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Yamaha Music UK has opened the doors of a dedicated Audio Visual Division and has appointed industry veteran (and my good chum) Ian Galloway as Divisional Director. Galloway (pictured above, left) played a pivotal role in the 1981 UK re-launch of Yamaha Hi-Fi, and helped form Yamaha Electronics UK in 1986. He went on to lead [...]

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An interesting snippet emerged while I was having lunch with Masayuki Kozuka, who heads up R&D for Panasonic’s Media and Content Alliance office. He confided that PHL (aka Panasonic Hollywood Laboratories), the power house behind the development of the Blu-ray 3D specification was currently working on an optimized version of the MPEG4 AVC High Profile [...]

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The TX-NR5008 is the latest flagship AV receiver from Onkyo. The brand has been the dominant player in the market since 2009, often being the first to introduce new receiver technology. The fact that it has consistently got its product development timing right in such a fast moving market is a key reason for its [...]

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If you were hanging on for the release of Avatar 3D on Blu-ray, then you might be Pandora-less for a little longer than anticipated. Panasonic has confirmed to me that it’s nabbed the exclusive global distribution rights to the blockbuster title until February 2012. Until that point, it will only be available as a retail [...]

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“We won’t launch a 3D projector until we think the time is right.” That’s the message from Epson UK’s Sue Burgess. Speaking at an exclusive brand takeover of the spectacular 85 Swains Lane property in London’s Highgate, Burgess added that with no appreciable 3D content in the market there was little incentive for the world’s [...]

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Legendary US AV chain Ken Cranes goes down – Technology Forum | TechRadar UK. I was sad to hear about the demise of Ken Cranes AV stores in the US. The name will be very familiar to long in the tooth AV enthusiasts. Canes was a popular source of laser discs for UK and European [...]

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I recently attended a fascinating briefing session organised by Samsung to provide background to the brand’s first range of 3D TVs and 3D Blu-ray player. R&D chief Simon Lee has been taking his team around Europe, doing similar sessions with various media. The event was notable for a couple of reasons. In an effort to [...]

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Star Trek fans who have been waiting for the newly remastered Original Series to migrate from HD DVD to Blu-ray will be disappointed by Paramount’s announcement that reissues will continue on DVD only. The HD DVD camp made quite a ballyhoo after the first season of Trek:TOS debuted on its hi-def format, following an impressive [...]

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