Nothing says sexy like a sleek wood trim, wouldn't you wholeheartedly agree? Vita Audio obviously does, as it's £499.99 ($980) R4 integrated music system just screams lavish. The all-in-one unit packs an iPod dock, slot-loading CD / MP3 / WMA-music disc player, USB port, DAB and FM tuner with RDS, front and rear auxiliary ports, built-in display, alarm clock function and the firm's detachable RotoDial remote. For those not feeling the rich walnut veneer, there's also a high-gloss white (surprised?) version available for £50 ($97) more. Sadly, the "coming soon" tidbit leaves us clueless as to how long you actually have left to save up for either of the pricey systems.

[Via ShinyShiny]

If we saw the typical "Ships in 1-2 weeks" here or whatever, we wouldn't be sounding an alarm, but something is going on here. Both Apple's US and UK online stores are joining the O2 choir and are now reporting the iPhone as "currently unavailable" -- no 8GB, no 16GB, no nothing. It seems that Apple either significantly underestimated demand for the 2.5G models ahead of the 3G release that's still a few weeks (or months) down the road, or the 3G model is a whole heck of a lot closer than we could've imagined. Is anyone suddenly having a nasty case of "I only want what I can't have" syndrome and regretting that they didn't order one of these bad boys a day or two ago?

[Via GadgetKing, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Privacy advocates have long since pointed out that the sniff-ability of Bluetooth signals were cause for concern, but now one University of Bath researcher has a little data to back that up. Vassilis Kostakos placed four Bluetooth receivers in the city's center for four months, during which he and his team tracked over 10,000 BT-enabled mobiles. According to Mr. Kostakos, they were able to "capture and analyze people's encounters in pubs, streets and shops." He continued on to mention that "Bluetooth is now more of a privacy threat than the more frequently publicized RFID chips," and he encouraged worried denizens to turn off the BT function on their phone to help curb the paranoia. Of course, that won't stop Big Brother from seeing your every move whilst in the UK, but whatever helps you sleep better is alright with us.

[Image courtesy of Symbian World]

From what we've seen, the British military is pretty savvy on its robotics. Apparently mechanical beings aren't integrated enough, however, as the British Ministry of Defense has launched its first ever Grand Challenge, which "encourages participants to turn their ideas into prototypes for machines the army can use in urban environments." The six finalists that were chosen each received around $600,000 in order to construct their contraptions, and this August, we'll see an unmanned buggy that can analyze a gunman's movements, a self-propelled, remote-controlled camera and minuscule helicopters used for reconnaissance missions. Best of all, these creations won't just be propped up on some shiny display -- oh no, they'll be taking part in a mock battle in Copehill Down, with even more loot and an enviable trophy on the line.

Hope you weren't really counting on getting yourself one of those Pegasus 210s. In a sudden announcement made today, Dominic Wong and David Langton of Deloitte & Touche LLP were appointed as Joint Administrators of Rock Group Plc. In layman's terms, that means those fellows will be attempting to achieve a sale of the now-defunct company. Reportedly, the failure of Rock is "partly attributed to the cash flow difficulties faced as a result of stock misappropriation by a former employee," though further details were omitted. As it stands, the admins are currently negotiating with potential suitors in order to place the outfit in more capable hands, but there is still a possibility that no one will bite. For more information on how all of this could affect you (you know, things like warranties and whatnot), check out the full release in the read link below. 'Tis a sad day folks -- Rock is dead (at least for the moment).

[Thanks, Peter]

The headline kind of says it all, but if you weren't already sure enough that the first gen iPhone's stint in the UK was coming to a close, O2's pushing to make things crystal clear. It's hard to imagine both companies are going to just stop selling such a high profile device for too long, but clearly we're all still in the dark as to when its 3G replacement will officially be out.

[Thanks, Keith]

Update: While European carriers are running out of stock left and right, it seems Apple Stores in the UK and elsewhere still have iPhones -- for now.

Update 2: Okay, and now O2's page is showing that the iPhone is once again available. Temporary glitch or preparatory? Beats us, but if you want a 16GB device, it's apparently still up for grabs.

Check it, Europeans -- Clarion has just dumped a new duo of PNDs on the market, and they're both geared up to route you all over your humble lands. It appears that the only major difference between the MAP680 and MAP780 are the actual maps loaded in; the former is available in four regional versions, while the latter features a full 43 European countries. Specs wise, we're lookin' at a 4.3-inch widescreen display, text-to-speech, built-in TMC tuner, 3D display of buildings / POIs, lane assistant, Bluetooth (with phone book transfer and audio streaming), a 400MHz CPU, multimedia player and 2GB (MAP780) / 1GB (MAP680) of internal memory. No word on a price or any of that good stuff just yet, but feel free to get more acquainted with the pair in the gallery below.

[Via NaviGadget]

Britain's top fixed-line carrier is apparently aiming to get back in the handset game, as Times Online is reporting that said company will reveal a "BlackBerry-styled" device that does everything your typical smartphone can along with one extra inclusion. According to the writeup, the forthcoming device will "switch from BT's wireless Home Hub indoors to Vodafone's network on the move," and it's expected to be sold with a broadband package. Of course, those familiar with BT will recall that this isn't the outfit's first foray in the sector, but it's hoping the new handset will fare a good bit better than the poorly received BT Fusion. So, how's about a picture of this thing?

[Via Pocket-lint]

Update: The BT ToGo is official.

We knew it was coming, and after waiting for quite some time for FreeSat to go from concept to reality, television viewers across the UK can finally indulge. If you'll recall, a recent survey found that just 5-percent of Europe's HDTV owners actually bothered to tune into HD programming, but now that number is likely to change. Effective today, 98-percent of the UK can fork out a one-time fee of £49 ($96) to £120 ($234) in order to acquire a FreeSat set-top-box, and after an £80 ($156) installation, users will have subscription-free access to BBC HD, ITV HD (coming soon), Channel 4's digital service and around 70 other TV / radio channels. Better still, that number is slated to rise to 200 before the year's end, and unsurprisingly, the launch is expected to boost available high-def offerings in the region. Anyone across the pond have their equipment set up already? How's the service?

[Thanks, Ivan]

Indifferent souls may have no qualms just snapping up the first digiframe they see, but that sect isn't the target market for Parrot's latest. The Andrée Putman-designed device is being shown around the UK at the moment, and aside from boasting a 7-inch display, a glossy black motif, rear-mounted buttons, auto-rotation, 10MB of built-in storage, an SD expansion slot and integrated Bluetooth (but no WiFi), you also get to hand over £250 to take it home. Right now, the piece is only available in London's Few and Far store, but the company may try to roll it out nationwide if demand necessitates. Check it out on video in the read link below.

[Via CNET]

England is already drowning in CCTV cameras, so it looks like Big Brother is starting to get creative in finding ways to deploy more: local councils are now outfitting crossing guards with camera-equipped stop signs. Yeah, crossing guards. With cameras in their stop signs. The cameras in the £890 ($1765) poles are fairly conspicuous, and the hope is that it'll curb aggressive driving around crossing zones, which resulted in 1,400 incidents last year. There's no word on how anyone plans to measure the effectiveness of the program, but we're certain the crossing guards who get passed over for the poles and end up with the hat-mounted cameras also being deployed will have a few choice words about things.

There are times when form overcomes any missteps in function, and we'd probably say this is one of those times. On the downside, Brionvega's 19-inch Alpha LCD / DVD combo display tops out at 1,280 x 1,024 and obviously boasts a 4:3 aspect ratio, but it can be equipped with a digital DVB-T tuner. Beyond that, you'll find a 1,200:1 contrast ratio, 350 nits of brightness, five-millisecond response time, 160-degree viewing angles and a small array of ports. There's also a pair of three-watt stereo speakers in there, and the integrated DVD player even handles VCD, SVCD and MP3 discs. If you've found yourself overran with disposable income, you can grab yours in orange / silver / black for €1,950 ($3,016) and up.

[Via RetroToGo]

The geriatric set most definitely has plenty of cellphones catered to them, but finding a computer that's equally simple to operate isn't nearly as easy. According to a BBC report stemming from a Digital Inclusion conference in London, Microsoft UK is aiming to develop a "senior PC" which will feature a simplistic interface and come tweaked to handle tasks such as managing prescriptions and photos. The outfit is teaming up with charities Age Concern and Help the Aged, and it's just one of the many projects meant to tackle the issue of "digitally excluding" millions of citizens. Additionally, Microsoft is working up an "ad-funded PC" that would come preloaded with a step-by-step guide to get online, remain safe, perform "simple computer tasks" and, of course, fire up Doom. Just kidding about that last part... maybe.

Attention out of shape Europeans: you can now whip your body into a pristine temple of hotness thanks to the Wii Fit. Nintendo's next pile of money has launched all over the UK and EU, so if you've been hankering for a good workout -- but you've been too lazy to actually work out -- now is your chance to shine. The exercise board and accompanying software will cost you £69.99 (around $142) in Britain, or €89.99 for the rest of the Union. If you're waiting for it Stateside, it drops May 19th, and will run you a thrifty $89.99.

Conspiracy theorists and Mac rumor-mongerers, start your engines. According to an internal O2 memo we've received, stock of both the 8GB iPod touch and iPhone have run their courses, and have been EOL'd (at least in the UK). The brief letter sent out yesterday evening states that, "Due to the highly successful sales of the Apple 8GB I-Phone [sic], supply chain have today run out of stock & will not be replenishing stock of this product as it has now gone to end of life." Whether this is due to the recent price cuts, the rumored upcoming 2nd generation iPhone, or just a sign that Apple is moving towards higher capacity devices is anyone's guess. All we know is that soon the 8GB iPhone -- at least in the UK -- will become as rare and precious as the Pygmy Three-toed Sloth.

[Via The Register; Thanks Callum M.]