Audio Video News

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Audio Video News
It's Official
Michael Berk  |  Apr 25, 2011  | 

Nintendo has confirmed-with a concise press release in the always-refreshing company style-that the rumored Wii 2 (well...a successor to the Wii, of

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Audio Video News
Will Feds Grab DTV Spectrum?
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 25, 2011  | 
A clash is shaping up between DTV broadcasters and other potential users of their spectrum. Broadcasters are getting ready to defend the spectrum they received in the DTV transition which concluded in 2009. But some in the federal government say much of that spectrum that would be better used for expanded cellphone networks and a new generation of wireless internet service.

What The New York Times describes as "an old media vs. new media lobbying battle" is now underway.

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Audio Video News
Directors Oppose 60-Day VOD
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 22, 2011  | 
Twenty-three film directors have signed an open letter condemning DirecTV's Home Premiere video on demand scheme, which would make movies available on satellite video on demand 60 days after their theatrical runs.

Home Premiere "cannibalizes theatrical ticket sales," said the letter, which was published online by the National Association of Theater Owners and as an ad in Variety. The letter is aimed at four studios who have embraced the DirecTV plan including Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century-Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros.

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Audio Video News
Let Me Ride
Michael Berk  |  Apr 21, 2011  | 

Having captured the headphone market with the his ubiquitous red-cabled cans, Dr. Dre announced yesterday at the New York International Auto Show that he'd extended his Beats by Dr.

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Audio Video News
Discs Still Spinning
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 21, 2011  | 
Has streaming killed the shiny disc? The NPD Group says otherwise. A typical household spends 78 percent of its home video budget to purchase and rent DVD and Blu-ray. The 77 percent of consumers who report watching a movie on disc is unchanged from last year.

NPD's "Entertainment Trends in America" report puts streaming at 15 percent, with VOD and PPV comprising the remaining 8 percent. Spending on home video overall has dropped by 2 percent.

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Audio Video News
Geek of the Week: Rob Sabin
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2011  | 
Rob Sabin, Home Theater's new editor, is this week's guest on the Home Theater Geeks podcast, where he talks about living on the real Jersey shore, his 25 years in the audio/video publication and installation business, his plans for the magazine and website, universal remote controls, 3D, streaming content versus Blu-ray, 4K displays, multichannel versus simulated surround, 3D-audio systems, and answers to chat-room questions. Check it out!
Audio Video News
Disc Rental Window Brings More Sales
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 20, 2011  | 
For more than a year, Warner Bros. Pictures has been experimenting with a 28-day window that delays DVD and Blu-ray rentals to the likes of Netflix and Redbox in hopes of boosting sales. The results are in: Best Buy says the window works as planned, especially in the first four weeks of a title's life.

What does this mean for Netflix and Redbox?

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Audio Video News
Sonos' AirPlay play
Michael Berk  |  Apr 19, 2011  | 

Whole-house connected audio veterans Sonos today announced both AirPlay support and a full-featured (and free) controller app for the Android platform.

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Audio Video News
Radiohead extends Supercollider's range
Michael Berk  |  Apr 19, 2011  | 

Radiohead's UK only Record Store Day 12", "Supercollider" backed with "The Butcher" (both outtakes from the sessions for the The King of Limbs), obviously disappeared within moments on Saturday morning, but you're in luck-both tracks are

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Audio Video News
Philips Sells TV Brand to Chinese
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 19, 2011  | 
Royal Philips Electronics, the Dutch conglomerate, is selling a controlling interest of its 80-year-old TV division to Hong Kong based TPV Technology Ltd.

Philips will retain a 30 percent interest and receive royalties, but this clearly puts the Chinese company in the driver's seat. The TV division's 4000 employees will be transferred to the new company and no layoffs have been announced.

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Audio Video News
Record Store Day recap
Ken Richardson  |  Apr 18, 2011  | 

At the Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, New Jersey, I got two of the Record Store Day exclusives, both EPs:

• The Decemberists: Live at Bull Moose (CD)

• Kate Bush: Hounds of Love (10-inch pink-marble vinyl)

In addition, I found these:

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Audio Video News
Early audiophile?
Michael Berk  |  Apr 18, 2011  | 

Looks like paleontologists have at last pinned down the emergence of the middle ear from the lower jaw during the Mesozoic; it remains to be revealed what Liaoconodon hui—the earliest mammal yet found to possess the distinct malleus, incus, and ectotympanic bones involved in mammalian hea

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Audio Video News
Blood in the water
Michael Berk  |  Apr 18, 2011  | 

Grooveshark may still be smarting at its ejection from the App Store last August (well, you can still access the service v

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Audio Video News
Happy birthday, Klipsch
Michael Berk  |  Apr 18, 2011  | 

Klipsch turns 65 this year. The venerable US manufacturer (based in Indianapolis since 1989 but still turning out speakers in its Hope, Arkansas plant today) has posted a retrospective video (with some nifty vintage ad images) today tracing the company's evolution from its humble beginnings in ham enthusiast Paul W.

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Audio Video News
CE Recycling to Triple by 2016
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 18, 2011  | 
Recycling of electronic products will triple by 2016 thanks to the eCycling Leadership Initiative. The aim is to recycle one billion pounds per year by 2016, three times the amount recycled in 2010. That's enough to fill 88.9 billion cubic feet, the equivalent of a 71,000-seat NFL stadium.

How will this be accomplished? By improving consumer awareness of the existing 5000 industry-sponsored collection sites, increasing collection opportunities, and providing transparent metrics.

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