I was fortunate to be invited to the Gadget Show Preview / Professional Trade Show event yesterday, and it’s nice to see The Gadget Show Live even bigger and better than last year. Whilst last year everything was iPhone / iPad related, this year it was nice to see a wider range of devices supported by the various accessories manufacturers at the show, with Kindle and Samsung Galaxy Tablets also getting a look in.

Even better; if you haven’t already bought a ticket, I understand from the organisers that a limited number of tickets are still available for today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday), although the rest of the week is now fully booked, so don’t travel unless you already have tickets.

Along with the main Gadget Show Live Super Theatre (featuring a massive 360 degrees viewing screen), there are a number of smaller seminar type presentation areas, and a few stands are running their own presentations too. In terms of exhibitors, there are the big guys (LG, Samsung, Sony, Canon, Kenwood, Philips and Pioneer), the larger retailers (PC World, Scan), and even a couple of mobile networks (Orange and O2), both of whom are running Show special deals during the event. As always, there are smaller companies (such as OrbitSound and Bicygnals) who are often worth a look at their slightly more specialised items.

There’s lot of food facilities (though a little expensive), including Subway and Starbucks, and even a chance to try the new Volkswagen Up! car in the driving experience; equally, for gamers, there are plenty of XBox consoles to try out, and a fair few Kinect installations on various stands. If you have children, look out for LeapFrog for younger ones, or something more fun such as the Parrot AR.drone for the older children.

Although The Gadget Show have announced that as from the new series (soon to start) only Jason and Polly will be presenting, all 5 of the “current” presenters will be appearing at the Gadget Show Live this year. For details of the shows and a full exhibitor list, head off to the Gadget Show Live website for more details.

If you want to attend, head over to the Gadget Show Live website and buy your tickets in advance of travelling (if any are left!); also don’t forget NEC charge £8 per car for parking.

One of the first articles on the UK Gadgeteer website back in 2007 was around the PURE Highway, a portable DAB radio designed for car use.  This turned out to be a very popular device, although one small complaint about it was that it had to connect to the windscreen mount, and you had to have wires all over the dashboard (aerial & power).  Competitors, such as Revo, produced DAB addon car units which needed more permanent fitting in the car, however, Revo have now left the car market.

Well, Pure are addressing these issues and have launched a new Highway DAB radio, the Pure Highway 300Di.  This unit has a small control unit (removable, for when you want to hide the presence of the unit) using an OLED screen (and backlit buttons).  In fact, the simple display / buttons and control knob remind me of the very successful Parrot range of Bluetooth car kit control units).  This connects to a control box designed for placing behind the dash, or in the glovebox.  This needs permanent connections to the car (I suspect it’ll possible to DIY fit it, but it’s not designed for plugging into a cigaretter lighter, unlike the PURE Highway, which remains on sale for those who want a truely portable unit).

As well as providing DAB (via a DAB aerial which needs external fitting), the unit has a USB port allowing you to plug in USB memory sticks, USB devices, or you can use your Apple USB cable and the device will be able to fully control (and charge) your Apple iPod or iPhone.

Most DAB radios only have one tuner, whereas most car radios adopted the idea of dual tuners quite a few years ago; this allows the second tuner to go hunting for a stronger signal without impacting the radio playback, and in fact, the Pure Highway 300Di has a second tuner which will automatically keep the station list up to date with only the stations available as you travel around the country.

To connect it to your car, you can either use an AUX-IN type socket, or it can use an FM transmitter, either wireless using the car’s existing aerial, or it can be wired into the aerial circuit giving a crackle free experience.

In addition, Pure have added a couple of innovative new modes:

• Forcourt mode, where the device will go into standby for up to 15 minutes, allowing you to return to your car, and the unit will already be ready for action with the same music.  In you are listening to the DAB radio, you can pause (for up to 8 minutes) and continue listening when you return to the car.
• Picnic mode, where the device is able to continue playing the music for up to an hour after the car ignition is switched off.  The 1 hour limit is to prevent the car battery being drained, although some cars will limit you to only 15 minutes even though the unit could do longer.

For those wanting to add DAB to your existing car, and want something a little more permanent than the PURE Highway, this may well be the device for you.  Pricing will be £179.99, although it’s not yet available, it will be sold exclusively through Halfords for a period.

Having said it’s not available, I believe it should be on sale within the next week or two, and during the initial launch, Halfords will be offering free fitting (normally around £25).

Parrot, well known for producing a range of useful handsfree kits, have announced a new unit.  This will attach to the windscreen, and hold the phone (it can be positioned vertically or horizontally to match the phone; especially useful for using the SatNav feature of many phones), and then connects to the phone via Bluetooth to provide the Handsfree kit.  Most phones should fit (it adjusts between 56 and 70mm wide), and it has a 2W amplified speaker system for both the Handsfree and the SatNav information.

As well as being able to be plugged into the car, it has a secondary socket which allows you to plug in a charging cable to charge the phone directly from the unit (it comes with mini-USB, micro-USB and Apple cables); if the Handsfree is just running itself, the battery should support up to 10 hours talk time (and about a week on standby).

Many of these kits benefit from a microphone positioned closer to the driver, and the Parrot Minikit Smart has a built in retractable microphone.  As with many previous Parrot kits, it will store up to 2000 contacts per smartphone in it’s own addressbook, and can store the records of 10 phones (although this is not a multipoint car kit, so it can only be connected to one phone at a time); it can use these records to allow (with no training) to hit the green button and say the name, and it will attempt to work out who to call, without needing voice activated dialling enabled within the phone either.

I would like to see Parrot adopting multipoint technology, as it does seem the one area where other manufacturers are starting to have a lead over Parrot, but in all other respects, this is a nice looking car kit, and especially good that it can charge the phone too.

This new unit should be available from good Parrot stockists this month (ie in time for Christmas) at £99.

Parrot have announced their latest speakerphone, the MINIKIT. It’s slim and lightweight (13mm wide, weighing 83 grams), and should offer up to 10 hours of talk time. As with the majority of Parrot kit, it syncs with your mobile phonebook, and allows voice dialling of any contact via their own technology, so you don’t need to create voice tags for every single contact. It should recharge in about 4 hours, and then last up to 20 days on standby.

Parrot has incorporated NXT flat panel speaker technology, utilising a vibrating panel that transmits the sound more clearly and evenly than a conventional speaker.

It’s fully Bluetooth 2.0 compliant, and can be paired with up to five phones at once (although can only have 1 active connection at a time). It should be out in the Autumn for roughly £59.99.

Story and picture courtesy of Tech Digest.

Parrot, who produce a range of Bluetooth devices (Handsfree Kits, Photo Frames, Music Devices), have announced that they are forming an alliance with HTC to develop improved compatibility and overall user experience between the companies’ products. The alliance will see HTC working closely with Parrot to align product roadmaps, marketing efforts and channel development to provide an enhanced complimentary solution for customers.