Vizio is known for it’s line of LCD and Plasma HDTVs, and specifically known for being very value oriented and offered through retailers like Walmart, Costco, Target, Sears, etc. Well with that go-to-market strategy, Vizio has made themselves the market leader in North America, and simultaneously one of the biggest targets in the industry. As the likes of LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, and Philips all drop trau and shrink margins, Vizio and the entire FPTV market is headed into its inevitable commoditization cycles. The shakeout will begin.

In this environment, it’s not surprising that Vizio is entering the TV accessory business. The soundbar is a rapidly growing segment, as consumers demand a better, richer, audio experience that the cheap speakers built into panels can deliver. Often for second, third, and fourth TVs in a household, a full AVR or home theater setup is not in the cards for most consumers. So, CNET is reporting that Vizio is launching a soundbar that includes:

• Virtual surround sound (likely SRS Labs’ TruSurround HD)
• Wireless subwoofer (with wireless link by a company not unspoken of here at Wireless Audio Blog)
• Audio quality that will blow your mind, because it will cost only…
• $299 MSRP

The third bullet is what I’m most excited about. Vizio is one of the most clever technology sourcing companies in the world today. They understand the value function very well, value=f(performance/cost). I happen know that Vizio has found themselves some pretty disruptive IP that will make this soundbar sound unlike any other. It will surpass models that cost twice as much… easily. I am anxiously awaiting the reviews once Vizio gets this bar into the hands of the likes of Crave, EngadgetHD, Sound and Vision, etc. I think the consumers who swim in the audio gear market will greet Vizio with open arms.

Stay tuned…

Easily the best portable iPod speakerdock has been the iH27 from iHome.  It’s a great portable speaker, runs on batteries, and has an alarm clock built in so you can wake up in the morning to your tunes.  Great for long business trips where I can’t count on the hotel having a decent stereo, and I can’t live without my music.

So this is why I am glad to see the iP27 hitting the market… if only overseas for now.  The iP27 is the “Works with iPhone” version of the iH27 (note: the iP27 doesn’t seem to be branded “iHome2go” anymore).  This means that my (soon to be acquired) iPhone can sit on the dock without annoying buzzing disturbing my sheep-counting at night, and the iPhone can still effectively receive phone calls without being disturbed by the surrounding speaker enclosure.

iHome, no doubt, had to jump through engineering hoops to get this design certified for iPhone.  It’s obvious from how few models are out today that come with the certification.

Can’t wait to snag one of these and make it a permanent fixture in my luggage.

First seen back at CES. Creative has put together a very nice package with the HS-1200 set [Product page on Creative website].

One of the features that sets the HS-1200 apart from products like the FREETALK or the Clearchat, is the SoundBlaster X-Fi technology that Creative bundles in. X-Fi delivers some pretty kick-ass virtualization for up to 7.1 surround sound via CMSS-3D and restores clarity lost in many of our compressed music files via Crystalizer. With the accompanying X-Fi package, these headsets deliver gamer-certified performance as well as the versatility that comes with products like the FREETALK and Clearchat models from other companies.

From a pure design perspective, these ear-pads are particularly comfortable for my taste…. Plus, if you’re of the unusually large-headed variety (like me, hat-size 8), you’ll appreciate the fit of the HS-1200.

My favorite part though (and secretly how the HS-1200 really differentiates itself) is the mic boom — it’s simply the best I’ve used on any headset, wired or wireless. The boom is slick to the touch, adjusts its contours with perfectly “plastic” precision — no elastic memory behavior that plagues many flexi-booms, and it is long, allowing you place the mic right where it should be, in front of your mouth.  All other headset makers should simply copy this design.  It rocks.

For consumers, more choice is good.

Go get your game on.

Remote features include:

• Basic security for connecting iTunes and Apple TV libraries
• iPod controls user interface you are already used to when playing back content form a given library
• Intuitive search-as-you-type.  Very cool.  Type “r-o” get any content that contains such letter-sequence grouped as songs, artists, albums, etc.
• Multi-room destination control.  Remote allows you to control what rooms the audio plays back through if you are using Airtunes devices.
• Adjustable buffer size.  Allows you to adjust whether you want a short or long buffer enabling less  or more interference robustness and throughput reliability.

All good stuff.  Can’t wait to get my hands on it.  I specifically want to answer the following questions:

• How does it deal with multiple remotes in the same house?
• How well does the remote provide instant and clear state feedback on the current system configuration?
• How does a single remote deal with setting up a multi-source topology?
• How does it deal with contention for a single receiver, i.e. what happens if you try to send audio to the same room from two different libraries using two different remotes?
• How well in practice does the interference robustness perform?
• How annoying does the delay introduced by the buffer really become over time?

No matter the result, I am sure Apple will delight many with a feature no one was really expecting.

Check it out.

Both models are targeted at TV and home AV environments.

Key application usages:

1. Watching TV at night without disturbing house-mates (Killer frickin’ app)
2. Enhancing TV/AV audio for people with diminished hearing
3. Listening to music from iPod dock, PC, home stereo while cooking dinner, doing housework, etc.

The RF-WHP01 and RF-WHPo2 are both very similar models, with the primary difference being:

1. RF-WHP02 is mainly targeted at TV users, so it offers some hook-up flexibility. Including a boom mic option for older sets that don’t have supplementary audio outputs. This is also a quick and dirty way for someone to enjoy music at a higher volume level than others also watching the same TV, without headphones.
2. RF-WHP02 has a spatial enhancement feature to enhance stereo sound.
3. RF-WHP02 also offers some voice enhancement meant for people with diminished hearing who have difficulty picking out speech when watching TV.
4. RF-WHP01 has black trim. The RF-WHP02 has metallic maroon trim.

The RF-WHP01 & RFWHP02 are available now at Best Buy stores. As of the writing of this article, they are not yet available online, though that’s only a matter of time.

UPDATE: They are available now online: RF-WHP01 for $79.99 and RF-WHP02 for $99.99.

To get a sense of what a killer deal this is… compare this to Sony’s 2.4GHz and the 60-some dB SNR 900 MHz junk that is still hanging around…

So forget IR, forget 900 MHz, forget paying north of $200… pick up a pair of Rocketfish headphones that just work.

For Mac OS X

… and for Windows,

The ClearChat will be shipping soon, so go check it out if you are looking a wireless headset with Logitech’s usual quality.