Category Blogs
Making a Statement: building Naim’s super-amp
Naim boss Paul Stephenson may say ‘We’re glad 2014 is behind us, and we can move on’ – he admits times were tough last summer, mainly due to global economic and political unrest –, but the company is still upbeat after recording its best-ever sales last year, with record months in the last quarter. Giving […]
Toshiba’s TV-making pull-out is bad news, not good, for Japan’s surviving manufacturers
And then there were three: Toshiba’s announcement that it’s to stop making TVs and instead licence out its brand means only Panasonic, Sharp and Sony are left carrying the Japanese flag in a market sector the country once dominated – but for how long? If you think Toshiba’s decision to stop making TVs for export […]
Sony aims high to restore TV profits – but it’s facing smartphone competition close to home
Loss-making TV division moving into the black thanks to upmarket sets, but spun-off Vaio company is set to launch a smartphone challenge To say the least, it’s an interesting time to be Sony: while all the furore about The Interview (above) and the embarrassing series of hacks at its US movie division has been raging, […]
Two-channel audio alive and well in Japan’s megastores
So hi-fi as we know it is on its last legs, is it? The huge selection on sale in a couple of Japan’s consumer electronics superstores suggests otherwise… Some will have you believe that hi-fi as we know it is on its way out, replaced by small speakers, Bluetooth whatnots and streaming services, but having […]
A merry non-specific winter festival to all my readers
So, that’s it. Another year of honest slog behind me, and I hope 2014 has proved as eventful and rewarding for you as it has for me. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed at least some of what I’ve had to say, been annoyed by other bits and possibly been infinitely baffled by the odd piece – more […]
Pono Music: how much???
Neil Young’s Pono Music player and service is here. Or coming. Or something. But with album pricing like this, it’s going to struggle to catch on Like others who make their living scribbling about consumer electronics, I’ve been following with interest the progress of Neil Young’s Pono, from the initial announcements, through the Kickstarter […]
Is there any value left in music?
The widening availability of streaming services is creating an expectation that music is free, and giving many writers and performers a tough time Whether the rot set in with the arrival of iTunes, or the earlier availability of music through illegal file-sharing sites, isn’t clear, but it seems that a whole generation now has the […]
Tidal: the greatest thing ever, or just the latest wave?
The launch of a CD-quality streaming service from the Wimp people has the ‘tech’ press a-buzz, but is its success written in the sand? The latest and greatest music-streaming service appears to be Tidal, the newly-launched offering from the people behind the unfortunately-named (at least in English-speaking markets) Wimp. What’s not to like? It has […]
Finding footfall: how audio companies are learning to go where the customers are
Bose in Argos, Naim in John Lewis – how the modern hi-fi retail landscape is changing When Naim announced its mu-so music system, there was a fair degree of spluttering from the faithful on the company’s forum: not only was the new product set to be made in China, but for the first time the […]
Enterprising hi-fi retailer Infidelity takes the quality music message on the road
London hi-fi specialist exhibits at car launch event, attracts interest for latest audio technology So there I was last night, rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of South-West London – well, the Lexus-buying great and the good, anyway – at the launch of the new Lexus NX hybrid SUV. Held at the impressively-positioned […]
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