Thursday
Page 1
At the Sony press conference they
announced many new products. Mike Fidler touted Sony's home products division, specifically wireless broadband with three modes. Think of a base station that can send high-speed bandwidth wirelessly to audio and video devices with an intuitive interface. Of course Internet access is also included. One unique feature is that no matter where you travel in the world, a personal handheld audio/video device will allow you to access your music. Sony will also be offering a new XS digital high-resolution video monitor at 37 inches on upward. Sony will be transmitting the upcoming Olympics in HDTV. Of course they also touted Blu-Ray recordable discs
and their SXRD projection tchnology. While 12 million SACD discs have been shipped, there are only 2000 titles since its inception.
As we all well know, broadband (high speed) Internet is taking homes in a fast
pace. Viva le Internet :)
Spoke with a Sony representative and he claimed that their
handheld unit will employs their proprietary browser called Netfront. Sony is
know for making such choices instead of using more standardized formats (such
as Netscape or Internet Explorer). Sony claims this unit could access your
personal music collection at home via Internet IP access, and therefore you
need not pay Sony for some music/video subscription service. This unit will
simply "pull" data from your home network.
At the Monster Cable press conference Noel Lee, Head Monster of Monster Cable, was
touting how stores need to educate customers. Specifically, how the audio part of their entertainment system is very important. Therefore they have launched their lifestyle loudspeaker system. He touted how, like i did in a previous editorial, how the industry is missing out on the video gamers (Xbox and the like) who do seek to enjoy better audio. Because these systems also play DVD and the like, reproducing music is also key. Nolen stated they as an industry we need to sell women to really make "the sale" of products. "We need to make the stuff look good and fit into the room." The Monster Reference Home Theater Music Experience is soon being launched in many stores nationwide. It will be a room that presents a complete package that goes well together. It will be akin to the retail chain "Rooms To Go" where a complete room decor is available at a set price. There will be various packages available geared toward the needs of the consumer. M Design will have Movie Experience HD A/V, Gaming Experience in Dolby Digital, and others. Also, thee lines include Eleganza (top priced), Centra (middle), and Cinerama (price conscious).
Monster Cable's new line array loudspeaker come in three sizes for mains plus a center and surround modules. The new subwoofers look and act as tables versus the usual black square box. Also available will be a flat screen "frame" with line array drivers built in.
Monster Cable's cabinets are hand rubbed, seven coats of lacquer and a built-in cooling system. The equipment is on sliding shelving.
At a special lunch meeting Pat Griffis (Microsoft), the Vice
Chairman of DHWG Board of Directors, discussed the trend of the digitally connected home. With a media connected home, information is seamlessly available all throughout the home. This
allows for more openly available standard that many companies follow versus a proprietary, single company, solution. members of the DHWG include HP, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Song, Fujitsu, IBM, Sharp, Kenwood, Thomson, NEC, and others.
Of course the securing of content is one of the road bumps, as copyright holders are wary of new technology until it is proven to be fully secure. See my article
concerning this by clicking
here.
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a
complete listing of show exhibitors.
Click here to see our
2003 show coverage.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
