As a global company that is passionate about enriching experiences through connected audio and automotive innovations, we’re always pushing the pedal on developing new products and solutions for our customers. Every January, HARMAN takes over the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to pull back the curtain on our latest audio and automotive technologies. Although we couldn’t meet in person this year, we weren’t going to let the New Year start without revealing the groundbreaking technologies we have in store for 2021. So, we took things online with our first-ever virtual showcase, HARMAN EXPLORE.
On January 7th, our senior executives and top subject matter experts shared insights into the experiential technologies that boost in-car experiences and highlighted the newest editions of the premium audio products that our fans have come to know and love. Read on for a closer look at our top highlights from HARMAN EXPLORE….
Celebrating 75 Years of Powerful Sound with JBL
After three quarters of a century, HARMAN’s iconic JBL brand remains synonymous with epic sound. And, as the number one leader in portable speaker sales and the fastest-growing headphones brand worldwide, this year is sure to be the best yet. At HARMAN EXPLORE, we revealed the latest in audio innovation across headphones, portables, and home and luxury audio, including:
- The JBL Tour series, which features a new level of true wireless capabilities for any activity from marathon training to marathon conference calls.
- The JBL Charge 5 and Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 7 joined HARMAN’s extensive line-up of portables, featuring clearer sound and more hours of playback than ever before.
- The JBL Bar 5.0 Multibeam, equipped with Dolby Atmos technology, will upgrade any home theater with spacious, 3D surround sound.
- To commemorate JBL’s anniversary, we announced the new JBL L100 Classic 75 loudspeaker as a retro throwback to one of JBL’s most iconic designs.
In recognition of JBL’s legacy, and to help celebrate the next 75 years of pioneering sound, Grammy-award-winning artist Keith Urban joined us for a virtual concert where he performed his top hits.
The Car Emerges as a Third Living Space
HARMAN has been gathering speed over the past couple of years to deliver drivers and passengers more Experiences per Mile (EPM). To better understand what our customers seek with their smart mobility solutions, we invested heavily in consumer insights – which revealed that the car is emerging truly as a third living space for individuals who are committed to living a hyper-connected lifestyle.
At HARMAN EXPLORE, we shared an in-depth look into our vision for a new shift to an in-car experience that leverages the cloud to make vehicles hyper-personalized and always up-to-date. In an effort to address unmet needs and customer pain points, our developers and engineers created three new HARMAN experience concepts, otherwise known as EXPs, which solve for modern mobility needs:
- Gaming Intense Max transforms the car into a multiplayer arena for a fast, immersive gaming experience.
- Creator Studio leverages a variety of technologies and services to turn the car into a creative space where consumers actually want to create new content.
- Drive-Live Concert keeps fans connected to their favorite artists by transporting the energy and action of a live performance directly into the car.
Additionally, the automotive team announced HARMAN Turbo Connect (TBOT), a new intelligent software solution that anticipates and mitigates vehicle connectivity on the road. Combined with the power of 5G, HARMAN’s TBOT technology provides uninterrupted connectivity, decreased costs of data consumption, and reduced energy consumption.
Finally, we also shared how we’re leading the automotive industry’s increasing infrastructure shift to cloud by unveiling HARMAN EnVision. A complete cloud-based platform that revolutionizes the relationship between in-car hardware platforms and their complementary cloud-based solutions, HARMAN EnVision will harness 5G, cloud and EDGE technologies to reduce our dependency on costly automotive hardware architectures. The HARMAN EnVision platform will empower new and immersive consumer experiences, while revealing new business models for automakers that quickly realize a new automotive digital economy.
There’s a Serious Buzz About HARMAN
With such amazing new products on display, and an equally grand vision for our automotive EXPs laid out, it’s no wonder that media and the public alike were abuzz about HARMAN. After our virtual showcase, Michael Mauser, President and Chief Executive Officer of HARMAN, joined the CNBC Squawk Alley team to share HARMAN’s plans to introduce cutting-edge audio and automotive technologies that will deliver smarter, more connected, and personalize experiences. Other highlights include conversations with top-tier media such as Bloomberg TV, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Axios, Forbes, and more.
To top it all off, we received a record-breaking 20 CES® 2021 Innovation Awards for products from our JBL, Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, and Infinity Brands – a true testament to the standards of excellence our designers and engineers strive to exceed every day.
HARMAN’s legacy of innovation will continue through 2021 and beyond as we develop the products and solutions that enrich everyday experiences. If you weren’t able to tune in to the livestream, you can catch up on the latest news from HARMAN EXPLORE here or check out our Automotive and Lifestyle showcases.