The barrage of new product announcements that inevitably precede CES is now underway, and the latest comes from A/V equipment manufacturer Sherwood. Actually, two product announcements: the RD-7505N A/V receiver, and the iNet-2.0 media tabletop.
Starting with the former, the RD-7505N is touted as being "one of the first to accommodate the new HDMI 1.4 3D standard," coming equipped with three inputs with repeater and a single HDMI output. The 7.1 receiver cranks out 110W per channel and decodes both Dolby TruHD and DTS HD. It's also fully UPNP and DLNA compliant. And as a result of Sherwood's partnership with Verismo Networks, the receiver supports broadband access with direct access (through Verismo's VuNow module) to Hulu, YouTube, Internet radio including SHOUTcast, movie downloads from CinemaNow, streaming video, and more.
Moving on to the tabletop, the iNet 2.0 digital media player combines an Internet radio, iPod/iPhone dock, and an 8-inch digital photo frame into a single unit.
"The iNet 2.0 is a very cool high-tech device. With its large display and alarm function, it's the ultimate connected alarm clock," said Jeffrey Hipps, Sherwood's Sr. VP for Marketing and Product Development. "Whether you're listening to streaming music or playback from your iPod of phone, it's the perfect desktop companion, and it's great for starting and ending your day with music."
The iNet supports both wired and wireless Internet connections.
Both products will ship in May 2010, with the RD-7505N priced at $500 and the iNet 2.0 carrying an MSRP of $300.
Consumer electronics used to be simple. TV sizes would increase every few years, and image quality underwent slight improvements. Every decade or so, you’d have a new technology emerge that offered genuine improvements. VCRs emerged in the 1970s, CDs in the late 70s, DVDs in the 1990s. People had time to absorb the new technologies over years, and prices would trend downward in a predictable and steady way.
