Future Of Audio: Philips Wireless Music Centre

September 2005

The Future Of Audio Is Unveiled With Philips Wireless Music Centre

Philips has launched its new completely wireless music centre that enables consumers to store all of their music at one source but listen in every room of the house.

Perhaps one of the best feature of this product is the price. In the past, people have paid thousands of dollars to have their homes wired up to one central system, but the new Wireless Music package (WACS700) costs only $2,000.

It also has the classic good looks you’d expect from Philips and is simple to set up.

Operating via a built-in Wi-Fi® connection, the system features a ‘Music Follows Me’ function, which allows consumers to take their favorite music from one room to another seamlessly. The ‘Music Broadcast’ party mode enables you to play the same song on all receivers in perfect synchronisation.

The WACS700 music centre converts audio CDs into MP3 music files, stores them on a 40 GB hard disk (up to 750 CDs of music) and wirelessly streams music to up to five satellite stations (WAS700) anywhere in the home.

“The new Wireless Music Centre is a simple yet affordable innovation that revolutionises the audio experience,” says Jonathan Higgins, Philips AV Entertainment and Infotainment Manager, Philips New Zealand.

“With the WACS700, consumers can personalise their audio content and enjoy their favorite music anywhere in their home, and even program it to follow them from room to room.

“And its leading feature is that without any wiring, the satellite stations can simply be picked up and repositioned to suit any change in lifestyle, such as a change in room use or even a complete shift –perfect for the BBQ or the deck.”

Sporting a sleek, sophisticated and clean design, the Music Centre unit complements the home entertainment décor of any room. The server unit has slim, built-in speakers using Philips Super Sound Panel Speaker technology - an innovative space saving trick that unites tweeter and woofers into a single unit.

The system also features a two-way LCD remote control that displays track information as well as allowing music navigation.

Unlike most home entertainment networks, all the hassle of wiring and programming is removed – the unit works straight out of the box, so all the consumer needs to do is plug the server into power and place the stations around the house wherever they want.

There is further user convenience through the built-in Gracenote® CDDB database, which allows the Wireless Music Centre to instantly recognise and display disc information such as artist name, album name, genre type and track titles. And there’s simple navigation through the entire database by simply selecting one of these to pick a song – or just input the first letter of the song’s name on the remote.

The WACS700 is available nationwide with a special introductory bundle for a server and one station for a SRP of $2,000. Additional stations have a SRP of $299.00.

ENDS

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, with sales of EUR 30.3 billion in 2004. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 160,900 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

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