TRANSIT by Soen portable Bluetooth speaker comes to India at Rs. 12,990

TRANSIT by Soen, a California-based company that specialises in high-end audio equipment, is a compact, premium Bluetooth speaker set that sports 1.3" x 6.6" x 3.8" dimensions and weighs around half a kilogram. The speaker is powered by a rechargeable battery that gives around 8 hours of playback time on a single charge. It also comes with a built-in mic, which means you can pair TRANSIT with your phone for hands-free calling.

We had a chance to spend some time with the speaker and our overall impression was extremely positive. TRANSIT exudes quality from first glance at the packaging of the product, to the time you hold the speaker in your hand, and of course when you start listening to music.

Transit by Soen..................

The build quality is excellent and the speaker comes with a magnetic cover that snaps on to offer protection from dust and accidental damage when not in use. The speaker can lie flat on its back or you can push a button to bring out the kickstand, which makes it ideal for placing on, say, a bedside table. The retail pack comes with a USB charger, a Micro-USB cable, documentation, as well as a 3.5mm audio cable (for the aux-in port).

TRANSIT by Soen has a flip power button on the side, with the pairing button sandwiched between the volume up and down buttons at the top. The Micro-USB and aux-in ports are at the side as well. Getting started by pairing the speaker with our smartphone was simple enough, like most Bluetooth speakers.

As far as the audio quality is concerned, we were impressed by the clarity of sound, which did not distort even at maximum volume. However, we found ourselves wishing that the speaker could go a notch louder. The bass performance was impressive for a speaker this size; probably the best we've come across in a compact Bluetooth speaker.

As stated earlier, the company claims 8 hours of audio playback on a single charge, but we did not get a chance to test this claim in the limited time we had with our unit.

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Vodafone Music mobile streaming service launched in India

Vodafone India today launched what it is calling a unique service - Vodafone Music - which will allow its customers to experience a 'new age of entertainment via mobile Internet'.

"Vodafone Music is designed to perfectly fit the digital generation. It's simple, immediate and unique.

"This service offers a large selection of music genres with incredible personalisation that enables our entire customer base to enjoy and discover new music for free at the touch of a button," Vodafone India Chief Commercial Officer Vivek Mathur said here.

This service offers a wide range of music content, which consumers can access on their WAP browsers or through an application.

Vodafone Music, a platform is developed by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, offers features like audio and video streaming and downloads, and an advanced search option.

The advanced version of the service will also include features like cloud sync, radio, playlist sharing, predictive search.

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LG, Samsung to launch 105-inch curved UHD TVs at CES 2014

LG and Samsung have announced that their 105-inch curved ultra high definition televisions will be unveiled at CES 2014. Both (LG and Samsung) have not revealed any details about availability and pricing of the 105-inch curved UHD TVs.

According to Samsung, its 105-inch curved UHD TV features a new proprietary picture quality algorithm that can deliver optimized colour and feeling of depth. In addition, the television comes with 'Quadmatic Picture Engine' which as per company's claims can deliver all content in UHD-level picture quality. The Samsung's 105-inch curved UHD TV boasts of a screen resolution of 5120x2160 pixels with 21:9 aspect ratio.

Commenting on the announcement, HS Kim, executive vice president of Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics said, "We are happy to unveil the 105-inch Curved UHD TV, the culmination of Samsung's advancements, following the world's first Curved UHD TV at IFA 2013. You will experience a true curved TV optimized for consumer viewing environments at CES 2014."

Features.......

LG's 105-inch curved UHD TV (Model 105UB9) also boasts of a resolution of 5120x2160 pixels.

The LG's 105-inch curved UHD TV uses LCD instead of the OLED, which the company claims uses improved TFT (Thin Film Transistor) technology to prevent colour leakage and offers a good viewing experience from any angle.

LG Electronics' Vice President and head of the Home Entertainment Company's TV division, In-kyu Lee said, "We're proud to reveal our 105-inch curved ultra HD TV at the world's largest technology event. Claiming the world's first and the world's largest titles, LG's 105UB9 employs cutting-edge technology to provide a truly unique viewing experience

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Sony launches its gaming console PlayStation at Rs 39,990 in India it will be available from 6th January

Soon after Sony launched its new gaming console the PlayStation 4 in India, people started its comparison with Microsoft’s Microsoft Corp.’s new Xbox One. PlayStation 4 is priced at Rs 39,990 in India and will hit the stores starting from January 6, 2014.

The Sony PS4 is powered by an integrated CPU-GPU design, featuring a 8-core low power x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" CPU, coupled with a 1.84 TFLOPS AMD Radeon GPU. It also features a secondary processor that does the network processing tasks in standby mode, in order to optimise power consumption.

The PS4 comes with 8GB of GDDR5 RAM for memory with a 500GB hard disk drive. It also has a Blu-ray disc and DVD drive. It has 2 USB 3.0 ports, one AUX port, an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR), an HDMI out port, and an optical-out port as connectivity options.

It is interesting to note that both Microsoft and Sony have opted for an x86-based CPU-GPU SoC architecture for their consoles, powered by AMD.

The launch lineup includes 22 games to attract fans of just about any genre, from military shooters to sports simulations to family-friendly adventures including "Killzone: Shadow Fall," and "Drive Club." It also comes with media apps, including Hulu and Netflix.

Sony claimed in November that it had sold 1 million units of its new PlayStation 4 gaming console in the first 24 hours after it hit the market on November 15. The consoles was launched in the U.S. and Canada. It sold more than 2.1 million units after less than three weeks since its launch in North America.

Andrew House, president and group CEO for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc at the time of global launch had said that sales remained strong in North America.

Sony Corp had previously announced it had received more than 1 million advance orders for the console. Still, the initial sales figures are Sony's first salvo in a battle brewing with Microsoft Corp's Xbox One console, which went for sale Nov 22. Sony is also hoping its console can help build a platform for recovery at the Japanese company's money-losing consumer electronics operations.

Sony is planning to sell 5 million PS4 units by the end of its fiscal year that ends onMarch 31. Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian has said he expects 2.5 million to 3 million PS4 shipments in the fourth quarter in North America.

The PlayStation 4 is Sony’s first new video game console in seven years. It faces competition from Microsoft Corp.’s new Xbox One which has a holistic approach could be called a complete entertainment system. The console incorporates live television as if it is some kind of a magic wand. When the Xbox One is connected to the television, it simply acts like a robot and integrates the live feed.

If we go into more details the large sized Xbox One provides  air more room to circulate, which is likely to ensure the console does not overheat even when under strain for prolonged periods. then it has It has a better launch line-up.

Xbox One has serious potential that you don’t get with the PS4 camera.

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Logitech Launced New Z600 speakers with Sweet Sound and Elegant looks

Bluetooth speakers now come in different shapes and sizes. Cylindrical, drum or tube-shaped or even saucer like, we have seen them in various appearances. The Z600 Bluetooth speakers from Logitech are a work of fine art; with gentle curves, a fabric finish and pleasant colours, the Z600 perfectly complement the good looks of your Apple Macintosh or the present-day, thin and good-looking notebook computers from numerous vendors. When placed next to the computer, the Z600 look like beautiful flower vases with gray fabric grilles. On or off, they add a graceful note to any space.

Out of the box, the silver coloured Z600 are pretty light and look more like computer speakers but Logitech wants us to use them more as wireless speakers, hence the Bluetooth capability. There is a white strip that runs up the length of the satellite from the audio cable connection.

On the right speaker, the white strip holds the Bluetooth and power buttons and, behind a rubber door, an 3.5 mm auxiliary input. Other than that, the top of the control speaker holds a touch disc and Bluetooth status light, micro-USB port and AUX jack.

Set up was a simple affair at my end. While the speakers are wireless, they still have cords. You connect the speaker wires to the Y-connector and plug the power supply into an outlet. On the control speaker, you will need to press the power button and a tone tells you that the speakers are powered and ready for use. When pairing a Bluetooth device, such as a notebook computer or a mobile phone, you need to press the Bluetooth button. The status light will blink rapidly to indicate that the speakers are ready for pairing.

Often, Bluetooth connections can be a little troublesome with computers. That is why Logitech has included the USB transmitter so the speakers will quickly and easily pair up with your computer and stream audio more reliably. The transmitter also allows for smooth switching between connected devices.

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