Audio-maker Harman Kardon has introduced two new home theater sound systems, the SB 30 and the BDS x70 family, in anticipation of next week's CES show. The SB 30 is a wireless subwoofer packaged with a soundbar speaker array. The BDS x70 series is a compact all-in-one component sound system available in several configurations with either 2.1-channel or 5.1-channel audio.
Harman Kardon has just rolled out the MS 150 iPhone/iPod dock. It stands as a rare high-end, mixed format entry with both a slot-loaded CD player and an FM radio tuner. The dock has two 30W loudspeakers and two 3.5mm headphone jacks as well as a 3.5mm audio input for connecting devices other than iPods and iPhones.
Harman Kardon has just released its compact bookshelf system, the MAS 102. The system is designed to be extra-efficient with a receiver that houses both an amplifier and a CD player, along with two separate loudspeakers. An FM radio is built-in, as are two USB ports, but an optional Bridge II dock allows for connecting an iPod or iPhone as a source fully recognized by the main system.
Sidney Harman, the co-founder of the Harman Kardon audio equipment brand in 1953, died on Tuesday at 92 due to complications from acute myeloid leukemia. He left the company in 2007, which is now called Harman International Industries and had since been teaching polymathic studies at the University of Southern California. Last year, he was in the headlines after buying Newsweek magazine for $1 while assuming its liabilities.
A href="http://www.toshiba.eu/eu/">Toshiba Europe this week revealed four new notebooks that have 3D active shutter glasses technology. They include the Satellite P750 3D/P755 3D and the Satellite P770 3D/P775 3D. The former use 15.6-inch HD displays, while the latter goes bigger with 17.3-inch panels. All have the necessary 120Hz display refresh rates and ship with two pairs of NVIDIA's 3D active shutter glasses.
Harman Kardon just began offering two home theater in a box systems. The BDS 400 and BDS 800 combine a Blu-ray, DVD and CD player along with an FM tuner along with a speaker system. The former uses two front speakers and a subwoofer, while the latter adds two rear speakers and a center channel.
Toshiba showed the next generation of its netbooks today through two new models reaching Europe first. The NB500 and NB520 both make the leap to the dual-core, 1.5GHz Atom N550 and can play up to 720p video. The NB520 is more unique still in its audio system: a set of Harman Kardon speakers gives it above-average 4W output and supports Dolby Advanced Audio.
Harman Kardon today updated one of its seminal computer speaker lines. The SoundSticks III preserve the sound and the distinctive, Apple-themed translucent look but addresses some of its common quirks. A satellite power switch makes it easier to turn them off, the audio is now braided, and the design now has white light instead of blue to better match the latest iMacs and MacBooks.
Harman Kardon and its sub-label JBL this morning refreshed their audio lineups for the spring, centering attention on a unique car audio kit. The MS-8 is the first car audio tuner designed explicitly for owners themselves: it combines a digital audio processor with adjustment controls and headphone monitors to tune a car's existing speaker system. A step-by-step process theoretically improves bass, dynamics, frequency response and other factors within 10 minutes.
Harman Kardon is currently showing off its latest flaghship home theater receiver, the 7.2-channel AVR 7550HD, at the CEDIA Expo. Like some of the other receivers in its range, it supports Dolby Volume technology that keeps its volume consistent no matter what source is playing, and is the very first to use Texas Instruments' Aureus DA710 dual audio digital signal processor for improved sound quality. Faroudja DCDi Cinema digital video processing uses a Torino chipset to upscale videos to near 1080p quality.
Harman Kardon today brought out a trio of new AV receivers that, in one case, may hint at future iPod features. The AVR 3600 comes with a new Bridge III universal dock that the company claims can play HD videos directly from an iPhone or iPod. It's not clear whether the company expects the Apple devices to handle decoding the videos themselves or if it provides the work itself; officially, current iPhone and iPod touch devices will only play 640x480.
Just over a month after it was announced for the European market under a slightly different name, Harman Kardon's first Blu-ray disc player, the BDP-1, got an officially confirmation of its arrival in North America on Tuesday. The HD disc player will feature BD-Live compatibility via an Ethernet jack to access extra movie content and other features online. It supports a film-speed 24FPS without pulldown and upscales DVDs to 1080p.
Harman Kardon has recently announced it will soon release its first Blu-ray player, the BDP 10 (PDF). The device will have BonusView and BD-Live capability, allowing users to view extra online content associated with certain Blu-ray movies. The BDP 10 will have advanced audio codec support and will play back 1080/24p videos without pulldown conversion. It displays JPEG photos and DiVX videos burned to discs from external USB drives.
Today at DealNN there is a wide selection of great deals on electronics from external hard drives to iPod docking stations. First up is the 1TB LaCie external hard drive, designed by Neil Poulton, priced at $99.95 at MacConnection.com. TigerDirect.com has reduced the price on the TRENDnet wireless N networking kit to $69.99, and for a limited time take advantage of a mail in rebate offer that drops the price to $49.99. The HP DeskJet D4360 InkJet printer is priced at $49.99 at J&R.com. The Cables Unlimited optical wireless mouse is available for $19.99 at Buy.com after mail in rebate. Lastly is the Harman Kardon Go + Play portable speaker system for $209.99 at Amazon.com.
Harman Kardon revealed a pair of new products on Friday, at the opening day of the IFA show in Berlin. Predominantly meant for Mac and iPod users, the GLA-55 speaker system does include a 3.5mm audio jack. It is powered by a 100 watt digital amplifier and sports a DSP equalizer. The audio set-up's name undoubtedly comes from its original plastic casing, which shows off the speakers' magnets and wiring quite elegantly.
Toshiba this morning revealed a near-total overhaul of its Qosmio notebooks with three new models, all of which are the first with new features. The Qosmio G55 is the first-ever notebook to build in a variant of the Cell processor from Sony's PlayStation 3. In the portable, the chip is set to use just four cores but uses them to transcode video far faster than would be possible using the main processor. A 10-minute video that would take an hour to process takes just one minute to handle on the G55, the company says. It also upscales DVDs to 1080p to minimize the low-resolution artifacts that creep up on an HD-capable screen.
Harman Kardon, has introduced The Bridge II docking station for iPods and iPhones. The Bridge II connects a compatible iPod or iPhone model to any Harman Kardon Bridge-ready audio/video component. The device offers audio/video playback through a home entertainment system, on-screen iPod menu display, remote control operation, and charging. Among compatible devices are the Harman Kardon DMC 1000 digital media center, the new AVR 354 7.1-channel audio/video receiver and the HK 3490 stereo receiver, or to other Harman Kardon The Bridge-ready receivers. The Bridge II will be available in early summer 2008 at $130 suggested retail. It will also be included with the AVR 354 receiver.
Harman Kardon today announced its support for the Blu-ray video standard, and confirmed this by hinting at a standalone player, which will cost approximately £500 (~$980). While details were scarce about the Blu-ray player, a spokesman for the company adds that it will release additional players, including all-in-one AV systems, according to What Hi-Fi?. In addition, the forthcoming DVC 600 combination Blu-ray/HDD recorder will be able to record up to eight channels of standard or high-definition TV to a 1 Terabyte hard drive.
