Gizmodo: ambisound

Giz Explains: Philips' Spring Product Line-Up

Wilson Rothman — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST

Philips is a mammoth of a CE company, but in the US it's not always easy to see what those guys are up to. Here's a fast look at what's new—not merely refreshed—in the 2008 lineup:

• LCD is a big priority for them, and this CES Philips has an all-new LCD line, starting with the 7000 series. Dubbed the "Ultimate Dream TV," the $2,800 52" 52PFL7603D has a 2-millisecond response time thanks to 120Hz ClearLCD technology, and it wouldn't be Philips without an Ambilight LED lightshow around the bezel. Along with design taken from their European Aurea TV line, the 7000 series also features a "invisible sounds system" which has the sound originate from the back of the TV, then uses the curved bezel to push the sound forward.

• The 5000 LCD series features an "Eco TV," the 42PFL5603D designed with a power-saving feature that dims the backlight in low ambient light and when content doesn't require as intense a backlight. Philips is calling the world's lowest power consumption—less than 0.15w on standby mode—scoring all kinds of certification. It's also lead-free.

• Philips is promoting a new Blu-ray player, the BDP7200 which is their first profile 1.1 player. There's nothing very thrilling about it except its sexy design and its low MSRP of $350. That's if you can find it—hopefully it will be in wider production than its predecessor.• Most of the other Philips announcements are refreshes of existing products, such as the Swarovski Active Crystals, the Streaming Wireless music system, and Ambisound Home Theater surround bar that features HDMI 1080p up conversion. [Philips]

Philips Ambisound HTS8100 Shipping Soon for $999

Charlie White — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:00:00 EST

We lusted after the Philips Ambisound HTS8100 DVD- and amplifier-packing speaker system at CES in January, marveling at its slide-open CD/DVD panel (see the video of it in action here) and kick-ass sound that we heard with our own ears. Now we get the news that it's an actual product, and will ship in Q2 2007 for $999.

It's just the right size to go under a flat panel HDTV, and is particularly swanky-looking paired up with one of those Phillips Ambilight plasma and LCD panels.

Gussied up in piano black for all to see, what we liked the most was its sound that was good enough for Coltrane, surprisingly tight and punchy for speakers of its size and beauty. We can't wait to take one of these into our specialized listening room. – Charlie White

Philips Ambisound HTS8100 is Set to Replace Most of your Home Theater's AV Components [Chip Chick]

Video Goodness: Slide Inside the Ambisound

Matt Buchanan — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 19:00:47 EST

While we showed you a video of the Ambisound HTS8100 and its announcement yesterday, today we're coming back with a video of the slide-open CD/DVD panel in the front. Slick stuff, as you can see. – Matt Buchanan

Philips Gets All Fancy With Ambi Sound Speakers

Charlie White — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:43:31 EST

Philips follows its Ambi light LCD TVs with speakers matching that pleasing asthetic, naming them Ambi sound. They consist of one bar that spreads the surround sound all over the place, without the need for cluttering up your crib with speakers everywhere. Behold their chicatude in this video. – Charlie White with video by Richard Blakeley

Philips Press Conference Live

Jason Chen — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 14:27:10 EST

11:09: VP Andrew Goldman kicks things off. We've got two speakers, one of which is NOT the CEO because he busted himself all up skiing.

11:11: Lucas Covas and his sexy European accent takes the stage. Points out the dudes wearing "luminous" clothing that has a display built-in hanging around the room. Also points out their 2007 17 CES Innovations Awards.

11:15: Talks about a bunch of old stuff like Skype phonea and amBX gaming speakers, and Ambilight TVs.

11:17: Stewart Miller, President of Philips North America joins Lucas on stage. They then show off the 1,000,000th Ambilight TV manufactured that's all tricked out with 2,000 diamonds. Classy.

11:20: Philips is focused on flat TVs. In 2007 Philips will offer 30 new models of flat TVs, with larger sets being 1080p. Perfect Pixel HD Engine is a chipset dedicated to pumping out 1080p HDTV resolution, decreasing motion blur, increasing contrast, etc.

11:22: 120Hz refresh rate give 4ms response time on their new LCD TVs. New 32-inch, 47-inch, and 52-inch amilight LCDs coming this year.

11:24: Ambisound gets rid of surround sound speakers and puts everything up front. Shows it off with a Fantastic Four clip. Here's the deets:

Ambisound HTS8100
Price: $ 999
Availablity: second quarter 2007

Ambisound
HTS6600
Model: HTS6600
Price: $ 599
Availablity: second quarter 2007

11:27: Supreme commander video game clips with crazy lights all over the room. Showing off the amBX speakers with lights. It blows all sorts of wacky lights all over the place and vibrates your wrists while you play. Some crappy looking games like "Broken Sword: The Angel of Death" are already programmed to use amBX stuff.

11:31: Blu-ray rah rah rah. 25GB discs out now, 50GB discs on their way. New BR player plays the discs and upscales DVDs.

11:32: VoIP phones. Philips HD voice technology improves call quality.

11:34: Digital picture frames in 7 and 9-inch models. Internal memory holds the pics, holds albums, does slideshows with transitions.

11:36: Portable DVD players that can also view digital photos, comes loaded with video iPod docks. New surge protectors as well, including the squid design.

11:38: Wireless HDMI can transfer uncompressed 1080p HD over the air. designed to replace wiring between TV and components. It supports HDMI 1.3, which is nice.

11:43: And that's it. Pretty underwhelming if you ask me. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

–Adam Frucci