Gadget Zone

Jonathan Mitchener admits he is somewhat obsessed with gadgets. He spends his days at BT keeping a close eye on the industry and meeting manufacturers as he researches the direction devices are going in. And he spends a fair amount of his own time playing with the latest technology he can get his hands on. In this regular column, he will offer his insights on the latest gizmos to hit the market.

November 2007

BT Group principal research scientist Jonathan Mitchener looks at the latest offerings in the devices market

I like to focus this column on firsts in the gadget arena and to highlight the smallest or thinnest or similar new gadgets. This time I’m starting with two camcorders.

The first is the Hitachi DZ-BD70 which is the first Blu-Ray optical disk camcorder to market. Using a single 7.5Gb disk, it will allow an hour of true High Definition (HD) video to be captured. The system will also allow standard definition video to be written to standard DVD disks. The camcorder features a 10x optical zoom and a 2.7 inch widescreen monitor LCD. Hitachi has also launched a hybrid model (DZ-BD7H) which combines the Blu-Ray drive with a hard disk drive which can record an additional four hours of high def video.

The second is currently the world's smallest and lightest HD model which Sony has announced - the Handycam CX6 Series. In contrast to the Hitachi model, this boasts of having no tapes or disks, but instead records almost three hours of HD footage to a removable memory stick. Its size is just 67x69x129mm and it weighs only 370 grams without the battery. It features the same size LCD screen and the same 10x optical zoom as the Hitachi.

While on the subject of high quality audio/visual kit, I want to mention the Denon Xspace DHT-FS3 surround sound system. This claims an easy setup and very wide "sweet spot" surround sound experience in any room from a remarkably compact sized system. Six digital amplifiers and individual speaker drivers are used and the unit is capable of a total output of 150 watts. An iPod dock accessory is also available.

Note: While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, BT accepts no responsibility for any information contained in Jonathan’s article, nor does the company endorse any product or service mentioned.