Here’s something that we’ve never seen before. It’s called the iTamtam M1, recently unveiled by French design company Branex Design (at least we’re guessing they’re French. Their website is in a language that sounds really French-y). It’s an iPod dock shaped like a stool. In other words, it’s an iPod dock-slash-stool that you can actually sit on.
Yamaha has just launched the YHT-S400, a compact home theater audio system designed for small spaces. It’s a simple two piece kit that includes a soundbar and the receiver that integrates the subwoofer, but features Yamaha’s Air Surround Xtreme technology that achieves 7.1-channel surround sound.
JVC has released a new personal speaker kit along their Made for iPod line called the XS-SR3. The new kit distinguishes itself among thousands of other iPod dock-speakers with a tubular design, Dolby Virtual Surround quality audio, and a cradle that rotates—for a nice, widescreen view of videos playing on an iPod touch or iPhone.
Belkin has just released a handy new add-on that allows users to wirelessly stream music from a Bluetooth-enabled device—such as a mobile phone or portable media player—to home entertainment systems and speaker kits. Simply called the Bluetooth Music Receiver, the $50 accessory plugs in via a 3.5mm audio jack or RCA connection, and pairs with mobile devices through Bluetooth v2.0. The receiver can pick up a BT signal up to 33 feet away, and can remember up to 6 paired devices.
JVC has introduced a pair of Soundbar home theater speaker systems, the 5.1-channel TH-BA3 and the 4.1-channel TH-BS7. The TH-BA3 bears the distinction of being the world’s first dual wireless soundbar system, with both the satellites and subwoofer connecting wirelessly.
Olive has just released the Olive 4HD, a music server that features an internal 2TB drive that can hold up to 20,000 HD audio tracks or 6,000 CD-quality songs. Olive puts a lot of premium into sound quality though, and the 4HD is specced for audiophiles, with a high resolution digital to analog converter (Texas Instruments’ 192khz, 24-bit Burr-Brown PCM1792A DAC) for clear highs and lows.
Sanyo has just launched the DMP-P1 and DMP-692, a pair of compact audio systems that feature basic clock and alarm functions as well as iPod docks for charging and playing.
Panasonic has announced that they’ll be releasing their first-2.1 channel Blu-ray home theater kit soon. Labeled as the SC-BTX70, the system is able to simulate 8-channel surround sound in Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD quality through a pair of top-mounted speakers and a woofer box that’s rated for 375W of power.
iLive has just introduced two new bar-type speakers with integrated iPod/ iPhone docks, the iT319B and iT209B. Both are 37-inch 3.1-channel SRS TruSurround XT-quality speaker kits with digital clocks and adjustable sleep timers, as well as enough connectivity options for integrating it into a home theater system—or at the very least, to a TV.
Logitech has just unveiled two new internet radio kits under their Squeezebox line of network music players: the Squeezebox Radio, and the Squeezebox Touch. Both kits feature Wi-fi connections for streaming music from a network-connected device as well as access to free internet radio and net-based music subscription services.