Last month, Sony had announced that they were collaborating with Sonic Solutions to integrate Sony's ATRAC3 into iMaster, Sonic's suite of tools for the preparation of compressed audio for…
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Last week, e.Digital announced a licensing agreement to incorporate Sony's ATRAC3 sound-compression technology into e.Digital's portable Internet music-player designs. e.Digital claims that its multi-codec platform, including ATRAC3 support, can be incorporated into a variety of products including portable digital music players, home and automotive stereos, and functionally enhanced wireless phones.
The first half of the fiscal year has been generally kind to many Japanese electronics manufacturers, most of whom released financial reports at the end of October.
Hitachi's global sales were up 3% for the first six months, to $4.9 billion compared to $4.8 billion during the same period a year earlier. Strong product categories included plasma televisions and optical storage products; Hitachi's Maxell division reported a continuing decline in demand for audio- and videotape. Hitachi posted $47 million in operating income for the six months ended September 30, compared with a loss of $49…
Last week, Cello Technologies (formerly Cello Music & Film Systems) announced that it had acquired San Francisco Bay area custom installer and retailer The Audible Difference. According to a statement issued by Cello, The Audible Difference was founded in Palo Alto in 1976 and serves over 10,000 clients in the Silicon Valley area, and has 30 employees, "all focusing on audio design and home-systems design engineering, integration, and automation technologies."
Cello says that the retail store will operate independently as a subsidiary of Cello and will continue to do business as The…
The name Joe D'Appolito is synonymous with high-performance loudspeakers. Many manufacturers use D'Appolito techniques, but Snell Acoustics has the advantage of employing the famed designer himself as chief engineer. The company will soon begin delivering its Series 7 loudspeakers, which debuted at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
There are eight models in the Series 7 line, all of them "timbrally and cosmetically matched so any number of combinations can be created to suit any listening and home-theater environment," according to a Snell announcement. There are two…
The Internet has become an integral part of Philips Electronics' global sales strategy. The Dutch technology conglomerate has announced a plan for online marketing that will link customers to more than 60,000 Philips dealers worldwide.
Philips' online plans figured large in a speech made by Philips Consumer Electronics Mainstream CEO Guy Demuynck on the opening day of the recent Consumer Electronics Show. "The Internet has transformed the way we do business," Demuynck told reporters at CES. "The Internet dominates all our thinking—it will expand from a browsing activity to an always-on,…
There may be a digital network in your audio future. To help you run it, 17 consumer electronics and computer companies, including Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Intel, IBM, Kenwood, Panasonic, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson recently announced the formation of the Digital Home Working Group (DHWG).
The DHWG, which was initially sparked by discussions between Sony and Intel, describes itself as a non-profit organization dedicated to simplifying the sharing of digital content—such as digital music, photos, and video—among networked consumer electronics, mobile…
The Consumer Electronic Association's (CEA) Gary Shapiro is known for maintaining an ever-optimistic stance on the progress of home entertainment, and a recent keynote at the Semiconductor Market Outlook Conference earlier this month provided an opportunity for him to reveal his top predictions for the future.
In his opening remarks, Shapiro noted that the consumer electronics industry is merely at "the end of the beginning of the digital revolution." He went on to state that the future of the consumer electronics industry looks strong, with total consumer electronics sales from…
Amid news that its watermark technology for DVD-Audio may have been compromised, Verance nonetheless announced last week the launch of its "ConfirMedia" watermarking service. The company says that ConfirMedia will monitor and report the airplay of encoded commercials, music, and programs broadcast by television, cable and radio stations in the 100 top US markets and on the national feeds of major broadcast and cable television networks in the US.
Verance's Bob Cerasoli explains that "by developing additional applications that are based on our standardized [DVD-Audio watermark] technologies…
The show started slowly at the Alexis Park Hotel, since many exhibitors were still setting up and tuning systems as the gates opened at 10am. We ducked into the Gryphon room and discovered the company's new flagship speaker making its first public appearance. Called the "Project 30" until a more formal name is selected, the imposing four-way system consists of two mid/high-range towers and two powered woofer towers. Each woofer tower sports a built-in 600W amplifier and is reported to reach down to 16Hz. The system is claimed to have a 94dB efficiency rating and will be available before the…
With the plethora of CD and DVD formats out there, it can be confusing figuring out what will work with what. Standards can help define specifications for a particular format, but often do little to guarantee compatibility between them.
To solve this problem, the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) was created in 1992. According to their website, "OSTA does not create standards, but it helps the optical storage industry define practical implementations of standards to assure compatibility of resulting products."
Last week, OSTA announced that 31 drive manufacturers,…