Audio News for December 10, 2010

by | Dec 10, 2010 | Audio News | 0 comments

TVs of the Future – Here is a look into the future of TV as envisioned by executives gathered at the Reuters Global Media Summit. The television will be a large-format flat screen in the living room – highest quality and definition – and almost like wallpaper. Viewing content will be as easy as snapping your fingers to turn the TV on, or using its touchscreen to access your favorite channel in 3D – and without the glasses. There was broad consensus at the summit that the experience of TV would grow richard and simpler for viewers. One said people would not need to have a PhD in device management in order to use their media products anymore. Another complained “Today it can often take a dozen clicks to find one program.  There are too many boxes, too many remotes, and too much hardware.” Still another said the problems are made worse the need for several remotes. “The video game controller is not useful for watching films, and neither is useful for search. They are dumb controllers.”

3D Mobile Devices – Would You Believe? – Now that an increasing number of 3D TVs are being shipped for home theaters, the next evolution of 3D which the industry is salivating over is 3D on mobile devices.  According to In-Stat, one of the earliest research reports to discuss 3D opportunities in mobile devices, 3D adoption will be highest in smartphones, which would represent 45% of all 3D-enabled mobile devices by 2012. Penetration rates will also be highest in handheld games consoles and tablets, but other opportunities will abound in notebook PCs, digital photo frames and portable media players. One of their analysts reported “due to advancements in autostereoscopic 3D technology – a type of 3D that does not require glasses to view 3D images – 3D technology is finding its way into bile devices.” Also, “The more predictable viewing distance of mobile devices enables a compelling and convenient 3D experience.”

Denon 5.1 AV Receiver Deal for $197.86
– There’s an unusual bargain available on Amazon currently of the Denon AVR-391 six-channel AV receiver for only $198. It is rated for 375 watts and decodes all the new codecs including Pro Logic IIz.  The main thing it lacks is analog video-to-HDMI upconversion. But it can handle Blu-ray and your cable box.

Sony Problems with Google TV
– Sony recently promoted their new Bravia Google TV offering to much fanfare, but the technology has run into problems and sales are poor. The new TVs – which use the Android operating system and an Intel processor – have not yet been launched and may not be. They aimed to bridge the span between subscription-based TV and content on the Internet, but a move by all U.S. TV networks to block Google getting access to their content has caused problems. Sony’s hope was that jumping on the IP bandwagon would improve falling TV sales; they wanted to change the “perception of the TV.”  Purchasing of flat panel TVs has also slowed. To speed up TV product development, Sony has reduced the number of hardware and software platforms. The Google TV was completed in about half the typical development cycle time for a new TV with new software and hardware platforms.

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