Blackfire Research wishes you a very happy Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re in love with your wireless home theater, surround sound system, or the ease of streaming music wirelessly from your smartphone to portable speakers, celebrate today by snuggling up on the couch and enjoying unrivaled audio enabled by Blackfire’s patented technology. (Because flowers and chocolates are so overrated.)
Blackfire Research is proud to partner with leading smart phone and electronics manufacturer HTC, for their award winning, HTC One M9 smartphone. Blackfire Research technology is featured in the smartphone’s HTC Connect service, which allows users to “wirelessly stream music or video from HTC One M9 to speakers or TV by just swiping up the screen with 3 fingers.” (HTC.com)
With HTC Connect, you can stream media wirelessly from your phone to any Blackfire powered product, from leading brands such as the HARMAN KARDON™ Omni series of speakers. Once connected, the audio and music from the HTC smartphone is routed to these products, much like Bluetooth. However, unlike Bluetooth, Blackfire technology enables much longer range, improved resolution, superior sound quality, and multi room play.
Blackfire powered products can be used in various multi room or in-room configurations. They can also be grouped into various zones, selected for playback at will, and be shared by multiple phones. Therefore, the user can enjoy music from the HTC One to a HARMAN KARDON OMNI 20 Speaker in the kitchen and simultaneously send it to a HARMAN KARDON Adapt plugged into their stereo system – all playing simultaneously, in high quality, over the home Wi-Fi. Blackfire technology is compliant with any online music/media service applications on the HTC One M9, which allows HTC One users maximum flexibility in enjoying their music and makes the HTC One a powerful media platform.
The HTC One M9 is carried by AT&T and Sprint. For more information, visit http://www.htc.com/us/.
Once again, Netflix is rolling out fresh, original content for the new month. And once again, we at Blackfire Research are excited. Is this list of new shows and movies worthy of your surround sound system? There’s only one way to find out.
Coming up for full streaming on February 3 is the debut season of the Netflix Original Series “Santa Clarita Diet.” Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star as Sheila and Joel in this dark, offbeat comedy about a pair of LA realtors whose lives take a sudden, unusual turn after their daughter makes a huge life decision.
Watch the Trailer here:
On February 10, “Abstract: The Art of Design,” a Netflix Original Documentary Series, premieres. This series will explore modern art and will give viewers an in-depth look into how artists render computer design, as well as contemporary art inspired by the computer age. Special guests will include some of the world’s most prolific designers and artists. Also on February 10, British actor and comedian, Ricky Gervais, reprises his role as hopelessly awkward David Brent, former branch manager of a midsized paper supplier company, Wernam Hogg. Now, years later, Brent is back in “David Brent: Life on the Road.” This “mockumentary” film follows Brent on tour with his new band, exclusively on Netflix.
Watch the Trailer here:
Another film is premiering this month on Netflix beginning February 24. “I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore” was picked up by the streaming giant from The Sundance Film Festival. Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood play Ruth and Tony, neighbors who decide to track down local thieves after Ruth is burglarized. However they soon find out they are dangerously in over their heads against a gang of criminals.
These are some of the Netflix shows and movies debuting in Feburary. For a complete list of upcoming Netflix content for 2017, click here.
There’s been a great deal of talk (and hype) recently over 4K UHD TVs and 4K UHD programing. Most new televisions have 4K capability, and streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video (with Prime membership) are promising an increase in 4K content within the coming years. In fact, it’s been estimated that, by 2025, more than half of US households are expected to own at least one 4K-capable TV.
But, what even is 4K?
To summarize, 4K – or, Ultra High Definition – gives you current technology’s best quality picture on an electronic display, such as a television, iPad, or laptop. 4K UHD gives you four times as high a resolution as “Full HD.” It’s name refers to (roughly) the amount of pixels on the horizontal side of the screen you’re watching. To learn more about 4K technology and how it creates such a great quality picture, I suggest checking out this short article and video posted by CNET.
Currently, there’s not much programming in Ultra High Definition, and it will be quite some time before you can watch all of your favorite shows on the platform, including broadcast television. However, if you subscribe to Netflix and have an Amazon Prime membership, some 4K content is available to you, granted you have a 4K capable TV.
The majority of what Netflix offers in 4K UHD is original content, such as “House of Cards,” “Marco Polo,” “The Crown,” “Chef’s Table,” “Sense8,” and “Bloodline.” Non-original shows in 4K UHD are harder to come by: so far, they only offer “Breaking Bad,” and “The Blacklist” in Ultra High Definition. Netflix has also teamed with Louie Schwartzberg, an award winning producer, director and cinematographer to create a four-part nature documentary series called “Moving Art,” presented in 4K UHD.
If you’re interested in checking out any of these titles in 4K, here’s what you’ll need:
To browse for Ultra HD content on Netflix, type “4K” or “UHD” into the search menu. Updated versions of the streaming service and supported TVs will also display a row dedicated to 4K content on the app.
Amazon Instant Video
Like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video offers some original content in 4K, such as “One Mississippi,” “The Man in the High Castle,” “Good Girls Revolt,” and “Transparent.” Unlike Netflix, the majority of Amazon’s 4K UHD content is in film, like “Fury,” “Pineapple Express,” “The Patriot,” and “Men in Black 3.”
The good news about watching 4K on Amazon Instant Video is that you don’t need a special subscription plan – you can watch original content in 4K with your regular Prime membership. However, most of the newer movie titles available in 4K are pay-only – even to Prime members – for around $20 each. That could accumulate into a hefty bill over time.
System requirements to watch Ultra High Definition on Amazon is similar to that of Netflix, except that they recommend a high speed internet connection of 15 megabits per second.
If you have a second generation Amazon Fire TV, and it is connected to a compatible Ultra HD TV, the Movies and TV sections on your main menu will include “4K Ultra HD” categories where you can find and browse titles available in UHD.
Since there isn’t much 4K content available at the moment (or any solidified plans to make 4K available on broadcast television), buying a 4K UHD capable TV for the sake of being able to watch your favorite shows and some films in higher resolution doesn’t seem worth it (for now). However, if you are looking to purchase a new TV for the holidays, pretty much all your options are 4K friendly. Therefore, if you have the TV capability, as well as a streaming device that allows for UHD, it’s worth the investment. Netflix and Amazon have both promised to offer more 4K shows and movies on their streaming platforms in the coming years, and other streaming services are following suit.
Do you watch TV and movies in Ultra High Definition? Think it’s worth the investment? Tell us about your experiences with 4K UHD in the comments section below!
Blackfire Research kicked off 2017 in Viva Las Vegas to participate in the world’s largest, annual consumer electronics trade show, CES. At the start of each year, CES (and roughly 4,000 exhibiting companies) takes over the Las Vegas Strip, showcasing the latest in hi-tech innovations and prototypes for technology of the future. The exhibition floors were abuzz with the soon-to-be year’s hottest trends: unbelievably thin TVs, autonomous vehicles, multi-screen gaming laptops, Virtual Reality headsets, and – in what tech bloggers are dubbing “The Amazon Home Takeover,” – a wide range of smart home appliances, such as toasters, washer & dryer units, refrigerators, security systems, fans, and more, all aided by Amazon’s voice-activated speaker – Alexa.
As exciting and eye-catching as the exhibition floors were, we at Blackfire couldn’t get too distracted, for we were on a mission to present the industry’s best wireless audio solutions for a wide variety of home entertainment systems and applications.
Over the course of four days, Blackfire held meetings at a suite in the luxurious Venetian, with global industry leaders, partners, investors, and old friends, to demonstrate why we are setting the standard for wireless home entertainment. Among those who visited our suite was Arabian Prince, founding member of the rap group NWA, and driving force behind INNOV8 NEXT. As you may recall, this past November, Arabian and Blackfire’s founder and CEO, Ravi Rajapakse, sat together on a panel to discuss innovation in the music industry at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
This year at CES, Blackfire had plenty to boast, unveiling not one, but three wireless solutions ready for product integration: Blackfire MA – a cost-effective wireless audio solution for smartphones and multiroom music systems; Blackfire MXD – delivering high-resolution multiroom music with native GoogleCast Audio and Spotify Connect support; and Blackfire IXD – the industry’s first low-latency Wi-Fi surround sound solution enabling smart TVs and set top boxes to deliver the ultimate home theater experience. Blackfire IXD also supports multiroom media streaming, transforming the smart TV or set top box into a whole home media center.
In addition to presenting our audio solutions upstairs at the Venetian, we had the opportunity to visit products with Blackfire’s patented streaming technology on display downstairs at the Onkyo/Pioneer booth. The Onkyo SBT-A500 Network Surround Sound Bar System, The Pioneer SC-LX701 Network A/V Receiver, and the Pioneer MRX-3 Wireless Speaker all proudly displayed the Blackfire Logo. CES also revealed a new, Blackfire enabled 6.1-Channel A/V Receiver and Object-Based Surround Sound Bar from luxury consumer audio company, Integra.
At the Harman/Kardon floor in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, we caught a glimpse of the wireless HD Audio line, The Omni+ Series, featuring Blackfire’s patented streaming technology. Recently, the Omni 10+ and the Omni 20+ were joined by the Omni Soundbar System, a 2.1 channel soundbar with a wireless subwoofer, powered by Blackfire wireless streaming technology.
So, at the end of a long, but successful conference, the Blackfire Team had plenty to celebrate (over margaritas) before packing up “The Beast” and heading back to San Francisco. Here’s to a great start to 2017!
