If you love watching movies but hate the unwashed masses—and happen to have giant heaping truckloads of money—designers and interior architects can offer a simple solution: your very own deluxe in-home movie theater. Here are some of the most amazing in the world, inspired by everything from Star Wars and Star Trek, to Paris and Egypt, to well, okay a little more Star Trek. More »
Pioneer Electronics has unveiled its new 2013 line of home theater A/V receivers. The new receivers promise to make it easy to integrate your smartphone into your home theater entertainment options. The new A/V receiver line includes the VSX-523 and VSX-823 5.1-channel, VSX-1023 7.1-channel, and VSX-1123 7.2-channel receivers.
All of those receivers share many of the same features. The new receivers have expanded iPhone, iPad, and iPod support allowing users to listen to their music store those devices and display album art and metadata when connected to a TV or other display source. The three top models in the range can play content from the iPad and charge the device with support for iPhone and iPod devices via cables.
One of the cables available does support the Lightning port on the iPhone 5. The high-end 1123 unit also has an interactive owner’s manual that helps users learn the functions of the receiver by automatically opening content about a specific feature on the receiver when the user presses a button and needs more detail. The 823 and 1023 receivers can also be controlled using smartphone applications.
On 823 and higher models, the receivers feature a MHL 2.0 input and the new receivers also support HTC Connect. The three top models of receivers support Apple AirPlay for wireless streaming from the iPhone or iPod. Other features of family include 4K Ultra HD Pass Through on all of the new receivers and the high-end 1123 is able upscale analog and HDMI video signals to 4K Ultra HD resolution. The new receivers will be available in March at prices ranging from $279 up to $629.
[via Pioneer Electronics]
Pioneer unveils new AV receivers with smartphone integration is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It’s a universally acknowledged truth that TV speakers suck. It’s also universally acknowledged that Sonos makes awesome wireless hi-fi gear. Light bulb!
I guess you can more or less say that in this day and age, it is no longer considered as a luxury to actually own a semblance of a home theater system. Thing is, most of the time, such home theater systems do not come cheap – not by a long shot, but thankfully, there are some manufacturers out there who know that not everyone prints money or has an inexhaustible bank vault to fall back upon, which is why the good people over at Sceptre have come up with the Sceptre SB301523 Speaker Sound Bar 2.1.
Yes sir, the name itself says it all, the Sceptre SB301523 Speaker Sound Bar 2.1 should not disappoint most folks unless you are extremely particular and discerning about your audio quality, but then again, if you are of the latter group, you would surely look a whole lot higher up the home theater hierarchy instead of something from Sceptre, say, maybe Bang & Olufsen? Having said that, the Sceptre SB301523 Speaker Sound Bar 2.1 will boast of a built-in subwoofer, and it intends to be the all-in-one sound solution that you need for your humble pad, where it is touted to deliver a dynamic home audio experience without having to break the bank, and neither will it look like an eyesore in your living room.
Just what kind of performance can you exact from the SB301523 Sound Bar 2.1? It is said to produce heart pumping surround sound thanks to its dual 20 Watt speakers and a built-in 40 Watt subwoofer. Apart from that, you will also be able to find integrated technologies such as High Efficiency Amplifier, SRS WOW audio and sculpted bass response which is said to deliver a more natural audio, in addition to a wider sound field and raised sound image. Sceptre’s latest Speaker Sound Bar 2.1 will retail for $159.99, and works best as long as your TV is no larger than 40” in size.
Press Release
[ Sceptre SB301523 Speaker Sound Bar 2.1 unveiled copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
One of the most interesting customizable systems to ever come from the team at Velocity Micro is here this week: the Raptor MultiPlex, complete with gaming and home theater features made to blow the market apart. This beast is meant to bring Velocity Micro into the world of both home theater aficionados and those that want the best of the best in gaming hardware. It all begins with a lovely solid aluminum case and output made for top of the line 1080p presentations for your HDTV.
This machine works with an ASUS P8Z77-V Pro Motherboard with the ability to connect to your peripherals with Thunderbolt. Attached you’ll find a lovely Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor (3rd gen, of course, Ivy Bridge it is), and 16GB DRR3-2133 memory. Your setup in its out of the box form will work with an NVIDIA GTX600 series graphics processing card and will be more than ready to take on all next-generation games throughout 2013 – and beyond!
You’ll find Intel 520 series solid state boot drives in this amalgamation of greatness along with up to three 2TB Hard Drives configured to be tough in RAID 5. Each system works with Windows 8 Pro and is ready and willing to act as your premiere home theater controller. The Raptor MultiPlex works with Digital TV tuners able to work with up to 4 recordings concurrently.
You’ll also be working with S/PDIF out for High Definition 9.1 Channel audio and will be able to play Blu-rays at 1080p via PowerDVD12. Most of these options are also upgradable – pick up an NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti, 670, or 680 if you’re feeling like you want to break out with the nicest of the nice. The base price for this setup is $1,849 USD, and you’ll be able to upgrade across the board straight from the Velocity Micro online shop – go big!
Velocity Micro Raptor MultiPlex merges home theater with gaming prowess is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Many people have a home theater PC sitting right next to their HDTVs. It’s not always the best-looking solution to manage your media, but oftentimes it’s the most functional. There’s no reason why your HTPC should look ugly. Check out this awesome design that Jeffrey Stephenson came up with.
Project Ayr is a fanless home theater PC that’s encased in an Art Deco-inspired mahogany shell. It’s definitely a nice retro style case and would look great sitting in your living room. Inside the wooden case, which has an aluminum frame, there’s an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, an Intel Cherryville SSD, 150W Pico PSU and an illuminated Silverstone HE02 passive heatsink, which occupies the majority of the case, and is cleverly integrated into the design.
Jeffery states that his custom design is “a solid state, fanless, no-moving-parts, dead silent home theater PC,” cutting down on the drone of fans while Jeff watches his favorite movies.
[Jeffery Stephenson via Engadget]
Here’s one piece of technological design that’s bound to divide opinoon. Jeffrey Stephenson’s Project Ayr is a fanless home theater PC encased in an art-deco style Mahogany shell. But would you let it inside your home? More »
Hardware maker Arctic has announced a new media center set top box called the MC001-XBMC. This new set top box runs XBMC 12 Frodo as the operating system and Openelec. The machine promises to come out-of-the-box ready to plug into your TV and it is available for significant discount. The normal price of the device is $459, but it is now available for $229.
The device supports all popular audio and video formats in HD resolutions up to 1080p. The device has its own 1 TB integrated hard drive for storing all of your media such as videos, songs, and photos. The set top box also supports the ability to access and control your content using a smartphone or tablet.
The manufacturer also has apps available for various devices allowing your tablet or smartphone to act as the remote control for the set-top box. Other available hardware features include a pre-installed DVB-T/ATSC TV tuner allowing the device to act as a DVR for over the air programming. Thanks to the large hard drive and integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, the device can be used as network attached storage.
Connectivity options on the device include 3.5 mm audio I/O jacks, optical S/PDIF output, a VGA port, and HDMI port, integrated Ethernet port, and five USB ports. The device also has a single USB 3.0 port on the front and a memory card reader. The processor inside the box is an Intel Atom D525 and graphics are handled by a Radeon HD 5430 GPU.
[via Arctic]
Arctic unveils new MC001-XBMC media center is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Philips has been in the home theater and entertainment segment with a bunch of different sound bars and other products for a long time. Philips Electronics has now announced that it is vacating the home entertainment section the focus on more profitable aspects of its business. The company will be selling off its audio and video business.
Philips announced that it would sell its audio and video businesses to a Japanese company called Funai Electric Co. for €150 million. Philips says that it will focus more on its profitable home appliances and health care operations. Philips ditched its TV division last year selling it to TPV, a company based in Hong Kong.
Philips had posted a profit from its home entertainment division last year, but CEO Frans van Houten said that the business was freaking and was “margin dilutive.” van Houten also noted that the sale of its audio and video business completes the company’s repositioning away from consumer electronics. The company will continue to focus on small appliances such as shavers, toasters, juicers, and coffee makers.
Shedding the home A/V unit sent shares in Philips up 1.4% to €22.2, which is the highest level stock, is traded at since April of 2011. Philips continues to post strong growth in revenue from its healthcare division where the company sells home oxygen equipment, hospital scanners, and ultrasound systems.
[via Reuters]
Philips ditches home entertainment segment is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
I know of many people these days who use their PS3 gaming consoles as their main Blu-ray player, but this new standalone player from Sony looks pretty cool too.
Eschewing the curvaceous lines of the PS3, the Sony S5100 Blu-ray Player has a sleek angular design.
The player offers 3D playback and 2D-to-3D conversion as well. It comes with built-in Wi-Fi with improved range, a bunch of apps for content from services including Netflix, Hulu Plus and Pandora, as well as Sony’s TV SideView app that lets Android and iOS users control the box from their device. They are also able to transmit content from their mobile devices the player, a la Apple’s AirPlay.
The Sony S5100 Blu-ray Player will be available this spring. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet.
[via Uncrate]
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