Wired for sound, minus some wires
Want to pipe music throughout your house but don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for a custom installation?
Loveland-based Colorado vNet has a new audio system that utilizes the same type of technology that lets you establish a wireless Internet connection in your home.
A special encoder from Colorado vNet turns the analog signals from your stereo system into digital signals, which can be translated into Internet protocol. Using a router, that data can be distributed to vNet’s Touchscreen Amplifier, which sends the sound to speakers in the home.
There are still wires involved as speakers in other rooms have to be connected to the Touchscreen Amplifier, says John McCready, Colorado vNet’s vice president of sales.
“It does make it simpler,” he said.
Prices for the Touchscreen Amplifier system range from $700 to $800 and can increase depending on the number of rooms hooked into the system.
Taking a hard drive on the road
The ability to carry computer files (or back them up) can make the road-weary traveler feel at home even when using an unfamiliar machine. Verbatim’s new versions of its Store ‘n’ Go line of pocket hard drives can haul either four gigabytes ($129) or eight gigabytes ($199) in a chrome-and-plastic shell slightly larger than a Zippo lighter.
At 1.8 ounces, the Store ‘n’ Go USB HD Drive is less than 2.75 inches square and about half an inch thick. Its short connection cable wraps around the side of the drive, and its USB 2.0 connector snaps into the top when not in use. Both new models come with a program called Mobile Launchpad that allows Windows users to install software applications and run them right off the drive, even when using someone else’s PC.