Dynaudio’s first- and second-gen Xeo wireless speakers were previously reviewed in Sound & Vision. Long story short, we liked ‘em. Now the company has a new wireless speaker, the Xeo 2, that adds a few features the previous versions lacked, and is also considerably more affordable.
CES isn’t much a platform for launching video projectors (that’s why there’s CEDIA), but one company not typically known for home A/V products did use the show to introduce a pair of models designed for home theater, rather than classroom, use.
I’ve used LOKSAK’s awesome waterproof phone and tablet bags for a couple of years now, and I’m a huge fan. That’s because LOKSAK’s resealable, see-through, storage bags create a hermetic, airtight seal that prevents water from getting inside—or letting whatever is inside out—even when submerged down to 60 meters (200 ft). In addition to protecting against water, LOKSAK’s also protect against microscopic particles like dust and sand. They’re reusable and recyclable. You can make and receive phone calls while your phone is in a sealed LOKSAK, but the best feature of all is that all touchscreens work—including capacitance touch screens—inside the bag. Now LOKSAK has a new series of bags that protect against something even smaller than water molecules and microbes: RF (radio frequency) and IR (infrared).
The world in which our smart cars drive us to and from our smart homes isn’t here just quite yet, but Control4 is already doing its part to make that smart home living dream come true.
One of the biggest catch phrases at CES this year has been the IoT, or the Internet of Things. JBL is partnering with PubNub to create a Developer Ecosystem to the Pulse 2 and other JBL speaker systems to make them better than ever.
Resolution is everything when it comes to a surveillance system, and each extra pixel can be the difference between positively identifying a bad guy and just being able to say, “Yep, we got robbed.” Swann is upping the DIY surveillance game with an upcoming everything-you-need-in-a-box surveillance system that will include four Ultra High Def 4K cameras and a 2 Terabyte NVR giving you more than 8 million per camera, all dedicated to keeping an eye on your stuff.
Definitive Technology and Polk Audio demonstrated for the first time the capability of its soundbars pairing with smaller, wireless speakers to form a true 5.1-channel wireless surround system. While company representatives would not confirm the technology being used, one could infer that since all of the speakers involved were from the PlayFi wireless ecosystem, and since one of the recent PlayFi updates enabled the possibility of adding surround speakers, that PlayFi was the underlying wireless technology at play.
Mark Levinson has a strong tradition of making ultra-luxurious audio gear, and under Harman’s stewardship, the tradition is alive and well. Harman showed the ML No. 519 Audio Player, and the No. 526 Dual-Monaural Preamplifier. Both will break your bank and are worth every penny.