Friday, March 15, 2002
Soundbug turns flat surfaces into speakers
Posted by Jason Dunn in "HARDWARE" @ 12:08 PM
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2106596,00.html
If there's one thing I can say with certainty about CeBIT, it's this: you simply can't see everything in one day. Dale Coffing, Ed Hansberry, and myself were on the show floor from 9 am when it opened (companies were still setting up their booths) until 6:30 pm (30 minutes after it ended) and we only covered perhaps 25% of the show floor. I wish I would have seen this device - it sounds awesome! Imagine having your Pocket PC and this device, and walking up to a window at a party and spinning your own tunes. Cool!
"The desks are alive with the sound of music at the CeBIT show in Hannover, as Olympia launches a cheap device that will turn any flat surface into the biggest speaker on the block. It may be more famous for making typewriters, but Olympia has just revealed what some observers are calling one of the sexiest gadgets of this year's CeBIT -- a small device that can turn pretty much any flat surface into a soundboard. The Soundbug can be plugged into the headphone socket of, for example, an MP3 player or a walkman, and then fixed by suction to the flat surface -- effectively turning a desk or window into a speaker....
...The Soundbug transmits the sound to the flat surface by way of a small piece of Terfenol, which is a mixture of rare earth metals and iron. This substance is placed within an aluminium case, around which is wrapped a coil. Passing electricity through the coil causes the piece of Terfonal to slightly expand, resulting in a force of 400 pounds, explained Newlands Scientific managing director Brian Smith. Once attached to a flat surface, Soundbug will transmit electronic signals into mechanical energy -- causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcast the sound."
If there's one thing I can say with certainty about CeBIT, it's this: you simply can't see everything in one day. Dale Coffing, Ed Hansberry, and myself were on the show floor from 9 am when it opened (companies were still setting up their booths) until 6:30 pm (30 minutes after it ended) and we only covered perhaps 25% of the show floor. I wish I would have seen this device - it sounds awesome! Imagine having your Pocket PC and this device, and walking up to a window at a party and spinning your own tunes. Cool!
"The desks are alive with the sound of music at the CeBIT show in Hannover, as Olympia launches a cheap device that will turn any flat surface into the biggest speaker on the block. It may be more famous for making typewriters, but Olympia has just revealed what some observers are calling one of the sexiest gadgets of this year's CeBIT -- a small device that can turn pretty much any flat surface into a soundboard. The Soundbug can be plugged into the headphone socket of, for example, an MP3 player or a walkman, and then fixed by suction to the flat surface -- effectively turning a desk or window into a speaker....
...The Soundbug transmits the sound to the flat surface by way of a small piece of Terfenol, which is a mixture of rare earth metals and iron. This substance is placed within an aluminium case, around which is wrapped a coil. Passing electricity through the coil causes the piece of Terfonal to slightly expand, resulting in a force of 400 pounds, explained Newlands Scientific managing director Brian Smith. Once attached to a flat surface, Soundbug will transmit electronic signals into mechanical energy -- causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcast the sound."
