dual

At CES 2007, Buffalo Technology announced a Draft N dual-band wireless router, the AirStation Wireless-N Nfiniti Dual Band Router & AP (WZR-AG300NH), which supports all current Wi-Fi standards (802.11a/b/g) as well as the Draft N spec. Buffalo deviated from its vertical design with a flat-sitting base unit and a separate (cable-attached) three-antenna unit. The three antennae are arranged in a circle, and the unit resembles a small toy helicopter.

The benefit of including 802.11a support is stability when streaming voice packets or high-def video, because 802.11a operates in the 5GHz band. Common household devices such … Read more

The fact that Dual can call its new XMC100 in-car stereo a "multimedia receiver" without including a CD slot is a sign of the digital-audio times. The XMC100 features three options for playing digital media, without a disc in sight: a 3.5-inch jack, an SD Card slot, and a USB port.

The XMC100 also can be used as a satellite radio receiver for Sirius Satellite Radio. Drivers can see what's playing on the unit's black-and-white dot-matrix display. The XMC100 features an internal 240-watt (60x4) MOSFET amplifier, as well as source audio memory and five selectable … Read more

Dual Electronics is bringing a haul of new in-car navigation- and multimedia systems to this year's CES in Las Vegas. Leading the product lineup is the XDVDN8290, a SD card-based navigation system and multimedia player, which features a 6.5-inch motorized touch screen display similar to the one we reviewed last year on the XDVD8182. In addition to its turn-by-turn voice guidance for navigation, the XDVDN8290 plays DVDs, CDs, and MP3- and WMA-encoded discs.

Dual's IPlug interface also enables drivers to have direct touch-screen control over digital music files on their connected iPods (we'll have to wait … Read more

Dual is bringing car-stereo iPod control to the masses with the release of its XDMA690, a single-DIN garden-variety stereo head unit that can be used to control streamed audio from an iPod. All iPod controls (except Shuffle) can be programmed via the buttons on the faceplate, with playlist, artist, album, and song title all showing up on the unit's monochrome display. Like the Dual XDVD8182 in-car multimedia system that we reviewed this week, the XDMA690 ships with a 2-meter iPod interface cable, and it's able to play CDs and MP3- and WMA-encoded discs. Unlike the XDVD8182, you can … Read more

Nokia is the latest consumer-electronics firm to use GPS to follow the money. The Finnish cell-phone maker today announced its entrance into the red-hot car-navigation market with the unveiling of its Nokia 330 Auto Navigation system, which will rely on digital maps from US-based Navteq, rather than those from Tele Atlas found in the new Nokia N95 phone.

The Nokia 330 is expected to compete directly with higher-end GO devices from TomTom, but the list of potential rivals and devices in the GPS market, especially in Europe, is growing all the time. Last week, Dual Electronics, a company traditionally associated … Read more