Audio enthusiasts with $20,000 or $25,000 to spare may be looking at MartinLogan’s new limited edition CLX loudspeakers, which the company is releasing to celebrate its 25th anniversary. The company, which will distribute the electrostatic CLX models through select distribution channels, said it would ship the speakers in such finishes as silver aluminum, black aluminum, natural cherry and red.
Fueled by international trade, the consumer-electronics (CE) industry is poised to generate $1.4 trillion in direct business activity in 2008, while directly employing more than 4.4 million Americans, according to a new study released by CEA. Burgeoning international trade is helping to grow the sector, driving 14% of the CE industry’s total output and 16% of its total employment. The study, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, found that beyond its significant direct impact on the economy and job market, the CE industry also spurs billions of dollars in additional indirect economic benefits in the form of industry purchasing and consumer spending in related industries, supporting millions of additional jobs. The CE industry will directly and indirectly produce $2.6 trillion in output, contributing $1.3 trillion to the economy in 2008 and supporting 15.4 million jobs in related industries, researchers estimated.
Dolby and SIM2 demonstrated a prototype of their new high-end, 46-inch High Dynamic Range LCD to journalists in New York this week to positive notices. The companies said that the 1080p TV, which uses 1,838 LED bulbs, included proprietary designs to eliminate much of the washed out black levels typically associated with LCDs.
Toshiba’s 46LX177 46-inch 1080p LCD, one of the high-performing HDTV sets in the company’s Cinema Series, has a 120 Hz display component, ClearFrame, ColorBurst, 14-bit internal digital-video processing and PixelPure 3G. The set, which weighs in at 77 pounds, also features an Ethernet port that allows users to connect to a home’s computer network. The Australian equivalent is due mid 2008.
Toshiba Chief Executive Officer Atsutoshi Nishida’s decision to pull out of the HD DVD business surprised analysts who thought the format war would go on longer. In a Q-and-A with The Wall Street Journal, Nishida talks about why the timing of the pullout was right, the next generation of standard DVD players and the future of Toshiba.
LCD and plasma TVs may be dropping in price, but projectors remain a viable option for some customers, and they, too, are becoming less expensive. They vary in size and price to fit customers’ needs and budgets, according to one hardware reviewer.
The economic slowdown has failed to discourage sales of high-end A/V products, such as projector screens and flat-panel TVs, according to Runco dealers, who say middle-class customers in search of quality are also stepping up to buy expensive home systems. The dealers maintain that mass-market retailers can still drive sales to middle-class consumers by taking the time to explain the benefits of buying the high-end equipment.
With TV manufacturers installing full HD 1080p resolution in ever-greater numbers of sets, Planar has introduced its newest line of LCD flat-panel TVs, all of which feature 1080p on screens sized at 37 to 52 inches. Planar dealers will retail the sets for between $2,299 and $6,999.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment expects to release its first Blu-ray Disc titles April 8. The release of the BD-Live titles coincides with the rollout of Profile 2.0 enhancements to Sony’s PlayStation 3, which will make the game console the first Blu-ray player that can connect to the Internet to access bonus features.
Canton has added the Movie 80 CX and Movie 120 MX home-theater speakers that provide 5.1 surround sound to its offerings. Both systems feature four silver or black satellite speakers and a horizontal, center-channel speaker and subwoofer.
