Business professionals who've dreamt of having a portable conference system and Bluetooth speaker combo have just had their wish granted. Harman Kardon's aluminum and leather-clad Esquire portable speaker features two drivers, a bass port and noise-cancelling conference microphones. Placing the unit upright adjusts its mics for one person, while laying it flat works best for multiple people. The design is relatively clean, but you'll find physical buttons at its side for power, playback, mute, volume and Bluetooth pairing (NFC-pairing is also an option). An internal battery keeps it juiced for up to ten hours and its wall charger has three USB ports to handle your smartphone and extra gizmos. The Esquire will be available for your business travels later this year in white, black and "camel."
Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!Filed under: Portable Audio/Video
Source: Harman Kardon
Because nothing quite says "hip brand rejuvenation" like associating your channel with an 80-year-old magazine, NBCUniversal today announced the rebranding and makeover of its G4 television channel into "The Esquire Channel" (as in Esquire magazine). G4 primarily aired video game-centric programming, as well as a vast array of re-runs -- something NBC exec Bonnie Hammer doesn't think was the best idea. "Realistically, guys who are into gaming are not necessarily watching television," Hammer said, directly refuting the 2012 statistic that 49 percent of US households own a gaming console. "Let's create a real brand, define a space, understand who we are programming for." The New York Times reports that The Esquire Channel will be pitched as "an upscale Bravo for men," though it's not exactly clear what that means -- we'll find out on April 22 when the network goes live in 62 million homes.
For now, NBC's got demographics its targeting. Specifically, "a more educated, affluent, sophisticated male viewer," says the NYT piece. One thing it won't be? Reality shows with a noun and the word "wars" behind it. "Much of today's programming targets men in a one-dimensional way ... tattoos or pawn shops or storage lockers or axes or hillbillies," Esquire Channel's general manager Adam Stotsky said. It doesn't look like the channel's beyond reality programming altogether, with its first two shows being a cooking competition named Knife Fight and its other being a celebrity-based travel show named The Getaway. Nor is it beyond the aforementioned re-runs, announcing Parks & Recreation and Party Down as headed for syndication on the forthcoming channel.
[Photo credit: The New York Times]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: The New York Times