Five Finds: Technology

Five Finds looks at technology this week. After the home gym that was more home than gym and the unusual lights made from, among other things, dried fish and stuffed squirrels, this week it’s the turn of technology.

I hate how speakers and televisions and dvd players and all the wires and leads that go with them really tend to take over a room and, call me old fashioned, but I just don’t think speakers are beautiful. So that’s where these come in.

Made by UK company Ferguson Hill, they run on low power amps and are made of clear acrylic. The huge speakers mean it can uses between three and 50 amps of watt power, which, according to those who know such things, is not much. Which makes this the eco-friendly choice too.

Sadly at £17,000, the FHOO1 is not really the budget-friendly option.

So, next up and still on the subject of transparent speakers is this:

It can be either wall-mounted or free-standing and comes from Swedish company People People. As the company puts it on the website: “There’s a war going on in the living rooms of the world – the never ending battle between home electronics and interior design. It might be the huge TV that really doesn’t work with the nice old cupboard, or maybe the heaps of cables that for some reason needs to connect to our stereo system. Making it blend in often feels impossible unless we would build it into our walls [which] is both expensive and difficult, and a lot of people actually want their hi-fi stuff to be visible. So we realized there are some improvements that should be made.”

This is the result. However, it is Swedish so there is self-assembly required. On the other hand, it comes with extra kit that allows you to customise it to your own desires.

The speakers come with a small rechargeable wifi antenna, that can plug in to any device – computer, music player or smart phone – with a headphone socket. It will also work for old stereos or vinyl equipment. It comes in a small, flat package that will, apparently, fit through the letter box. And, at $800 US, it’s cheap in comparison.

Now what about these glass speakers?

Greensound is one of the first loud speaker manufacturers to incorporate digital wireless technology into surround speaker systems, eliminating the need for speaker wire and resolving amplifier /receiver power incompatibility. Yes, I took that from the website because it means nothing to me but I assume that’s the information you will need.

There are several versions in the range but I prefer the plain ones with no fancy flashing lighting options myself. You can turn off that option or programme it to suit. And, yes before you ask, they are made from toughened glass.

Next up moonlight speakers.

These are mainly designed for use outside and combine a soft light with 360 degree audio speakers in one piece. Again you can change the colours if you want and, while they’re aimed at nightclubs and huge party venues, it would be quite cool to own just one at home.

Finally, and back to the transparent theme, is this television. Now this is the one I want.

The technology is way beyond me but this is what its inventor Michael Friebe said: “As the first of its kind, the Loewe Invisio introduces technical innovation, combining conventional LCD and the latest TOLED display technology. This allows to create non-transparent / solid moving pictures with rich color reproduction and full contrast range from solid black to pristine white.”

So in the picture above you don’t see it and now … you do.

Sadly, this one isn’t available yet, which is a real shame as I would definitely have it on my wish list.

What do you think?