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Vizio's rotating Dolby Atmos soundbar is now available for $1,000
The $1,000 Elevate Sound Bar first emerged at CES this year.
JBL's first Dolby Atmos soundbar has detachable speakers
Ahead of CES this week, JBL has unveiled its first Dolby Atmos-compatible soundbar. The JBL Bar 9.1 features four Dolby Atmos drivers that point upwards to bounce audio around the room.
Amazon Music HD expands 3D audio library with Warner Music Group tracks
Echo Studio, one of Amazon's latest smart speakers, might sound great, but until now it offered a limited library of 3D audio through Amazon Music HD. However, if you picked up the speaker and signed up for the hi-res streaming plan, you now have more 3D music options. You can listen to tracks from across the Warner Music Group empire in Dolby Atmos starting today.
Sony's 4K OLED Xperia 1 hits the US July 12th
Sony has revealed when you'll be able to get your hands on its latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1. It goes on sale in the US July 12th for $950.
A look inside Dolby Vision and Atmos at CES
It's hard to believe, but we've only been talking about Dolby's Vision and Atmos tech for a few years. Now they're not only inside most of the TV and home theater devices we discuss, but also connect experiences across game consoles, headphones and even laptops. We took a quick trip to the company's CES booth to see how it's grown in the last year and where it might be going. Innovative uses of its HDR technology in Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and spatial audio applied to gaming experiences like Tomb Raider provide a pretty good hint.
Panasonic's GZ2000 4K OLED TV is for color accuracy fanatics
After alluding to it during its press conference, Panasonic has unveiled the GZ2000, a 4K OLED TV aimed at folks who want very accurate colors. Available in 55- and 65-inch models, it'll support both Samsung's HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for high dynamic range (HDR) video. Panasonic said that its engineers customized the "bespoke" panel to control parameters like brightness and contrast handling. On top of that, it was tuned by one of Hollywood's top colorists, Stefan Sonnenfield, who worked on Wonder Woman and A Star is Born, among other titles.
LG Display unveils an 88-inch 8K OLED screen with built-in sound
It wouldn't be CES without a few exotic screens from LG Display, and the company is keen to deliver this year. To start, it's offering a dramatic upgrade to the Crystal Sound screen technology it unveiled back in 2017. The new version is an 88-inch, 8K OLED display (not pictured yet) whose panel produces 3.2.2-channel Dolby Atmos audio -- you'd not only have a great picture, but good-enough sound that you might not rush to buy your own speakers. LG Display hasn't outlined plans for the screen, but there's little doubt this would be most relevant for a future TV set.
LG's latest sound bars feature Dolby Atmos and Google Assistant
LG sells a lot of TVs, so if you're not into a full, eight-speaker home theater system, it wants to sell you a sound bar to go along with it. The problem is, sound bars are kind of boring, so with CES 2019, LG is trying to sex them up. For its three latest sound bars, it has integrated Google Assistant for voice control, offered Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, teamed up with Meridian Audio for simulated multi-speaker sound and unveiled an all-new, more modern design.
Inside Dolby and Odeon's mission to revive a British cinematic icon
Trips to the movies are just the worst, with exorbitant prices, endless trailers, bad seats and, of course, the other people. Attendances in the UK are flat and dwindling in the US as more folks choose to stay at home. As gimmicks like 3D fizzle, the cinema industry may be waking up to the fact that it needs to up its game -- or become second fiddle to Netflix. Which is probably why a British cinema chain decided to team up with Dolby to revive a once-loved "Cathedral of the movies."
Dolby’s Dimension headphones bring home theater sound to your ears
For more than 50 years, Dolby's brand has been synonymous with top-of-the-line audio (and visual) quality. Its innovations in the space, including recent technologies like the Atmos immersive sound, can be experienced in movie theaters and living rooms around the globe. But Dolby has become a household name without actually building its own consumer products. It's always worked with third-party manufacturers on the hardware used to deliver its tech to your ears. That changes, though, with the introduction of Dolby Dimension. They're a pair of over-ear wireless headphones designed with a particular set of people in mind: video-streaming binge watchers.
The UK's first Dolby Cinema to open in London
London's iconic Odeon Leicester Square cinema has already firmly established itself in the silver screen history books, having hosted more than 700 film premieres since its opening in 1937. Now, it's getting another accolade. Following an 11-month, multi-million pound refurbishment, the cinema will re-open its doors this Christmas, complete with the UK's very first Dolby Cinema.
Samsung's mid-range Galaxy A7 has a triple camera setup
Triple-camera smartphones are officially the new normal. Samsung has unveiled the mid-range Galaxy A7 with three cameras at the rear: an 8-megapixel shooter with an ultra-wide 120 degree lens, a 24-megapixel main camera, and a "depth" lens to give you out-of-focus bokeh effects. The cameras use Samsung's Intelligent Scene Optimizer, which figures out what you're shooting and adjusts the contrast, brightness and color to optimize image quality.
Vizio's Dolby Atmos home theater speakers arrive starting at $500
You have to pay if you want room-shaking Dolby Atmos vertical surround sound, even if you're looking at value brands. Vizio has revealed pricing and availability for its upward-firing home theater systems, and the cheapest is the $500, 36-inch 5.1.2 home theater system. The 46-inch 3.1.2 and 5.1.4 models, meanwhile, will cost you $800 and $1,000 respectively.
Apple TV adds Dolby Atmos audio on Monday
We're getting more than just new iPhones at Apple's big event. Today, the company put a date on its tvOS 12 update that will bring the promised support for Dolby's Atmos audio technology. When Apple announced the feature at WWDC earlier this year, it also said people who owned movies in iTunes that have Atmos soundtracks available would have their copies upgraded for free. Tim Cook didn't mention the zero sign-on technology that's also a part of tvOS 12, so we'll have to see if that's ready for a wide launch next week or if it's still waiting for more testing (or agreements with more cable TV providers and channels). Apple TV owners can expect the new software release on Monday, September 17th, dropping along with the HomePod update that will add new features and additional languages for Siri.
'Michael Jackson's Thriller 3D' is coming to IMAX theaters
On what would have been Michael Jackson's 60th birthday, IMAX announced that it's remastering Michael Jackson's Thriller 3D for a limited run in its theaters. IMAX will show the iconic 1983 music video in 3D for one week starting September 21st, before screenings of the new movie The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
Vizio adds Dolby Atmos to its latest home theater speakers
Vizio didn't just unveil bright HDR TVs as part of its spring announcements. The electronics giant has launched a trio of home theater systems that bring Dolby Atmos audio to the lineup. The 36-inch 5.1.2, 46-inch 3.1.2 and 46-inch 5.1.4 systems all pack the requisite upward-firing speakers to add a vertical dimension to your movies. Of course, Chromecast support and Bluetooth remain built-in. Vizio hasn't outlined pricing yet, but expects all three Atmos systems to arrive in the summer.
DirecTV offers 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos for Winter Olympics replays
Comcast and Hulu may have already revealed plans for Winter Olympics coverage, but today, DirecTV is letting us in on what it has in store for the next several days. In addition to the regular prime time coverage anyone with access to NBC's family of networks is privy to, the AT&T-owned company has a few other things up its sleeve to enhance your viewing experience. We're talking 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos, for starters, when the festivities kick off this Thursday.
Sony's new soundbars can virtualize Dolby Atmos sound
Sony always makes home audio products a part of its CES presentations, and 2018 is no difference. Perhaps most notable are the HT-Z9F and HT-X9000F, two soundbars that include Dolby Atmos surround sound. Of course, true Atmos requires overhead speakers, and these are just 2.1(HT-X9000F) and 3.1 (HT-Z9F) soundbars. As such, this requires some virtualization, which happens courtesy Sony's "virtual surround engine," which the company claims can replicate the wide soundstage Atmos provides. And regardless of whether you're watching content mixed for Atmos or not, the more expensive HT-Z9F include a "Vertical S" button that Sony says will provide virtual 3D sound. The HT-Z9F will retail for $900/£600 and the HT-X9000F will cost $600/£450 when they arrive this spring.
Sky Q’s Dolby Atmos support arrives for new Premier League season
When Sky surprised subscribers with the launch of its new Devialet-made surround sound speaker late last month, it also dropped in news that Sky Q customers would soon enjoy enhanced sound courtesy of Dolby Atmos. At the time, the company remained coy, teasing a "summer" launch, but with the new Premier League season imminent, Sky today confirmed that Dolby's surround sound standard will now be ready for when Arsenal host Leicester tomorrow night.
You'll need an Xbox to enjoy Netflix's Dolby Atmos debut
According to Dolby's website, Vudu is the only streaming service with titles that support Atmos 3D sound technology. Now, Netflix has joined the Atmos movement with the launch of Bong Joon Ho's (Snowpiercer) Cannes Film Festival flick about a cute "superpig" called Okja. Atmos gives filmmakers the power to designate where sounds are coming from in three-dimensional space to make movies as realistic and immersive as possible. It can, for instance, make a plane in the movie sound like it's really passing overhead or an incoming train sound like it's zooming in from behind.
