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CES 2014: Audio roundup
Imagine the footsteps of thousands and thousands of people. Now add in hundreds of booths showing loud promo videos, playing music and giving demos over microphones. That is the literal sound of CES. The theoretical sound of CES will come from some of the products you see below. We feel this selection of products gives you a pretty good feel for the trends we're likely to see in 2014. Enjoy.
LG teases CES home theater lineup including a multi-room music streamer
Nothing says "holiday cheer" like a fresh coat of snow, hot toddies and scads of CES pre-announcements from LG. After dishing on some of its 2014 smart TV plans, the Korean company has now moved on to audio, detailing several new components starting with the NP8740 wireless audio system. It'll let you play music through your house in a similar fashion to to Sonos' Play:1 speaker, thanks to a dual-band 2.4/5Ghz WiFi system using so-called mesh network technology. That means each speaker can repeat the signal throughout the house, letting you play the same song everywhere or choose music on a room-by-room-basis. It can even connect to other audio systems and let you control the whole shebang with a smartphone app. The company also revealed its LAB540W SoundPlate, a slim home theater receiver for 32-to-55-inch TVs with a 4.1-channel, 320-watt amp and external wireless subwoofer. It packs a built-in 3D Blu-ray player and smart TV functions, letting you stream audio from a portable device via WiFi or Bluetooth. For those who just need audio, LG also flaunted the 320W NB5540 soundbar that can either work via a Bluetooth connection or over a single HDMI cable from your TV, thanks to an audio return channel. As usual, there's no sign of pricing or availability for any of these products yet, but we'll be boots on the ground next month at CES 2014 in Vegas to fill in all the details. Meanwhile, check after the break for a few more pics.
