Model railroaders will stop at next to nothing when it comes to immersion and realism. I have always loved model railroading as a child and I was mildly interested when I came across the Hornby Digital Sound Toy Locomotives.
Using digital samples that pump through the train’s speakers, the sounds are taken from real life locomotive scenarios, such as passing through a tunnel or coal being shoveled into the train’s firebox. Hornby Toy Trains will definitely add that true life touch you’re looking for. What you’ll also be looking for is your checkbook, as these puppies cost $400 a pop.
Change collectors behold. This Digital Money Counting Jar might actually make you spend all that coin change you’ve been hoarding. Simple enough, there are a couple versions out there that deal with specific currency, so make sure you have the right one in your sights before you buy.
Amazon has a couple different models to choose from that accept US currency but they all are around the same size. Prices range from $15 to $35.
I must have completely missed this thing at CES this year. What is basically a digital picture frame that runs widgets, news has now reached the blogs that the Sony Dash will now be able to run streaming video from a host of websites including Netflix.
What could be a game changer for this device, pricing is set a $200 and it will start shipping in April. Get your dash and get your swerve on.
The iRecord Pro is an all encompassing personal media recorder that literally has all angles covered. From recording audio and video directly to your PC or Mac to your iPhone or PSP, the iRecord Pro also allows for unattended timed recordings. The amount of specs on this thing is plain staggering and it should provide everything you need given the scenario.
The iRecord Pro will also charge any connected iPod. For more information check out the iRecord Pro website and it’s available now for $260.
Seeing a bunch of cool digital guitar controllers at this year’s CES, we apparently missed this one. My take on the video is that the guitar and touchscreen look awesome but the sound, thanks large in part to compression, etc., sounds pretty trashy.
This MIDI controller has a full 24 frets and I’m sure is a blast to noodle on. You can email a dude from Misa for pricing information but be sure to check out the video.
The You Rock Guitar is a digital guitar that works with Guitar Hero and Rock Band on all systems as well as performing like a real guitar in Garage Band, MIDI, or through headphones and amplifiers. It’s ultra portable and actually breaks down into two pieces for easy storage. Using GameFlex cartridges you can upload more sounds to the guitar and it even works with your iPhone.
I got a chance to use the You Rock Guitar yesterday and was impressed by the seeming endless range of applications and ease of playability. Picking it up and playing it with bass sounds loaded was a lot of fun and while it definitely didn’t feel like a real guitar right off the bat, minutes later I felt my fingers and hands adjust to the strings and fretboard.
The strings felt more like large gauge nylon strings and guitarists will instantly either like or dislike the “action” of the spacing between the strings and how high they are set off the body of the guitar. The fretboard felt pretty cool with the strings being embedded on the neck which worked really well. Tapping mode, which you had to switch to, was awesome and really worked well. My favorite part of my hands on demo without a doubt. I didn’t get to use a pick with it and I can only finger pick so fast so I didn’t get to test the speed or the latency.
I wasn’t blown away with the quality of the samples I heard from the You Rock Guitar but the design and form factor was well though out and it felt really good despite how weird it was initially. This product has some great potential and I hope that some more customization is implemented such as user created and shareable sounds are allowed instead of being forced to buy more and more GameFlex cartridges.
Most digital MP3 converters we’ve seen so far have been bulky and expensive. It’s about time we get one that is compact and more affordable. Looking to be that remedy is the Ion Mix Meister. Easy as Sunday morning (see the pic below), this USB music converter will effectively help newbies get all their old records and cassette tapes transformed into MP3’s.
Priced at $82, it’s great to finally see a product that cuts out the middle man as we’ve seen the pricey record player and cassette deck that will do it for you even though you already are sitting on an old one. On sale now.
I never thought that the day ‘monkey’ and ‘digital’ would appear in the same sentence, but finally that day has arrived. The Digital Monkey Wrench tells you when your nut is just right or when it’s too tight. But all this comes with a hefty price tag of $323, which doesn’t even include shipping. Other features include a built-in LED light, ergonomic handle, some sort of buzzer to let you know you’ve over cranked and a 10-36mm diameter.
Really? Apparently not needing 3-D glasses to enjoy, the FujiFilm FinePix REAL 3D W1 camera won’t require anything more than a press of the shutter. A 2.8-inch LCD on the back of the camera will display images in 3-D as soon as they are shot, and the camera is also capable of shooting good old fashioned 10 megaixel photos if you so choose. The camera also features a 3x optical zoom as well as an “interval mode” that lets you shoot in 3-D while moving in a plane or another vehicle of your choosing.
Unfortunately, all these features don’t come cheap. The FinePix REAL 3D W1 will cost around $940 US. However, if this camera proves that quality 3-D images are capable, we will soon see that market develop and hopefully the price will go down.
