Hasta La Gadget!

JVC’s never been much on using wires to hook up its home theater systems, and for those not looking for mind-blowing 7.1 surround, these soon-available wireless soundbar setups might just satisfy your aural cravings without forcing you to run ungodly lengths of cabling around your den. The TS-BA3 ($549.95) is a dual wireless soundbar system that consists of a 280-watt amplifier, 5.1-channel surround rig (including a soundbar, wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speaker kit) and built-in surround decoding. You’ll also find a single analog input, two optical digital inputs and support for Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals. The TH-BS7 ($599.95) is engineered to mount alongside flat-panel HDTVs, with a 1.4-inch tall, ultrathin soundbar, an even slimmer wall-mountable amplifier / control unit and a wireless subwoofer. This one’s packing 180-watts of teeth-rattling oomph and promises 4.1 sound with minimal consumption of floor space. Hop on past the break for the full release and detailed specifications.

Continue reading JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems

JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Apple over the weekend acknowledged that it was having issues shipping the latest iteration of its popular all-in-one iMac desktop. In an interview, a spokesperson for the company insisted that it is “working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible,” adding, “we apologize for any inconvenience or delay this may cause out customers.”

The company didn’t elaborate on the shipping issues that have since become a hot topic on Apple’s support message boards.

By federal law, wireless carriers must allow consumers to port their phone number when switching to a different carrier.

That doesn’t mean they have to make it easy.

I recently ordered an iPhone 3GS. Since my previous phone was a BlackBerry on Verizon’s network, I had to switch from Verizon to AT&T in the process. I found that, although both the Apple and AT&T Web sites let me order the phone online, and both offered the chance to port my existing number, neither site would actually let me do it.

An AT&T spokesperson confirmed that this is normal and expected. It turns out that if you originally registered the number in a different state than you live in now–which I did–instead of ordering online, you need to process it over the phone with an AT&T sales representative. You do this via what amounts to a literal procession of various AT&T engineers and support personnel, who “hand off” the transition from one person to the next like a wireless baton. A very slow one.

In fact, the entire procedure took several days, including call backs, setting up a temporary AT&T phone number in my current area code, waiting for the iPhone to arrive, and about an hour of total hold time with four separate support personnel as they switched the old account to the new area and disabled the new temporary number. Some notes on getting through this with your sanity intact after the jump.

Swedish cell phone carrier TeliaSonera has powered up what it calls the world’s first commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network in Stockholm, accessible via Samsung cellular USB modems.

The Ericsson-supplied network supposedly can run up to 100 Mbps when maxed out, though real-world speeds will be nowhere near that number.

Last month, several major telecoms around the world–including TeliaSonera, Orange, AT&T, Telefonica, Verizon, and others–finally agreed on a standard for voice and SMS communication over LTE 4G networks, in an effort to ensure that they’re used for more than just faster Web browsing and other data services.

Verizon is still expected to be first out of the gate with LTE in the U.S. sometime in the second half of 2010.