Vinyl recordings "have seen a revival" in the past few years, with sales increasing by 54.7 percent in 2014 to $346.8 million, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said in a report Friday. The U.S. is the leading market for vinyl sales, IFPI said. Sales in the U.S. in 2014 jumped 52.8 percent from a year earlier to $181.6 million, it said. Australia, where sales climbed 127 percent from 2013 to $6 million, was the top-10 market with the highest growth rate, it said. But vinyl remains “a comparatively niche part of the global recording industry,” with only 2 percent of the industry’s $14.97 billion revenue in 2014, it said. “The recording industry is a portfolio business, offering music in formats from vinyl to streaming,” IFPI CEO Frances Moore said in a statement. “Critics thought vinyl would disappear as a format, but many music fans around the world seem to be falling in love with it again. With the accompanying artwork and liner notes, vinyl records really can be a work of art and a collector’s delight.” IFPI said it released the data on vinyl sales to commemorate the global Record Store Day festivities that were set to take place Saturday. Now in its ninth year, Record Store Day was conceived “as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture” of 1,400 independently owned record stores in the U.S. and “thousands of similar stores internationally,” its organizers’ website said. There are Record Store Day participating stores on every continent except Antarctica, the organizers said.
DTS announced upcoming support for DTS:X in Sony Blu-print 6.6 and Scenarist BD Professional and Pro Plus v6.0 authoring tools to enable the use of the DTS:X object-based audio codec on Blu-ray Disc. DTS’ “long-standing relationships” with Sony Creative Software and the principals at Scenarist are a key element to bringing DTS:X support to both Blu-ray authoring tools, DTS said.
GoPro launched an ultraportable wireless HD micro transmitter for the broadcast market Monday. Co-developed with Vislink, the HeroCast allows live content POV (point of view) footage and unique perspectives, GoPro said. The transmitter works with GoPro cameras and compatible mounts, transmitting HD 1080/60 frames per second and 720/60fps video via HDMI using H.264 encoding with low glass-to-glass latency, the company said. Broadcasters can bring audiences closer to a sport’s action using the technology, GoPro said, citing ESPN and the NHL as sports organizations that have used GoPro with HeroCast technology for live events during X Games Aspen and NHL All-Star weekend.
On the day DTS unveiled its long-awaited DTS:X object-based audio platform for cinema and home theater (see 1504090021), Dolby and AMC Theatres announced a premium cinema experience called Dolby Cinema at AMC Prime that combines Dolby Atmos sound with the Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) laser projection system. The premium large format cinemas will be outfitted with power reclining seats packing seat transducers that vibrate with the action on screen, said the companies. AMC expects to have Dolby Cinema fully installed at AMC Prime locations in “up to four” AMC locations in major cities by mid-May, it said. The rollout schedule extends to 50 locations by December 2018, including San Francisco, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston, Denver and Seattle, and up to 100 by December 2024, said the companies. As part of the agreement, AMC will convert its existing premium theaters -- ETX and AMC Prime -- into Dolby Cinema at AMC Prime with Dolby Atmos audio technology and the Dolby Vision projection system, the companies said. AMC Prime, the theater chain’s premium large format design, launched at AMC BarryWoods 24 in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2013, and is in nine locations in the U.S.
Israeli startup Wi-Charge announced wireless charging technology said to deliver up to 10 watts of power over 30 feet to multiple devices via infrared light. Promising “unlimited battery life for all things wireless,” Wi-Charge CEO Victor Vaisleib said the company’s light-based technology delivers “automatic, Wi-Fi-like charging capabilities.” The company’s wireless power receiver can be integrated into smart home devices such as IP cameras and sensors, and pairs with a wireless power transmitter that installs into a conventional electrical outlet, Wi-Charge said. The first product, due in the first half of 2016, will include a power transmitter and a matching receiver incorporated into a phone sleeve, the company said. It said it is engaged in conversations with OEM partners to integrate the technology into CE devices.
Samsung’s decision to incorporate both PMA (Power Matters Alliance) and Qi wireless charging capabilities in its new flagship Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge is expected to drive a “huge increase in receiver shipments” for 2015, said David Green, analyst for IHS, which predicts more than 100 million receivers will ship by year-end from mobile handsets alone. Green said the Nokia Lumia 930 has a Qi receiver built in, but the announcement from market leader Samsung “provides a huge boost to the wireless power industry” with the potential to drive market awareness and shipments. He called the decision to provide a dual-mode receiver capable of receiving power from either a PMA or a Qi transmitter an “interesting step” that could be an increasing trend for other product announcements during the year. "Manufacturers are clearly focused on providing a seamless charging experience for their end-user, where interoperability is extremely important," said Green. Trimodal technology -- adding the Rezence standard backed by the Alliance for Wireless Power -- will become more likely “in the medium-to-long term,” he said. Further product releases using both inductive and resonant wireless charging approaches are expected later this year in “numerous applications,” including Intel’s upcoming Skylake chip architecture, said Green, predicting 2015 will be a “breakthrough year” for wireless charging.
Pushing a “read everywhere” strategy, Barnes & Noble announced Tuesday a new Android app said to bring a “unified Nook experience” to Android smartphones and tablets. The Android 4.0 app combines features found on Nook tablets and e-readers with new content types “such as enhanced kids’ eBooks” to give Android users the experience available on dedicated Nook devices, said the company. Users who download the app and set up a Nook account will receive a $5 credit to get started, it said. The app includes a newly designed home screen and “easier navigation” between Nook features and settings, said the company. Customers can shop and discover e-books directly from the home screen with access to Nook Channels, which the company said “brings the experience of visiting a Barnes & Noble bookstore directly to a customer’s fingertips.” Apps were also recently updated for iOS and Windows 8.
Home furnishings retailer Ikea is showing a line of wireless charging furniture at Mobile World Congress. It embeds Qi technology and is due in stores in April. The Qi-powered bedside tables, lamps and desks will be available in stores in Europe and North America, with a global rollout to follow, said Ikea. The furniture shows consumers the “beauty and simplicity of wireless charging," said Menno Treffers, chairman of the Wireless Power Consortium, which backs the Qi standard. According to Bjorn Block, Ikea range manager-lighting and wireless charging, “Mobile phones are vital parts to people's lives at home and their desire to stay connected, and Qi addresses an unmet need to keep devices powered.” Qi, the dominant wireless charging technology, is available in 3,000 hotels, restaurants, airports and public locations worldwide, said the WPC. More than 80 Qi-enabled smartphones, 15 models of Qi-enabled cars and “countless” Qi mobile accessories are in the market, said WPC.
Following an announcement earlier last week that CinemaNow would stream content in DTS-HD (see 1502240057), DTS said Friday that M-Go will be the first streaming service to offer DTS Headphone:X as part of a rollout of DTS-HD. DTS didn’t give a timetable for implementation of Headphone:X surround sound, saying only that the Headphone:X experience will be available in “future applications” via M-Go on “any set of headphones.” While DTS-HD via CinemaNow is limited currently to Samsung TVs and Xbox One consoles -- along with Blu-ray players, AV receivers and soundbars with DTS-HD decoders -- DTS-HD programming from M-Go will launch on a “wide variety of connected devices, including smart TVs, consoles, set top boxes, and Android and iOS mobile devices” and “is not limited to just Samsung and Xbox One,” a DTS spokesman told us. Headphone:X, which provides a surround sound experience for headphone users, is delivered by the DTS-HD stream, he said. DTS Headphone:X is shipping on Qualcomm Snapdragon 810-based mobile devices and will also be deployed through the M-Go apps on Android, Windows and iOS in the coming months, he said. According to the Qualcomm website, 60 “premium-tier” mobile devices based on the Snapdragon 810 will be in the market over the next few months, including the LG G Flex2. Qualcomm didn’t mention DTS technology under the audio section of the Snapdragon 810 page, but it did say the processor supports “professional quality audio” via Dolby Atmos and “up to 24-bit/192kHz music playback.” Meanwhile, DTS told us at CES the company was eyeing a March debut of its object-based audio technology, DTS:X (see 1501070021). The spokesman would only say the company will “announce plans soon” about DTS:X, which figures prominently in the proposal DTS submitted to vie for selection as a certified audio codec for the next-gen ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (see 1501210023). The ATSC’s call for proposals (CFP) for the ATSC 3.0 audio system (see 1412090019) included a March 9 deadline for “detailed system descriptions" from candidates. ATSC will inform “certified proponents” through letters of acceptance by March 20, according to the CFP.
Dolby said it will release with cinematic virtual reality (VR) company Jaunt three VR apps -- "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and clips from the films Kaiju Fury! and Black Mass -- that will be available in Dolby Atmos via the Google Play Store in coming weeks. In a Thursday news release, Dolby said immersive audio is “critical to storytelling in VR” because it enhances the sensation of presence and “directs people where to look at critical moments in the virtual environment.” Dolby Atmos allows content creators to guide viewers through a VR experience with “lifelike" audio that complements the 360-degree experience, said the company. Viewers of Jaunt's 360-degree, 3D content can experience a level of realism that’s like “being there," it said. The McCartney concert performance and both films were recorded using Jaunt's 360-degree stereoscopic 3D cameras and sound-field mics, the companies said. The audio was mixed and encoded using Dolby Atmos tools, and Jaunt's applications decode and render the object-based Dolby Atmos experience, they said. The Jaunt app will be available for select mobile devices, and Dolby will demonstrate the technology at Mobile World Congress next week.