Linksys has launched its new Media Center Extender with DVD Player (DMA2200) and (DMA2100).

These new products will team with existing Linksys offerings, such as Dual-Band Wireless-N Routers, NAS200 Network Storage System and WVC54GC Home Monitoring Camera, to offer customers a complete home entertainment and a security solution.

The new extenders allow support for popular video and audio codecs such as Xvid, as well as Windows Media® Video HD files; also have the ability to send protected HD content to additional rooms, including recorded TV from over-the-air ATSC or Cable Card tuners along with movies and music available from providers.

Both new Media Center Extenders are designed to leverage Dual-Band Wireless-N technology, to receive content contained on a Media Center PC.

Dual-band capabilities enable consumers to use the less-crowded 5 GHz wireless spectrum, to separate the network streams that contain their entertainment content from those that contain traditional data content; thus enabling greater network reliability when streaming latency sensitive video or audio.

Media Center Extenders are designed to enable Plug-Ins that are designed for Media Center PCs to be used; e.g. recipe depositories, alarm clocks, weather reports, comic strips, lottery results and Home Monitoring Cameras.

The DMA2200 and DMA2100 will be available through Linksys e-commerce resellers at around £229.99 and £199.99 respectively; the WVC54GC Camera is available for an ESP of £69.99.

Web: http://www-uk.linksys.com

Tel: (0800) 068 0327

Gallimard Jeunesse (France’s leading publishing house) and Violet present a world first - a Rabbit that can recognize a real book and read it aloud.

Behind this simple application that will bring joy and delight to all young readers and their parents, lies one of the greatest innovations of the publishing world since Gutenberg!

Books will no longer be inanimate objects, as they become enriched and enhanced by all sorts of interactive and online applications.

This is made possible by the Ztamp* system designed by Violet.

The first book that Nabaztag can read is La belle lisse poire du prince de Motordu by Pef; a modern classic of French children’s literature.

By sniffing the Ztamp glued under the cover, Nabaztag identifies the book, finds the story on the Internet, and then reads it out loud. You can navigate through the chapters of the story by moving the Rabbit’s ears.

This book even has a memory, so that the next time you swipe it in front of Nabaztag, the Rabbit will remember the chapter where it previously stopped reading.

You can even choose the voice in which you want it read: that of the author, or of the Rabbit.

Thanks to the Ztamp, books will be open and interactive, whilst retaining their printed-paper form.

Other titles from Gallimard Jeunesse, in partnership with Violet, are coming soon and in the near future, these books will be available in English too.

Recommended retail price for Nabaztag + Gallimard La belle lisse poire du prince de Motordu is £100.37.

Recommended retail price for the book with Ztamp: £4.69.

Web: http://www.nabaztag.com

*The RFID (Ztamp) is like a small postage stamp that you can stick to any article you want to be recognized by Nabaztag.

Visonic is an international developer and manufacturer of high-quality electronic security systems and dedicated to enhancing people’s way of life by increasing their sense of security.

The company’s AMBER Independence & Safety Support Solution enables friends and family, to provide senior adults with comprehensive 24/7 remote support, enhanced safety and appropriate emergency response.

The Amber safety and support options is one of the most sophisticated wireless alarm systems on the market and includes:

Automatic medication reminders, smoke, gas and flood detection, instant two-way hands-free voice communication, remote social contact, inactivity monitoring and telemedicine capabilities.

Amber is specifically designed to meet the needs of seniors, with its display, which has large backlit buttons and a powerful speaker and speed dialling facilities. Supplied with an Emergency call button wrist-pendant.

The system is updateable by phone, therefore does not require technician visits and enables the selection of up to four (4) private phone numbers as emergency call numbers; also capable of saving up to three (3) speed dialling numbers permitting one-touch access to family and friends.

The ease of installation and remote programming make Amber the ultimate in convenience, security and responsiveness for senior adults and their carers, while maximizing their dignity, independence and convenience.

Web: http://www.visonic.com/visonichomepage.nsf

Tel: (0870) 7300810

Loc8tor Ltd a dynamic UK based company, has produced a revolutionary invention, The Loc8tor – which is the first product of its type using miniaturised tags to keep track of everyday items that can be easily mislaid:

Never again will you have the anxiety of mislaying your keys, wallet / purse, mobile, or even your wandering child.

Never again be late for a meeting as you search for your briefcase, laptop or even your car that you were sure you parked on the third floor.

Loc8tor has two modes:

Locate - lets you find any tagged item up to a range of 600 feet (180 metres) using directional, audio, visual and vibration technology, guiding you to within 1 inch (2.5cms) of your lost item.

Alert - prevents things from getting lost in the first place: when a tagged item moves out of your pre-set “safety zone”, Loc8tor informs you immediately, what’s missing and directs you to where it’s gone.

There are two models in the range; both are completely portable, lightweight and easy to use, with tags similar to a postage stamp in size:
The Loc8tor comes with two homing tags and helps you find mislaid items. Priced at £59.99.

The Loc8tor Plus includes Locate and Alert modes, three homing tags and a panic tag that can be worn by a child, a dependent or pet.
Priced at £99.99.

For businesses an upgrade is available enabling the Loc8tor to be used as an Asset Protection device, so that staff are warned if an attempt is made to remove items from the premises.

Loc8tor is ideal for use at home or out and about and prevents that all too familiar feeling of frustration we all suffer from.

Web: http://www.loc8tor.co.uk

Tel: (0870) 111 7777

Bose Corporation is renowned globally for the development and manufacture of audio technology; especially for home speakers and systems, the WAVE® radio products, premium automotive sound systems and Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones.

The company has introduced the uMUSIC™ intelligent playback system, now available in the new LIFESTYLE® 38 and 48 DVD home entertainment systems, which enable users to store and manage music easily with no need for a computer or connection to the Internet.

The uMUSIC™ system digitally stores an entire music collection and then learns a user’s listening preferences based on likes, dislikes, even mood.
It then prioritises the collection automatically, without the need for charts, menus or manual creation and management of play-lists.

What makes the uMUSIC™ intelligent playback system so smart?
First, the uMUSIC™ system stores and organises the contents of hundreds of CDs - up to 200 hours of music in the LIFESTYLE® 38 system and up to 340 hours in the LIFESTYLE® 48 system.

As each CD is being stored, the system attaches detailed information to each song from an embedded database (from leading providers of descriptive music), far beyond the normal expected title, track and artist.

Owners can easily search for a specific song or CD, however the uMUSIC™ system has the ability to learn a user’s individual listening preferences and then select and play back tracks with similar attributes from the collection - all done automatically, at the touch of a button and with every choice made, the music collection becomes more customised.

The remote control for the LIFESTYLE® 38 and 48 system is completely intuitive, with commands that emulate common listening habits and presets that allow for up to nine users in the home to have their own unique listener profiles.

The LIFESTYLE® 48 system uses five award-winning Jewel Cube® speakers, while The LIFESTYLE® 38 includes five Direct/Reflecting® cube speaker arrays.

Both LIFESTYLE® home entertainment systems with the uMUSIC™ system deliver rich, lifelike sound for both music and movies.

Web: http:// www.bose.co.uk

Tel: 07966 485889

Linksys has announced a new Wireless N Router WRT350N with network attached storage and UpnP media server capabilities.

The router is designed to offer consumers the opportunity to establish an entertainment grade home network on Wireless-N and Gigabit speeds; it is ready to deliver stable HD video streaming and content sharing from attached storage devices throughout the home.

USB hard disks and flash drives, can be shared on the network, making it an ideal solution for sharing documents, digital music, videos, or pictures, even with friends and family over the internet.

The new router allows all applications to be used at the same time, with up to four times the range and 12 times the throughput compared to traditional Wireless-G solutions; so, not any longer only available in the living room, but in all rooms in the home.

The Linksys Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link, is available now for a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of £169.99.

Web: http://www-uk.linksys.com

Tel: (0800) 068 0327

Created in June 2003, Violet, the Smart Object Company’s vocation is to develop technologies, products and services enabling still objects to communicate and become intelligent.

Violet’s products are of a novel kind, as they respond to easy access needs while adapting to the users expectations; Violet is the creator of Nabaztag, the world’s first intelligent, interactive Wi-Fi Rabbit:

Nabaztag is a very attractive, almost irresistible little white rabbit; born in 2005, Nabaztag has since become an Icon for the new era of smart, communicating objects:

• His body lights up, he moves his ears, speaks, reads, listens, and he even detects the presence of other objects (by sniffing them) *
• As he is permanently connected to the Internet, he can act,
  react, transmit, or broadcast many types of content available over
  his network such as news, messages, music, text, alerts, radio, etc.
• Reading books Aloud, (thus ushering in the RFID revolution) – is the latest skill Nabaztag has acquired, adding to his multiple existing talents.
• When connected to the Internet, this amazing Rabbit has infinite
  potential for future development.

Recommended retail price for Nabaztag is £97.50.      Live Better With a rabbit!

Violet’s products are a completely new breed, blending into the everyday world, they are messengers of emotion in a new world of communication.

Web: http://www.nabaztag.com

*Ztamp - Nabaztag is fitted with an RFID chip reader. The RFID (Ztamp) is like a small postage stamp that you can stick to any article you want to be recognized by Nabaztag
When Nabaztag “sniffs” the presence of such objects, you can choose which services or actions you want him to associate with it.
Ztamps will be available in 2008.

Elite Security Products supply the remarkable professional installer grade, Infinite wire-free intruder alarm system, with GSM and home automation capability, plus a comprehensive range of PIR intruder alarm detectors.

Wire free has now come of age and Infinite offers a comprehensive and reliable burglar alarm solution that can be fitted with ease and minimum disruption to property.

Secure transmission methods, long battery life and superbly designed detection accessories, enable the installation of infinite to be trouble free and more importantly wire free!

Infinite wireless alarm is easily expandable by a series of plug-in modules so that users can enjoy the full benefits of the system, including home automation.

Elite Security offers a choice, Infinite® or Infinite® prime:

A typical Infinite starting kit includes: an Infinite Control Panel, 2 x PIR Motion Detectors, 1 x Magnetic Switch, 1 x MFB Multi-function Key-fob and 1 x Wireless External Sounder.

The Infinite prime in our picture provides all the functionality of infinite, plus some enviable additional capabilities including, Integral PSTN communicator, Speech Dialler, Digicom functions and Remote set/unset using a standard phone.

Also suitable for use with the Home Manager alarm monitoring service, which alerts up to 6 contacts by telephone call to landlines and mobile phone text message upon an alarm activation.

Retail price around £299.

Web: http://www.espuk.com 

Tel: (0121) 7898 111

Are you unhappy about precariously reaching for the unreachable switch to turn off your Christmas tree lights; now you can control them and other home appliances easily, at the touch of a button?

If you are also eager to play your part in cutting carbon emissions and do your bit for the environment, you will welcome the arrival of the Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit - a clever and affordable device which is now available.

The Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit, heralds the arrival of an easy to install range of products aimed at encouraging people to reduce their carbon footprint, make life easier within the home and save money by reducing their energy bills.

This ingenious device from Domia, the Oxfordshire based home automation specialist, is a must for Christmas; it’s extremely simple to install and attractively priced at just £29.99 and will save each household on average £38 annually, therefore paying for itself within less than 12 months!

Benefits:

•  Remotely control appliances within the home and completely cut power to your appliances at the flick of a switch (net energy saved per annum for a family household – 385 kWh).
• Reduce your electricity bill by switching off devices left on standby within your home (money saving on energy for a family household - £38 per year).
•  Prevent the release of unnecessary carbon emissions into the atmosphere by shutting down equipment not in use (CO2 emission reduction per household – 166kg).

The Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit is now available from electrical and online retailers and home interest stores.

Web: http://www.byebyestandby.co.uk

Tel: (01908) 357707

Domia Lite is a simple home automation solution, enabling control of lighting and other electrical home appliances at the touch of a button.

The system is an uncomplicated plug and play system, which doesn’t need any rewiring; it is RF based, which allows it to communicate with each individual module from a distance of up to 30 metres.

Controlled by a range of remote controls and motion sensors, this system offers a wide range of possibilities:

• Switch lights on and off in your driveway, porch and garden.
• Open or close sun blinds, roll-down shutters and automatic gate.
• Increase safety with the motion detector for lights.
• Switch on and off - lights, air-conditioning, radio, or TV, or dim lights to create atmosphere.

Domia Lite’s system is made up of 6 individual items, all of which are not required to begin with.

It’s really simple to install and even easier to develop and expand, with a range of compatible products to provide you with limitless expansion possibilities. For example:

Control and monitor your appliances wherever you are. Lights, cameras, motion detectors etc. may be controlled and monitored via the Internet, or your mobile phone, allowing interactive energy management.

Domia Lite is affordable, easy to use and install, for immediate use.

Web: http://www.simplyautomate.co.uk

Tel: (08450) 644 3330