IKEA has partnered with Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL to create a new range of furniture called UPPLEVA. The all in one self-assembly range will feature built in internet enabled DVD, CD, Blu-ray player and LED TV. IKEA said they came up with this because they found that people want to get rid of the cables and they don't want those mountains of remote controls either.
Like the Dune HD Media Player, Sharp has collaborated with Control4 to get the XV-Z30000 home theatre Control4 certified. Originally launched at this year’s CES, the XV-Z30000 is part of Sharp’s high-definition DLP home projectors. Custom installers can now integrate the XV-Z3000 with control4’s home automation systems with less hassle knowing that it has past compatibility testing.
E-LIFE a UK based home automation installer was selected to provide connected Home entertainment solution for a new luxury development in London, UK. The four-property development will offer buyers to option to bespoke their in-home entertainment solution, from a price tag of £1 Million. To get all the appliances networked and manage, E-LIFE has selected Control4 multi-room entertainment solution.
Lenovo has decided to launch its first smart TV in China with the support from DTS. The new Lenovo 55-inch K91 smart TV features DTS 2.0 + Digital Out technology and the latest Android operating system, allowing consumers to access their favorite songs and videos, share files between connected devices, and control the TV via their tablet and smartphone.
DTS and Ceton Corporation have announced a joint partnership to integrate DTS’s audio technology into the upcoming Ceton Echo, a Windows Media Center Extender. With DTS audio, the Ceton Echo will offer users a more immersive, high-definition sound experience on Internet video services, live and recorded TV services and personal digital media libraries supported by the Echo. Ceton Echo is expected to be available for sale later this year.
Sony has announced plans to launch a new 500GB NAS device for today’s digital home. The new “Nasne” device as it is called comes with built in digital terrestrial and satellite broadcast tuners. Nasne works with other Sony Apps such as "Torne" for PlayStation3 (PS3) and "VAIO TV with Nasne" for VAIO so that you can watch and record digital TV and satellite broadcast programs.
The AV Division of Yamaha has introduced five low to mid-market home theater systems, called the HTiBs (home-theater-in-a-box). Standard across the range is front panel USB connectivity for other digital media systems and 100W subwoofers. Some models offer network connectivity with AirPlay to extend the flexibility and connectivity Apple base systems plus Yamaha’s CINEMA DSP 3D home theater experiences. They are also eco-friendly with the ability to reduce power consumption by 20 percent.
With the Olympics coming to the UK this summer Virgin is gearing to launch its TiVo and ‘superfast as standard’ broadband this April. As they go through their infrastructure upgrade Virgin Media is now offering its customers speeds of up to 30Mb, 60Mb and 100Mb (which will soon be 120Mb). According to Virgin the different categories of digital TV services coming will help its customers take advantage of the new speeds being offered.
Vixs has collaborated with Axentra to port Axentra’s HipServ NAS Media Software to XCode 4208 media processor. As one of the leading digital media access software, HipServ enables consumer to access their digital media from a wide range of devices such as Android and Apple’s iOS based mobile devices. The collaboration will allow OEMs to shorten the development of NAS (Network Attached Storage) base solutions that offers video transcoding.
Samsung Canada and Videotron have launched two new set top boxes - the Samsung HD box and the HD PVR. Both boxes will be available exclusively through Videotron as part of its illico digital television services. According to Samsung the new boxes will enhance the viewing experience of Videotron’s customers.