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HarmonKardon posts

Harman Kardon intros its first Blu-ray player, the BDP 10

by Laura June posted May 8th 2009 at 8:11PM

Harmon Kardon has decided to jump into the Blu-ray pushing business with its first player, the BDP 10. This slick number's got all the features you've come to know and love in Blu-ray -- BD-Live and Bonus View capabilities for online content, advanced audio codec support, 1080 / 24p playback, plus USB ports for DiVX and JPEG display. It'll also boast HDMI 1.3a, Ethernet, coaxial and optical audio outputs plus good old two-channel analog audio outputs. The BDP 10 has only been formally announced for Europe so far, though it's expected elsewhere (including the US) in the coming months. The player has a price tag of about €700 (around $940). Hit the read link for full spec sheet -- but fair warning: it's a PDF.

[Via Electronista]

Harman Kardon intros three new Guide + Play GPS units

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 30th 2007 at 11:21AM

Harman Kardon is still relatively new to the GPS game, but it looks to be increasing its presence in a fairly big way today, introducing three new units in its "Guide + Play" series. Those include the low-end GPS-310 model (a follow-up to the GPS-300), the slightly more capable GPS-510, and the top-end GPS-810. Each of those pack a 4-inch widescreen display (or 4.3-inches on the GPS-810), along with text-to-speech functionality, 2GB of internal memory and, of course, all the usual GPS and PMP features you'd expect from a device dubbed "Guide + Play." The GPS-510 ups things a bit with real-time traffic info, additional video options, and support for SDHC cards, while the GPS 810 tops things off with a wireless rotary controller (seen above), an FM transmitter, and built-in Bluetooth for hands-free calling. Look for the whole lot to be available next month, with the GPS-310, 510 and 810 setting you back $350, $450, and $600, respectively.

VRX's triple-screen racing simulator uses Xbox 360 Elite

by Darren Murph posted Jun 15th 2007 at 1:09PM

Man, talk about leaving the Home Pro Racing Simulator in the proverbial dust. VRX has introduced a swank new racing sim of its own designed with a Forza Motorsports 2 theme and a trio of 37-inch Sharp Aquos 1080p LCD TVs. The frame is constructed from CNC machined polished aluminum, and envelopes the gamer by curiously including just one Sparco seat along with four Xbox 360 Elites, four copies of Forza Motorsport 2, an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on player, camera / wireless headset, a Zune, force feedback wheel, and surround sound as well. Sure, brush it off as overkill if you please, but those who are sick of draining ~~quarters~~ dollars at the arcade can contact the company to experience the presumed sticker shock for themselves.

Harman Kardon reveals Drive + Play II

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Jan 8th 2007 at 1:17PM

Harman Kardon's Drive + Play iPod solution was an innovative enough solution to the problem of in-car iPod playback to warrant three separate mentions on this little site that you're currently reading. At CES, Harman Kardon has unveiled the second iteration of the Drive + Play, marking the occasion by sticking a big Roman "II" at the end. In case you didn't get it the first time around, the Drive + Play II is a media manager that takes the audio from your iPod, Zune, or Plays for Sure media player and routes it through your car stereo whilst simultaneously displaying song information on a separate 3.5-inch color LCD. Also part of the deal is a wireless control knob similar to the control scheme on BMW's iDrive system. This time around the Drive + Play can send your portable media player's audio to your stereo via an integrated FM transmitter, which will be handy for those who own stereos without a standard 3.5 mm analog jack. A couple of other functions really seal the deal for the Drive + Play II, simply because they add some interesting possibilities to how you listen to your music. Firstly, there's an automatic DJ functionality that allows the user to select how music music from a particular style -- which can be specific as a genre or an artist -- will be played. Secondly, these desired styles can be split up into channels so that different drivers can listen to their specific music taste. On top of all this, the Drive + Play II supports A2DP Bluetooth which makes it possible to send over any MP3s that are on your mobile phone. Unfortunately, all this functionality does come at a price, as Harman Kardon has raised the price of the Drive + Play II to $399.95. Look for it to hit stores sometime this spring.

Harmon Kardon to release "Guide + Play," its first GPS device

by Cyrus Farivar posted Nov 14th 2006 at 8:46PM

Every time we turn around, there's yet another company that previously had nothing to do with GPS, ready to get in the game. Now Harmon Kardon will be releasing its first GPS gadget, called the "Guide + Play" in the US this coming January. We don't know much about it yet other than that it can play MPEG-4 and WMV files, support SD cards up to 4GB, and will purportedly stay juiced for up to five hours. Oh, and it'll only set you back around $500.

[Via Navigadget]

NeoDigits' Helios HVD2085 upscaling DVD player reviewed

by Evan Blass posted Apr 12th 2006 at 8:23PM

Matt Burns has a thorough review of the NeoDigits' Helios HVD2085 upscaling DVD player (also known as the NeuNeo HVD2085) over at our sister blog HDBeat, and not only does he train his own experienced eye on the unit's video performance, he actually goes so far as to set up a single blind test at one of the big box retailers pitting the Helios against the store's top traditional player. In his private testing, Matt finds that the component and HDMI-equipped Helios delivers a superior picture quality compared to a standard Sony DVP-NS725P progressive scan unit (although, as he admits, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison), most notably in how it is able to smooth the picture -- but it doesn't really live up its advertised claim of improving a movie's resolution. He also digs the Hitachi-inspired remote, clean and intuitive menus, and plethora of connectivity options, although the construction here sounds a bit flimsy. At least in terms of pure picture quality, the big box customers were in total agreement with Matt; they overwhelmingly chose the $250 Helios over the almost-$300 Harmon Kardon DVD 22 in the random sampling, citing both its superior color and sharpness.