Category Archives: Uncategorized

Meridian Audio Acquires Sooloos

Posted by miracleman12 on December 12th, 2008

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New York City, USA and Cambridge, England - December 4, 2008: Meridian Audio Ltd - British manufacturer of the finest digital audio and video systems has announced its acquisition of US company Sooloos LLC, the innovative media-server manufacturer. The closing which took place today was for an undisclosed amount.

According to Meridian CEO Tim Ireland, “Meridian supplies the very finest audio and video installations. As the market evolves toward download and streaming content and more sophisticated forms of control, we have been seeking the right partner to widen our scope and enable us to further excite our customers. Combining Meridian and Sooloos takes both over many hurdles; the two companies share striking similarities in culture, product philosophy, pursuit of excellence and market approach.”

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Why my cable DVR stinks, we love it when it works

Posted by miracleman12 on July 31st, 2006

I looked online and discovered blogs full of complaints regarding the Scientific Atlanta 8000, the box Time Warner had given me not once, but twice. The whole debacle got me thinking about how complicated even the most basic things like watching television have gotten.

While I love how the DVR changed my life–letting me watch my favorite shows whenever I want and fast-forward through commercials–I was in love with it only when it worked. Because when it didn’t work, I wanted to throw the whole thing out my window.

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Samsung admits to flaw in Blu-ray player

Posted by miracleman12 on July 20th, 2006

With regards to Blu-ray and HD-DVD: remember how we keep saying that first-generation technology has its share of bugs, and that we expect things to improve in later generations? Well, it may happen sooner rather than later. The Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player — which although it delivered a pretty good picture, still exhibited softer image quality than we or anybody else expected — reportedly shipped with a faulty chip. The company’s engineers blame the player’s Genesis scaler chip, which apparently shipped with a noise reduction feature turned on, which had the effect of softening the image.

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Where indie music meets mainstream media

Posted by miracleman12 on July 14th, 2006

Pump Audio, an online service that specializes in cataloging music by independent musicians and marketing it to producers, aims to make the path from indie recording to producer as smooth and speedy as possible. The company, based in New York’s Hudson Valley, also has begun offering its service to amateur video makers who use the Internet to showcase their work.

Steve Ellis, founder and CEO of Pump Audio, knows what life as an independent musician can be like. A British singer and guitar player, he moved to the United States in his early 20s and landed a record deal with an independent label in Atlanta.

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Next-generation Wi-Fi could soon be used to deliver IPTV throughout the home.

Posted by miracleman12 on May 30th, 2006

Airgo Networks, which makes Wi-Fi chips, announced Tuesday that Caton Overseas and STMicroelectronics will use its latest generation of wireless technology to distribute video over Wi-Fi links throughout the home. Caton is a Chinese maker of set-top boxes for satellite and cable TV providers in Asia and Europe, and STMicroelectronics provides chips to set-top box manufacturers such as Siemens and Cisco Systems’ Scientific Atlanta.

Airgo has already been supplying wireless routing companies such as Linksys with high-performing Wi-Fi chips using a technology called MIMO or multiple input, multiple output, which improves Wi-Fi’s range and throughput. MIMO is currently the primary basis for next-generation Wi-Fi standard 802.11n.

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Posted by miracleman12 on April 12th, 2006

Walt Disney’s bold move to let people download TV shows for free could spell trouble for cable and satellite providers, but it also throws into question the strategy of telephone companies spending billions to get into the paid TV business.

On Monday, Disney-owned ABC announced plans to put “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Alias” and “Commander-in-Chief” on the Internet for free as part of a two-month trial beginning in May. The Net-accessible episodes, which will be available the day after the shows air, will be archived so viewers can watch any shows they miss.

Is TiVo next on Cisco’s push into homes?

Posted by miracleman12 on January 30th, 2006

Already Cisco has announced plans to spend $6.9 billion on cable set-top maker Scientific - Atlanta. When the deal closes in the next couple of months, it will be the third significant acquisition Silicon Valley-based Cisco has made in the consumer realm.

The question now is, who’s next? Will Cisco take a hard look at troubled but well-known TiVo, the maker of digital video recorders? What about Nintendo, maker of video game consoles? Or what about Sling Media, a start-up with technology that lets people watch cable television on their laptops or mobile devices with a broadband connection?

Though Cisco executives certainly won’t say who they’re looking to buy, there are some hints as to which consumer electronics companies they’re considering for partnerships.

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