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CES 2014
Microlab FC10 Desktop Speakers Prove Function Trumps Fashion
Leslie Shapiro  |  Jan 08, 2014
It takes a lot to design a killer-looking speaker, but perhaps that money is better spent on sound quality. Ever practical, the designers at China’s Microlab put all their budget into making the FC10 ($77) good quality speakers that look nice in person, but they most certainly veer away from the sleek and swoopy design that Apple designers have deemed essential. They have a clean and simple look, lacking the curved aesthetic that most products embrace these days. The FC10 are wedge-shaped speakers designed to solidly surround any laptop - Apple or otherwise; the pair weighs 4.41 lbs.

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CES 2014
M-Go Shows Improvements in Updated App
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jan 08, 2014
The M-Go online movie streaming service moves closer to fulfilling its potential with new sub-genres, powerful search and playlists.
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CES 2014
M-Go Premium App to Stream 4K/Ultra HD
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jan 08, 2014
Samsung showed a 4K UHD TV with the M-Go Premium App. This app will stream 4K movie titles to the TV. It also will stream titles that have been “optimized for 4K.” These are movies that were not shot in 4k, but because M-Go is owned by Technicolor, the titles have been optimized in the lab and made available for streaming. While M-Go limited their announcement to Samsung TVs, it was clear (yet unspoken) that the Premium service will extend to other manufacturers’ UHD TVs.
CES 2014
Hisense Shows Roku TV
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jan 08, 2014
Roku has joined forces with Chinese TV manufacturer, Hisense to offer a Roku TV. When the TV is first turned on, it will display a Roku home page similar to the menu on a Roku Box streaming device
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CES 2014
iLuv Rocks the SyrenPro, Wavecast, and Rollick Portable Speakers
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 08, 2014
iLuv offers a plethora of portable wireless Bluetooth speakers. Not surprisingly, at CES, they expanded their lineup in this popular category. In particular, three portable speakers caught my eye: the SyrenPro, Wavecast, and Rollick.

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CES 2014
NYNE Aqua Bluetooth Speaker Floats Your Boat
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 08, 2014
Okay, there are lots of portable Bluetooth speakers. LOTS. But sometimes you need one that has special capabilities, or at least looks cooler than all the others. Enter the NYNE Aqua speaker.

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CES 2014
Welcome to the Hi-Res Music World, Part Three: Retailers
Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Jan 08, 2014
The third (and final) installment of the Hi-Res panels brought together experts from the retailing side of the business. Each panelist has a footprint in the hi-res market, and is knowledgeable of the inner workings of the market. They discussed ways to promote and retail hi-res products. Also on the agenda were challenges such as the need to demo hi-res playback to customers, and ways to educate and engage young generations of listeners.

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CES 2014
Samsung Goes Wide
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2014
I tried to get a glimpse of Samsung’s curved 105-inch 2.35:1 widescreen TV on the show floor, but in the Samsung booth was packed and the area around the set inaccessible. But I got a later look at a closed-room Samsung demo. On the left here, to provide a size perspective, is Samsung’s Mike Wood—a one-time regular at Home Theater who has now forsaken balmy Southern California for the cold, windswept snowdrifts of the Garden State, where Samsung has its U.S. headquarters. On the right is current Sound & Vision editor in chief Rob Sabin.
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CES 2014
Samsung Adds Depth
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2014
Samsung’s new Auto Depth Enhancer, on its 9000 and S9 Ultra HD sets, analyzes different areas of the screen and adjusts their contrast separately to provide a greater illusion of depth with 2D sources. In a side-by-side comparison with one of Samsung’s 2013 sets, it definitely worked. There was a bit of the cardboard cutout 3D look, but since the depth enhancement, while appealing, was subtle, this wasn’t bothersome.
CES 2014
Samsung Goes Smart
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2014
Samsung has redesigned its smart remote for 2014. It offers voice, motion, and direct control as before, but with enhanced usability. The Smart Hub feature it controls now will let you surf the web as you watch TV and multitask in a split screen mode. Manufacturers have determined that most TV viewers are surfing the web on their computers and/or using their smart phones to talk, text, or surf as they watch TV. The show was alive with redesigned Internet TV features to satisfy this increasingly ADD social trend.

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