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Microsoft's Amazon Echo competitor will launch next year
Microsoft is partnering with the (soon-to-be Samsung-owned) audio company Harman Kardon to launch a speaker with its Cortana personal assistant built in. Described as "a voice-activated speaker," a short teaser video shows glimpses of a (rendered) cylindrical design not too dissimilar to Amazon's Echo. It also takes cues from Google Home, with a display atop fashioned after Cortana's familiar blue circle that shows when the assistant is thinking.
Roku celebrates 700 channel milestone with new partners: Coby, Harmon Kardon and others now Roku Ready
Sure, Roku's compact Streaming Stick will happily pipe streaming content to any MHL-ready TV, but there's nothing like the guarantee of certification to convince you you're buying the right flatscreen. Roku has announced partnerships with six more hardware manufacturers, ensuring future devices from Hisene, Harmon Kardon, Coby, Voxx Accessories, Apex and TCL will be "Roku Ready." New TVs from partners old and new will be on display at CES, Roku teased, all flaunting the Streaming Stick's access to a wealth of streaming content. There's news on that front too, Roku says its devices now offer access to over 700 channels of streaming entertainment. Brands such as Blockbuster On Demand, PBS, SyFy, VEVO and Fox Now give consumers choices from some of the top brands in streaming video, the company says in a press release, with services like Amazon's Cloud Player and Big Fish Unlimited's casual gaming portal rounding out the Roku experience. Read the announcements for yourself after the break. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Harman Kardon's MAS 102 stereo has a petite profile, luxury looks and matching $999 price tag
Harman Kardon has departed from its austere design language on occasion and come up with some questionable aesthetic results, but its latest compact stereo system sports the clean and classic lines for which H/K is famed. Of course, looks aren't everything, so the MAS 102 slings songs at your skull using a two-channel 65W amp, five-inch mid bass drivers, and one-inch waveguided dome tweeters. The MAS 102 also has dual USB ports for accessing digital music and a phono input for those who prefer sourcing tunes from an old school turntable. It's not all sonic bliss, however, as an optional dock (sold separately) is needed to hook up the iDevice of your choosing. That's a glaring omission for a stereo that costs just under a grand -- but forgiving that flaw should be easy for the form-over-function crowd. More info can be found in the PR after the break.
Toshiba launches NB520 and NB500 netbooks, one with Harman Kardon sound, one without
When's the last time you said "Crank up the netbook, I love this song!" Yeah, probably never, but if you had a Toshiba mini NB520 you might -- or at least that's what Toshiba would like to envision you would do. It packs stereo Harman Kardon speakers that can crack the foundation and wake the dead with an amazing two watts each, apparently the smallest tweeters H/K has ever put on a laptop. That's paired with an Atom N550 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB HDD, 10 hours of battery life, and a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 LED-backlit display. If that's too loud or you're too old, there's also the "no frills" NB500, offering the same specs but minus the petite sound system and stepping down to an Atom N455, though doing so at a lower price. What price? That we don't know, but we'll find out when both ship in the first quarter of 2011, which starts in a month. Yikes. %Gallery-108653%
With AirPlay, Apple opens iTunes software to a 3rd party
Engadget reports that Apple has opened its AirPlay technology to a third party, BridgeCo. BridgeCo is the maker of JukeBlox, a network streaming technology that's embedded into its partners' audio products and equipment to allow wireless audio streaming. And, it just so happens, according to BridgeCo's website, that the JukeBlox platform will play nicely with Apple's AirPlay technology. What does this mean in layman's terms? It means that any audio equipment manufacturer that integrates BridgeCo's JukeBlox technology will be able to stream music from iTunes or iOS devices running iOS 4.2. This is the first time Apple's has opened up its iTunes software to a third party. In fact, CNBC reports that "BridgeCo worked with Apple on its AirPlay." According to a blog at BridgeCo's website, it is currently partnered with audio equipment manufacturers DENON, iHome, JBL, and B&W, to name a few, with "many more coming." Not so coincidently, these brands are also mentioned on Apple's official AirPlay website as featured partners. However, there's one piece that's left to fit into the puzzle. Marantz is listed as a featured partner on Apple's official AirPlay website, but there is no mention of Marantz on BridgeCo's partner list. Maybe it's just a question of time. Regardless, all this wireless audio streaming talk certainly bodes well for getting your music around the house. Update: Reader Leo notes in comments, and Dion via Twitter, that Marantz is a sister company of Denon; both are owned by D&M Holdings, along with other premium audio brands like McIntosh and Boston Acoustics.
Harman Kardon intros its first Blu-ray player, the BDP 10
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
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
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
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
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
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.
