Tag Archives: harman kardon

The XGIMI Aladdin is the iPhone of smart projectors…

Posted on by

It’s a Smart Projector, a 360° Harman Kardon Speaker, and also a Ceiling Lamp.

Far be it for me to throw an iPhone analogy willy-nilly, but when Steve Jobs took the stage to reveal his breakthrough device, he used a similar analogy. The iPhone was touted as three great things (a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a Phone, and an Internet communications device)… but in one small handheld package. XGIMI’s Aladdin, which was announced at CES 2024, has a similar back story. Disguised to look like a ceiling lamp, the Aladdin is, in fact, a 1080p short-throw projector capable of outputting a screen as large as 100 inches, with a more-than-capable 2.1-channel 360° Harman Kardon speaker built into its rather compact ceiling-mounted design.

Designer: XGIMI

Foraying into a new format after dabbling with compact projectors and UST behemoths, the Aladdin explores an entirely new design template for XGIMI – putting a projector into a ceiling light fixture. It addresses the perennial problems of traditional projectors – bulkiness, screen blockage, and glare – with an innovative approach. By integrating a projector into a ceiling light fixture, XGIMI offers a solution that is both space-efficient and aesthetically pleasing. Imagine having a cinematic experience of up to 100 inches, projected directly from your ceiling, without sacrificing any floor space. The added benefit of it being a short-throw projector with a 0.7:1 throw ratio means that it can easily fit into small rooms, making it a perfect addition to a bedroom.

The Aladdin is a fixed-position short-throw projector, capable of casting a 1080p image that spans 100 inches, all from a mere 5.98 feet away from the projecting surface. The strategic positioning not only provides an immersive viewing experience but also prioritizes user safety by preventing direct light exposure. Moreover, once installed, the image can be adjusted and tweaked to cater to the size of your room, accounting for direction, angle, focus, and keystone.

The auditory experience with Aladdin is equally impressive. The integrated 360-degree speaker by Harman Kardon, featuring a 2.1-channel sound system, creates an immersive audio environment. This system ensures that sound seems to emanate from the screen itself, enhancing the overall viewing experience.

In terms of design, Aladdin mirrors the simplicity of installing a standard ceiling light, making it a practical choice for homes. The projector also goes beyond traditional usage, offering interactive experiences like dynamic wallpapers, interactive children’s books, and ambient sounds, adding a unique touch to everyday moments. Speaking of unique touch, the Aladdin operates entirely touch-free and without a remote, relying on voice commands that make it a breeze to operate.

Scheduled to launch in Japan in June 2024 and priced at under $1000 USD, the Aladdin is poised to make a significant impact in the market. This pricing strategy positions the XGIMI Aladdin as an accessible option for a wide range of consumers.

The post The XGIMI Aladdin is the iPhone of smart projectors… first appeared on Yanko Design.

This super-slim, portable Bluetooth speaker is fitting companion for your next travel destination and Harman Kardon portfolio

Posted on by

There is no denying the profound impact travel and music have on healing the mind and rejuvenating the body. When we travel, a good portable speaker is a necessary companion to enhance well-being and inspire us back to take up the mundane life by its neck, until travel is on the itinerary once again.

Top-notch brands have a range of portable Bluetooth speakers on the market that tinkle the audio senses beyond imagination, but it’s the design that weighs heavier on our choice. To that accord, Harman Kardon has been at the forefront of delivering portable audio equipment that helps us tap the transformative power of music on the go. Case in point the Esquire Mini 2!

Designer: Sunghyun (Teddy) Hwang

Taking a leaf from the design of this ultra-slim and portable Bluetooth speaker, a designer has tweaked the form factor to give us a super-slim speaker that evokes memories of a Sony point-and-shoot camera. Fittingly called the Traveller, the Bluetooth speaker is designed according to the Harman Kardon design language. It has a premium design and a look as iconic as the Esquire Mini 2, with touch control buttons and LED light indicators on the top.

Entrusted with meaty features for a traveler’s liking, the slimy speaker comes powered by a high-density battery offering up to 10 hours of backup for uninterrupted music on the go. Interestingly, the Traveller has reverse charge functionality. So, when your primary device playing music through the speaker dies, you can use the Traveller as a power bank to juice it up back to life.

Since the beautiful and compact speaker has Harman Kardon branding; the range and sound quality are a given. What would stand out for many – who cannot avoid calls no matter where they go – the Traveller features dual microphones with built-in echo and noise cancellation for clarity in calls you take or make. To be delivered in three interesting colors: black, silver and electric blue within a premium quality carry pouch, the Traveller Bluetooth speaker intends to be a suitable companion for your next travel destination and Harman’s portfolio.

 

The post This super-slim, portable Bluetooth speaker is fitting companion for your next travel destination and Harman Kardon portfolio first appeared on Yanko Design.

ViewSonic’s latest RGB projector comes in a portable design and delivers Harman Kardon audio

Posted on by

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – televisions are yesterday’s news. Projectors have been steadily gaining popularity over the years and sure, it’s easier to find an affordable 4K TV than it is to find a 4K projector… but weigh out the pros and cons. It’s easier to travel with a projector (especially given how many portable ones there are on the market), projectors can cast displays as massive as 200 inches, reflective screens are easier on the eyes than staring at OLED displays, and finally, once a projector is switched off, it doesn’t occupy any visual space on your wall the way the TV does with that unavoidable, absurdly large black rectangle. Projectors are the next big thing, and the folks at ViewSonic seem to be echoing pretty much the same sentiment with their latest projector, the M10 – an ultra-compact RGB Projector that you can travel with from room to room (or even to a friend’s place to watch movies, matches, or the upcoming streaming debut of the Eras Tour film), plugging and playing media of your choice. Despite its compact size, the M10 has a few impressive features, like instant auto-focus, wireless as well as USB-C streaming from any device, digital zooming, angle adjustment including ceiling-facing projection, and the cherry on this rather compact cake, a 7W speaker from Harman Kardon.

Designer: ViewSonic

The M10 doesn’t look like your average projector, partly because projection technology has seen so much innovation in the past couple of years. You’d expect a compact, portable projector to be a more vertical-standing unit (sort of like the XGIMI MoGo 2 Pro for example), but the M10 takes on a more horizontal approach, resembling more of a boombox with a lens on the front. This unique visual format is the result of the M10’s Harman Kardon audio unit on the inside, along with ample venting that allows air to pass through the sides, so you don’t hear any direct noise if you’re sitting in front of or behind the projector. As far as the projector itself goes, it’s a compact little beast, measuring just 7.9 x 6.5 x 3.6 inches in size and weighing a paltry 3 pounds. A stepless stand at the base lets you angle-adjust your projector to face it anywhere (even the ceiling), and the M10 boasts connectivity through both wired and wireless means, letting you watch content off the internet, through a smartphone/tablet, or even streamed directly from a gaming console.

Watch movies in bed directly on your ceiling

The ViewSonic M10 projector, while packed with advanced visual and audio features, does not come with a built-in smart TV platform, which means it lacks an operating system for directly installing popular streaming apps like Netflix or Hulu. However, this doesn’t limit your entertainment options. The M10 compensates for this with its extensive connectivity options, including HDMI 2.0, USB Type-C, and 5G Wi-Fi, which provide ample opportunity to connect to a variety of external devices. This flexibility allows users to easily connect streaming devices such as Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, or even a laptop or smartphone, to access their favorite streaming services. Furthermore, the M10’s Wi-Fi connectivity facilitates seamless content casting from smart devices, enabling users to wirelessly stream content directly to the projector. This approach to connectivity not only maintains the M10’s compact and portable design but also ensures that it remains adaptable and user-friendly for a wide range of multimedia applications, from binge-watching the latest series to presenting professional slideshows.

At the heart of the M10 lies its triple laser light source, a revolutionary step away from conventional single-laser projectors. This approach, encompassing individual red, green, and blue lasers, allows the M10 to cover an impressive 100% of the BT.2020 color gamut. This not only surpasses cinema-grade standards set by DCI-P3 but also ensures more vibrant and lifelike colors for a truly cinematic experience at home. Its native 1080p resolution, coupled with a high brightness of 2,200 lumens, ensures clear and vivid visuals even in well-lit rooms. Moreover, the projector boasts a contrast ratio of 3000000:1 (yes you read that right), enhancing depth and clarity in every scene, and supporting a color display of 1.07 billion colors for an immersive viewing experience.

With a throw ratio of 1.2 and a projection offset of 100% +/- 5%, the projector can display images ranging from 40″ to a massive 180″, adaptable to various room sizes and setups. Its digital zoom capability (ranging from 0.8x to 1.0x) lets you adjust your screen size without having to physically move the projector. The M10 is also equipped with time-of-flight (ToF) and keystone-correction sensors that enable instant auto-focus, so you spend less time adjusting your image and more time enjoying content.

Connectivity options on the M10 are abundant. It includes HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 support, USB Type C, USB Type A (USB2.0 Reader), and 5G Wi-Fi, providing seamless connections to a variety of devices. The projector also supports resolutions from VGA (640 x 480) to 4K UHD (3840 x 2160), ensuring compatibility with a wide range of media sources. Meanwhile, each M10 comes with a remote control, while also letting you operate the projector with your smartphone using the vCastSender app.

On the audio front, the integrated 7-Watt Harman Kardon Cube speaker delivers a crisp, well-balanced sound, creating an all-encompassing audiovisual experience. Additionally, it supports Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, allowing for wireless headphone pairing or use as a standalone Bluetooth speaker.

While the M10 lacks a built-in battery, necessitating proximity to a power source, this slight limitation is overshadowed by its impressive array of features and performance capabilities. As of now, ViewSonic has not disclosed pricing or availability details for the M10 projector. However, the current details suggest that it is shaping up to be a compelling choice for those seeking a high-performance, versatile projection solution in a compact, user-friendly package.

The post ViewSonic’s latest RGB projector comes in a portable design and delivers Harman Kardon audio first appeared on Yanko Design.

X300 portable projector and speaker adds a vintage twist to entertainment

Posted on by

Home and portable projectors are becoming more common these days. And like any other popular consumer electronics, their designs are becoming more common as well. The large, nondescript boxes try to avoid calling attention to themselves so as not to ruin or clash with your room’s existing decor. But what if you actually had something worth noticing? What if your hi-tech piece of equipment could actually be the centerpiece of the room or a reason to brag to your friends? That is the fusion of technology and aesthetics that the X300 Smart Portable Speaker and Projector puts on the table, literally and figuratively, and, best of all, it’s more than just a pretty face.

Designer: Leo of NOMVDIC

Click Here to Buy Now: $749 $1099 (31% off). Hurry, exclusive for YD readers only and limited to 10!

You’d be forgiven if you are completely distracted by the X300’s vintage looks, which is actually part of its charm. Looking like a transistor radio from a bygone era, the trapezoidal box bears the hallmarks of a luxury piece, from the leather carrying strap to the matte metallic accents to the lattice-inspired slats at the sides. Even the controls are deliciously analog to stick with the theme, allowing owners to have a bit of fun in fine-tuning their listening experience.

Personal Big-screen Entertainment from Anywhere, Anytime – 3,000,000:1 native contrast delivers stunning 100” imagery on any surface–day or night.

The image of a high-class audio device is no illusion, though, as the X300 is a premium smart speaker both inside and out. Two tweeters, two woofers, and a 30W Class D amplifier promise to deliver a soundstage and audio presence you will rarely find in portable speakers, much less one that is also a portable projector. And, of course, these are no ordinary speakers as they have been developed and tuned by the famed Harman Kardon, adding more weight to the product’s identity as a luxury item.

Of course, the X300 is no mere smart speaker either. Flip the top cover open, and you will discover an LED DLP projector that lets you bring your favorite videos with you anywhere and not be confined to the straining size of a smartphone screen. Watch indoors or outdoors, on walls, on portable screens, or even on your ceiling, the X300’s reflective mirror and bright bulbs will make sure you’ll get the best views no matter what. You can enjoy your favorite movies and TV series on a 100-inch surface without having to worry about making room for a gigantic TV.

Built-in Battery for Complete Portability – The built-in 10,000mAh battery provides up to 6 hours of audio or 3 hours of projection.

Despite its classic appearance, the X300 is a true work of modern technology, supporting the latest connectivity options, both wired and wireless. 5GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth let you conveniently stream your phone’s or computer’s content, while USB, HDMI, and memory card slots let you get physical with some media and sources. The same goes for audio output if you prefer to listen privately or hook up a thundering sound system to the projector. The X300 gives you the freedom to enjoy your entertainment your way.

With its dashing vintage looks and top-of-the-line video and audio performance, the X300 Portable Projector and Smart Speaker truly stand out from the growing crowd of home and portable projectors littering the market. And despite that luxurious charm and top-of-the-line hardware, the X300 carries an unbelievable $799 price tag, a 27% discount off its retail price, for a limited time, making it an offer that’s very difficult to pass up.

Click Here to Buy Now: $749 $1099 (31% off). Hurry, exclusive for YD readers only and limited to 10! Raised over $180,000.

The post X300 portable projector and speaker adds a vintage twist to entertainment first appeared on Yanko Design.

Transparent Harmon Kardon gramophone speaker adds punchy retro vibe to your living room shelf

Posted on by

Just glance over at this transparent gramophone speaker proposed for Harmon Kardon, and the big thumps up will be showered from all directions. A music accessory even Beatles would have desperately wanted on their trophy shelf!

Measured design quotient and high-end audio set apart Harmon Kardon products from the rest of the pack in the high-end segment. We’ve been already baffled by a designer’s future-forward vision for the premium brand in the form of an eye-popping transparent record player.  Now, inspired by Harmon’s previous products such as the Aura Studio 2 transparent speaker and the T60 turntable, this gramophone mini speaker concept seems like a viable product. Something that the US-based brand owned by Harman International Industries would be highly tempted to create in the future.

Designer: Grunge Design and Wagner Pozebon

To evoke the spirit of the good old gramophone while infusing a modern design aesthetic without going overboard (something that crosses the feasible realms), the speaker concept envisioned here is high on minimalism. The portable and versatile wireless loudspeaker has a translucent body depicting the classic gramophone’s contours. The amplification of the speaker is right on point delivering encapsulating audio from the soundbox. The see-through form factor radiates the purity of audio delivered by this Harmon Kardon audio accessory. It’s like a modern work of art you’d want to display on your living room shelf.

The power off, volume controls and track toggle options let the user manually input the desired option. Something I would do on this speaker just for the sake of physically experiencing the goodness, and never ever get bored of it. Creating the speaker in multiple color options including military green, spicy orange, off-white and matte black is another merit for the brand here. Without any semblance of doubt, the Harman Kardon Gramophone mini speaker is an audio accessory I want for my geeky desk setup.

 

The post Transparent Harmon Kardon gramophone speaker adds punchy retro vibe to your living room shelf first appeared on Yanko Design.

See-through Harman Kardon record player is a fashionable audio accessory for modern living room

Posted on by

A transparent Harman Kardon record player – as irresistible as the prospect sounds – it looks and functions too. Seems to have landed straight out of a Star Wars franchise, this audio equipment is a dream accessory for audiophiles who want zero compromises on style and the unique proposition of a see-through product for their living room.

True to its luxury quotient, the high-end Hi-Fi brand is known for its balanced soundscape, perfect for audiophiles who appreciate punchy lows, sublime mids and ear-pleasing highs. And when it comes down to a record player that’s just one thing your living room or geeky den was missing, this turntable is it. A futuristic, minimal and modern approach towards a record player capable of outshining any eye-popping accessory in your nest. The Harman Kardon turntable designed by URUSS Design carries a distinct retro-futuristic flair and unique form factor to keep music lovers more than interested.

Just look at those internals inside a crystal-clear housing that encapsulates the mechanics of the record player in the most majestic manner. It’s like a celebration of the timeless record player era and the untouchable art of creating music. This piece of rare beauty stands in a corner on an equally impressive tripod – instantly attracting onlookers with a profound magnetism. For an instance, I too got drawn to the charismatic design of this record player that is in a league of its own. As the music plays, the record spinning inside is visible as elegantly as one could ever imagine!

This is one practical product design deserving to go beyond the concept stage, and make it to the real world someday. A turntable that adds true value to the art of composing music, and appreciating it in the grandest style. Yes, a Harman Kardon Turntable is something that’s got my feel-good hormones set into overdrive!

Designer: URUSS Design

The post See-through Harman Kardon record player is a fashionable audio accessory for modern living room first appeared on Yanko Design.

With its avant-garde design + 108MP camera, the Xiaomi Mi 11 directly challenges the iPhone 12 Pro

Posted on by

Xiaomi was smart to center its smartphone innovation around the camera. Sure, the Mi 11 is the first phone to come with a Snapdragon 888 SoC, but the chipset isn’t as important as what it actually powers… an Android phone designed to be a cinematic behemoth that takes on the iPhone 12 Pro.

For long, the biggest comparison between Android and iOS devices has been the camera… specifically the still camera. Video has hands-down been Apple’s secret sauce all along, but the Mi 11 brings the fight to Apple with its 108MP Wide-Angle camera with optical image stabilization, a 13MP ultra-wide camera, 5MP ‘telemacro’ camera, and an incredible AI that works behind the scenes to make the Mi 11’s videos, as Xiaomi likes to say, ‘cinematic’. The AI powers the Mi 11’s low-light mode which can take underexposed videos and enhance them in realtime with a RAW-level AI. The AI even brings features like Magic Zoom (or the iconic Dolly Zoom effect seen in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo), along with Time Freeze and Freeze-Frame Videos, Time Lapse, along with a variety of cinematic filters that make your videos mimic the effect of being recorded using a professional setup, and an AI Erase 2.0 feature that lets you remove unwanted objects from your video.

As remarkable as Xiaomi touts its camera setup to be, it’s the screen that reinforces this. The Mi 11’s WQHD+ set 13 new records and received an A+ rating from DisplayMate. HDR10+ video recording and 10-bit color representation make everything you shoot look much more vivid, and color-accurate. With Super Resolution Technology, Xiaomi claims it can upscale older videos too, doubling their resolution to make pixelated videos clearer than before. The cherry on the cake is the speaker on the flagship smartphone, which comes powered by Harman Kardon, a partnership that helps enhance the acoustics of the dual speakers, providing exquisite and crisp high-end sound quality. This makes everything from video recording to video playback an experience that’s quite literally a class apart.

The flagship phone also comes with a flagship-worthy design. The Quad-curved display on the front allows the bezels to fade away into the background, creating an immersive experience that’s reinforced by Corning’s Gorilla® Glass Victus™. The back features 3D glass too, and is available in 3 standard colors, as well as a Xiaomi Signature rippled glass edition that explores light, shadow, and pearlescent reflections in an absolutely new way. The phone comes with WiFi 6 and support for 5G. It even packs 55W wired turbo-charging, 50W wireless turbo-charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging on the back, and an in-screen fingerprint sensor on the front that even functions as a heart-rate monitor… a first of its kind!

What really stands out is how the Mi 11 embodies everything that an iPhone-rivalling Android phone should be. It has a laser-like focus on on championing video with hardware as well as a powerful AI, but also nails other aspects with that gorgeous quad-curved WQHD+ screen, the Snapdragon 888 SoC, a rich speaker courtesy Harman Kardon, powerful wired AND wireless charging, support for 5G, and a heart-rate monitor integrated right into the smartphone… all wrapped in a sleek, curved, drop-dead gorgeous design that’s drop-resistant too, thanks to the Gorilla Glass Victus. Pre-orders for the Mi 11 begin on February 26 (followed by full-scale availability in March) with a base price of €749 ($903).

Designer: Xiaomi

Harman Kardon inspired levitating turntable concept lends magic to your musical listening experience

Posted on by

While a casual listener is able to quench their audio thirst with the countless digital platforms and accessories that come at dirt cheap prices, a serious audiophile turns to gadgets that do the audio its full justice. Yes, a turntable is made for a hardcore audiophile, and the intricacies of it are something only a true music lover can understand – something I wish I could claim to be because I’m surely fascinated by these modern yet retro gadgets. Turntables have been popular with music listeners who like flat profile audio output in its rawest form possible. Combine their design aesthetic value, and turntables are hot property for an avid music collector without a doubt.

Jimin Hwang and Jihyo Seo from Seoul Korea have taken the classic turntable design and given it a modern twist that’s made for a geek music lovers den. The duo likes to call it the LEVI, a levitating turntable that wears the Harman Kardon branding. The unique concept design exemplifies the levitating nature of the platter actuated by the electromagnetic drive and coils – giving this turntable an air of super coolness. This enhances the experience of listening to vinyl records, giving audiophiles a new unprecedented high. It’s so satisfying to watch the record being played on a levitating platter, just like magic!

That floating aesthetic is perfectly matched with the pure white base of the turntable and the swappable tonearms in cool colors. To provide an aesthetic contrast – the weighted pendulum, cartridge, and mode toggle buttons do their desired bit. Coming back to the levitating aesthetic of the turntable – it’s further highlighted by the four-mode settings (soothing, refreshing, sweet, and bittersweet) giving it a whole new visual appeal. Depending on the mode chosen, the platter moves up and down with the rhythmic music notes. To change the record playing speed to 12 rpm or 17 rpm, the turntable has a chick dial. It goes without saying that Harman Kardon would be proud of this turntable design, and would want to emulate the blueprint for one of their speaker designs or even better, make a turntable on the same lines.

Designer: Jimin Hwang and Jihyo Seo

Harman Kardon Smartphone concept comes with a massive “speaker bump”

Posted on by

This smartphone concept has curves where you wouldn’t expect!

Say hello to the Harman Kardon Harmony, a conceptual smartphone created by James Tsai that says “Hold my beer” to the camera bump. The Harmony, on the other hand, comes with a pretty pronounced protrusion on its rear, owing to the presence of a powerful 360° speaker on the back of the smartphone. Styled to match Harman Kardon’s other speakers, the Harmony smartphone concept sports a 45° grille sitting under a transparent clad that helps guide airflow to maximize sound output while also protecting the smartphone itself, almost like a case would.

Speakers are arguably more complicated than cameras, because a relatively less powerful camera can be made better by using computational photography, but that same advantage can’t be extended to less-powerful speakers… which explains the Harmony’s massive speaker-bump. That being said, I would assume the Harmony would be fitted with one of Harman’s finest audio drivers, resulting in a sound that rivals most smart speakers. There’s a single-lens camera on the back, but honestly, a person who buys the Harmony wouldn’t be buying it for the camera. Dual hole-punch cameras on the front, however, help sweeten the deal.

Clearly the Harmony is just a fan-made conceptual render, in part because Harman Kardon is owned by Samsung (which wouldn’t want to compete with itself), and also in part because it seems the interface running on the phone belongs to iOS. It’s still a fun exercise to look at companies and extend their technology and visual language/branding onto a product that they would arguably never make. Personally, I like the idea of a smartphone with better speakers, being an audiophile myself. Plus a smartphone that’s actually thicker and more grippy? Bring it on!

Designer: James Tsai