Atlantic Technology Bows IP-Enabled Speakers

I'll readily admit that this blows my mind: IP-networkable speakers.

Press release:

Atlantic Technology Delivers its First StreamNet-Enabled In-Wall Loudspeakers for NetStreams Whole House Protocol with Major Sound Quality Benefits

NORWOOD, MA (3/11/09) -- Atlantic Technology, a leading manufacturer home theater and architectural loudspeaker systems, today announced immediate deliveries of three StreamNet-enabled in-wall loudspeakers designed to use NetStreams whole-house internet-protocol (IP) technology.
Remarkably, these loudspeakers take further advantage of IP technology for significantly improved audio performance, sound quality, and adaptabilityto local acoustic conditions.
These sonic improvements are made possible by using separate, individually-equalized power amplifiers for the tweeter and the woofer…a configuration known as active bi-amplification. Itallows the speaker designer to use digital processing to create the ideal audiosignal for each separate speaker driver, and to totally by-pass theuse of conventional electrical crossover networks, which can be difficult to equalize and inefficient."IP technology is a game changer for loudspeaker designers," said Peter Tribeman, President, Atlantic Technology.
"It's like going from chemical photography to digital photography. By giving speaker designers the ability to deliver the optimal audio signal directly to each individual transducer, it opens up a world of new possibilities. The signal stream remains digital all the way from the recording studio through the NetStreams system, until it reaches our speakers. The end user enjoys every last bit of potential performance from our speakers."The new Atlantic Technology IWTS-4 LCR-IP, IWTS-7 LCR-IP and IWTS-14 LCR-IP loudspeakers are designed for home theater and music applications. They are based on three of the company's most popular models, and each also includes a conventional crossover network for traditional installations. A rear-panel switch selects between the conventional speaker wire input connectors and the NetStreams Phoenix-style connector.

So, I ask you all, what can't you network in the home?

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Samsung Yanks Hostile Bid For SanDisk

That didn't take long. I'd only just covered Toshiba's defense of SanDisk this morning.

CNet: Samsung withdraws offer to buy SanDisk

Samsung on Tuesday withdrew its $5.85 billion bid for SanDisk, citing an increasing "risk profile." This follows a new manufacturing agreement between SanDisk and Toshiba disclosed Monday and a stiff rejection by SanDisk last month of the Samsung offer. "After nearly six months of efforts to pursue a transaction with no meaningful progress, we are withdrawing our proposal to acquire SanDisk," Yoon Woo Lee, vice chairman and CEO at Samsung Electronics, said in a letter that Samsung released Wednesday in Seoul.

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More CEDIA Expo reporting for CE Pro

CE Pro: Integrator on the Scene: PlanetWaves, Knoll, Brother

My friend and CE Pro editor Jason Unger is absolutely swamped, so we're a little behind on getting the updates posted. Your patience is appreciated.

Pictured: the P-Touch Edge PT7600 from Brother is one sassy little label maker.

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PPC shows latching HDMI connectors

Filed under "what a great idea!" CE Pro's Julie Jacobsen profiles cable maker PPC, and their debut of an HDMI connection that won't accidentally fall out.

CE Pro: Miracle of Miracles: PPC’s Latching HDMI Connectors Won’t Fall Out

The patent-pending connectors have two tiny prongs that latch into HDMI ports. Press the release on the connector to remove the cable.The cable stays firm with up to 10.5 pounds of pressure "which is three times better than usual," says PPC's Wayne Hostetler. "It's not much, but it won't fall out if you dust it.

I wish PPC every success. With luck, other vendors will licence the concept, and we can all move on and stop bitching about how easily HDMI cables come unplugged.

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Update: Aurora Multimedia, who they are and what they do

Following up on yesterday's post about AV distribution vendor Aurora Multimedia, I spoke yesterday with one of their sales reps, in order to learn more about their company and their offerings.

I learned that they've been active on the commercial and studio side of the business for ten years, which reinforces a point I made in a recent story (feature starts on page 16, free registration required) about how being flexible and having a foot firmly planted in both the residential and commercial businesses creates greater opportunity and ability through cross-polination of ideas, tech, and businesses.

Anyway, long story short, Aurora Multimedia has some seriously interesting AV distribution product, and I'll be taking a closer look at their stuff next month at CEDIA Expo.

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Aurora Multimedia: Is It True!?

Faithful readers who are in the CE and custom channels will know that switching between multiple HDMI sources to multiple displays is not easy. So much for the promise that the "digital age" would simplify our business. Ha!

For those of you not intimately involved in the business of trying to route HDMI sources , let's just say that it's complicated. Running an HDMI connection from Point A to Point B is simple enough. The challenges arise when you try to send the signal from Point A to Points B, C, D, and E.

When switching between multiple sources and displays the problem is the HDCP, or High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. In simple terms, the HDCP protocol gets flumoxed by multiple handshake requests from different displays, so it locks, giving you a black screen.

HDCP has been a major headache for vendors working on manufacturing a reliable HDMI matrix switcher capable of handling 6, 8 or more sources and outputs.

Which is why I was surprised to see a banner ad from an outfit called Aurora Multimedia who claim to have a 100% reliable, fully HDCP-compliant HDMI 8x8 matrix switcher. According to their website:

With the HS-88M HDMI Matrix Router, high definition audio and video signals from any of up to 8 sources can be sent to as many as 8 displays. While complying with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), a signal from a single source can be sent simultaneously to several displays. Its sources include HD-DVD players, TiVo systems, satellite set top boxes, and blue-rays. It can be controlled by RS-232C, LAN (TCP/IP), Infrared or front panel keys. The HS-88M compliant HDMI version 1.3 and supports resolutions up to 1080p@60Hz with 36-bit color depth, Dolby® True HD, DTS-HD.

From a custom installation perspective, this is, as they say, all that and a bag of chips. So, you'll have to pardon my ignorance when I ask "Who the hell are these guys?"

It's doubly ironic that they come to my attention now, as I just handed a feature-length magazine article about HD distribution for residential installations. I wish I had been aware of Aurora Multimedia's existence a week ago.

I can assure you, their promises pique my interest, and I will endeavor to do some more homework, and report back.

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Has Anyone Else Noticed Google Finance Claiming Real-Time Stock Quotes?

I first noticed this two or three weeks ago. Google Finance's quotes from the NYSE and the NASDAQ are listed as "Real Time." Meanwhile quotes from the TSX are still "Delayed" by the usual 20-odd minutes.

A cursory inspection of Yahoo! Finance indicates that their quote are still delayed across the usual markets.

So far, with the tickers that I follow, I haven't seen enough of a difference between Google Finance's "Real Time" and other web site's "Delayed" quotes to confirm that they are, in fact, real time, let alone take advantage of any kind of temporal arbitrage.

In the meantime, I have a question: How is it that Google can show market quotes in real time, but can't display bid/ask spreads? If Yahoo! Finance can do that can it really be that hard?

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Quick Flipancy About The iPhone 3G

I'd like to say that I've been ignoring the foofrah about the iPhone 3G for the last couple of weeks, but I have to be honest and say that I've been ignoring lots of news, while I beaver away at a few urgent projects. That's more or less my half-assed, backhanded apology to my faithful readers for the dearth of blog updates lately.

Regardless, savvy CE expert and Marketnews editor Christine Persaud does a great job of summing up her frustrations with the endless gyrations in the media about the launch of the new iPhone.

MarketnewsGadgetTalk: iPhone is Here, Hundreds Line up, Now Can We Get on With Life?

It seems like all we've been hearing about for the past few weeks is iPhone, iPhone, iPhone. The device has finally made its way to Canadian stores today. In Toronto, hundreds lined up outside the Dundas St. store on the corner of Yonge & Dundas in the pouring rain just to have the chance to fork out at least $200 for the device, plus $30/mo. in data (in addition to the price
of a voice plan) for the next three years. (see related story) Is it all worth it?

I will say that much good has come out of the attention the iPhone has garnered. It's nice to see that Rogers has (somewhat) relented to consumer pushback, vis a vis their mobile data plans. It's still not enough, but it's a start.

Also, as commenters like myself have noted, we're just now seeing the forward edge of more advanced handhelds, for which the title "smartphone" is kind of inadequate. Samsung, LG and others are bringing competitive handhelds to market, and fostering new innovations. Whether or not the iPhone achieves the same market domination that iPod has in media players remains very much in question.

Lastly, I'm eagerly awaiting the news to break that some clever dude somewhere has successfully unlocked the 3G iPhone. Despite Apple's best efforts at delivering an inert "brick" to customers, that can only be activated by Apple, that won't last forever. As the old No Fear t-shirt read: "It's Not If, It's When And How Bad!" My personal over/under on a cracked 3G iPhone is a week. Tops.

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Spotlight On Crestron: Every Product Has A Story Behind It

Not only that, but every solution demands a problem. A perfect example is Crestron's new-ish module, that protects control processors from power surges that travel though the serial control line.

Crestron CSP-RS232I

The CSP-RS232I is an accessory designed to protect a Crestron control system's COM ports from lightning surges and other electrical disturances brought through the RS-232* control line. By electrically isolating any distant, outdoor device such as a pool & spa controller or irrigation system, the CSP-RS232I can prevent damage to the control system in the event of a near lightning strike, ground-loop, or short from a high voltage line.

It's actually a valuable solution: when high voltage travels down a low-voltage line, bad things happen. A catastrophic occurrence like that is not unheard of either. I know of one installation here in town where a high-voltage surge struck through the hi-speed cable line and fried both the home's modem and the system's control processor. The entire system was connected to a surge suppressor/UPS, but not one with Ethernet protection. Oops!

The only reason I'm blogging this at all is because knowing the relationship dynamics between integrators and control vendors, I can almost guarantee that this box was engineered in response to at least one loud, angry integrator who experienced just such a scenario as Crestron outlined in their marketing paragraph: an irrigation system or some such getting fried and taking the controller down with it. Closing the barn door after the cow escapes is a crucial part of the engineering process.

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This Week In CE Pro: Screen Material

CE Pro: 12 Screen Fabrics for Optimal Picture Quality

*Image courtesy of Stewart Filmscreen.

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Home Fibre Broadband Connections On The Climb

Over the course of the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD debacle format war, any time I editorialized about how physical optical media was a dead end, and the future of entertainment is in digital delivery, I would get *reams* of hate mail from keyboard ninjas who would call me an idiot because it's "impossible" for there to "ever" be enough bandwidth in people's houses to download HD content swiftly and easily.

Right.

CE Pro: FTTH Connections Nearly Hit Three Million, Study Says

There are now 2.91 million homes with end-to-end fiber connections, according to a study released by the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council (pdf link).
The RVA Market Research study says that’s a 97 percent increase from last year, when there were 1.48 million connections in April 2007.
The study also shows FTTH networks now passing 11.8 million homes in the United States, up from 8 million a year ago.

First, when it comes to innovation, you don't ever want to go into the history books as the guy who said it would "never happen." Second, if you're still dubious, just keep watching.

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This Week In Marketnews: Recanting On Fibre Optics

Marketnews: Custom Corner: Rethinking Fibre Optics

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This Week In Marketnews: Creative Screen Solutions

Marketnews: Custom Corner: Projection Screens for Unique Installations

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What Does "Early Adopter" Mean These Days, Anyways?

The Stalwart's Joe Wiesenthal wrestles with the notion of early vs. late adopters, and wonders how to draw the boundaries.

The Stalwart: Redefining Late Adopter

That being said, given how fast something can explode, it seems like the gap -- in absolute terms -- between early adopters, regular adopters, and late adopters is shrinking quite quickly. Web services pop up, and if you're not in on them within two weeks of them going "viral" then you're a late adopter, or maybe just a regular adopter, but certainly not an early adopter.

I've got a question: What value does being an early adopter bring beyond tenuous bragging rights to other like minded geeks?

Actually spending money to be an early adopter means that you're volunteering to Beta test for a vendor, and paying them for the privilege. Some of the best advice I was ever given was "Never buy the first generation of anything!"

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After Hours: Engineers Create Automated Beer Pong Table

Behold, the fruits of higher education:





Quote:

This table took a little over 400 hours to built* entirely. 4
Engineers worked on it, and spent a little over $1000 to make it.

First, let me say that their project is definetely cool. But I've got to offer some unsolicited constructive criticism.

a) 400 hours just to have animated LED's and play mp3's? I see they've already learned the valuable Project Management skill of padding their timesheets.
b) their cable runs under the table are a rat's nest. I hope they cleaned them up beyond what they showed in the video, otherwise, maintenance and repair will be a major bitch.



*[sic]. This is proof positive that they're engineers.

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Sim2 Demonstrate Prototype LED-LCD Projector

If you are into video technology, then you know that Sim2 makes products that are the cat's pajamas. Well, they're turning up the heat.

TWICE.com: Sim2 Presents LED-LCD Prototype

Sim2 Multimedia and Dolby unveiled here Monday evening one of the first prototype LCD TVs to employ LED backlighting driven by Dolby Labs’ set of High Dynamic Range technologies for local dimming control.
The 46-inch display is one of only four produced so far as Sim2 continues to analyze its ability to mass-produce the sets for introduction through high-end custom installation and specialty A/V retail distribution. The sample model offered 1080p full HD resolution and a 60Hz frame rate.

As some of you are aware, I am hugely long on LED technology and it's potential for everything from lighting to video applications. It's always good to see progress on this front.

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This Week In Marketnews: 99 Red Baluns

Marketnews: Custom Corner: Baluns for Beginners

Christine Persaud, my editor at Marketnews didn't use an accompanying graphic this week, which is unusual for her. My guess is that it's because baluns just aren't very exciting.

Really, look at that Niles A/V plate above: it doesn't exactly make your heart race, even if you're a propellerhead. Regardless, they're important.

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Yamaha drops hammer on bogus dealers

TWICE: Yamaha Axes Transshipping Dealers

Yamaha terminated an unspecified number of dealers who transshipped Yamaha product to Internet retailers in violation of their dealer agreements and tried to cover it up by having the products’ serial numbers altered.
“Until now, transshippers have covered their tracks by replacing the manufacturers’ real product serial numbers with inaccurate ones that were difficult to trace,” said spokesman Tom Graham. The transshippers were caught through a “new highly accurate procedure to trace products from the factory all the way to where they are sold, through legitimate dealers or otherwise,” the company said.

Yamaha has always been death on grey-market sales of their goods, but now they have high technology to assist their detective work. I have great respect for Yamaha's hardware and the efforts they go to in order to preserve the integrity of their brand.

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This Week In CE Pro: Time Is Money

CE Pro: Profit vs. Puttering: Solve Challenges Without Wasting Time

Time is money. Of course, money is also money. It's important to remember that.

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High Speed Internet Over Airwaves: Still Under Construction

MSNBC.com: FCC will test Internet over TV airwaves
High-tech group submitted devices that transmit service over TV spectrum

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators said they will try again to test prototypes on Jan. 24 for transmitting high-speed Internet service over unused television airwaves.
Late Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission said the devices — developed by Adaptrum Inc., Microsoft Corp., Motorola Inc. and Philips Electronics North America Corp. — will be tested in laboratory and real-world conditions.

One of my favorite aphorisms as it pertains to sports is "It's not if, it's when, and how bad." In the case of over the air broadband, you could say "It's not if, it's when and how broad."

There's not a whole lot to talk about at this point, but it's something to keep your eye on, and probably more likely to take off than Internet over your power lines.

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