Big things come in little packages, right? Well, Orb Audio is out to prove that old adage right with their new Class T amplifier, the Mini-T to go along with their small, but full of sound, handmade Orb speakers.

The Mini-T allows consumers to use high quality home speakers instead of poorly built, questionable sounding computer speakers. By pairing the Mini T with Orb’s award-winning speakers, consumers now have a simple, elegant audio solution that looks as good as it sounds. This is a great way to bring high quality audio to your desktop or TV without large, complicated surround sound receivers.

The Mini-T is based on legendary T-Class amplifier technology, known for its audiophile sound quality and low harmonic distortion (just .04%). Like Orb’s speakers, the Mini-T produces a rich, brilliant soundstage with detailed imaging. Together, the speakers and amp create an immersive listening experience that will not disappoint.

The Mini-T is also small, measuring six inches wide, one and a quarter inches high, and five inches deep. Finished in an attractive charcoal gray, with black gloss front, the Mini T complements any of the six available Orb speaker colors.

The Mini-T can be purchased by itself for $88 USD or can be purchased alongside a matching pair of Orb Audio speakers for $299, for a savings total of $29 off of MSRP. I’m personally digging the hand polished steel enclosure on the speakers.

The Mini-T can accept audio input from many sources including your iPod, iPhone, PC and many other sources.

[ Links: Orb Audio ]

Every now and then there’s packaging that just screams out “I need that in my life” and The Alchemist and Oh No’s saw blade vinyl record EP “Sawblade”, with a few cuts from their upcoming November 22nd release “Gutter Water” is just that one time packaging and the content come together in a cool, creative, “DOWANT” way.

The tracklisting on the Sawblade EP is as follows:

Side A

1. The Sickness
2. Operating Room
3. Freshest Rhymes
4. Overdose

Side B

1. The Sickness (Instrumental)
2. Operating Room (Instrumental)
3. Freshest Rhymes (Instrumental)
4. Overdose (Instrumental)

With the creative genius of The Alchemist and Madlib’s younger brother (and just as creative) Oh No, Gangrene promises to be something altogether cool. The limited edition Sawblade EP costs about $20.

[ Links: Decon Records ]

Land Rover will be showcasing their most eco-friendly sport utility vehicle, the Land Rover Evoque during the Paris 2010 Motor Show on September 30th. However, some early information has already leaked out.

• Luxurious coupe design with a compact and more efficient footprint than other Range Rover models
• Targeting a new group of customers for the Range Rover brand
• Bold exterior is an evolution of Range Rover design language
• Strong, clean interior architecture with a contemporary and sporting feel
• Premium cabin with the high quality materials expected from a Range Rover.
• Available with full sized glass panoramic roof flooding the interior with natural light
• Use of efficient powertrain and advanced lightweight materials
• Smaller – at a 171 inches (434cm) it is 17 inches (432mm) shorter and 7 inches (178mm) lower than Range Rover Sport models
• Permanent all-wheel drive combined with turbocharged four-cylinder engine and an updated six-speed auto transmission deliver excellent perforrmance and fuel economy
• All-new 240 bhp 2.0-litre Si4 turbocharged engine combining six-cylinder refinement and performance with four-cylinder fuel economy
• All-new chassis specification delivers dynamic and agile handling across varied terrain, with optional Adaptive Dynamics featuring MagneRide™
• All-weather, all-surface capability with Land Rover Terrain Response®
• An extensive suite of Range Rover technologies including Bluetooth® audio streaming and optional Surround camera system
• To be sold in 160 countries worldwide, with deliveries from Fall 2011

With their new EcoBoost Si4 engine, the Evoque promises to be as fuel efficient as a 4-cylinder on the highway or in the city. With a release set for next Fall… I know what I’ll be saving for! No word on price yet though.

[ Links: Hello Evoque, Land Rover Evoque ]

Ooh, looky, looky. Microsoft has a teamed up with SRS to bring SRS 5.1 Surround Sound to their Silverlight platform. What does that mean in layman terms?

SRS views this as a significant step forward in its quest to make top-quality surround sound available anywhere and to anyone. It is also a significant development for the industry as, the largest player in the streaming media segment, Netflix, utilizes Microsoft Silverlight for all the content streamed and downloaded to end-user CE devices for consumption.

Via the new toolkit, it means that enhanced Netflix, web media and video content for not only your computer but also all Silverlight enabled handheld devices.

[ Links: SRS Silverlight ]

Televisions, computers, DVD players, VCR players, video game consoles, compact disc players, external hard drives, stereo components, speakers… they all just end up creating a bunch of ugly wires that some people try to stash behind stands, hide under cases or wrap up in cable wraps and it can get downright frustrating. To add to the wire count, imagine wanting to play your downloaded content streamed over to your television or stereo. Seems like Wisair has come to the rescue.

The Wisair Wireless USB Audio/Video Adapter Set — an easy-to-use USB adapter system that allows home and office users to “cut the cord” and wirelessly stream content from their laptop—including pictures, movies, presentations and online media—to any HDTV, projector or monitor without the tangled mess of cords and complicated setup.

Featuring HDMI video/audio support and VGA connectivity with stereo audio support through a 3.5 mm audio jack, the Wisair Wireless USB A/V Adapter Set delivers 32-bit True Color depth and up to 1400×1050 screen resolution for high-quality images. With 48 kHz, 16-bit stereo sound and HD video resolution up to 720p, movies (Blu-ray excluded) and videos look sharp and sound crystal clear for an optimum viewing experience.

Although limited to only 720p and excluding Blu-Ray, invariably due to needed bandwidth, the Wisair Wireless USB Audio/Video dongle system seems to allow for ample room for downloaded music, movies and other streamed media that normally resides on your PC for viewing and enjoyment in your living room setting without the need or use of wires.

By now it should be known that I truly hate wires and avoid them at all costs – this definitely probably warrants further research. I’m not sure about the lack of Blu-ray support – but it still looks interesting nonetheless. Priced from $129 – $149 at various online retailers, the Wisair Wireless USB dongle will hopefully remedy having wires run from your PC to your TV.

[ Links: Wisair ]

Last year, I reviewed the Eos Wireless iPod Speakers and Dock and came away impressed at the build quality, sound (from such small speakers) and the rather impressive wireless range. In fact, they gathered RTL’s very first 5 out of 5 score.

This summer, Eos Wireless sent their newer Eos Converge system that will connect a PC/Mac as well as just about any other music source. So for the 175 or so Microsoft Zune fans out there – I count myself as one of them – you can actually connect via the auxiliary input and share your tunes throughout the house without having to drill once. Just add music and power and you’re good to go.

Of course… I like to test things differently.

For my long-term test, I played with these things outside on my acre of so immediate backyard and used them to entertain folks during my July 4th weekend outside and during my recent birthday celebration last weekend. And each time, I’d plug into either my Zune, my Mac or once my own stereo without issue. Just take one of the black plastic wireless transmitters, plug in your audio source, and pair it with a wireless receiver, attach some speakers and play your music however you wish. With an effective range of 150 feet, I didn’t anticipate any problem given that I was limiting my area to one acre – which is 212 feet by 212 feet.

The setup… well, there isn’t really any. If you ever conquered the whole square peg toy when you were a kid, well you can handle this too. It’s simple enough to where this is the kind of gift that works well even with a luddite. On the back of the wireless transmitter, there’s an miniUSB connector, an audio in/out connector. On the back of the powered wireless receiver, there’s an RCA connector for some speakers and a power plug input alongside the power switch. Again, it’s so gosh darn easy to set up. And this time, Eos Wireless sent along their Eos loudspeakers that have a black ash finish and are made of solid wood with a 1 inch dome tweeter and 5.5 inch ported woofer. And the speakers do not feel cheap and light by no means. They’re solid enough to where you do not want to drop them on your foot – I did once, my toe still hurts.

So how does it sound? After connecting up everything, the transmitters, receivers and speakers all combine for an expandable – up to four wireless receivers – and spread your music to all around you with a solid, good sound that doesn’t sound out of balance and does not bottom out on bass-heavy music nor too bright on the highs. The Eos loudspeakers are studio grade in build and sound; balanced and nearly good enough to sit alongside my much more expensive Polk Audio and Paradigm speakers that I tend to us in the house. And that’s a good thing.

Are there any cons? Yes. The build quality, while great does leave a bit to be desired in the looks department. They’re functional, non-obtrusive, but are not as smooth or “cool” as the Sonos multi-room offerings. The speakers are $99.95 per pair – you can purchase Polk Audio studio speakers for cheaper if you’re watching websites like Dealnews.com or so. Beyond that, the system does what it says it will do and without fuss. And the cool part… I was using my Apple iPhone to connect and control my iTunes library from the patio via the Apple Remote app.

During the festivities, all of my guests asked where they could buy the Eos Converge system and how much it cost. The Eos Wireless Transmitter and Receiver sells for $99.95 each, while the powered version of the Eos Wireless Receiver costs $149.95. The Eos Loudspeakers are $99.95 for a pair. It sounds a bit expensive, but the fact that you can move, connect and never have to drill or worry about making holes in your walls. To me, that’s worth the level of entry. You can still order then from the Eos Wireless website and they’re still offering free shipping – which is a good thing, the speakers are heavy.

Yet again, Eos Wireless receives a 5 out of 5 (Highly Recommended) from Remove The Labels. Just sad that I have to send back the review system after using for so long. It works very well and I’m sure I inspired a few purchases.

[ Links: Eos Wireless, Eos Converge System ]

As much as I love the term “man cave”, it’s not fully a true man cave unless you got a booming, yet clear system that makes you feel each and every explosion in Red Dawn at the base of your root canal. Don’t have a good system? Harman got you covered.

For the home theater enthusiast that is looking for an all-in-one, easy-to-use setup, Harman provides a complete home theater system from Mark Levinson and Revel. At the heart of this system is the Mark Levinson No 502 Media Console. Designed to provide precise sound and breathtaking on-screen imagery with easy-to-use, user-friendly menus, the No 502 console automatically sharpens images for crisp, clean video that, along with Revel’s Ultima speakers allow the viewer to achieve an unparalleled level of suspended reality.

For the more advanced audiophile, JBL Synthesis provides a number of products that bring over 60-years of professional audio innovation into the home. Their custom-installed systems are specifically designed to duplicate the same sound characteristics of famed concert venues like the Sydney Opera House, and when they are applied to any sporting event, create an audio experience that rivals any live venue.

From simple, two speaker stereo configurations to more complex true Dolby/THX 7.1 configurations, Harman is the company that houses Mark Levinson, JBL and Infinity audio brands. Prices range all the way from “I can do that” to “whoa, I’ve seen cars that cost less”. But the quality is undeniable across all of the Harman brands.

And besides… your man cave deserves the best.

[ Links: Harman ]

Let’s face it… the whole R&B scene plain sucks right now. There are no real standouts – no, R. Kelly does not count – and the music has all somehow blended together for one boring, monotonous sound that have very little substance outside of finding the most crass way to tell another person that you want to lick, stick or do something nasty to the person or it reminds you of another song (or ten) before it.

So receiving a heads up about YahZarah’s “The Ballad of Purple Saint James”, a singer that comes from around the DC area originally and has sung backup for Erykah Badu and done work with North Carolina’s Little Brother and the grammy nominated Foreign Exchange… this was the needed “grown folks” music that I needed to hear from an artist. Showing the range from soulful, to insightful, Yahzarah’s newly released “The Ballad of Purple Saint James” is a killer addition to any R&B lover’s collection. To me, the stand out track was “All My Days”, almost didn’t make it past that song.

Got Apple iTunes? You owe it to yourself to sample it.

[ Links: Yahzarah "The Ballad of Purple Saint James" ]

TuneUp Media, one of my personal favorite software apps out there has only a few, music-centric uses. It cleans up the titles, finds the cover art for you – which helps my typical OCD nature where everything has to be alike, but it also locates local happenings like concerts and now, via their Tuniver.se website, helps you discover new music as well as inform you of other happenings. It’s not a well-known app, but it’s definitely a well-used app with over 1 million users and over 850 million songs “automagically” cleaned through their process. For a company that only recently have had their application added to the brick and mortar Apple Stores, that’s quite an achievement.

Well that, and I stand by my earlier assessment that their software plain rocks.

GOGII has released some numbers for their free text messaging app textPlus that has been released for the wildly popular Apple iPhone, Apple iPad and the Android series of phones by Google. Mobile phones, as widespread as they are also means that you’re fighting for a lot of elbow room alongside a lot of similar function apps. But somehow textPlus has amassed 18 million users and growing.

The textPlus app is free to download for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android phones. The textPlus 60611 short code allows users to text for free in the U.S. and Canada, and its app-to-app texting functionality is free to use worldwide. Over two billion messages have been sent to date within the textPlus network, with volume averaging 16 million messages daily and half a billion each month. Users spend over an hour a day using the app.

Not bad for an app that’s never been advertised outside of the iTunes App Store and a few places online. Again, it’s just a good app that’s done well.

Vonage, perhaps one of the biggest VoIP providers in the US, but nowhere near the size of the of the Ma’ Bell (AT&T) that I grew up with offers a cool feature via their Vonage World Plan called Vonage Visual Voicemail that transcribes your incoming voicemails and sends them to you via e-mail. Such a small feature that’s getting used 4 million times per month and rising.

As a long time Vonage user, I sometimes forget to take my Vonage V-Portal router with me, and that’s when the visual voicemail service comes in handy. Apparently 4 million other users like that convenience too. And again, this is a feature that has only been (by me) advertised on the Internet.

And if you have Vonage – I suggest that you do, the ability to call 50+ countries for free is just plain great – set up your own visual voicemail. Amazingly enough, the transcripts aren’t even bad. It was able to decipher my normally ultra-fast talking mother even!

With all of that said… it goes to show you that software and esoteric features can still be used by millions of users. You don’t have to be a Microsoft, Apple or IBM to get a lot of attention; just be like the aforementioned companies and use the Internet properly and wisely. And honestly… I’m loving that.

[ Links: TuneUp Media, GOGII textPlus, Vonage ]

When Microsoft acquired Danger, the maker of the entry-level “smartphone” Sidekick, nobody knew what was going to come of it. Fast-forward 2 years, and the fruits of that acquisition finally come to light in the form of the Microsoft Kin One and Microsoft Kin Two. Both are aimed squarely at the “Upload Generation”, the teen to early 30′s group that uses their cameraphone and Twitter apps, alongside Facebook and even MySpace to chronicle their daily operations with their peers.

The Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two are now on sale via Verizon for $49.99 and $99.99 respectively after a $100.00 mail-in rebate once you sign a 2-year contract. Despite having questionable “smartphone” abilities, the Microsoft Kin platform does require the Verizon $29.99 a month data plan.

Despite having a somewhat “cool reception” in the blogosphere, these phones do come with pretty impressive numbers on the optics, Zune connectivity and playback, Bing search engine software which has been beefed up to include location aware portions as part of the new “Near Me” Bing functionality… it’s actually not an ugly phone and it’s still quite zippy performance-wise.

Let’s hope this paves the way to an even speedier Microsoft Windows 7 Phone release though. That’s the phone the more serious folks.

[ Links: Microsoft Kin Press Release, Verizon ]

Apple iPad isn’t a cellphone. Apple iPad doesn’t have a forward facing camera. I’ve been ranting about that kind of stuff all over my Twitter account for quite a while. Seems like Truphone wants to shut me up with their announcement:

Truphone, the global mobile operator, today announced the availability of its application that offers thousands of Apple iPad customers the ability to make voice calls. The company’s award-winning VoIP application turns the tablet-sized device into a mobile phone that offers free or low-cost international calls, as well as advanced Instant Messaging features that integrate a user’s contacts from across multiple IM networks.

Truphone was the first to officially launch a mobile VoIP calling application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch platforms, and the company continues to lead the way with the launch of Truphone for iPad.

The Truphone iPad application offers customers free calling to other Truphone and Google Talk users when connected over Wi-Fi, and international calling to mobile phones and landlines for as low as 5 cents a minute. Truphone also offers an unlimited calling plan and free voicemail.

Yeah. So now you can use Truphone to actually make VoIP calls to other Truphone and cellphone users for relatively cheap. The Truphone application is free, there are some fees involved calling phones other than Truphone user to Truphone user.

[ Links: Truphone, Truphone Rates ]

There may be people that get their cubicle party on, but I am guessing that pocket-sized mixing decks will mostly be destined for the classrooms of overindulged teenagers – and for lonely adults seeking to entertain themselves. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t approve.

From Think Geek:

• Everything you need to mix back and forth between two MP3 players.
• Pocket sized for instant DJ action.
• Preview the next song with a separate, volume-controlled headphone jack.
• Easily fade between MP3 players with the smooth slider.
• Includes: Mixing deck, 2 short audio cables (for connecting to MP3 players), 1 long audio cable (to connect to speakers – not included), and earbuds.
• Batteries: 4 AAA (not included)
• Dimensions:
  • Mixing Deck: approx. 4.5″ x 2.5″ x 1.25″
  • Long Cable: 40″
  • Short Cable: 17″

Price: $24.99

Link to the original article…