San Antonio — The Progressive Retailers Organization was at the Westin La Cantera Hill Coun
CHULA VISTA, CALIF. – Industry veteran Jeremy Burkhardt, the new owner of Soundcast Systems, is pledging to invest more resources in the wireless-audio company.
Burkhardt said his goal is to strengthen the company’s sales and marketing efforts, accelerate product development, and offer new products that will reinforce the company’s appeal to users of smartphones and tablets.
Connect
BUENA PARK, CALIF. – Yamaha is adding Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) connections to four of five new RXV-series A/V receivers (AVRs).
MHL is also expected to appear for the first time on top-end Aventage AVRs later in the year.
The opening-price model in the RXV series ships this month at a suggested $299, and the others RXV models ship in March and April. The series tops out at a suggested $849.
LONG BEACH, CALIF. — Pioneer is expanding connectivity options and adding some new features to its 2013 series of mainstream A/V receivers (AVRs), the first four of which will ship in March.
Additional models will be announced at a later date.
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. — Sonos, the supplier of wireless multi-room-audio systems, entered the soundbar market with the $699-suggested Playbar, which connects to a TV and to Sonos’ wireless multi-room-audio network to stream music from PCs, Apple’s mobile devices, and Internet radio stations and music services.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. – Retail-level soundbar sales rose 126 percent in the fourth quarter to $245 million, compared with the year-ago period, and by 82 percent for the full year to $658 million, Quixel Research announced.
For the full year, retail-level dollar sales grew faster than factory-level unit shipments, which rose 68 percent, the company said in citing a 126 percent unit-sales gain in soundbars with external subwoofer.
CALABASAS, CALIF. — Select North American-market Panasonic TVs for the first time will come equipped with DTS 2.0+Digital Out, a technology that enables a TV to decode and play back DTS-encoded audio content and transmit a multi-channel stream to connected audio systems such as A/V receivers and soundbars.
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS — Home-automation supplier Control4 has expanded the range of audio sources that can be selected from and streamed through a Control4 multi-room audio system.
Also here at Integrated Systems Europe, the company launched its first lighting-control system targeted specifically for new construction and major remodeling jobs, having previously offered a system designed mainly for retrofit applications.
LAS VEGAS – Sharp’s audio group came to International CES with four new active soundbars, its first portable audio system in years and its first Apple-docking microsystem with the eight-pin Lightning connector.
A quartet of new soundbars tops out with the $599-suggested HTSB-60 and opens with the $149-suggested HTSB-20.
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