News

Sort By: Post DateTitle Publish Date

Harvey Electronics to Acquire Myer-Emco

On May 8, Harvey Electronics, with 9 stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, announced that it would acquire the Myer-Emco chain's 10 stores in Washington and Maryland. Both companies are consistently ranked among the top "hybrid" retail operations, meaning they have retail locations and emphasize custom A/V installation services. The new company will be called Harvey Electronics, but tri-state area stores will continue to be called Harvey and DC area stores will continue to be identified as Myer-Emco.

Has HD's DRM Been Hacked?

HD DVDs and Blu-Ray discs came to market with a digital rights management (DRM) content encryption system called Advanced">http://www.aacsla.com/home">Advanced Access Content System (AACS). Supposedly, AACS was intended to permit greater flexibility than conventional DVD's Content Scrambling System (CSS) DRM, since it was touted as allowing purchasers, say, to load DVDs onto their media servers or burn downloaded HD purchases to disc.

Has the RIAA Changed Its Lawsuit Strategy?

In an article published on June 28 on the website Slyck.com, a popular site dedicated to news and activism surrounding P2P networks, writer Thomas Mennecke contends that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1237 ">retooled its "strategy of launching a continuous barrage of monthly lawsuits aimed at approximately 750 individuals," a policy that has resulted in more than 18,000 suits since it was instituted three years ago.

Have a HAVi New Year

Last week, eight consumer-electronics manufacturers announced the formal establishment of the Home">http://www.havi.org">Home Audio Video Interoperability Organization (HAVi) to promote the development of products based on the the HAVi 1.0 final specification, scheduled for completion in December 1999. (An evaluation version of the HAVi 1.0 final spec can be downloaded from the HAVi website.) The HAVi Organization was founded by Grundig, Hitachi, Matsushita, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Thomson, and Toshiba, which have been working together for over two years to develop a specification to permit interoperability among networking digital home entertainment products.

HD Radio Makes Progress

We've been hearing about it for years, but high-definition radio may finally be on its way. Feeling competitive pressure from satellite operations XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio, US broadcasters are making what appear to be sincere efforts to upgrade their service by moving from analog to digital.

HDCD Spreads Further into the Audio Kingdom

HDCD and Pacific">http://www.hdcd.com">Pacific Microsonics appear to be on a roll these days. The HDCD process, developed to coerce 20-bit performance out of the 16-bit CD format, is gaining several new licensees and is also appearing in more devices, as evidenced by several recent announcements. The company is also looking ahead to future DVD formats with an agreement intended to couple HDCD benefits with higher sampling rates.

HE 2001 Seminar Schedule Set

Consumers attending the Home Entertainment 2001 Show in NYC, May 11–13, 2001, will have a unique opportunity to speak with and learn from the home entertainment industry's leading experts. As part of the three-day audio and video extravaganza, the Show will offer educational seminars and panel discussions—included with the admission ticket price on a first come, first served basis. This is a rare opportunity for consumers to meet with legendary industry journalists, manufacturers, dealers, and others.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement