Philips Claims 5.1 Audio From Single Speaker

5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 speaker systems are great... as long as you don't mind your living room being subjected to either a) spaghetti junction or b) extensive renovations and are prepared to stay single for a long time. If no (sensible choice), Philips has a solution...



It has come up with the 'HTS8100 Amibisound' – a slim (13cm) single speaker bar which can sit conveniently under a Flat TV yet claims to deliver dynamic, true cinema surround sound throughout the room.

How can this be? Well, to be honest, it isn't the first single speaker system to try and recreate a multi-speaker set up but it does so by 'steering' sound beams around the room rather than the time honoured method of reflecting them off walls. Philips says this approach makes the HTS8100 more flexible than other solutions and less reliant on a room's acoustics and layout.

Interestingly the HTS8100 is an all rounder too since it has an integrated DVD player complete with 1080i upscaling though the extra bass you will need to be connected to the matching external subwoofer. HDMI, Component, Coaxial and SCART ports are fitted into the rear of the unit while there is the provision to connect a Philips universal dock to playback music and videos from an iPod or Philips GoGear (what?) through the system.

The HTS8100 goes on sale in July with a £699.99 RRP (already discounted to £449 at Amazon) and is likely to compete with the £600 Sony RHT-G800 (now £499 on Play) for the right to save your relationship...

Ultra Desirable AIO Denon Remote Announced

The biggest problem with the glut of AV equipment that we all buy these days is that every single piece needs a separate remote control. While Sony and others do try to allow their own–brand products to share single remotes, most consumers probably won’t make that a deciding factor in choosing, say, a DVD player or sound system. The best solution in our opinion is to use a third party all-in-one solution, like this great-looking example from Denon.



Not content with just making an all-in-one remote, the RC-7000 provides two-way interaction with multimedia equipment. The LCD will, as well as allowing you to control basic functionality, also provide information such as track names, play time and radio station data. There is also an optional wireless RF base station, so you can take the remote anywhere, within range, and still get the best functionality out of your equipment.



The remote is also programmable with a PC so you can setup shortcuts and thus have one button turn on your TV, HD DVD player and sound system and set TV to correct channel. The only downside is that you won’t be able to control the Blu-ray player in a PS3 with this remote, as it doesn’t support Bluetooth (but then what does?). The remote itself will set you back £199.99 and the base station will add another £149.99. But when you’re spending thousands on your high end audio/visual setup anyway, that probably isn’t a prohibitive price when you consider the benefits.

Accell Announces 1440p HDMI Switch

It seems that specifications in the high definition world are set to remain in a permanent state of flux. While HD DVD at least manages to remain constant thus far, Blu-ray and HDMI have undergone several revisions each since being launched into the marketplace, several of which have made old technology redundant.



This makes us all the more pleased to see manufacturers try to future proof their products, and the latest HDMI switch from Accell bears that in mind. The UltraAV 2-1 supports the newest HDMI 1.3a Category 2 standard with resolutions up to 1440p (2,560 x 1,440 – we doubt this will be a used or useful feature any time soon though) Dolby True-HD and DTS-HD Audio along with Deep Colour when it finally turns up.

Handily, the switch doesn't require a separate power source so it can be hidden out of sight behind your TV, while an IR receiver extender is provided in the box to facilitate this. Considering most of us find available power supplies disappear almost as fast as inputs, it's certainly a great selling point. Though there's no mention of a release date, price wise it's set to be half the price of a 4-port HDMI switch we looked at recently at $99 or around £60.

Hands-off with the Philips Aurea

Yeah, this thing is pretty hot. Sure, it helps that Philips commissioned its very own art film to showcase the new Aurea Ambilight TV, but we're pretty sure this unit would be just as at home showing of Saturday morning cartoons or lighting up the home shopping channel. You know you want one.

A New Day For N-Gage

By now everyone should have heard the news about the next generation of N-Gage. But for those of you who don’t want to click around the whole site and read all the press releases and FAQs, here’s a quick recap.

New Devices
The N-Gage is not just one device anymore. We revealed seven devices that are N-Gage compatible, but that’s only the start. Currently these are all Nseries devices, but we will continue to announce N-Gage compatibility with a wide range of S60 Nokia devices going forward.

Current roster:
Nokia N81
Nokia N81 8GB
Nokia N73
Nokia N93
Nokia N93i
Nokia N95
Nokia N95 8GB

New Games

Woot! Too many to list here. Currently we’ve got seventeen games in the Showroom, with a game page for each game, and I am sure we will be announcing many more in the weeks and months to come. There will be new screen shots for Creatures of the Deep and Brothers in Arms up tomorrow, so check the site out then. We’ll also be adding new videos next week, I’ll be sure to let you know on the blog when they go up.

November launch

We also announced our official launch date: November. At that time, the free N-Gage application will be available for download. You will be able to download it from this website, or directly to your N-Gage compatible mobile device. You will also be able to buy games and download free trials on the launch date too. Once you have the application installed, you’ll be ready to go.

So now that you’ve seen and heard everything, let the countdown to November begin! Feel free to post your comments and tell us what you think!