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Looking for whole-house music without tearing down your walls to run wiring? Got a Pandora or Rhapsody account and want it streamed to more than just your computer speakers? Sonos has been giving us affordable wireless multiroom music for a bit of time now, and today it’s announced new amplified and non-amplified ZonePlayers, a new bundled package for a cost-effective starter system, and also an added perk of more than $200 in DRM-free music offers. The new ZonePlayer 120 (ZP120) and ZonePlayer 90 (ZP90) both… View this story
AV Components • Digital Media Servers • Multiroom Audio • Networking and Communication • Ethernet • Audio • Multiroom AV • Product News

The major audio-video accessory companies fear that the big CE manufacturers have finally delivered on the age old promise of "No New Wires." With Sony and Panasonic starting to introduce products that are supposedly wire-free, the accessory companies have been touting their own new wireless solutions for HDTV to HDMI to whole home audio and other house cluttering products and services. Here's a look at both sides of this ever troublesome home theater dilemma. No More Wires Please! (By Susan Davis, an award winning advertising… View this story
Audio Cables • Video Cables • Bluetooth • Ethernet • WiFi • Networking • Info and Answers

Q. What are my options for a TV in the bathroom prewired with a cat5 and a coax? I would like to stream my home video, mp3’s, photos, etc., but space is limited on the wall. What I have in mind may not exist: A TV with Ethernet and a built in media player. -Tony The choices for this type of application are limited at the moment, but there are a couple of options for what you are looking for. HP has a new line… View this story
Ethernet • Bathroom • Multiroom AV • Ask a Pro

Home automation manufacturer Control4 has always been about combining affordability, convenience and performance. They’ve rolled out the latest version of their Home Controller to further speak to those points. The new Control4 Home Controller HC-500 gives you an HD on-screen output for better visual navigation, a 160-GB media server to stuff plenty of files for multiroom audio and video distribution, and enough inputs and outputs for your home theater controlling needs. It’s expected to be available in February for $1,495. Here are some more highlights:… View this story
AV Components • Multiroom Audio • Multiroom Video • Home Control • Home Control Systems • Lighting Control • Lighting Control Systems • Networking and Communication • Ethernet • WiFi • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Product News

Good communication is a must in a home filled with electronics. Your remote needs to talk to your audio/video components, your wall switches need to speak with your lights, your media server needs to share its music with your family room loudspeakers, and, more recently, it’s become important that your computer be able to transmit photos, videos and other information to every display in the house. There are several ways of getting information from one place to another. If you’re building a new home, high-speed… View this story
Ethernet • Powerline • WiFi • Holiday Gift Guide • How To • Networking • Info and Answers

How do you make a mammoth flat screen boring? Show vacation photos on it. Still, Sony just announced the HDMS-S1D ($400), a server designed to be stuffed with up to 50,000 high-resolution photos. The 80GB hard drive allows users to transfer photos via almost any memory card, a CD or DVD, USB or Ethernet. I find it really annoying when I can’t find different photos, so it’s nice to have them in one spot. Whether or not, I want to blast them on a big… View this story
Digital Media Servers • Ethernet • Computer Accessories • Gadgets • Home Theater • Enhancements • Product News

This Maryland house has a whole-house control system, security cameras, 13 zones of audio distribution, a wireless computer network, geothermal heating, sensors for water leaks and humidity, a surround-sound system and a DVD movie server. Must be a new home, right? Try 1781—as in the days of George Washington. That’s when the original structure was built. A renovation of the modest Quaker-style house was done in 1814, and a few years ago, the current homeowners added a wing with a family room on the first… View this story
Plasma • Multiroom Audio • Surveillance • Humidity Control • Thermostats and Sensors • Home Control Systems • Ethernet • Multiroom AV • Cool Homes • Slideshows

Olive just announced the OPUS Nº5, as well as the end of the audio CD. Them’s fightin’ words! This networked audio system doesn’t just store the music, it also allows you to browse, mix, or listen to your music library as well as web radio. And just in case you’ve got a few CDs still kicking around, you can rip and burn those too. Unlike your portable player, this unit has the company’s Pure Audio System, a pair of TI’s 24-bit 192 kHz DAC modules,… View this story
Digital Media Servers • Multiroom Audio • Set Top Boxes • Ethernet • WiFi • Audio • Multiroom AV • Product News

Earlier this week we mentioned that the latest THX technology, THX Loudness Plus, will debut in the Yamaha RX-Z11 flagship A/V receiver. For a little more on this whale of an A/V component, here are some more highlights of the RX-Z11, which will ship in November. First off, it’s an 11.2-channel receiver to take advantage of full HDMI 1.3a capabilities, with help from the company’s proprietary Cinema DSP HD3 processing for ultra-realistic 3-D surround sound. Other audio features include support for Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master… View this story
AV Components • AM and FM Tuners • Multiroom Audio • Receivers • Surround Sound • Ethernet • Home Theater • Product News

It’s a little like winning the lottery. Panasonic has launched its Living in HD program and is looking for 30 families across the country to use a palette of high-definition electronics gear to explore how the latest HD technology affects the American lifestyle. The selected families will capture and share their lives using Panasonic camcorders, cameras, Toughbook computers, and plasma TVs. The product menu, with a retail value of more than $20,000, also includes a Blu-ray Disc player, surround-sound speaker system, A/V receiver, a powerline… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Displays • HDTV • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Miscellaneous • Web Services • Networking and Communication • Ethernet • Powerline • Speakers • Surround Sound • Enhancements • Product News

There is no question that advances in technology have made home A/V systems cheaper and easier to install, expand, and enjoy. The world of distributed audio and video is one area of home entertainment that has incorporated wireless technology, streaming media, digital storage, and online music services into small, affordable devices and packages. From linking your digital music library with the home’s sound system to wirelessly streaming Internet radio to multiple rooms in the home, the distributed A/V industry has it all covered. The interesting… View this story
Multiroom Audio • Multiroom Video • Ethernet • Internet • Routers and Switches • WiFi • Computers • Software • Web Services • Audio • Multiroom AV • Info and Answers

Two vendors unveiled somewhat offbeat HomePlug implementations recently: Sling Media—makers of the Slingbox, a hardware device that connects to your TV so you can watch TV content on Web-enabled devices—announced the SlingLink Turbo 1 Port and the SlingLink Turbo 4 Port. As the names indicate, these devices connect one or up to four devices respectively to a HomePlug ( 1.0) network. These come in pairs; one plugs into the power outlet near the router, the other connects to the device. The 1 Port costs $99.99… View this story
Set Top Boxes • Ethernet • Powerline • Networking • Info and Answers • Opinion/Soapbox