09/09, 6:50pm
Panasonic BD system delivers 7.1 virtual audio
Panasonic on Wednesday said it will soon release its first 2.1-channel Blu-ray Disc home theater system, the SC-BTX70. The upright system uses a proprietary Panasonic technology that can reproduce virtual 7.1-channel sound in Dolby's TrueHD and DTS-HD virtual 7.1 formats. The two speakers, made of bamboo, have a top-mounted design for better sound dispersion. The system is rated at 375W of power, with each speaker and the subwoofer getting 125W.
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08/20, 4:10pm
Panasonic car BD player
Panasonic in Japan on Thursday introduced the first Blu-ray player made for cars with its CY-BB1000D along with a conventional but HD-capable counterpart, the HX-3000D. The former sports an HDMI input and 7-inch display with 1280x720 resolution that will play the Blu-ray content in HD. While the player will support Bonus View content on compatible BD media, accessing BD-Live content that requires an Internet connection isn't an option.
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07/29, 4:30pm
Onkyo 7.1-channel systems
Onkyo has recently announced the upcoming release of two 7.1-channel home theater systems with advanced audio processing, including support for all current audio formats, including the vertical dimensions added by ProLogic IIz. The HT-S7200 and HT-S6200 surround sound systems are rated at the same 130 watts per channel, with a speaker system that includes an active 230W subwoofer. Onkyo's U-Port iPod dock is included with each system.
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07/23, 3:50pm
Sony 400-disc B Ray Player
Sony this afternoon aggressively bolstered its Blu-ray player lineup with three high-end models. The BDP-CX960 MegaChanger is built to address a whole movie collection and manages 400 titles whether they're Blu-ray, DVD or audio CD. It also has an Ethernet port that helps auto-tag movies and music for easier searching as well as BD-Live support for newer Blu-ray releases.
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05/25, 7:55am
Lenovo IdeaPad S12
Lenovo chose Memorial Day to launch a range of PC updates that include a world-first. The IdeaPad S12 is the first netbook to have an option for NVIDIA's Ion platform and overcomes one of the performance setbacks for netbooks: the advanced graphics can fully decode 1080p HD in hardware and is capable of 3D that would be off limits for Intel-based video. It also helps drive visuals on the newly enlarged 12-inch, 1280x800 display or the (optional) HDMI output.
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03/16, 9:40am
LG Arena Ships in Europe
LG on Monday said it has launched the Arena in Europe. The company's new range-topping phone should be available today through carriers like Orange and T-Mobile in the continent's "major" markets and is still claimed as one of LG's most anticipated phones with more than 1 million pre-orders, though this includes carriers in Asia and other regions besides Europe. No mention has been made of how many Arenas are expected to sell through on launch day.
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03/12, 12:30pm
Onkyo SR607 Receiver
Onkyo has launched a trio of new AV receivers that are topped by an industry first. The TX-SR607 is the first to include Dolby Pro Logic IIz support and can add a vertical dimension to the sound in movies that support it: the element lets home theaters with two extra, elevated front channel speakers register sounds that would appear above the movie viewer, such as an aircraft. It additionally brings support for 7.2-channel surround at 90W per channel with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio as well as a rear port for add-ons like an iPod dock or HD Radio tuner.
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03/09, 12:20pm
LG Viewty 2 Details
LG today was revealed to have provided early details of its likely update to the Viewty in a largely unnoticed booth area at last week's CeBIT show. In addition to specifcations, Phone Arena has obtained photos that effectively confirm the GC900 will replace its camera-centric predecessor: the device will have an upgraded 8-megapixel sensor with a Schneider-Kreuznach lens and Xenon flash. It should also have a much sharper 800x480, 3-inch touchscreen useful for the phone's DivX video and Dolby Mobile sound support.
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02/10, 4:05pm
LG Arena Multi Touch
LG's KM900 Arena should beat out the Palm Pre to be one of the first non-Apple phones to support multi-touch input, LG Korea's press site shows. The interface, known as S-Class, will let users pinch to zoom in the web browser and while viewing photos. While its main home screen has a conspicuously iPhone-influenced design, the 3D aspect divides the front end into core phone tasks, apps, media playback and a section for widget apps like clocks and calculators.
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01/06, 9:10am
Logitech G19 G35 G9x
Logitech on Tuesday exploited the run-up to CES to revise its G series gaming peripherals, including the addition of its first Mac-friendly gaming keyboard. The G19 is the company's new flagship keyboard for play and centers on a 320x240, color LCD that can be used to provide information on active games with support for the company's GamePanel software, such as World of Warcraft. It also performs double duty as a VoIP call panel, media viewer and performance tracker; users can switch between many of these without having to leave a currently running app, the company notes.
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01/05, 3:10pm
MSI Wind NetOn at CES
MSI today outlined its plans for CES and confirmed the presence of the company's first all-in-one nettop. The Wind NetOn (shown) competes against ASUS' Eee Top and also described as one of the fastest; in the US-specific AE1901 model, the 19-inch system will come with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom that should significantly improve performance while keeping power use down to just 50W. IT and the other 16- and 22-inch systems have yet to receive full details but should come with 16:9 ratio, 1366x768 touchscreens (1920x1080 in the 22-inch version) that simplify their respective interfaces.
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01/02, 3:20pm
ASUS Dolby TrueHD cards
Taiwan's ASUS on Wednesday announced it will soon release its Xonar HDAV1.3-series of sound cards that are the first in the industry to offer TrueHD audio bitstream support for HTPCs. The lossless digital compression rate of 24-bit/192KHz audio is delivered to AV receivers thanks to the use a specially designed C-Media AV200 audio processor and ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theatre software. HTPC users can now enjoy DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus audio formats usually found on today's Blu-ray movies discs.
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11/13, 4:00pm
ASUS Xonar Essence STX
ASUS on Wednesday announced a new range of Xonar Essence STX PCI-express audio cards with an industry-leading 124dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) that delivers clean, clear sound. The cards also offer an uncommon feature with their built-in headphone amplifier that delivers less than 0.001 percent distortion. ASUS used its Hyper-ground technology and EMI Shield design in the construction of the cards to help it achieve the high SNR score and protect its analog outputs from external magnetic interference.
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11/04, 3:40pm
NAD T 587 Blu-ray Player
High-end home theater maker NAD has made a late entry into Blu-ray players with the launch of the T 587. The dedicated player quickly catches NAD up to rivals with both Profile 2.0 support, which adds support for BD-Live and other Internet-related special features, as well as a quick startup time. Unlike even some high-end players, the T 587 is said to load movies in under a minute versus times from rivals that creep over this mark.
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07/30, 12:05pm
LG Gets Dolby in Phones
LG today said it has struck an agreement with Dolby Labs to build Dolby Mobile audio into its media phones. The recently-developed technique gives listeners virtual surround from plugged-in earphones despite the relatively small size and low power of a handset. It can also enhance audio for stereo signals, either widening the perceived sound stage for a less compressed sound and restoring lost detail both through a treble enhancer as well as a bass boost.
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05/12, 2:40pm
Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1
Creative expanded its lineup to the underserved notebook audience with the Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1. The USB device is claimed as the first to both boost audio quality and output in full 5.1-channel surround sound; Dolby and DTS movies, as well as games that support surround through DirectSound or OpenAL, automatically have their video processed and split across a speaker setup. Compressed audio is also cleaned up through the Crystalizer hardware that Creative says restores lost details.
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05/07, 12:10pm
Pioneer's Elite receivers
As part of its home theater product launch on Wednesday, Pioneer USA introduced four new A/V receivers to its Elite line. The SC-07, SC-05, VSX-03TXH and VSX-01TXH feature 7.1-channel surround sound connections and support DTS HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus lossless audio formats. The SC-07 and SC-05 benefit from the same Direct Energy HD amplifier with ICEpower analog class D technology Pioneer uses in its flagship SC-09TX receiver.
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