I just returned from CEDIA the custom installer home theater show. I was always told that CEDIA was rather small, but that it is gaining momentum. They also moved the show from Indianapolis to Denver which I think is a smart move. I thought I would attend and see what it was all about, and I am sure glad I went. There were a lot of cool products to check out, mostly home video and audio of course, and plenty of new start-ups which I think have some great potential. Sooloos has a very attractive music system that looks great and should sound really good. It supports FLAC which is great, but I would love to see uncompressed .WAV support in the future. The system comes with a backup drive to make sure your music is never lost. The PC part reminds me of one of those sampler terminals you would see in some music stores. I do worry that the Sooloos name and look will confuse people that might think they are the same company as Sonos. I hope they do not get themselves into trouble!
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD really were pushing strong at the show. So which will win? Well here are my observations:
1) There were obviously a lot more Blu-Ray manufacturers at the show
2) Almost all of the movies being touted for HD-DVD are also available in Blu-Ray
3) Microsoft was showing off their HD-DVD player drive…..only problem is that the games being run on the system appeared to be running off the main unit, not the HD-DVD drive itself.
4) Some companies like Yamaha and Denon etc. are waiting to see which format wins before choosing a camp. My best bet is that these two companies will decide to make a dual format player like they have for SACD and DVD Audio.
I am looking forward to CES to see if there are anymore new product launches between CEDIA and CES. I am glad I made it to CEDIA though.