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Engadget: Back in February, General Motors debuted its MyLink smartphone integration for the Chevy Volt and Equinox on the Engadget Show, letting drivers control their iOS, Android, and BlackBerry smartphone apps via voice or touchscreen. The company announced today that it will be offering the same technology — albeit rebranded as the tongue-twisting IntelliLink — on several 2012 Buick and GMC models, including the Buick LaCrosse, Regal, Verano, and the GMC Terrain. IntelliLink offers up a fairly similar feature set as its Chevy counterpart — connecting to iPhones and Android handsets via Bluetooth or USB, and leveraging Nuance voice recognition and Gracenote databases to control the likes of Pandora and Stitcher Radio. Autoblog reports that IntelliLink will hit the Buick Verano first, followed by the LaCrosse and Regal, though you might be more interested in the Terrain — owners will also be able to control their vehicle’s rear-view camera with IntelliLink, and who doesn’t like manipulating megapixels in the name of pedestrian safety?

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Engadget: Behold Final Audio Design’s latest high-end earphones: the Piano Forte X-VII Series. Each of the four models that comprise the series features a large neodymium magnet driver, nestled inside a rigid metal housing made of alloy powder and natural resin, designed to minimize bad vibrations. The driver is a hefty 16 mm in diameter, and boasts roughly three times the surface area of your garden variety earphones, resulting in enhanced low frequency soundscapes. Final Audio Design also added a proprietary pressure ring to each model’s diaphragm (to ward off sound artifacts), as well as special pressure vents (to optimize air pressure around the diaphragm). Internal air pressure, on the other hand, is kept in check thanks to the X-VIII Series’ metallic earpads, which allegedly allow your ear to naturally adjust to any barometric shifts. Each of the four models comes in a unique metallic housing, reportedly capable of delivering different audio blends. But they all share one important characteristic — they’re really expensive. At the high end of the price spectrum are the X-G and X-CC models, which will put you back some ¥220,000 ($2,668). Bargain hunters, meanwhile, will have to settle for the VIII, priced at a slightly less obscene ¥80,000 ($970). Granted, these earphones may very well warrant that kind of cash and scientific hyperbole, though it’s certainly difficult to gauge their value without taking them out for a spin ourselves.

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Engadget: Bang & Olufsen‘s new BeoVision 4-85 isn’t just another run-of-the-mill 3D TV for the unwashed masses. It’s a really pretty 3D TV, for the refined and the opulent. The 85-inch plasma screen comes encased in a high-grade aluminum frame, and combines anti-reflection coating with automated image controls, to guarantee crystal clear, Full HD viewing at any time of day. B&O’s first foray into the 3D/Full HD realm also features a BeoLab 10 central loudspeaker, which uses Acoustic Lens Technology to deliver consistently high-frequency sounds, regardless of where you’re sitting in relation to the speaker. And, much like its 103-inch brethren, this 85-incher comes with a motorized stand, which automatically elevates and tilts the screen to ideal viewing position whenever the system is turned on. Once you’ve finished marveling at the BeoVision 4-85′s robust design, you can turn it off and watch in awe, as the display magically lowers itself to “within inches” of the floor (where, incidentally, you’ll also be able to find your jaw). No word yet on the price of this experience, but we’re gonna go out on a limb and assume that it’s pretty steep. The beast is set to be unleashed in Moscow tomorrow, but you can check out an appropriately slick car commercial video on the BeoVision 4 family, after the break.

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Engadget: For months we’ve been wondering aloud how Sonos would respond to Apple’s September AirPlay announcement. After all, Apple’s promise to “stream music throughout your entire house” steps all over Sonos’ reason to exist. Would Sonos start building its systems with BridgeCo chips? As it turns out: no. Instead, Sonos is opting for a rather ingenious solution, at a cost of $99. Rather than licensing BridgeCo technology at additional expense atop Sonos’ already costly components, the company has instead devised an approach that links Apple’s own AirPlay-compliant AirPort Express into Sonos’ proprietary wireless mesh network. The solution (illustrated after the break) works by first shutting off the WiFi on the AirPort Express base station and then stringing a cable between its audio-out and the line-in jack on any Sonos ZonePlayer, including the S5 all-in-one speaker. You then run an ethernet patch cable between the two and you’ve just enabled your iOS devices to play AirPlay audio to any (or all) Sonos device in the home from any compatible AirPlay app. Naturally, the Sonos solution does not integrate with AirPlay speakers like those from iHome, JBL, B&W, Klipsch, or Philips and the AirPlay audio won’t be synced with video; but it’s a start. The new functionality requires a software update to your system in the form of Sonos System Software version 3.4 — available now — which also adds iOS multitasking amongst a few other goodies.

Today also marks the official release of the free Sonos Controller for Android app in the Android Market making it a pretty good day to be a Sonos owner.

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Akihabaranews: Kenwood’s new I-K900 is not your average 1Din Car audio System, indeed, instead of offering the usual FM/AM and CD Player Combo; Kenwood dedicated entirely its new player to both the iPod and iPhone. With just 512MB of internal memory allowing you to store some Audio files but also some video ones and some photos, all your contents will directly comes from either your iPod or iPhone. Once connected you will be able to control your phone or Dap audio library directly from the I-K900 User interface and control button as well as displaying all relevant information, including tack data, Cover… on its 3” Wide Display.
The I-K900 will be sold in Japan within this summer and sold at around 42,000 Yen.

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Übergizmo: Could this be a case of sounding better than it looks, or otherwise? Perhaps, but you will need to make the call for yourself after you bring one of these puppies home with you. The Moshi Moonrock earbuds is so named because of its design that comprises of a carrying case, where it is made out of some sort of soft material with holes to secure each bud, while a slot-accessible pocket will be used to wrap the cable.

The Moonrock earbuds will also be accompanied by an inline remote and embedded MEMS microphone that allows you to control your music, while you make or receive calls. With three different sizes of earbuds to choose from, it ought to be able to fit into the ears of most folks. You can opt for black & red or white on white colors for $39.95 a pop.

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Akihabaranews: Introduced at CES 2011, the HT-D6750W is Samsung new premium Full HD 3D 7.1Ch Home Theater. Launched today in Korea and set to be available later this Week in Europe and soon in North America the HT-D6750W is the company ultimate one-box solution with Samsung’s AllShare DLNA, Smart Hub including Twitter as well as some VoD internet services, 3D Blu-Ray Playback and 2D to 3D conversion, iPod cradle and Wireless rear speakers!
Offering a stunning 1300W 7.1Ch total output, this Wi-Fi monstrous HT-D6750W Home Theater comes with gorgeous 1,320mm-high towers and a elegant slot-in Blu-Ray player.

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Akihabaranews: Here you are a new kind of headphones, the VIBRABONES type. Based on two existing technology including vibration and bones conduction, these in-ear headphones provide according to Maxell the ultimate Bones conduction experience with deep bass and accurate sound reproduction.
The VBRABONE HP-VBC40 will be available in Japan at the end of April at around 4,000 Yen.

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Akihabara news: First announced at CEATEC 2010 in Japan and then in the USA at CES 2011, Pioneer’s Carrozzeria GPS Smart Cradle has now been made official in Japan! So far only compatible with Docomo’s Xperia SO-01B, SO-01C and NEC’s Medias N-04C, the SPX-SC01 is set to be available in Japan next week for 15,750 Yen.

This GPS Cradle comes with all the bell and whistle that are available in a Japanese dash-in car GPS with 3D Map, Advance Search and VICS traffic information. Demoed at CEATEC 2010 running an iPhone 3GS we just hope that Pioneer will soon open its Carrozzeria GPS Smart Cradle to other android phones as well as Apple’s iPhones.

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What Hi-fi: Onkyo is introducing a second Spotify-enabled AV receiver, the £800 TX-NR709, which joins the £500 TX-NR609 model launched last month.

The TX-NR709 is a 7.2-channel, THX Select2 Plus design with eight HDMI inputs, dual HDMI outputs, decoding of high-definition audio formats, support for 3D video, an audio return channel and video upscaling to 4K resolution.

There’s a front-mounted USB socket for direct digital connection of of iPod/iPhone and USB mass storage devices. A proprietary universal port enables users to connect Onkyo peripherals.

Being network capable, it can stream audio from a PC or the internet, including Spotify’s Premium service and internet radio stations

Additional features inlcude DSP modes for gaming, Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume,  7.2 multichannel preamp outputs and TI Burr-Brown PCM1690 192kHz/24-bit DACs.

Also joining the Onkyo stable are two  3D-ready, 5.1 receiver/speaker packages as well as a 5.1 speaker-only set-up.

The HT-S9405THX 5.1 system (£1000) and HT-S6405 (above, £600) will be available in May, as will the SKS-HT648 5.1 speaker package with subwoofer (£300).

Finally, the Onkyo BD-SP309 3D-compatible Blu-ray player (below) is on sale this month for £200. It offers 1080p upscaling, AVCHD and DivX Plus HD (MKV) video support, an ethernet port for home networking connectivity and onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks.

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Pioneer: The 2011 line up of receivers will bring more excitement into the home with the introduction of six new Pioneer 5.1 and 7.1-channel audio video receivers: the VSX-1021, VSX-921, VSX-826, VSX-821, VSX-521 and VSX-421. Read more »

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Bornrich: Forget the iPhone coffee table made by iLounge readers and the Table Connect for iPhone; here we have the amazing iTable from the house of Kyle Buckner Designs. Designed by Kyle Buckner, this fully handcrafted, motorized iTable is a complete entertainment system that lets you connect with the furniture. This unique coffee table features two aluminum-trimmed cup holders, which will light your drinks up with the touch of a button. On the front, there are four controls, LED on/off, Volume up & down and the motorization control. Each button is laser engraved and then hand-cut to fit on the control pad.

The user simply has to touch the metal buttons to activate each identified switch. When you touch both the volume up & down at the same time, you can mute the song playing on your iPhone 4. When you are in the mood to listen to the music, you just need to swipe your hands across the touch-sensitive controls. Another swipe stops the music, and the motorized sound bar glides right back down. This motorized sound bar comes equipped with eight high-end transducer speakers. Moreover, there is a 6″ down-firing subwoofer to enrich you with a quality sound experience.

The top of the iTable is a flat black surface with an almost scratchproof finish. This table is made for the iPhone 4, but is interchangeable upon request to fit your device. Kyle Buckner makes each iTable on request.

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