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CES 2010
Sherwood Makes Poor Man's Surround Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 07, 2010
Surround sound reaches a new and more affordable price point with the Sherwood RD-5405 a/v receiver, just $149 list. You get five channels of 70 watts each and HDMI connectivity. The step-up model, the RS-7405, may be available with or without HD Radio. Our poster boy is a prototype of the iNet 2.0 which offers iPod, USB, ethernet, and wi-fi connectivity plus internet and FM radio -- and it's a photo frame.
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CES 2010
DTS Causes a Sensation
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 07, 2010
DTS, one of the home theater world's guardians of surround standards, was showing these dongles which are designed to adapt stereo signals to surround headphone use. The resemblance to vacuum tubes was neither here nor there. The company was also talking up its DTS Premium Suite of licensed DSP technologies. They include DTS Connect, for upconverting two channels to 5.1; DTS Surround Sensation, for headphones; DTS Symmetry, which balances levels among input sources; and DTS Boost, which makes laptop sound louder, clearer, and more immersive. Also new to us was the 7.1-channel version of Neural, the stereo-to-surround technology purchased from original developer THX a year ago.
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CES 2010
Sennheiser Rolls Own Headphone Surround
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 07, 2010
Sennheiser's RS170 headphones are full-sized, wireless, and surround-savvy -- the latter coming in the form of a proprietary, not licensed, technology. The company's previous surround products had used adaptation technology licensed from SRS. Price $150.
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CES 2010
Edifier Tubes Up Your Radio
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 07, 2010
Edifier wasn't actually playing the two table radios we found on the show floor, model-named Braque and Brera. But we bet the vacuum tubes, visible at top, will give their 72 watt output a golden sound. Price and availability unknown but isn't this a great looking product?
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CES 2010
Pure Does DVD Systems
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 07, 2010
Pure Acoustics, hitherto a pure speaker manufacturer, is moving into compact systems both surround and stereo. In the former category are the RZ-3200 5.1-channel system and the UX-99 5.0-channel system, both with DVD drives plus USB and iPod connectivity. Pure also showed a bevy of colorful satellites, pictured.
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CES 2010
Lit Massage Chairs Offer Visual Cues
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 07, 2010
These massage chairs from Weightec use lighted, moving symbols to let you know what kind of massage you're going to get. We like the one with the little footprints at far right. It will free up children, pygmies, and monkeys for other kinds of work.
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CES 2011
Sony TVs
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2010

Like Panasonic, Sony is involved in every aspect of 3D, from cameras to displays. At its press conference, the company announced its partnership with the Discovery Channel and Imax to launch a 3D network in 2011. Sony is also sponsoring ESPN's new 3D channel, which is planning to broadcast 85 events in its first year.

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CES 2011
Panasonic Blu-ray Players
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2010

Of course, you're going to need a 3D Blu-ray player to go with that new 3D TV, and Panasonic is ready to oblige with the PP-BDT350, seen here with a pair of shutter glasses on top of the DMP-BD85, a 2D model with WiFi and a claimed boot time of 0.5 second. The PP-BDT350 implements HDMI 1.4, and both let you access online content. Not shown is the DMP-BD15, Panasonic's second-generation portable Blu-ray player, which also provides access to online content.

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CES 2011
Panasonic Plasmas
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2010

Panasonic's press conference started with a 2-way video feed from Fumio Ohtsubo, president of Panasonic Corporation, live from Osaka, Japan, via the company's new Internet-based HD Visual Communication System. The huge projected image was exceptionally clear, detailed, colorful, and smooth, though there was a short but inevitable delay as Ohtsubo chatted with members of the Panasonic staff in the room.

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CES 2011
Samsung Welcomes Jeffrey Katzenberg
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 07, 2010

Samsung introduced a bunch of new TVs at its press conference, but they were turned off before I could get some photos, so I'll have to wait until I can shoot them in the booth to tell you about them. Meanwhile, I can say that Samsung is bullish on 3D, partnering with DreamWorks and Technicolor to get content to consumers as quickly as possible. DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, shown here on the right with Tim Baxter, president of the Consumer Electronics Division of Samsung Electronics America, made a guest appearance to talk about the importance of 3D and deliver a copy of the world's first 3D Blu-ray, <I>Monsters vs. Aliens</I>, to Baxter.

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