News

Primedia, the leading targeted media company, announced March 30 the newsstand arrival of its recently launched Connected">http://www.connectedguide.com">Connected Guide To The Digital Home. Part of Primedia's Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group, Connected is the first consumer magazine dedicated entirely to adopting and integrating audio, video, information, telecommunications, security and other personal and home technologies.

Jan Berry, of '60s surf music duo Jan and Dean, died Friday, March 26 at UCLA Medical Center, after suffering a seizure at his home in Brentwood. He was 62.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is continuing its legal campaign against file sharing. In late March, the trade organization launched a new salvo of lawsuits against 532 individuals and 21 university computer networks across the country—89 of the accused violators used school networks for downloading or sharing large numbers of copyrighted recordings. The RIAA claimed that the alleged violators shared an average of 837 songs.

The darTZeel NHB-108 power amplifier garnered effusive praise from Stereophile's John Marks in his September">http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/932/index.html">Septemb… 2003 Fifth Element column, including the comment "the sweetest-sounding solid-state power amplifier I have ever heard." There was only one problem: the amp was hard to find in the US.

The Home">http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com">Home Entertainment Show (HE2004), the largest and most comprehensive showcase of consumer electronics and imaging products in America, returns to New York City May 20–23, 2004 at the Hilton New York Hotel—the site of two popular HE Shows held in 2001 and 2002. Over 15,000 attendees are expected to visit the NY Hilton, optimized for the ultimate user experience. Unlike typical trade shows, HE2004 provides visitors with the opportunity of seeing and hearing the finest products in upscale hotel rooms, creating the best-sounding environments for demonstrating high-performance gear.

From the March 2004 issue, Michael Fremer goes a couple rounds with the Theta">http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/304theta">Theta Digital Enterprise monoblock power amplifier, exclaiming, "Monoblock power amplifiers seem to be moving in and out of my listening room faster than green-onion salsa from Chi-Chi's." So how does the Theta stand up to the competition? MF lays it out.

Launched with a bang last April, Apple">http://apple.com">Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store has steadily gained popularity with music fans, but it won't reach its projected goal of selling 100 million songs online within its first year.