Cambridge Audio, the U.K.-based audio specialty maker and merchant of affordable premium-grade audio gear, introduced today its first-ever over-ear headphones in its award-winning Melomania wireless headphone series. The new Melomania P100 balances elegant design with spectacular sound quality…blending in mind-blowing battery life and a healthy dose of best-in-class technology.
Technology
Another Analog Comeback: Meet the New Pentax 17 Analog Film Camera
Interesting news out of Japan as we learn that Ricoh, a large Japanese imaging company that owns the Pentax camera brand, is launching its first film camera under the Pentax brand in over 20 years. This new model, the Pentax 17, will launch first in overseas markets in June, and then in the domestic (Japan) market in July.
See more on the re-emergence of analog film cameras by Pentax
[Read more…] about Another Analog Comeback: Meet the New Pentax 17 Analog Film CameraIn a Rare Move in Asia, Workers’ Union Calls for a Strike at Samsung
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) announced on Monday that it will launch a general strike against Samsung that will continue until the company meets its demands for better pay and more time off, according to a report by Reuters. The union went on to warn “of [a] more damaging action” against the company than a one-day walkout last month.
See more about a nasty labor situation building at Samsung
[Read more…] about In a Rare Move in Asia, Workers’ Union Calls for a Strike at SamsungAs LCD TV Biz Slides, Sharp Sells Its Largest Panel Factory to AI Companies
Are Onkyo & Integra Connected to This Story?
In yet another sign of mega changes in the electronics industry, news comes to us out of Japan via the Nikkei that Sharp Corp. – a division of Apple supplier Foxconn – is in negotiation to sell off a majority of the property and factory associated with its largest LCD panel manufacturing facility in Japan. That news alone surprised many in Japan, as Sharp has been a world leader in developing LCD TVs, but also surprising is that it would choose to sell this facility, a flagship for them in Sakai, a coastal city in Osaka.
Also surprising, a bidding war has broken out as multiple big players seek to turn the factory into a data center for use in generative AI, a technology in which Japan feels it lags.
See more on Sharp selling most of its top LCD panel factory for AI
[Read more…] about As LCD TV Biz Slides, Sharp Sells Its Largest Panel Factory to AI CompaniesREVIEW: Crestron Automates an Elegant Lifestyle with Battery-Powered Shades
Many readers of Strata-gee have some kind of role in the consumer electronics/custom integration world. But how do you define that role? You might, for example, think you are a manufacturer of speakers. Or perhaps you help design and install A/V systems in residential environments. But actually, what we all really do is elevate the enjoyment and the elegance of the end user’s lifestyle.
That point was driven home to me when I had the opportunity to experience Crestron battery powered motorized shades – and its Crestron Home control solution – in my very own home.
See my review of Crestron Battery Powered Motorized Shades
[Read more…] about REVIEW: Crestron Automates an Elegant Lifestyle with Battery-Powered ShadesTidal Says All MQA Titles Will Be Deleted From the Service by July 24th
Tidal Music AS (Tidal) has announced that users “will no longer be able to access music in the MQA or 360 Reality Audio formats via any TIDAL application or integration.” So that’s that…MQA is done and gone…as of July 24, 2024. The company says it will replace all MQA tracks with “the highest quality FLAC version” available.
See more on Tidal eliminating MQA from its service
[Read more…] about Tidal Says All MQA Titles Will Be Deleted From the Service by July 24thI Tricked You! Strata-gee Conducts Tests of Generative AI
For reasons I’ll explain in some detail below, I recently posted a story that was not entirely as it seems. Since I deeply value my relationship with Strata-gee readers and always strive to bring you the absolute truth, I have decided for the sake of transparency to explain to you what I did and why I made the choices I made. You can decide for yourself if you feel that I did the right thing.
See how I tricked you in a recent post on Strata-gee
[Read more…] about I Tricked You! Strata-gee Conducts Tests of Generative AISavant Opens Inception Shades to Integrators of Other Control Brands
Savant Shades and Power Solutions Now Available to Non-Savant Control Integrators
Savant Systems, Inc. announced today that it has expanded its popular line of Inception motorized shades designed by J. Geiger, and in so doing says it created more opportunities for custom integration specialists everywhere – including for integrators using other brands of system control solutions. Inception features a unique, elegant, minimalist roller shade design that was very much popularized by J. Geiger – which is now owned by, and exclusively available from, Savant.
See more on Inception Shades from Savant
[Read more…] about Savant Opens Inception Shades to Integrators of Other Control BrandsEmerging Player Trident Announces New Taurus Z-Wave Series Chip
Trident IoT, a relatively new company founded by a group of industry veterans with extensive experience behind them (“over a century of industry knowledge” according to the company), announced this week that it is launching a new series of chips that it says will decrease the time-to-market for connected device manufacturers. This new series of chips is the Taurus Z-Wave Series.
But just what is the Taurus chip all about?
Learn more about the Trident Taurus Z-Wave Series Chips
[Read more…] about Emerging Player Trident Announces New Taurus Z-Wave Series ChipThrowing Shade – Jury Finds Lutron Guilty of Infringement; Owes J. Geiger $34.6M
A Federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York delivered a verdict against Lutron Electronics Co., finding that it had infringed on a window shade patent held by GeigTech East Bay, a South Carolina company. The jury awarded GeigTech $34.6 million in damages for Lutron’s infringement, a figure that Lutron called “grossly excessive.”