Pioneer announces new premium EX speakers

If you have a pair of audiophile-grade Pioneer S-3EX tower speakers and are on the lookout for matching yet compact alternatives to assemble a multi-channel system, well then, you're in luck. The Japanese company has just released the S-8EX center and S-4EX bookshelf speakers from its professional Technical Audio Devices division. These come with 160W audio power handling, comparable speaker drivers, high-quality real wood finish and many inherited technologies of its full-sized S-3EX.

For example, both products are assembled from an ultra-rigid cabinet that features a perfect time alignment design and acoustics balance drive simulation technology. In a nutshell, the former is designed to ensure synchronized sound delivery from multiple speakers, while the latter delivers precise and unadulterated dynamic bass. There are also the ceramic graphite tweeters that are capable of reproducing very high frequency notes of DVD-Audio and SACD soundtracks.

The Pioneer S-8EX and S-4EX will be available in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia & India from end October.

Via Akihabara News | Photo credit: Pioneer

Legendary F1 photographer in town to capture speed demons

Race photographer Paul Henri Cahier has been capturing the drama of F1 Grand Prix since he was a teenager, and his memory of those days was: "The word 'security' hasn't been invented yet." Back then, he and his late father, Bernard Cahier, worked as a team and roamed the tracks to snap some of the most memorable shots of the high octane competition. Nowadays, photographers are allowed access only certain areas. But that's not stopping the spritely 56-year old from chasing the action with his lens.

Cahier is very excited about the first F1 night race that will rev off in a few days. Being the inaugural race to be held after sunset, the photographer is hoping to take plenty of interesting shots that would not be possible in a day race. With the weather station forecasting a 50 percent chance of rain during the competition, Cahier is expecting his job to be even more challenging.
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ASUS Bamboo notebook to hit Asia soon

It was a concept model before, but now the eco-friendly ASUS Bamboo series will actually be hitting store shelves soon, albeit in limited quantities. however, its claim to eco fame doesn't simply lie in the fact that it's possibly the first laptop to be clad in bamboo.

To thrust the environmental message forward, the Bamboo series claims to break new ground by being green in every stage of its lifecycle. During production, ASUS adheres to RoHS (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives that minimize the impact on the environment. During use the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine throttles clock cycles to reduce the power required to complete tasks. At the end of its life, the bamboo body reduces the strain on disposal as it's biodegradeable.

There are two models available, a 1.57kg 12.1-inch laptop and a 1.25kg 11.1-inch edition. Both are based on the latest Centrino 2 platform. Prices, availability and exact specifications are not available at this time, but Singapore and other Asia markets should be getting the first units sometime in early November.

Panasonic shows off Atom-based medical tablet

During the announcement of the new ToughBook notebooks, Panasonic also took the opportunity to show off one of its upcoming Intel Atom-based tablets. This white unit is meant for use in the medical field and does not even have a model name yet. Aside from a touchscreen display, it has features like RFID and a fingerprint sensor built in. You probably won't see this ToughBook in stores anywhere but don't be surprised if you see a nurse keying in your particulars and medical history on something like this in the future. The company will officially announce this product later in November.

Xbox Live ad hints at November relaunch

While nothing has been confirmed by Microsoft, a suspicious Xbox Live in-dash ad definitely points to November for the long-awaited dashboard relaunch. CNET sister site GameSpot reports that an ad for Rock Band 2 blatantly claims to "Check out the New Xbox Experience coming in November!"

We first learned details about the brand new Xbox Live dashboard at this summer's E3 2008 press conference, where it was also announced that the new interface would support personal avatars--think Nintendo Mii characters--and Netflix streaming capabilities. Other new features offered by the update will include the ability to completely install a game onto the system's hard drive, which will drastically reduce the strain on the console's DVD drive and potentially decrease loading times.

The Xbox 360 recently saw a price drop, making the entry-level system the lowest priced next-generation console on the market. We hope to have more information on the highly anticipated dashboard update when Microsoft makes an official announcement.

Via Crave CNET

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