FlatSpeakers
Latest
Kenwood lights up your life with prototype OLED-illumed speakers
Details are scarce on these new speakers from Kenwood, but if you find yourself frequently faced with a lamp-or-noise dilemma, we might've just stumbled upon the solution. The prototype flat speakers, developed by Junji Kido of Yamagata University in Japan, are inexplicably surfaced with white Lumiblade-style OLED lights -- we're not sure what that does for the sound, but we probably won't be trading in our studio monitors in anticipation of this brightly lit conjectured future.[Via OLED-Info]
New flat-speaker tech could make public places even louder
Flat-panel speakers are nothing new, but a new version of the tech could one day replace boomy public address systems with hidden speakers that produce easier-to-hear audio in large spaces. Under development at the University of Warwick, FFL ("flat flexible loudspeaker") speakers are actually a thin laminate made of layers of conducting and insulating material that resonate when electricity is passed through them -- the crisper, clearer audio is a result of the entire surface creating sound in phase at once, which allows it to produce highly directional audio. Since they're so thin and flexible, FFL speakers can be hidden nearly anywhere -- behind signage, in the ceiling, or even painted and hung directly on the wall. Of course, this'll all come to nothing if the sound quality isn't up to snuff, but we'll find out more when the first commercial FFL product goes on sale later this year.[Via PhysOrg]
Carbon nanotubes could be used in film-like flat speakers
Seriously, is there anything carbon nanotubes can't do? We've got shock absorbers, flexible displays, atypically small eating utensils and now, film-like speakers. For times when NXT flat drivers simply aren't thin enough, a team of Chinese researchers have reportedly found a way to create sound from a thin sheet of carbon nanotubes. The film, which could be stretched and placed on PMPs, HDTVs or even clothing, can generate sound when "zapped with a varying electric current." Great, the perfect recipe for a new wave of Milli Vanilli copycats. A video of the tech can be seen after the jump.[Via Physorg]
Logitec cranks out six new iPod speaker stations
You won't have any difficulty convincing us that the iPod speaker system niche is entirely oversaturated with copycat offerings, but apparently, that message isn't fazing Logitec. The company has announced a whopping six new speaker docks for various Apple players, including the LDS-Xi900BK 2.1 system that utilizes NXT Surface Sound technology and gives users an extra pair of auxiliary inputs and a TV output, and the LDS-Ri500 (pictured above) series that looks more like a tag-along safe than a AC or battery-powered boombox with FM radio capability. Furthermore, the LDS-Si101WH and LDS-Si100WH/BK get downsized in order to handle your nano or 2G Shuffle, and while prices are still up in the air for the half dozen devices, they should all hit the shelves simultaneously come June. Click on through for a bundle of pics. [Via AkihabaraNews]
