Apple's video-enabled iMac threatens to edge television out of living room

Technofile: It's time once again for a Technofile round up of techy news, so hear we go...

Technofile: It's time once again for a Technofile round up of techy news, so hear we go...

Sanyo has launched the new XACTI-C6 camcorder, which packs a lot into a small package. It weighs only 140g, is just 23mm thick, has a 2in display and it claims to be the world's most compact megapixel camcorder. However, it runs using SD card memory, so you'll have to shell out quite a lot more than you would for tapes.

At the What Hi-Fi magazine awards recently, winner of the all in one system category was the Arcam Solo, which is a totally integrated hi-fi system (radio, CD etc) and has inputs for an MP3 player such as an iPod. Sony won the DVD/ hard disk recorder category for TV recording with its RDR-HXD710, which has massive storage capacity, removable DVD storage and an integrated digital TV tuner. You name it, it does it.

There have been yet more attempts to knock the iPod from its throne (over 75 per cent of digital music players are iPods). The latest is from mobile network Orange, which has brought out the Orange Music Converter, which enables users to convert MP3 and WMA music files into the AAC+ format, which is compatible with the Orange Music Player. Why do this? Well, 3-4MB of MP3s take up just 700k of space in the AAC+ format, so you get more bang for your buck.

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Technofile has been saying for some time that mobile phones are the new jewellery. So if you change your phone as often as you change your necklace, then Nokia's new fashion collection is for you.

The L'Amour collection features the 7380 model, which has a keyless dialling system similar to the 7280 predecessor, a 2-megapixel camera and an MP3 player. The 7370 has a 1.3-megapixel camera. The 7360 has a standard VGA camera and an FM radio. Very tasteful.

Philips has brought out two new hard disk MP3 players, the HDD6320 (€367), which has 30GB storage - enough for 15,000 songs - and the HDD1620 (€295) with a 6GB storage. Both have colour screens, voice recordings and play rights-protected WMA files.

Samsung Mobile, the number three maker of mobiles behind Nokia and Motorola, launched into the Irish market this week with five new handsets, the ZV10, E350, E530, Z500 and the X480, which will be available on the Vodafone and 02 networks. The ZV10 model is a 3G phone with music player, VGA camera, and 40MB internal memory.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the launch of Apple's new iMac and the new iPod, which plays video. A lot of hype surrounded the iPod, but Apple's move into the living room seems to have been overlooked. Its new, fast, iMac G5 is thinner, comes with a built-in iSight camera with still and video capabilities and a remote control with a 10-foot range for music, photos and video.

If you add a TV video feed, you would get a TV which can surf the net, play most digital music - and CDs - and DVDs and games. How fun would it be for the kids to chat over video iChat with granny in Australia while sitting at home on the sofa? Look out for iMacs edging out the TV in some households.