Sony Announces Major Changes To Its AV Division Sony Australia has announced a structural change to its consumer AV / IT sales division to ?reflect the company?s ongoing commitment to delivering an effective and efficient model for its retail partners?, according to the company.

HDMI Extender For Easy IR Remote Control Connectivity solutions provider Gefen will release in August its HDMI IR Extender. This hi-def audio/video extension system delivers 1080p full HD in the HDMI format with IR back channel control over two industry-standard CAT-5 cables.

TV Market Gets Tough For Pioneer Pioneer has pulled the plug on its free delivery and installation service of its 50 and 60 inch plasma TVs, saying the toughening market and economic conditions were behind the move.

Media Server For Video Streaming From Broadreach PSE Media Server is a carrier-grade, comprehensive platform for the deployment of VoiceXML audio/video interactive applications in IMS, SIP, H.323 and H.324M networks.

Watkins Wags Primary School Tech Launch Despite all the hoopla from the NSW government about how much they value public schools and how public school pupils are the future of the state, it seems they are not important enough for anyone in the state government, not even a junior representative to turn up to the launch of an important new technology for primary schools.

Is It Time To Say Goodbye To The CAT 5 Cable? According to channelinsider.com, the advent of the 802.11n wireless protocol will give rise to the fully wireless infrastructure, opening new and exciting opportunities for moving data.

The Audio Visual Revolution Begins According to the MD of new AV company Audio Visual Revolution, Raffi Keverian, although the sector is highly competitive, there is plenty of room for distributors who are experienced, focused and know what they are doing.

Sanyo Claims World-First 4-LCD Projector According to digitimes.com, Sanyo Electric has announced a new projector, the LP-XP200L, featuring true colour reproduction thanks to what it calls the world's first 4LCD optical engine, with the brightest luminance of its class at 7,000 lumens, and a built-in Active Maintenance Filter (AMF) system.

Len Wallis And Yamaha Notch Up 30 Years Together Its been 30 years since Len Wallis Audio signed its first dealership agreement with Rose Music and began to sell Yamaha Music AV products.

HP Rolls Out Touch Screen PC For The Home The HP TouchSmart IQ500 Series PC is designed specifically for the interactive experience of touch. Resembling an LCD TV, the sleek HP TouchSmart IQ500 PC is a fully functional PC that makes home entertainment an engaging, hands-on experience.

AV In NZ Booming Says IDT MD According to the managing director of IDT, Gerry Wilkins, the New Zealand audio-visual market is showing strong growth with a very positive vibe.

Telstra Puts Another Nail In Airlines Coffin If high global oil prices and the threat of terrorism are not bad enough, now the airline industry has to contend with a new solution from Telstra that will mean less flying and more sitting around in conference rooms.

Sleek & Svelte Conference Phone From Crinia The Crinia AC100 conference phone can be connected to the Ethernet for use as a VOIP telephone and is the only telephone system where the user can record the calls onto a portable USB Flash Drive. These recordings can be played back on the AC100 or stored on a computer for future reference or distributed as required.

AV Installers Outlook Improving Says ABS Although business spending on new buildings and equipment fell by more than expected during the March quarter, the future outlook is positive says the Australian Bureau Of Statistics (ABS).

Weather-Resistant Speakers From Audio Telex The Turbosound Impact series encompasses three new models: the ultra-compact 3.5" passive two-way Impact 35, the compact 5" passive two-way Impact 55T, and the larger twin 5" passive two-way Impact 65T.

Australian Monitor Rolls Out Flexible Stereo Mixer The MX883 is the latest addition to the MX mixer family and includes a host of user-friendly features including:

Sony Releases Compact Big Brother Camera The SNC- CM120 Megapixel Network Camera is designed for use in security applications and the picture quality captured by the 1.3 megapixel camera is suitable for building entrances and parking lots, where detailed images, such as people?s faces and car license plates, are required.

Sony Releases Large Venue Projector The VPL-FH300L was designed specifically for larger boardrooms and auditoriums, exhibitions and other open spaces such as cinema foyers and museum exhibits.

Sony Releases 1080i HD Video Conference Suite The PCS-XG80 combines 1080i high resolution and a high frame rate of 60 fields per second.

Vistra & Qsonix Hook Up For Home Automation Qsonix has signed a distribution partnership with Vistra Australia to market the Q110 Music Management System in Australia.

Portable PA From Mipro The MA808 portable PA system features a 10? woofer and a 1.5? titanium compression driver in a bi-amp configuration.

Sony Develops Monster HD Broadcast Van zer01zer0 has commissioned Sony Australia to build two high definition outside broadcast vehicles to keep up with the growing demand for coverage of sport, music and special events in HD.

High End Hi Fi Speakers From Aslan Acoustics The Austral full range speaker range is capable of high superlatives and with as flat a frequency response as possible.

Free Digital Signage Offer According to AVisum, the capital expense of digital signage is thought too risky without a clear indication of the value return.

Logitech Rolls Out Cheap Home Music System Logitech has launched the Squeezebox Duet network music system, which allows people to access and listen to the music they love in any room of their home.

Portable Production System From NewTek TriCaster Broadcast with SDI support delivers enhanced efficiency and reliability. With audio embedded in the video signal producers can depend on a fast, professional set-up.

Sharp Monitor Points To The Future Sharp Corporation of Australia has released a commercial grade LCD monitor with the introduction of the Sharp full HD PN series.

IDT Rolls Out IMD Panels Image Design Technology (IDT) has introduced of the industry's first full line-up of LCD panels with In-Monitor Display (IMD) functionality from Marshall Electronics.

Australian Monitor Announces Paging System Essentially, the Zoner 16 is a 100v line speaker switcher with a zone paging microphone and the capability to support a background music source.

Lighting Consoles From Lighthouse Distribution ChamSys offer a full range of Consoles that utilise the MagicQ operating system enabling shows to be programmed and played back on any MagicQ Console.

Online Music For The Home From Linn Jim Tate Stereo has released the Sneaky Music DS which is designed to deliver premium audio performance and combine digital streaming with pre and power amplification in one compact unit for home networks.

Crestron Launches Multimedia System with Digital Processing Crestron has introduced the MPS-300, the first Multimedia Presentation System (MPS) to feature fully digital audio signal processing.

Mobile Mixing Lights From Lighthouse Distribution The CLS LED Par 56 is designed for bands, schools, mobile DJ?s, rental companies and installation applications.

Hidden Speakers The Next Big Sound Following the recent and successful DesignEx Expo held in Sydney, a number of new and exciting residential technologies were launched giving both consumers and integrators a peak into where technology is taking the AV industry.

Yamaha Appoints Key AV Staff Yamaha Music Australia has made a number of strategic appointments within its AV division.

Yamaha Updates Its Range Of Digital Consoles Yamaha Commercial Audio has expanded the DM1000, 02R96 and 01V96 digital mixers to VCM functionality.

HDMI Certification A Must Says AV Specialist David Meyer, founder and director of Kordz, a HDMI Adopter member and a CEDIA certified trainer has challenged vendors, saying if they use HDMI technology, then they must be compliant to the trademark and licensing requirements of HDMI to ensure proper operation and performance.

Opera House, Sennheiser Strike Sound Deal German sound specialists Sennheiser and Neumann have partnered with the Sydney Opera House to fit out the iconic concert hall with their products.

Hitachi Stiches Up Altech Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has appointed Altech Computers as a new authorised distributor for Hitachi hard disk drives (HDDs) in Australia and New Zealand.

AV Integrators High On Passion, Low On Business Skills According to Todd B. Adams, the CEO and founder of DIpartner, an international training and curriculum development company dedicated to educating residential integrators, custom integrators are brimming with passion but lacking in business acumen - a situation he says is retarding the future growth of the industry both here and in the US.

Lighthouse Releases Fibre Optic Chandelier The fibre optic chandelier is designed to be completely maintenance free and can be powered by several different types of lamps including, metal halide, halogen or LED sources.

New Digital Signage Player From Soanar Soanar in partnership with IEI has released the iSignager-500A/AWL Network Digital Signage Player and the iSignager LCD-15/17/19 all-in-one Network Digital Signage Display that allows users to design, edit, schedule, transfer and broadcast creative marketing messages.

InFocus Rolls Out Full HD Projector InFocus Corporation has released the InFocus Play Big IN83, a full HD 1080p projector featuring DLP DarkChip4 technology from Texas Instruments.

How To Measure The Lifespan Of White LEDs Lifespan in LEDs, especially in White LEDs, is a very misunderstood concept. This is mainly because of the two ideas behind a LEDs true lifespan: Lumen Depreciation and Useful Life. Lumen Depreciation is the decrease in lumen output that occurs as a lamp operates. Whether for incandescents, halogen, fluorescents or LEDs this measures the decrease in the amount of light they emit over time.

3 Style Releases Low Energy LED Luminaires 3 Style has released the Alya Series of GE 85CRI high powered LEDs that produce downlights that have quoted efficiencies greater than incandescent, halogen or xenon lights.

Philips IT Adds Another Distributor To Its Stable Philips IT Displays has appointed Todaytech Distributions as its third distributor for Australia.

Synergy AV Gets A New Mission Synergy Audio Visual has been appointed as the new Australian distributor for Mission loudspeakers.

Lighthouse Appoint Technical Specialist Lighthouse Distribution has appointed Dan Butler into the role of Lighting Technical Specialist.

Panasonic Wins On Star City Installation Sydney?s only casino, Star City has installed four Panasonic venue projectors in its Trophies Sports Bar.

Gizmosis Voice Controlled Car Multimedia System The Gizmosis Infill G4 is a Windows XP multimedia PC, with a 40GB hard drive (designed to resist vibration) and a 6.5-inch wide touch screen monitor for the car dashboard, complete with a rear view camera and surround sound.