Coming to a UK store near you this Christmas is the Q2 Cube, an Internet radio player like no other. Instead of mashing buttons to change your settings, you physically flip the cube-shaped device onto a different side. Here’s how it works. You set up your Q2 with four pre-selected Internet radio stations, and then to change from one to another, you turn the device onto one of four “live” faces. The fifth face manipulates the speaker — tilt the Q2 forward to turn up the volume, or tilt it backwards to turn it down. The Q2 Cube was developed by Cambridge Consultants and Armour Group PLC, it’s been designed as a novelty radio that eliminates traditional radio knobs and buttons in favor of something more intuitive... [Read more]

VHS has gone the way of the dinosaur. DVD is on its way out. Blu-ray is the flavor of the month, but how long will that month last? Netflix and iTunes already offer streaming movie rentals to computers and game consoles, and more and more DVD and Blu-ray players are coming equipped with the ability to stream video from online services. Today, Best Buy announced that it’s adding CinemaNow’s DVD streaming service to “every Web-connected device” the retail chain sells. So I have to ask the inevitable question: How long will it be until physical media goes away forever, in favor of entirely digital media? There’s a report going around that Apple has been courting major TV networks to create a $30-a-month subscription... [Read more]

Tell me if this sounds familiar. A full color tablet device that displays text, photos, audio, video, and surfs the Internet, all with a touchscreen interface. Creative is touting this just-announced device as the company’s entry into the ebook reader market, but it sounds to me more like a direct competitor to Apple’s long-awaited iPad. Creative calls it the MediaBook, and though what details we have are low on specs, we know that it has an SD card for storage, and it runs on Creative’s “Zii” technology (which sounds an accessory for Nintendo’s Wii, but in reality is a subsidiary technology based on a “StemCell Computer” nano-sized processor). No word yet on what wireless network will be involved... [Read more]

Cisco is planning a companion device to its popular Flip mini video recorder. According to a new FCC filing, it’s called FlipShareTV, and it basically does for Flip what Apple TV does for the iPod — only not as easily. Apparently the device works by a semi-complicated process where you transfer your Flip videos to your computer as you normally would, and then connect the FlipShareTV USB device to your PC. The USB device streams video from your PC to the FlipShareTV, which you connect to your television. An included remote control lets you control the videos that are played on your TV. Not much else is known at this point, such as the price or when Cisco is planning to release it. Image: Cisco. [Read more]

Peek makes handheld messaging devices used exclusively for email and texting, for a small monthly fee. Now the company is planning to release TwitterPeek, a variation on their existing devices that’s devoted exclusively to Twitter. Let me say that again: a messaging device you can only use with Twitter. A Tweevice that’s good for one thing alone. Is it madness? You’ll have to decide for yourself. But I wonder if Twitter has really become so important that we’re ready for a computing device that allows you to do nothing but Tweet, 24/7. Especially when you can already do that all you want on your smartphone. Peek’s current lineup consists of two flavors: the Peek Pronto, a $59.95 model that includes unlimited email... [Read more]