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Proficient Audio launches MaxTV MT2 speaker box, soundbars start job hunt
If Proficient Audio's new MaxTV MT2 speaker box is anything to go by, the company obviously isn't enamored with the latest slew of slim, elegant soundbars. As the picture shows, it's designed to act as a platform for your TV and can support up to 160 pounds -- enough for even the biggest of flatscreens. The hard, no-grille design shows off the box's two 1-inch tweeters, four 2.5-inch mid-range speakers and two 5.25-inch, down-facing subs. Four internal 20-watt, two-channel digital amps take care of the power, and with two of those dedicated to the woofers, we'd expect some serious neighbor-waking bass. It's not just for your TV either, as the built-in Bluetooth supports audio streaming from any of your favorite gadgets. The soundbar-on-steroids is shipping now for 599 bones, and if that sounds a little steep, Proficient Audio assures you that "once someone hears the difference MaxTV makes, they will buy it." Update: We've been informed the unit has a detachable grille (pictured below the fold) which is held in place by samarium-cobalt magnets to ensure no unwanted vibration.
Sennheiser unveils HDVA 600 analog headphone amp, asks for $1,600
Along with a few IFA 2012 announcements, Sennheiser peeled back the wraps from its HDVA 600 headphone amp, an analog flavor of the previously unveiled HDVD 800. Like its sibling, the freshly revealed hardware sports a glass panel for peeking at its innards and an anodized aluminum exterior, but leaves the digital inputs behind. While the 800 carries a hefty $2,000 price tag, the 600 will set customers back a smaller -- but still substantial -- sum of $1,600. Both units are tailored for the likes of Senn's flagship HD 800 headphones, so they should easily be able to drive cans that require up to 300-ohms. The pair won't be available in the US until later this fall, but in the meantime, you can breeze past the break for specs and more details in the press release.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 'Plantscraper' vertical farm, new wave energy and a battery-powered iPhone case
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Groundbreaking green architecture burst into life in Sweden this week as Inhabitat reported that Plantagon began construction on the world's first 'Plantscraper' vertical farm. We also marveled at artist Yayoi Kusama's dazzling Infinity Mirror Room, which shines with the reflections of thousands of LEDs, and we shared the bubbly modular AMPS living wall system. Meanwhile, the MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program announced that HWKN's bright blue spiky sea-urchin shaped pavilion will be popping up this summer, PinkCloud.DK unveiled plans to transform oil refineries into giant energy positive communities and the UK granted planning commission for its first amphibious house.We also showcased several amazing applications for LEGO bricks this week: a NYC apartment renovated with 20,000 plastic bricks, a gigantic LEGO-inspired church in the Netherlands and a remarkable fully articulated prosthetic LEGO arm. Speaking of next-gen prosthetics, this week Israeli scientists demoed a real-life "Star Trek" VISOR that enables the blind to see, and Nike took the wraps off a prosthetic running sole for amputee triathlete Sarah Reinertsen.This also marked a heated week for energy news as solar power heavyweight Sunpower sued Solarcity over stolen data, and Aquamarine Power geared up to connect its new wave energy generator to the UK's national grid. We also got ready for rough days ahead with the waterproof, armageddon-ready, solar-charged, battery-powered iPhone case, and we got things cooking with Biolite's brilliant new camping stove, which converts waste heat into electricity for USB gadgets. Last but not least, we were wowed by several amazing new applications for discarded tech: Sean Avery's astounding animal sculptures made from shattered CDs and Paola Mirai's elegant jewelry fashioned out of discarded computer circuits.
SOL Republic intros Amps and Tracks headphone lines, we go hands-on
Oh my is this interesting. Monster Cable's VP of marketing Kevin Lee (a key figure involved with its Beats by Dre headphone line) has co-founded a new headphone company dubbed Soundtrack Of Life Republic, and we were able to get a very brief hands-on with some handmade prototypes. It's no secret that we're not fans of Monster around these parts, but being that SOL Republic isn't directly tied to it -- and because the headphones bring with them some interesting features without being crazy expensive -- we've decided to give them a quick whirl. It's all detailed just past the break. %Gallery-131400%
Analog cellular networks, R.I.P.: 1983 - 2008
Marking the end of a remarkable era in cellular technology, the FCC is officially letting American carriers decommission their legacy analog networks as of today, February 18, 2008. Few of us still own a phone based on AMPS -- Advanced Mobile Phone System, ironically, despite the fact that there's been nothing "advanced" about it for many years -- but we owe the very existence of the world's modern wireless infrastructure to the introduction and overwhelming success of the Bell Labs-developed technology. So successful was AMPS, in fact, that it eventually covered virtually 100 percent of the continental United States, a statistic CDMA and GSM have only recently begun to approach.
Ultra Products unveils 2000-watt X3 ATX power supply
We're all about watching new "world's (insert adjective here)" gizmos become a reality, and we certainly don't mind the occasional dash of overkill, but Ultra Products' forthcoming power supply takes "insane" to another level. In what's presumably the world's largest, most powerful PSU to call an ATX case home, the 2000-watt Modular X3 comes in at 10.25-inches in length and will reportedly fit "wherever a PC Power & Cooling 1000-watt version will". The +12V rail alone is rated at 1800-watts, which means that it can purportedly handle a 150A load, and just might cause some sort of small disaster if actually achieved. Nevertheless, the smorgasbord of connectors allow for more power connections that most could even fathom needing, but Ultra believes that this PSU should remove all worry over whether or not your rig "has enough juice." While it's easy to brush this off as completely absurd, the latest AMD scorchers combined with a few NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX or ATI R600 cards could easily eat up a good bit of the supplied power, so if a ginormous power supply was the only thing missing from finishing up your energy-sucking rig, Ultra's X3 should be available sometime this quarter for "less than $499."[Via Digg]
Cingular slaps surcharge on TDMA accounts
We trust folks frequenting Engadget Mobile don't fall into this category (do they?), but for the 4.7 million Cingular customers soldiering on with legacy AMPS and TDMA hardware, the pressure to upgrade is about to get kicked up a notch. Starting next month this, uh, very special contingent of users will find a new $4.99 monthly charge on their bill, having committed no crime other than failing to make the switch to GSM. What's more, Cingular seems to be offering little or no incentive for folks hoping to avoid the surcharge by getting a new handset, saying only that "some customers will qualify for discounts on their new phones." If anyone was still in doubt that Cingular was thumbing their nose at their pending TDMA class action suit, this pretty much seals the deal.[Thanks, BeeRT and Tim UF]
