HARMAN unveil Harman Kardon Omni Wireless HD Audio System at IFA 2014
The first wireless HD multi-room system that streams music from room to room at the touch of a button
Berlin, Germany – HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated, announces a breakthrough in high-quality streaming anywhere in your house with two new Harman Kardon Omni loudspeakers and the Harman Kardon Adapt wireless adapter to upgrade your existing home stereo system.
The flexible design and functionality, relying on a standard Wi-Fi network, and exceptional performance means wireless home audio has never sounded so good – or been easier to set up and manage.
The Harman Kardon Omni system comprises of three new products: Omni 10 and Omni 20 wireless HD loudspeakers and the Adapt plug-in to upgrade your existing home stereo system, all powered by Blackfire Research™ wireless media technology. The Harman Kardon app, as well as Bluetooth connectivity, let you access and stream any music from your phone, favorite streaming services or your favorite apps seamlessly.
To make the system reflective of your personal lifestyle and needs, custom applications can be added to extend the system functionality, thanks to an open programming interface being introduced to leverage third-party app development.
Unlike many wireless streaming systems, the Harman Kardon Omni 10 and Omni 20 support 24-bit/96kHz Studio Quality HD audio streaming. So, along with the convenience of wireless audio streaming, you'll enjoy a superior audio experience, with higher resolution than from a CD.
Use Harman Kardon Omni 10 and Omni 20 loudspeakers as standalone speakers in every room of your house. You can combine two of them as a wireless stereo system, or even five to create a full multi-channel speaker system. Place the Omni speakers in any room, wherever you want music, or group them together for an immersive same-room wireless sound experience. Because Omni loudspeakers are wireless, you can easily position them to fine-tune the sound in your room, leaving no corner uncovered.
“The Harman Kardon Wireless high definition audio system represents the ultimate in scalability, upgradeability, and personalisation for home audio entertainment,” said Michael Mauser, president, Lifestyle Division, HARMAN. "And you shouldn't have to sacrifice great sound or beautiful, forward-looking design in order to get it. Our Omni loudspeaker systems and Adapt wireless adapter make this happen, without compromises in sound quality or aesthetics."
The Harman Kardon Adapt is a first-of-its-kind truly HD, wireless adapter for your existing home stereo system. Making full use of Harman’s expertise in audio technology, Adapt connects the gap between your existing Hi-Fi gear and the wireless network, to deliver pure, crisp sound at the touch of a button. Simply set up multiple speakers or adapters and enjoy wireless room-filling sound in any room you choose. Harman Kardon Adapt lets you play different music in each room for private listening, or stream the same song throughout the house in party mode.
Control and configure your HD audio system wirelessly via the app and a standard Wi-Fi-connection, with no network-cable connection required. The future-proof design is supported through automatic software upgrades and improvements that are automatically delivered through the Wi-Fi connection to the control app. One Touch Follow Me Audio lets you walk from one room to another, as your favorite music follows you at the touch of a button, even when streaming from Bluetooth. And the Link Button Speaker Control lets you start a party and jump right in: when multiple streams are playing wirelessly, one button press cycles through them all so you can pick your favorite. One long press of the button starts party mode, with every speaker playing back the same music. This is room-to-room control made easy.
To deliver true customisation and personalisation, the Harman Kardon Wireless HD Audio System will also be HARMAN’s first product line to be enhanced by applications created by the new Harman Developer Community (developer.harman.com). Starting this autumn, community members will have access to the necessary software tools, resources and support to build, test and launch applications. These assets allow developers to explore ways to enhance the Harman Kardon multi-room audio, potentially via new listening modes and tuning options, or other streaming services.
Pricing & Availability
For additional information on Harman Kardon Adapt £99.99, OMNI 10 £159.99 and OMNI 20 £249.99 Multi-Room Smart Wireless HD Speaker, or to purchase, visit http://www.harmankardon.co.uk. Available from mid October.
