TV – Page 3 – NerdBeach

Shampoo Bottle MP3 Player for Shower Tunes

Having a waterproof mp3 player that you can take in the shower makes sense, especially if you like to get your tunes on and/or sing in the shower. Having an mp3 player shaped like a shampoo bottle doesn't make quite so much sense. After all, that pretty much guarantees that you will not be using it anywhere else but in the shower.

The player itself is actually not so bad, and features an auto scan FM radio, built in speaker (since headphones in a shower would not work so well), built in rope that houses an antenna, and available in different colors. The power source is 2 AAA batteries, and you can find more info at Alibaba.

OF course, now this brings up the question – what shape will new mp3 players be taking in the not too distant future? Toast mp3 players so you can jam as you spread your, well, jam? TV remote mp3 player so you can listen in between channel changes ( Short attention span interludes) ? How about a sponge MP3 player so you can listen as you wash your car. The possibilities are endless, if not somewhat gaudy.

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Agreement Allows Xbox 360 to Stream Netflix Movies

Greg Chaffins

Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console has stepped its streaming video game up in a deal made with Netflix. Microsoft announced the agreement at the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit in Los Angeles.

This agreement gives Netflix's 8 million subscribers another method to watch their streaming services, and complements nicely with their recent startup agreement with the Roku standalone player. The deal should give Xbox subscribers access to over 10,000 movies and TV shows without the extra requirement of a computer, although membership in both Xbox Live and Netflix will probably be required.

The Xbox 360 Fall update is expected to provide the added functionality.

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Cinebox Projection System Features Large Inflatable Big Screen

Greg Chaffins

Many people have made their back yards into private escapes, so having a big screen TV out there makes sense. The Cinebox system from Open Air Cinema is a 9 or 10 ft inflatable projector screen that inflates in a couple of minutes. Add a projector and popcorn, and viola! movie night under the stars.

Open Air Cinema offers packages that come with the inflatable screen (with fast inflation pump), projector, DVD player, and speakers, and they start around $1500. You can also purchase the screen separately for around $400 if you already have the other gear. For special occasions Open Air is offering rental systems, making your next party or get together a hit.

More information at Open Air Systems.

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Plasma Speaker is Shockingly Pleasant Sounding

Greg Chaffins

PlasmaSpeaker_070708

To many audiophiles, plasma speakers are becoming the holy grail of audio components, and there have been many attempts at making it practical. One of the more famous incidents involved legendary audio designer Nelson Pass, whose prototype full range plasma speaker led to ozone poisoning and a trip to the hospital. However, Pass was later quoted as saying,

It was the perfect high end audio product: Exotic, inefficient, expensive, unavailable, and toxic.

Now we have Richard from England who has a new version of a plasma loudspeaker. Richard incorporated tungsten tipped electrodes and 60,000 volts to make it work, but it supposedly delivers the goods. The available video shows it in operation, but don’t expect the YouTube video to capture the nuances of the audio delivery.

Richard claims that his version of the Plasma Speaker creates no ozone at all. If this is true it could spell good things for future plasma speaker marketability. If they do come on the market, I would strongly suggest that you keep the speaker intact, since the plasma voltage could kill (not unlike a flyback transformer on an older style TV set, but they were certainly a marketable product). Personally I would love to give such a speaker a listen in person, and judge for myself – I am curious if dust, moisture, and electrical activity from a pending storm could affect the sound.

Of course, you could always open up the case and have the coolest sounding bug zapper ever created. And perhaps the most expensive.

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