Introducing StyleFi
Buy Now...
For those unfamiliar with Oregon Scientific, the company is part of the Integrated Display Technology Group (IDT). The company has built up a reputation for bringing world firsts to the consumer market. Among these firsts are the first LCD projection clock in 1980; the first electronic weather station in 1990; and the slimmest digital camera (6mm) in 2000. The latest innovation to emerge from its think-tank of developers is the StyleFi brand.
The StyleFi is aimed directly at those who want high performance and stylish appearance with the latest technology and without paying premium prices. Currently the StyleFi brand consists of four products covering innovative speaker technology, a CD Micro System and a personal audio player.
Oregon Scientific has incorporated its speaker technology into two new products which make use of FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) wireless transmission operating at 2.4GHz digital audio frequency. The first of these products is the WRS368 Music Sphere. As you might suppose from its title, this is a spherical shaped speaker note the singular as you get just one speaker for listening to your favourite music from anywhere within your house or garden. The speaker incorporates a subwoofer and is lightweight enough to be easily portable or wall mounted.
The speaker sphere has a LCD display with a digital clock, battery level indicator plus volume, bass and treble feedback information. Other features include a Learn-Remote function that allows the different audio sources to be controlled from the Music Sphere using the respective remote controls and a colour coded system to indicate the current audio source.
The speaker links wirelessly to a transmitter station that has a range of 100 feet (30 metres). This station has three input jacks at the back that can be set up to operate with specific audio sources such as an MP3 player, CD unit or Television. As a result of the FHSS wireless technology and the fact that the speaker is paired with its own transmitter station, there should be no conflict or interference from other sources. . Power supply can be either from mains or battery. The Music Sphere has been priced at £179.99.
When this technology was shown to Apple, the response was so enthusiastic that Oregon Scientific developed a version specifically for the iPod. This is the iBall which is compatible with the iPod, iPod colour display, iPod mini and iPod Shuffle. Building on the features of the Music Sphere, the iBall combines the wireless transmitter with a docking station which can recharge the iPod device and synchronise with iTunes via a connection to either a Firewire or USB port on the Mac or PC. The iBall will be available from October and has a £199.99 price point.
If you have not already joined the iPod party then perhaps the Oregon Scientific Music Orbit + Music Station combo might be of interest. Based on a compact and lightweight design, the discus-shaped Music Orbit is an MP3, WMA, and CD player with support for CD text and ID3 tagging. The player features a 5-band equaliser for setting up different sound and playback effects plus a programmable playlist capability.
The cylindrical Music Station provides both recharging and playback facilities. It also has a built-in FM/AM radio with up to 20 preset channels. The Music Orbit + Music Station has a price ticket of £159.99.
Completing the StyleFi line-up is Music Element CD Micro System. This consists of a see-through, top-loading player decked out in black, two NXT satellite speakers encased in transparent perspex and powered by SurfaceSound, plus a subwoofer. The system can handle MP3, WMA, CDDA, CD-R and CD-RW disks using a vacuum florescent display (VFD) with LED indicators to display information and track details encoded on MP3 disks. It also has a built-in FM/AM radio with 40 preset stations and adjustable sound and equaliser effects. This stylish kit will set you back £299.99 and should be available from appropriate resellers.
| add to del.icio.us | Digg this review |
| StumbleUpon | |
!!
