop the alarm, and probably maintain your sanity is to piece them back together. 

Luckily the puzzle doesn’t look too hard to accomplish, offering some hope of a few minutes extra lie-in after some puzzle-solving. 

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Channel Register: LG is preparing a internal optical drive capable of reading both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVD media, it has been claimed. The South Korean giant is also readying a BD writer capable of 6x burn speeds.

Although we’ve seen no official announcement from LG itself, a number of websites have claimed the company last week unveiled its GGW-H20LI, the 6x BD burner, and the GGC-H20LI. Both drives can read and write the full array of CD and DVD formats.

As attested by the ‘LI’ suffix, both drives are also said to support LightScribe technology for etching labels on compatible media.

The two drives – said to be priced around $499 and $399, respectively – are expected to arrive later this quarter.

Last week, Lite-On IT said it will knock €100 off the price of its 2x Blu-ray Disc burner, the LH-2B1S.

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InfoSyncWorld: Nokia has acquired a company called Twango that provides a media sharing solution for organizing and sharing photos, videos and other personal media. Nokia aims to offer its customers an easier way to share multimedia content through their desktop and mobile devices, thus taking a stab at offering social media services.

According to Nokia, the Twango acquisition is a concrete step towards the company’s rather offensive vision of providing seamless access to information, entertainment and social networks – at anytime, anywhere, from any connected device, in any way that you choose. 

Twango supports multiple media types and offers an array of options for people to manage, share and repurpose their personal media content. Their solution also offers a platform that allows developers to create companion applications, connect with mobile devices and integrate with other Web services. The latter may be crucial for Nokia’s acquisition to be successful though, as building a popular social media service aren’t as straightforward as selling ringtones and wallpapers.

Whether Twango will be seamlessly integrated in phones outside of Nokia’s own portfolio, is not known at the time of writing. However, that’s not likely, as manufacturers such as Apple and LG seems to be placing its bets on Google’s YouTube for video sharing at least.

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NaviGadget: Taiwanese GPS manufacturer Altina just unveiled a new GPS navigation system called A680. Altina A680 uses the highly sensitive and industry standard SiRF Star III GPS receiver chipset and relies on a 400MHz Samsung processor for route calculations.Unlike other models from Altina, A680 features a wide 4″ screen, and adds in a 2MP digital camera on the back of the device. Extra features don’t end here: The A680 even has an FM transmitter to hear voice directions over your car audio system and an integrated MP3 player and MP4 movie player. It doesn’t feature a hard disk but comes with a SD slot to bring in your media.

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PMP Today: Toshiba took the Gigabeat U103 and painted it in 24 different colors thereby releasing the newest Gigabeat U series player. The U series are strictly MP3 players and do not play videos like these other Gigabeats. What interests us here is the seemingly Zune-inspired strategy Toshiba employs on its latest MP3 player.

Now, 24 colors is a lot more to choose from than the 4 colors of Zune – black, brown, white and pink – or 18 colors more, if you include the red and orange special and very limited edition Zunes.

The Gigabeat U103 has a 1.1-inch OLED screen and plays MP3, WMA, and WAV. A built-in FM tuner can record audio.

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