Home entertainment

A change of guard for the sports hatchback market?First things first, let's get rid of the perky, pesky apostrophe from Kia's latest entry into the hatchback market, the Kia cee'd. The grammatical abuse serves no purpose other than to annoy, so it's coming out. The Kia ceed; there, that's better. Read Kia cee'd 1.6CRDi LS on Pocket-lint...

Glossy mocha causes a stir"Never wear brown in town" might be sensible fashion advice for the streets, but Sony has pulled the remarkably similar shade of "mocha" from its locker for its latest small Bravia. This 20-inch LCD TV's "glossy mocha" finish might not be to everyone's taste, but given the latest interior design trends it's probably not going to disrupt your home's harmony as much as that 50in gloss black plasma you've been considering. Read Sony KDL-20B4050 television on Pock...

It only takes a glance to realize that Boston Acoustics' Horizon i-DS2 iPod boombox is merely a cleaned up version of the knobby Duo-i, but we must say, the new look is pretty sleek. Built to function with any dock-connecting iPod, this 60-watt speaker system includes twin 3.5-inch full-range drivers, a composite video output, USB connector and an auxiliary input for plugging in other DAPs / PMPs. The unit itself arrives in glossy white or glossy black, though users with an itch to customize ca...

Last year, Switched On discussed the KeySpan TuneView and the DLO HomeDock Remote, two products that allowed remote control of an iPod using small screens on a remote. One of the limitations of those products was that they each required their own docks instead of working with any of the scores of iPod docks already on the market. At CES 2008, though, a company showed a product that not only allows you to use your iPod -- and many other devices -- as a wireless remote with the iPod dock you may ...

The darling of social butterflies?The KS360 is a compact side-slider, measuring 101.5 x 51 x 16.8mm. Whilst compact, it is rather thick by modern standards because it slides open in landscape format to reveal a full QWERTY keypad. Our review sample was a pre-production model in red and black and customised for the Orange network. Read LG KS360 mobile phone on Pocket-lint...

Blu-ray without the botherBlu-ray pioneer Panasonic scoops another world's first with the SC-BT100, currently the only Blu-ray system on the market with Profile 1.1 support. That means it'll play the picture-in-picture commentaries found on certain Blu-ray discs (such as Resident Evil: Extinction). Read Panasonic SC-BT100 home cinema system on Pocket-lint...

Does budget Dell inspire?There was a time that if you wanted to buy a Dell notebook you'd have to order it online and wait for it to be delivered. Thankfully, those days of waiting are over as in recent months Dell has changed its business model to incorporate in-store sales. It's now possible to buy a Dell from places such as Tesco and PC World. Read Dell Inspiron 1525 notebook on Pocket-lint...

Oh Toshiba, has it really come to this? After a humiliating loss to Blu-ray, Tosh just unveiled its new $150 XD-E500 DVD player. It's no run o' the mill DVD player mind you, this unit touts Toshiba's new eXtended Detail Enhancement (XDE) technology -- that super-duper resolution upconverting tech meant to fill the void between ubiquitous upconverting players and Blu-ray. Unfortunately, the player demonstrated offered just "subtle but noticeable sharpening of the image" when compared side-by-sid...

Now look, we're not sure if this was someone's drug-induced fever dream or not, but if it did really go down, it might be the best thing that's happened at the entire 2008 Summer Olympics. According to the Dirty Red Commie, sometime on August 17th between 2:00 PM and 3:13 PM Mountain Time, Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000 appeared on NBC's broadcast of the summer games. The DRC says they were simply static -- no hilarious jokes or animated banter -- but cut o...

Not a lot here that you can't already make out for yourself, but we'll give ya the down low, anyway. The Crystal USB Desktop Speakers are powered via USB 2.0 and only pack 1-watt per channel, yet somehow, they're touted as "audiophile" grade. The product description rambles on in embarrassing fashion about just how amazing these things will sound, but seriously, we'd just be happy with the decently cool looks (yes, we're being generous here) and relatively low $39.99 price tag....

Color us stumped and incredibly excited. We've discovered this totally useless yet endlessly amazing DVD player / Terminator head out in the wilds of the internet, but finding any information deeper than people exclaiming "this is awesome" is, in a word, difficult. Look, we're not saying that we want to find the company that makes these, order 100 of them, rip out their guts and replace them with those electronic rat brains, swap the eyes for stereoscopic cameras, tack on Darth Vader-esque voic...

Does this lightweight pack a punch?Samsung may not be the first name you think of when considering a notebook but in the last 12 months, the company has released a surprising number of machines. The Q70 is a stylish and powerful notebook aimed at those who need portability and power. Read Samsung Q70 notebook on Pocket-lint...

Will this bring sunshine into your summer?Happiness, eh? Are any of us really happy? Is other people's happiness any of our business? Is it wrong to impose our ideas of happiness on others? That's what director Mike Leigh seems to be pondering in his latest effort, one that sees him departing from the grey sky template that had served him so well. Read Happy-Go-Lucky - DVD on Pocket-lint...

Back to the 80s without StalloneNostalgia is a funny thing. Dwelling on the past is always a quick bliss fix, and a surefire way for film-makers to establish a connection with viewers. Read Son Of Rambow - DVD on Pocket-lint...

Will this bring any new magic?The Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series has been around since the days of the SNES but can the latest version for the Nintendo DS bring any new magic, or should you just grow up and move on? Read Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - DS on Pocket-lint...

Will this engulf you in sound? With the promise of creating a stereo sound on the move without headphones, the Orbitsound T3 could either the best product in the world or something that could be horrible. Read Orbitsound T3 speaker on Pocket-lint...

DAB... DAB... that's that digital radio thing, right? But it's not from a satellite, huh? Well, whatever. Revo's new PICO hybrid radio packs some internet radio over WiFi, so you don't have to move to some crummy country like the UK just to listen to predictably-programmed 80's music and cloying chatter. Revo's little unit is portable, gets 12 hours to a charge, and works with DAB, DAB+, FM and WiFi. It'll be available in September for £169.95 (about $3,180,000 USD)....

Will this sate your movie lust?Like your movies on the go? Then Philips believes it has the answer with the Philips DCP951, a tablet designed portable DVD player with a sliding iPod cradle. So will it entertain you on the go? We get watching to find out. Read Philips DCP951 portable DVD player on Pocket-lint...

Captain Scarlet slims downAnyone who has seen LG's new Scarlet range of LCD TVs of late will have an opinion on their rather unusual red backs and equally enticing/alienating hollowed-out control panel on the front. Read LG 42LG6100 Scarlet television on Pocket-lint...

Can this break out of the shadow of the N96?Described by some as a Nokia N96 lite, can the N78 prove its worth on its own merits? We get playing and dialling to find out. Read Nokia N78 mobile phone on Pocket-lint...

Is this the must have BlackBerry?With the launch of RIM's latest BlackBerry handset imminent in the UK, we got our hands on one weeks ahead of the launch later this month. Does it live up to the hype, will it challenge the iPhone, and more importantly for BlackBerry users, will it give them something to sing about? We get business like to find out. Read BlackBerry Bold mobile phone on Pocket-lint...

Will the W760 bring music to your ears?It seems Sony Ericsson offers more Walkman handsets than we've had hot dinners, so is the W760i the handset for you? We get listening and calling to find out. Read Sony Ericsson W760i mobile phone on Pocket-lint...

For those of you (we know, pretty much everyone in existence) who already picked up a set of Pink Pig PC speakers a few years back, you can carry on with your daily routine. For everyone else that owns an iPod, hold it right there. Speakal is delivering the iPod docking iPig, a unique speaker system that packs five total drivers (including a 4-inch subwoofer), adjustable bass controls, 360-degree sound distribution and a very debatable design. You'll also find a 3.5-millimeter auxiliary jack fo...

Keep the water outIf you spend your leisure, or professional, time jumping in and out of canoes or boats, you'll know what it feels like to have your baggage drenched, either by an unplanned dunking or from lively ocean spray. OverBoard, as you would guess from the name, provide a range of bags that should appeal. Read OverBoard Carbon Backpack on Pocket-lint...

Filed under: Home EntertainmentShortly after picking up its very own adult channel, VUDU is announcing a more, shall we say, family friendly bit today. Effective immediately, VUDU users will be able to renew any SD rental for $0.99 within seven days of first viewing the film, while renewals of HD rentals will cost $1.99. Additionally, VUDU has launched a new "99 for 99" movie channel which contains a rotating list of 99 films that can be rented for -- you guessed it -- just south of a Washington...