Audio News for December 18, 2012

by | Dec 18, 2012 | Audio News

November Sales of CE Flat – Retail sales of consumer electronics goods slipped 1% to $8.4 billion in November, the U.S. Commerce Department has reported. In comparison, e-tailers and other direct sellers enjoyed an 11.1% boost in total November sales to $38.5 billion year over year. Total U.S. retail sales—excluding car dealers, gas stations and restaurants, were up 3.4%. The National Retails Federation predicts a 4.1% increase in holiday spending this season.
Major Holiday Discount on 3D-Bee Box – 2D-to-3D conversion specialist VEFXi is making a $100 discount on their 3D-Bee Diamond converter box, making it $399 until Dec. 24. The unit allows viewers the ability to control the range of depth effects from “natural” to exaggerated objects popping out from the screen, and is directed toward sports fans, gamers and 3D enthusiasts.
Samsung TVs Add Amazon Cloud Player – Samsung’s smart TVs now come with the Amazon Cloud Player app, which gives them access to their entire music library in the cloud, to be accessed anywhere they are. The app is already available on computers, Sonos Music Players, smartphones, Roku and iPod Touch. A Samsung spokesman said: “Music is one of the most popular apps on our TVs today…Customers typically have the best speakers in the home connected to the TV, delivering the very best sound experience.”
eReaders Facing Extinction – Due to low-priced, multi-use tablets, the shelf life of the basic eReader is quickly becoming a thing of the past. A decline of 36% in shipments is forecast for 2012 to 14.9 million units, while tablet shipments will hit 120 million units worldwide this year. An analyst said: “Single-task devices like the eReader are being replaced without remorse in the lives of consumers by their multifuction equivalents…”
Olive Developing All-In-One Music Server/Player – Olive Media of San Francisco is developing a high-performance unit in the shape of an aluminum-and-glass disc lying flat on a table. It will incorporate a touchscreen display, hard drive, network technology, and amplifier in the single chassis. The device connects to a home Wi-Fi network to recognize and stream all music stored on networked devices, and an optional 2.5-inch hard drive can enable local storage, which can be accessed remotely over the Net from a remote computer’s web browser and from Olive’s smartphone apps. Wi-Fi Alliance-certified Miracast technology is featured, which builds on Wi-Fi Direct to provide simplified discovery and setup. The company plans shipment by summer of 2013 at $399-$599.

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