The YSP line is my favorite soundbar because of the sonar-inspired tech it borrows from cold war subs. The YSP-3050 is a new 23-driver model, second best compared to the 42 driver YSP-4000. The upgrade from the 3000 now has a front mounted minijack in, and HDMI upscaling. Like the higher end models, these will provide glorious surround, but unless you wall mount, the speaker blocks a few inches of your TV. [Yamaha]

YAMAHA INTRODUCES THE YSP-3050 DIGITAL SOUND PROJECTOR,

ITS LATEST SINGLE COMPONENT SURROUND SOUND SOLUTION

—New model to its market-leading line offers HDMI, video upconversion, iPod and XM Satellite Radio compatibility, FM tuner and advanced listening settings —

BUENA PARK, Calif.—Yamaha, the innovator in home theater and digital audio and video reproduction, today unveiled the YSP-3050, the latest in its award-winning line of Digital Sound Projectors which focus audio signals into precisely controlled and directed “beams” that provide true multi-channel surround sound from a single component. The YPS-3050 fits neatly underneath a flat-panel television and gives consumers a space-efficient option to installing multiple speakers throughout a room for immersive audio for watching movies, television and sports programming.

The new YSP-3050 features 21 beam drivers, and two woofers, 23 corresponding digital amplifiers, three Cinema DSP programs (movie, music and sports), analog to HDMI video upconversion, high definition video upscaling to 1080i/720p and a 1080p (24Hz and 60Hz) compatible HDMI interface with two inputs and one output to facilitate pure digital connections with the latest home theater components.

The YSP-3050 is XM Satellite Radio ready with XM HD surround sound powered by Neural Surround. The YSP-3050 also offers iPod compatibility via the new optional YDS-11 dock (more information on the YDS-11 below). Once docked, the iPod can be operated (song selection, play, etc.) via the YSP’s remote control and on-screen display. Yamaha’s proprietary Compressed Music Enhancer technology compensates for the lost detail of audio that is compressed during the “ripping” process, recapturing the essence of the original recording. An integrated FM tuner further broadens the user’s entertainment choices.

The YSP-3050 creates a wide soundstage designed to fill the whole room with convincing surround sound regardless of where listeners are seated. Sound settings include 5-Beam, 3-Beam, 3-Beam + Stereo, 2- channel Stereo, My Beam, 5-Channel Stereo and My Surround modes. My Surround mode delivers surround sound to even the most difficult installation environments where walls may not be present or are covered with unsuitable materials. My Beam mode focuses the sound at a specific listening position, so the listener can hear all program audio clearly, including dialog, without disturbing others in the room.

Yamaha’s proprietary IntelliBeam™ automated system calibration enables users to quickly and easily set up each system for the optimal listening experience and intuitive, multi-language on-screen displays.

The YSP-3050 offers full support for surround sound standards, including Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6, as well as CINEMA DSP technology, to create realistic soundscapes in any room. For late night movie and music enjoyment, a Night Listening Enhancer mode allows dialog and quiet passages to be heard clearly, even at low volumes. The TV Equal Volume mode prevents sudden startling bursts of sound from TV programs and commercials. The model also features SRS TruBass technology to provide exceptionally deep and rich bass response.

The YSP-3050 is currently available for a suggested retail price of $1,399.95.

This isn’t a sandbox with a marble in it. Sysyphus V, a kinetic sculpture by Bruce Shapiro looks like a Zen Garden. But instead of a buddhist monk carefully raking gravel, it’s an autonomous steel sphere carefully crawling over and over, making polar geometric shapes that can best be described as iterative lilies or stars. A magnet on an arm on a two axis plotter sites underneath the half-ton set up, and Sisyphus is making its first appearance here, at Maker Faire 2008. An unrelated but cool Interview with Bruce, by Cool Hunting\, after the jump. [TaoMC at Makers]

Samsung’s A1 drives, the 1.3-inch platter models that fit 30-40GB inside, are being shoved into these little LaCie portables, the new Little Disk and in the updated USB Key Max. With this kind of bit density and 2MB buffers, the drives should be somewhat quick despite the 3600rpm spindle speed, and 40GB is no joke, especially in these shock-resistant drives that look imminently pocketable. [TechOn via Engadget]

I’ve had the pleasure of testing out the fourth-generation Yamaha surround sound bar, the YSP-4000. You know, the box that sits under a TV and projects 5 discrete beams of audio using Cold War directional sonar steering from submarines. This generation has had its trapezoid- shaped array turned into a more of a hexagon, and the chassis is more rigid. There are HDMI inputs, and upscalers for analog content. And there are DSP modes for stereo music sources that did not exist before. Does the fake surround work? Hell yes, better than ever.

Unlike past YSP setups, this fourth generation is so good, out of the dozen or so demonstrators, from sound engineers to casual listeners, all sorts of CEDIA audio nerds were satisfied by the directionality of the sound beams. Each is so discrete, even in the demo room’s open top and back, all that could be seen were the heads of the audience nodding in approval. I love this thing, and I’d even be willing to place the tallish speaker in front of my table-mounted LCD, blocking the bottom few inches of my picture. That’s a bit crazy, I know, but I’m impressed. For more details, hit our last post.

Fuze Media Systems unveiled their full home media system, which has several advantages over the pretty and fully competent Microsoft Windows Media Center. In a nutshell, it’s designed to be used throughout the entire house, with multiroom streaming. There are extenders called the Fuzemini that have HDMI out, DVD/CD drives, CableCARD. There’s even a touchscreen control panel, on top of the regular remote. But hold on: This Media Center PC isn’t actually a PC.

It’s built on an Intel platform. But you never have access to the desktop, for reliability reasons. (No internet access?) It does whole house audio, synced. And the UI in those screenshots have blue backgrounds, and familiar MCE menus, but they’re not.

Media can be sent to the rest of the house using Ethernet and the Fuzemini boxes. But using CAT-5 cables (via USB adapter) audio can also be sent to powered amp’d wall switches, complete with track controls (but no actual TCP-IP). And there are even powerline versions of this panel.

Hmm. Interesting. We’ll see how it plays, and how much it costs.[Fuze via CEPro]

[Cue Fairytale music...]Once upon a time, a geek found that he had way too many gadgets, and too few AC outlets to use them all at once. A simple powerstrip would have been a easy fix, but because he considered himself a serious gearhead, he wanted *special* powerstrip.

The first one he tried was called the Compact, by Belkin, but had room on top for 4 small sockets, and on its side, 4 great big sockets standing vertically. It was terrific, but maybe too simple; and anyhow, there were actually two more powerstrips by Belkin that were more interesting. One, called the Clamp-On had a claw on it for being mounted on a desk. And one was huge, and had a cable organizer. One was very, very good, and one sucked so bad, it made the geek want to plug it into a heavy, heavy VCR, climb into a rowboat, and drop it to the bottom of the sea.

The “Clamp On” powerstrip with the claw on it had a box with a picture on it. The picture explained what the claw was for — attaching it to desks or 2×4 planks of wood! It appeared to have space for 4 small power plugs, and 2 large blocks. This could be useful for keeping outlets off the floor, and close to his work area. But alas, the stupid powerstrip’s jaws were too wide to clamp onto a desk, with it’s puny spring loaded rubberized and orange teeth. It sagged, and threatened to leap to the floor when the outlets were filled with hungry three-pronged plugs. And too narrow to clamp on a 2×4. It only fit on his weirdly shaped Swedish furniture. (Despite the photo on the box, it was limited to grabbing onto the edges of things no greater than 1.5-inches thick.) A real engineer would have used a vice grip, he thought.

The next powerstrip, Conceal was gigantic. It was at least twice as big a the other powerstrips. What a waste of space, the geek thought, as he thumbed the hard plastic case. There was a single lonely outlet on the side of this whale of a powerstrip. Strange. Where were the other outlets? Right after he’d finished this thought, his finger happened upon a button. Click!

The case opened up, and inside were 10 outlets — 6 little outlets, next to gold-plated coax, ethernet, and RJ-11 power filters, and room for 4 big blocks. All through the top of the case were nooks for cable routing, and a space to pass all the cords through the top. This was the perfect powerstrip for a livingroom, where the cables need to be tucked away nicely.

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. THE END…FOR NOW. Dun dun DUUUUN.*
(I’ve been writing too many news pieces, lately. Had to break it up. Humor me.)

[Belkin]

Helio is announcing Activesync support for the Ocean. The phone will then be able to sync calendars, email and contacts from an Exchange server. They’re also doing a file viewer app that will view PDF, Word, Powerpoint and Excel docs. $10 a month for Helions with All-In service plans.

HELIO LAUNCHES MAIL FOR MICROSOFT EXCHANGE

Wirelessly Sync Ocean with Microsoft® Office Outlook® Email, Calendar and Contacts

LOS ANGELES, CA - July 25, 2007 - Helio Ocean’s expansive messaging capabilities just got more versatile with the launch of Mail for Microsoft Exchange. Adding to Ocean’s already comprehensive messaging line-up including a single hub for all text messages, picture messages, Instant Messages and emails from the major portals and ISPs, Helio members can now mix business with pleasure through Mail for Microsoft Exchange. This new application lets users wirelessly synchronize Microsoft® Office Outlook® email, calendar and contacts from their companies’ Microsoft® Exchange Server so they can use Ocean to keep in touch with friends and family, as well as staying on top of business.
“Ocean has already made staying in touch with friends easier than ever with the ultimate messaging dashboard for all email, IM, picture and text messages, something nobody has ever done before,” said Doug Britt, Sr. Director of Content and Messaging Services at Helio. “Now we’re bringing the business user into the fold with the addition of corporate email, calendar and contacts, all from the same great messaging interface. Combined, this solidifies Ocean as an ideal device for keeping in touch with friends, family and business associates.”

Business + Pleasure
Mail for Microsoft Exchange is Helio’s new downloadable client that uses the Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol to let users remotely synchronize and access business email, contacts and calendar data from their corporate Exchange Server. Ocean users can wirelessly download Mail for Microsoft Exchange to their device and after a brief set up, send and receive email, create and send calendar appointments and access corporate contact lists. Once Mail for Microsoft Exchange is downloaded, it is also easily accessible through Ocean’s messaging home screen aside the full suite of Ocean’s messaging capabilities.

Helio will also soon launch Helio File Viewer in conjunction with Mail for Microsoft Exchange. When available, Helio File Viewer will allow users to view documents including .doc, .ppt, .xls, and .pdf files.