NEWS: Philips adds to GoGear and Streamium ranges, and there are new iPod docks too

After technology glitches, dodgy press DVDs and a bout of mild food poisoning, we can now bring you more from Philips' recent European press launch.

There's something for everyone on the digital music side of things, with a new MP3 player, the SA52, docking stations, the DC200, DC570 and DC910 and two new Streamium units, the WACS7500 and the WACS6050. There's also a Network Player for streaming music around your home, the NP1100.

And much like the TVs, it's fair to say they certainly look very smart.

First-up is the new addition to Philips' GoGear range of MP3 players. The SA52 (pictured left) is a 4GB player, which despite being particularly tiddly and delivering a diminuitive 2.8in LCD screen, can play WMV videos as well as MP3, AAC and WMA audio.

There's an FM radio too, plus Philips' FullSound technology, which the company was eager to point out was far more than just a 'loud' mode for the 21st century... The SA52 claims a battery life of 5 hours for video and 25 hours for music.

Moving on to docking stations, and there are a number of solutions, though conversely not for the GoGear range but instead for the usual iPods, iPhones and iPod Touch players. We saw the BTM630 micro hi-fi system out in CES, but it was nice to see it again, multi-functional as it is, but elsewhere the DC910 seemed to lead Philips' charge.

Striking an eye-catchingly elongated pose, the DC910 is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the other usual suspects, and can naturally play audio but also video – using it's composite video outputs. There are USB and SD card slots plus 30 watts of speaker output power.

Standing tall is the DC570 (pictured left), capable of 100w of output power, and incorporating a subwoofer, there's also a USB connection and a remote control. Further down the range come smaller docks, the DC185, DC200 and the DC1010 - which looks more like a mini-boombox system, and comes with a CD player and FM tuner.

Moving on to the Streamium products, the WACS7000 has been replaced by the WACS7500 (pictured, extreme top), which aside from a very natty design upgrade has also been upgraded... well, it must have been upgraded somewhere, but from the tech specs we admit we might be struggling a touch to see where. It's still an 80GB hard disk drive, with two main units, a two-way remote and wireless connectivity.

The WAS6050 music station acts as an add-on to the WACS7500 system, linking in to the network and taking music to another room, while the NP1100 network music player acts as a simple streaming device taking music from your PC to your hi-fi.

Last but not least were a couple of pairs of headphones, the SHE9800 and SHE9850 noise-isolating in-ear 'phones. And that's just about it - unless you're after an electronic toothbrush or a beard trimmer?

Further details and prices will follow as soon as we get them, while of course we hope to bring you reviews on as much new product as we can very soon.

Technorati Tags: DC910, dock, GoGear, iPhone, iPod, MP3, Philips, portable, Streamium, WACS7500

Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is Content Director for T3 and What Hi-Fi?, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for more than 15 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).