The who’s who of the top consumer brands were out in to style yesterday at the ninth annual Playbite exhibition in Tottenham Court Road to showcase all the new gadgets. In recent years the exhibition has seen the likes of Microsoft and Apple showcase their never before seen gadgets and technology that were top on everyone’s Christmas wish list.
This year saw Sony pulling out the stops in the form of their VAIO range to maintain their place as producers of some the most innovative laptops to date. Sony unveiled the new VAIO X Series, an ultra light laptop which will be Windows 7 ready and aims to go head to head to challenge Apple’s new MacBook Air. The X series aims to boast battery life that will be around the fifteen hour mark and also has a special ‘WEB’ button which will enable users to log straight onto the internet if the laptop is off in a matter or seconds. Sony’s VAIO business project manager Chris Hurst said, “We’re always going to be pushing the boundaries of mobility we’re always going to be innovating and that’s what we’ve got with the VAIO brand”.
Also on display at Playbite
Palm answer to the IPhone, the Palm Pre. The Pre is touch screen but still boasts the convenient QWERTY keyboard function for fast easy composition of messages. In addition, the Palm Pre has unique a Software called Synergy which is able to take contacts details in the form of email address, phone numbers, Facebook details from different applications, and unify them in order to avoid the hassle of duplicate contacts. Playbite weren’t short on the look ability factor either as Harmon Kardon showcased the glass GLA-55 speakers with built in subwoofers that truly capture the high end experience of top quality audio.
A Harmon Kardon rep said “Its young and it’s a very much youth orientated piece of equipment, its Ipod driven and is battery based as well as mains use”. Retailing at the likes of John Lewis, Selfridges and Harrods the Harmon Kardon are keen on continuing their legacy as a pioneer in audio entertainment.
Many others were on display such as SanDisk, Fujitsu, and Hauppage who have the world smallest, digital freeview tuner for Windows PCs in the form of the PCTV picoStick.
For more information on the event, visit www.myplaybite.com
Words by Richard Ashie
