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Vox jams guitar amps into Audio-Technica headphones, dubs them Amphones (ears-on)
Guitarists and Bassists have many tools at their disposal for practicing fresh news licks without disturbing others around them. One of our favorites is Vox's AmPlug -- a guitar amp-modeling dongle that plugs into your instrument's 1/4-inch jack, allowing you to connect headphones and an MP3 player to practice privately. Building on the idea, Vox worked with Audio-Technica to simply embed the AmPlug in a new line of headphones, dubbing them Amphones. The company quietly put the cans up on its site recently, and it's now officially ready to shout out loud about them. Guitarists can choose from AC-30 (British crunch), Lead (hi-gain) and Twin (clean) variants, and bassists can snag the Bass version, which is based on Vox's AC100. Just like the AmPlug, each Amphone features volume dials -- sadly, these don't go to 11 -- for setting gain, volume and tone, along with a fourth for a built-in effect (compression for the Bass and reverb with the AC30, for example). A duo of triple AAs power the cans and, as you'd expect, the 'phones have a 3.5mm jack for hooking in external sources as well as a 1/4 adapter to plug into your axe. These Vox-styled units will be available in the US sometime in October for $100 a pop (double the cost of an AmPlug). Hungering for more already? We were able to give a pre-production version of the AC30 model a brief run, and you'll find our initial impressions after the break.
HTC's rumored 2009 lineup gets fleshed out with specs, dates
Remember HTC's huge lineup leak from earlier this year? Apparently somebody has trickled a few more details about the sets out, as we get a better look at the when, the where, and the all-important how much. Of course, we have to preface the info on the following six sets with the fact that we've no way to know the absolute truth or if we'll see them land as things have a way of changing. So until you hear it from HTC, consider the following leak a thing of dreams. First up, the Firestone, a 3G set that replaces the Touch HD with a 3.6-inch WVGA display, an 8 megapixel -- HTC's first -- camera, runs Windows Mobile 6.5, and is slated to appear in August this year. Next, a slate-style set called Whitestone with the same display as the Firestone, a 5 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1, and is apparently a dual-mode GSM / EV-DO number due to launch with Verizon in the September timeframe. The Thoth -- Athena's replacement -- is also present with a 4.8-inch display, a 5 megapixel shooter, the Qualcomm 8250 CPU at 1GHz, and will also run Microsoft's newest Windows Mobile 6.5 when it lands in September. HTC's Twin is another dual-band candybar set with a 3.2-inch VGA interface (no date), the HTC Maple is an HTC Cavalier successor with a 2.4-inch screen, 2 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1 device that appears in May. Last up, the HTC Cedar, which was originally touted as debuting on Verizon in June and has potentially been canceled. OK, that potentially sorts Windows Mobile for the year with HTC, so now lets get some details on Android sets, mkay HTC?[Via WMPoweruser]
Summon Night coming to DS
Banpresto's Summon Night series of RPG's finally made it to the U.S. last year on the Game Boy Advance. Fans of the GBA action-RPG's will be happy to know that Summon Night is getting a new entry on the DS: Summon Night: Twin Age. The original Summon Night games were strategy RPG's similar to Tactics Ogre, but this, like the GBA games, is more action-oriented. It stars two plucky youths named Aldo and Leeha who want to become great summoners-- you know, standard RPG stuff. They want to be the very best, like no one ever was. To find gems is their real test-- to use them to summon monsters is their cause.Twin Age will be released in Japan in August. No word on if Atlus will pick it up for localization.%Gallery-3357%
First HD DVD/DVD Twin disc hits U.S. in June, along with new HDi features
Add one more dual format disc type to the pile, as Bandai Visual will bring the HD DVD/DVD Twin disc to the U.S. June 26, with the release of its bestselling OVA Freedom, and will also be one of the first releases to include HDi network capabilities. As opposed to the combo releases so far that have HD DVD on one side, and DVD on the other, the Twin disc allows up to three layers of either HD DVD or DVD content on the same side of the disc, no flipping necessary. Your old-school DVD player might have trouble with the disc, so its been limited to Japan-only releases so far. Bandai's been working with Microsoft and Memory-Tech to tweak the VC-1 codec for Japanese anime, and the company says after this they will start releasing other HD DVD and Blu-ray titles in Japan and overseas. The SRP for Freedom Vol.1 (of 6) is $39.99 and while we don't know much about the series beyond its mix of CGI and 2D animation, it does heavily represent that most holiest of foods, ramen.
Toshiba's triple-layer HD DVD / DVD discs
You know we likey our Blu-ray and HD DVD tech 'round here, but we heart hybrid capabilities even more. So today's announcement from Toshiba and Memory Tech of a triple-layer twin format HD DVD / DVD disc has certainly caught our attention. The new disc is capable of either a dual-layer 30GB HD DVD and single-layer 4.7GB configuration, or single-layer 15GB HD DVD and dual-layer 8.5GB DVD. The resulting disc can be manufactured on the same HD DVD production lines with little modification and conceivably play either HD or DVD films (without flipping the disc) when fed into a regular ol' DVD or new fangled HD DVD player. As our hi-def bros over at HD Beat rightly point out, the DVD TWIN standard is already in use by our Japanese overlords, albeit, in its lessor dual-layer format. The next step is for Tosh to present the new format to the DVD forum who, with any luck, will slap Toshiba up side the head and get 'em focused on the HD DVD / Blu-ray hybrid we're all waiting for. [Via Impress]
Qtopia dual-mode phone drops in France
We first told you about Wistron NeWeb's GW1 dual-mode candybar with tri-band GSM and VoIP over WiFi back in January when we caught wind of it at CES; now, it looks like they've picked up a launch partner. Rebranded as the "Twin" by French MVNO Neuf (that's "Nine" for you non-Francophones out there), the phone appears to be hit with the basically the same ugly stick that afflicted the GW1, but never mind that -- the big draw here is dual mode, which Neuf will offer at regular mobile rates through customer's Internet connections and its own hotspots. Also of note is that the Twin / GW1 runs Qtopia for folks looking to make an escape from more traditional smartphone platforms. The Twin is available unlocked and without contract for €200 or €1 when purchased with a Neuf Internet connection and phone plan.
