Audio Video News

2014 CEDIA Expo Coverage Begins Wednesday

In the grand scheme of all things electronic, it’s not as big a deal as the annual CES in Las Vegas. In many respects, though, CEDIA Expo 2014 is an even more important event for people interested in customizing home technologies to make them seamless, integral parts of their customers’ lives. Oh, hell, what am I saying? “Customizing home technologies…” The guys—and most of them are guys, although that’s changing—who go to the CEDIA Expo every year are fascinated by gear that can be hidden, be controlled at a distance, is motorized or otherwise moveable, and can be tweaked and tinkered with. Sure, we talk about "lifestyles", but the reality is we go to CEDIA to geek out on the gear.

It’s a completely safe bet that when the show floor at CEDIA Expo 2014 officially opens at 9:00 AM on Thursday, September 11, the place will be packed‐and a number of us from Sound & Vision will be fighting our way through the throngs of installers, designers, specifiers, representatives, and booth demonstrators...

American cable subscribers get way more cable channels than we really want. In 2008, according to Nielsen’s Advertising & Audiences Report, U.S. households received an average of 129.3 channels and viewed 17.3 of them. In 2013, the number of channels jumped to 189.1, of which 17.5 were viewed. So the number of channels went up 46 percent, but the number viewed rose only 1 percent. Why are cable systems jamming so many channels down our throats? Their dilemma is that channels travel in packs—and a network that owns a popular channel will always insist that cable operators buy all of its channels. “However,” says the Los Angeles Times, “the rising cost of sports programming is starting to lead to louder calls that at least some content should be sold to consumers who want it and not forced on everyone.”

Walkman NWZ-A17 Hailed as “World’s Smallest and Lightest” Hi-Res Audio Player

The iconic Walkman name will appear on what Sony is calling the “world’s smallest and lightest” high-resolution digital music player, the Walkman NWZ-A17, slated to hit store shelves in November with a suggested retail price of $300.

International CES founder and consumer electronics (CE) industry legend Jack Wayman died Saturday, August 30 of natural causes at the age of 92, announced Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO Gary Shapiro.

Atlantic Technology announced plans to introduce by the end of the year a compact Dolby Atmos-enabled speaker module that can be added to existing speakers in its line or any existing home theater setup.

The Pace of Change Shows No Signs of Letting Up.

The road to driverless cars is lined with technology we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago. From auto parking and rich head-up displays to cutting-edge “infotainment” features, dashboard tech is right up there with horsepower/performance, handling, and other traditional car buying metrics. And the pace of change we’ve seen over the past decade shows no signs of letting up—if anything, it’s accelerating now that technology has become an integral part of the shopping experience.

Ready to go back to mono—with The Beatles? An exclusive sneak peak at Pete Nash unboxing "The Beatles in Mono" vinyl box set, courtesy of Capitol/UMe and Apple Corps Ltd. The video goes live on The Beatles’ YouTube channel Friday.