Crave

The LS6625 series comes in versions that include two or three handsets.

(Credit: VTech)

New for 2009, VTech's LS6225/LS6215 series is one of the company's featured DECT 6.0 cordless phone lines. VTech has a reputation for making sleek and stylish cordless phones and the LS6225 series is an eye-catcher, with a shiny black finish, touch buttons on the base unit/digital answering machine, and a slight curve to the handsets that follows the contour of your face. You can get this model in packages of two and three handsets (the system is expandable to 12 handsets), as well as a unit that leaves off the answering machine.

Read the full review.

Sony on Wednesday announced three new all-in-one PCs, the 20-inch Vaio JS, the 24-inch Vaio LS, and the 25.5-inch Vaio RT.

We found lots to like with the 20-inch Sony Vaio JS.

(Credit: Sony Electronics Inc.)

The Vaio JS (read our review of the Vaio JS190J; the system earned itself an Editors' Choice award) starts at $1,000 and boasts a simple, sparse design. A silver (or a black or a pink) bezel with rounded corners surrounds the 20.1-inch screen, which features a 1,680x1,050 resolution. Above the display is a Webcam and below is a speaker bar. Inside, the Vaio JS uses a 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of 800MHz memory, integrated Intel GMA 4500HD graphics, and a 500GB hard drive. A DVD burner comes standard; a Blu-ray drive is an upgrade option.

(Credit: Crave UK)

You know CDs are capable of pristine sound quality, but we've been playing with a digital voice recorder that records audio even higher than CD-quality. Capturing sound in 24-bit 96kHz WAV format with its sensitive stereo microphones, the new Olympus LS-10 allows for serious high-fidelity recordings and we're extremely impressed with it.

In fact, we took it to Pendulum's album launch party last night (no, it won't be on BitTorrent) for "testing" and the results were terrific. The recorder coped with being right at the front of the stage as the amps heaved under pressure from the intense volume, yet as we heard during playback, it didn't distort the recording and the sense of openness is superb.

You'll want to smack the bass up in EQ when listening on a hi-fi or when you're splitting tracks on your computer, but the bass that's captured is clean and tight.

Inside the rugged metal recorder is 2GB of flash memory, which gives you two hours of recording in 24-bit 96kHz WAV mode. But you can lower the bit rate to increase recording time, or simply record straight into MP3 or WMA if you don't need uncompressed clarity.

Have a listen to an uncompressed, 24-bit 96kHz spoken excerpt of this article, as recorded on the LS-10, here.

If you need even more recording hours, you're able to plug in up to 8GB of memory with SDHC memory cards, and all this memory can be accessed with simple dragging and dropping on a computer via USB. AA batteries will give you about 12 hours of juice, but we've not been able to confirm this, though we're very grateful to Olympus for not using a pain-in-the-arse internal battery that requires a degree in engineering to get at.

Listing for around $400, this is not a typical run-of-the-mill recorder. It's for those who are extremely serious about the quality of their recordings, though it'd make an extravagant gift for a loved business person or student. It'd be a terrific podcasting tool, too, and legality aside, it makes capturing bootleg recordings of your favourite bands and shows a breeze.

It's on sale now and we won't be giving it back to Olympus in a hurry.

(Source: Crave UK)

Making a professional-sounding recording can be expensive, particularly for ensembles (like rock bands) who want to capture at least some semblance of a live performance.

Sure, you can get an decent recording with a portable stereo recorder, or a couple of inexpensive mics panned left and right and plugged directly into the mixer, but most artists want their music to sound as good as it possibly can--as good as any other artist played on the radio. That takes an array of microphones and other audio gear and somebody who knows what they're doing. In other words, money.

Slicethepie offers an online trading market that lets you speculate on the number of singles and albums a band on the service will sell over two years.

(Credit: Slicethepie)

In the post-label world, who funds these recordings? Peter Spellman, director of career development at the Berklee School of Music, explores three fan-funded (or "crowdfunding") options in a blog posting on KnowTheMusicBiz.com.

ArtistShare, which has been around since 2002, allows fans to contribute to particular artists and receive exclusive tidbits, such as in-progress recordings.

SellaBand works more like a small-scale venture capitalist for bands: fans can "invest" $10 apiece, and when an artist reaches $50,000, Sellaband will hook them up with industry professionals, including producers and studios, to record and market an album. Revenue comes from advertisements shown next to free downloads, as well as sales of the finished album, and are split three ways between SellaBand, the "investors," and the artist.

U.K.-based Slicethepie not only allows fans to invest, but essentially asks them to do artist discovery. Fans are compensated a few cents for listening to acts and writing reviews, and bands who score the best end up in a showcase, where labels might find them and offer them a deal.

Fans can also earn money by betting on the success of artists in a stock market. The winner of the showcase gets 15,000 pounds from the organization to fund a recording, while Slicethepie receives some royalties from sales of the album. (I'm always a bit wary of showcase-type models--often bands must pay up front to participate, labels and radio stations ignore them completely, and the only party who benefits is the organizer. In this case, the entry fee for each song appears to be around 20 pounds, although the FAQ isn't entirely clear on this, and entry fees are currently being waived. Still, proceed with caution.)

Whether or not any of these particular organizations actually ends up funding the next Radiohead, it's interesting to see all this business innovation occurring outside the bounds of the traditional label system.

Click the image to see the review of the Parrot 3200 LS Color.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Bluetooth hands-free calling systems in cars are nothing new, but they might start becoming a lot more commonplace as more and more states and cities adopt legislation banning the use of cell phones while behind the wheel. Over the past week, we have been comparing three of the most popular Bluetooth hands-free calling systems from Parrot to see how they measure up against the competition and each other. Check out our full reviews of the CK3000 Evolution, the CK3100, and the 3200 LS Color.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

CHUALAR, CA: So here we are on the road to the 2007 LA Auto show. We decided to drive down from CNET's office in San Francisco for a couple of reasons: first, we get to take all of the contraband travel accessories we would have had to forego had we flown (knives, guns, all-in-one shampoo and hair conditioner); and second, because we have a compelling reason to stay on the road in the shape of the new Lexus LS 460L. We had a look at this car earlier in the year at a press launch in San Francisco, but this is the first time we've been let loose in it, and so far, we like what we see (and hear). As I write, my ears are being massaged by no fewer than 19 speakers--part of the car's bespoken Mark Levinson sound system currently playing audio tracks stored on the LS460's built-in hard drive.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Our photographer in the back seat is enjoying the kind of legroom reserved for first-class airline passengers, although she is having to make do without the LS460's ottoman-style reclining seat with built-in massage. Unfortunately, our $80K tester came without the rear-seat luxury package, which also adds a foldout table to enable the kinds of people who will ride in the back of this car to set monetary policy, or whatever they do. Adding to our disappointment is the fact our tester also comes without the available rear-seat DVD system with a 9-inch LCD display and wireless headphones.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

But before you start to pity us too much, console yourselves that we are pretty comfortable in the leather-and-wood-trimmed cabin (all of the wood apparently comes from the same tree). XM Nav traffic is helping us avoid the traffic hotspots as we make our way south to LA; and the LS460's eight-speed transmission is making for a smooth journey. We also can take solace in the fact that when we arrive in LA, we won't have to worry about parking, as the LS460 is the first car ever to be released in the US that parks itself.

Look out for some more blog entries as we make our way toward LA and for CNET Car Tech's live coverage from the show floor throughout this week.