Audio Video News

MQA Is Coming to NAD’s BluOS operating system, which covers a variety of wireless-savvy audio components. MQA can stream hi-res audio at CDquality data rates.

Lionsgate Is Adopting Dolby Vision HDR, making it the second movie studio to do so after Warner, as well as Dolby Atmos surround, making it number six following HBO, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner. Dolby Vision boasts 35 streaming titles, but no Blu-ray yet...

Dolby Vision HDR is also getting traction on Amazon, starting with the TV series Bosch and several movies. Netflix started with the series Marco Polo in 2014 and will ramp up to 150 hours of programs by year-end...

Downloads From Netflix? So far the rumor is coming from sources outside the company. But Netflix may have noticed that competitors like Amazon and Comcast (via its X1 DVR) allow downloads of some titles...

The Bluetooth 5 Spec will increase range fourfold to 200 meters, with data speed doubling to 2 Mbps. This will be better for Internet of Things applications...

Will Panasonic Return? The Japanese giant left the U.S. TV market in 2014 but is mulling a comeback. It still sells TVs in Canada and plans an Ultra HD Blu-ray player for the States...

Net Neutrality Won Big in the D.C. appeals court, where a three-judge panel accepted the FCC’s definition of both ISPs and mobile broadband providers as common carriers under the Communications Act. So your ISP can’t throttle your streaming services of choice—though a Supreme Court appeal is likely...

Sears Made Its TV Debut with HD models wearing the Kenmore brand, at prices from $200 to $400; and Ultra HD models dubbed Kenmore Elite, at $750 to $1,500. No streaming features in either line...

Millennials Cut the Cord in 23 percent of broadband households headed by them, versus a national average of 15 percent, says a Parks Associates survey. However, 61 percent of millennials subscribe to both pay-TV and streaming services, higher than the national average of 52 percent...

Zee, the Indian TV Network, has signed with Dish Network and Sling TV to bring 37 channels in 16 languages to the Sling streaming platform. Except for a single cable channel, the only way to get Zee will be Sling or authenticated access...

Charter and TWC were failing to refund overcharges but have corrected the problem, says the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Comcast and DirecTV do it automatically, and Dish’s system prevents overcharges altogether...

Charter Will Leave Time Warner Center, the iconic tower in New York’s Columbus Circle, for less glamorous digs in Stamford, CT. The new owner is also eliminating Time Warner Cable’s work-from-home and summer-hours policies and imposing a dress code that forbids jeans...

TWC’s Security Service will continue under Charter’s new ownership. It is operated by Icontrol, which provides similar services to Comcast, Cox, and Rogers—with Comcast moving to acquire a stake in the company...

Dish Network Dumped NFL Network over licensing fees. It’s a first for NFL—but not for Dish, which also dumped Tribune Media and WGN America in a similar squabble...

Retransmission Fees paid by pay-TV operators to TV stations will rise 20 percent this year, and fees paid by stations to networks are rising 36 percent. This applies upward pressure to pay-TV rates...

Skinny Bundles are giving consumers new options by offering fewer channels for lower prices. This applies downward pressure to pay-TV rates...

Best Buy’s In-Home Advice program is in the test phase and would help consumers with CE issues. It’s designed to bring the ailing Geek Squad program into the Internet of Things era...

177,393 People Attended CES this year, setting a new record. This pushed a little past the cap imposed by the Consumer Technology Association to control the increasingly unwieldy event...

The BitTorrent News Channel will join other channels on the BitTorrent Live streaming platform. It will cover politics, sports, tech, and cultural events, though possibly not on a 24-hour basis...