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I think it's fair to say that many music loving mobile device users are left somewhat wanting when it comes to built-in speakers. Listening to audio either involves having to wear cumbersome earphones or sacrificing device usability to plonk it in a dedicated docking station. You can, of course, just dock your device in Soundfreaq's new Sound Step speaker and top up the battery while listening or you could keep your mobile device where it should be - in your hands. Thanks to Bluetooth connectivity, users can stream audio directly to the speaker while enjoying lots of multitasking action on the device itself. Read More

For the last few weeks, there has been a ripple of a rumor that Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) was about to release a new product, and now the company has come clean and revealed its new PM1 bookshelf speaker. Designed by Morten Warren's Native - the same people responsible for work on the iconic Zeppelin docks - the new mini-monitors have been veritably crammed with high-end audio technology including a newly designed tapering tweeter, new bass/midrange driver dampening technology, and a shake-resistant internal structure known as Matrix. Read More

Nintendo has announced that its Wii U gaming console will not feature a Blu-ray drive, and will instead stick to a proprietary disc format. Patent fees related to the technology are too high, the company explained. The Wii U will, however, compete with existing consoles in terms of hardware - it is equipped with a customized CPU from IBM and a GPU from AMD, and is rumored to be 50 percent faster than PS3 and Xbox 360. Read More

While advocates proclaim the superior immersive qualities of 3D, the current crop of 3D TVs can actually have the opposite effect on many people by giving the impression of peering into a box filled with tiny - albeit 3D - people. Design and advertising firm NAU proposes a different solution with its latest concept dubbed the Immersive Cocoon that looks to provide the sense of immersion without the 3D. Read More

Voice interface has been on the market for some time, but probably never on such a large scale as announced by Microsoft on Monday during its E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference in Los Angeles. Improvements soon to be brought to Xbox Live include much more live TV and full YouTube access, all easily voice searched via Kinect and the Bing search engine. There's also something for mixed martial arts fans. Read More

While details of Sony’s PlayStation Vita came as no surprise at Sony’s E3 press conference, the announcement of a PlayStation branded display raised a few eyebrows. At 24-inches, the full HD 1080p, edge-lit LED LCD 3D display is aimed specifically as PS3 owners without the space or cash to go with a big screen 3D-capable TV. In addition to 3D, the display also comes with a two-player feature that allows two different images to be sent to two different players at the same time. Read More

According to Bose, only one third of homes in the U.S. have a home theater system, leaving the majority relying on the decidedly average speakers built into many TVs. While the major TV manufacturers generally try to market their products in terms of picture quality - be it blacker blacks, 3D capabilities or the latest and greatest image processing engine - audio performance seems to take a back seat. Bose has taken a different tack for its first entry into the TV market by putting audio performance front and center - or rather, rear and center - with its VideoWave entertainment system that integrates a 7.1-channel surround sound system and amplifier into the rear of a 46-inch LCD TV. Read More

Google TV has not received quite the warm welcome that was hoped for, in spite of sterling efforts from Logitech, Sony and Boxee. While the search giant makes upgrades to the service for Android 3.1 and readies it for Android Market, Geniatech is offering what it says is the first Android-embedded set-top system for HDTVs. The company says that as well as offering full 1080p high definition video decoding, its Android TV can also act as a digital media player, digital photo frame, games console and internet browsing platform. Read More

Combining lighting with audio by using a light socket to power a wireless speaker is a two-in-one approach that appears to be gaining traction and this latest example - the Sound of Light speaker - grabbed our attention on both the functionality and aesthetic fronts. The Sound of Light system uses a Texas Instruments 2.4 GHz Purepath Digital Signal Transmitter to set up a wireless link between an audio device such as an MP3 player, smartphone or tablet and up to four speakers within a 300 ft range. Read More