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Audio Video News
Audio from Amazon Echo Sought in Murder Case
SV Staff  |  Dec 28, 2016
In a blog he posted in October 2015, Ken Pohlmann expressed privacy concerns about the always-on microphones in Amazon’s Internet-connected Echo speaker/personal assistant. Could it be hacked? What are the ramifications of having an Internet-connected device in your home that is always listening?
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4K TV ReviewsTV ReviewsLCD TV Reviews
Sharp Aquos LC-75N8000U LCD Ultra HDTV Review
Al Griffin  |  Dec 27, 2016
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $3,200

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Inexpensive (with discounting) for a 75-incher
HDR compatible
Accurate and extended color
Minus
Limited contrast
Backlight artifacts
Highlights in HDR programs lack detail

THE VERDICT
Sharp’s heavily discounted 75-inch TV offers accurate color and decent HDR performance, but its best feature is its big screen at an affordable price.

The arrival of a hulking 75-inch Ultra HDTV on your doorstep would be something you’d ideally want to coincide with a worthy media spectacle—the Super Bowl, for instance. In my case, however, the delivery of the Sharp Aquos LC-75N8000U synced up perfectly with the broadcast of the first Presidential debate. Lucky me: I got to witness what perhaps were the two most unpopular candidates in history assail each other’s character at near-life-size.

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CES 2017A/V Veteran
CES 2017: Audio/Video Dreamin'
Tom Norton  |  Dec 27, 2016
In just a bit over a week Sound & Vision contributors will be traveling en masse to sleepy, laid-back Las Vegas for CES 2017, hoping to be wowed by all the new audio and video products headed our way in the coming year. Our show blogs will begin on Wednesday January 4th, the most significant (for us) of two days of formal press conferences before the show floor opens on January 5th.
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CES 2017Audio Video News
CES 2017 Sneak Peeks
SV Staff  |  Dec 26, 2016
Press releases and invites flood our inboxes in the weeks and days leading up to CES, which kicks off next week in Las Vegas. This show is special as it marks 50 years since CES opened its doors in the summer of 1967 in New York City. Here’s a preview of some of the products and technologies that will be introduced.
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Grace Notes
Some Favorite Musical Moments of 2016
Leslie Shapiro  |  Dec 26, 2016
2016 is wrapping up and it was a tough year for music. We lost so many influential musicians: David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Merle Haggard and most recently, George Michael. Throughout the year, though, we’ve also had some wonderful musical moments that remind us of why we love music. It makes us laugh, it inspires us, it brings us together. Thankfully, most of my favorite musical moments of the year were captured on YouTube videos, so continuing in the spirit of Christmas, I give you my Top 4 Musical Moments of 2016. Enjoy!

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3D Blu-ray Movie ReviewsBlu-ray Movie Reviews
The Angry Birds Movie
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 23, 2016
Picture
3D-ness
Sound
Extras
I’d heard of Angry Birds but completely missed their first flight of fame in an immensely popular game for smartphones. Subsequently, they went bird-flu viral with follow-up games, an animated TV series, and more. A movie launch was inevitable. It features hotheaded Red and other (non-flighted!) feathered citizens of Bird Island. Sentenced to take an anger management course, Red meets a few similarly explosive (sometimes literally!) souls.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Criminal
Josef Krebs  |  Dec 23, 2016
Picture
Sound
Extras
When a CIA operative is killed by a team of anarchists, invaluable information is lost—or is it? Not now that a scientist has developed an experimental procedure for transferring memories from a dead man into another man’s brain. The scientist’s name, of course, is Doctor Franks. Not Frankenstein or Frahnkensteeen, but close. The concept’s made all the more unlikely by the choice of recipient—an imprisoned psychopathic murderer called Jericho.
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Tech2
Particle Fleet: Emergence Review
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Dec 23, 2016  |  First Published: Dec 22, 2016
A few weeks ago I waxed ecstatic about Creeper World 3, one of the most clever and addicting games I’ve ever played.

Particle Fleet: Emergence is a similar game set in the same universe. The big difference is instead of being on the ground building a base, you’re in space with a fleet. Even cooler, you can build your own ships.

Here’s how it is.

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Bluetooth Speaker ReviewsWireless Multiroom Speaker Reviews
Como Audio Solo & Duetto Wireless Music Systems
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 23, 2016

Duetto
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value

Solo
Performance
Features
Build Quality
Value
PRICE $299 (Solo), $399 (Duetto)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Versatile
Solid build quality
Streaming via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
Impressive sound
Intuitive app plus traditional remote
Minus
Wish it was battery-powered

THE VERDICT
Como Audio's Solo and Duetto look good, sound great, and are loaded with features.

Don’t be fooled by the clock-radio appearance of the Solo or Duetto. Yes, there is a clock with dual alarms and, yes, there is an FM radio—but these extras barely scratch the surface of what these mini marvels can do. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a compact music system that’s as versatile or sounds as good as the Duetto or Solo from Como Audio.

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Audio Video NewsNew Products
JVC Unveils First THX-Certified 4K Projector
SV Staff  |  Dec 23, 2016
JVC has announced that its new flagship 4K/Ultra HD D-ILA projector is the first 4K projector to receive THX certification.
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