Joseph Palenchar

Link This | Email This | Comments (0)

Multi-Room Audio Going Mainstream

This is the year wireless multi-room audio enters the mainstream, and it could whet consumers’ appetite for higher priced custom-installed multi-room-audio systems. Consider these recent developments: Pioneer plans to launch AirPlay in A/V receivers starting at $549 to stream and play back a PC’s iTunes-stored music files over a Wi-Fi network (with the addition of a Wi-Fi... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (5)

Grammy Ads Promote Audio

My heart surged with audio pride as I watched a pair of commercials during the recent Grammy awards — until I saw who did the advertising. One commercial touted a product that lets you “hear music the way the artist intended.” Then I saw the ad was for a Hewlett-Packard desktop computer. Sigh! Next up was a commercial for a smokin’ car audio system with pounding... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (2)

Music CD Distribution Expands To Salvation Army

I don’t go to my local Salvation Army store out of economic desperation. I want to make that clear, but I am a Salvation Army regular. Since I got married in 2005, I’ve been carting carloads of household goods and other items, including never-used electronics, to the store in a never-ending quest to consolidate the belongings of two households into one. When I walk in,... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (1)

Good News, Bad News In The Component-Audio Market

The audio-component industry is ending the year with some good news and some bad news. Consumer spending on audio components is rising once again after last year’s sharp downturn, but it’s not rising quickly enough to prevent another industry consolidation: the purchase by Amplifier Technologies of the brand name and key assets of B&K Components. What accounts for this... More

Link This | Email This | Comments (0)

Cellular’s Tales Of The Unexpected

The cellular industry has been chock full of surprises, courtesy of Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Research In Motion (RIM), and the big four carriers. First off, Apple confounded all of the blogger pundits who made a big deal about iPhone 4 reception problems. Seems no one listened to the bloggers. In its latest quarter ending September, iPhone 4 carrier AT&T activated a record 5.2... More