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CES: Cranking up Harman's QuantumLogic 3D surround-sound system

Yesterday we reported how Audi was readying a lavish 3D sound experience with 23 speakers and 1,400 watts of goosebump-inducing audio power. Not to be outdone, Harman had been quietly developing a system of its own: Quantum Logic 3D brings together 25 speakers and more than 2,000 watts of Tubthumping power to a new car near you, like driving inside Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Sitting inside the demonstration BMW 7-Series that Harman painstakingly lifted into the Studio at the Palms, Global Audio Engineering vice president Phil Muzio explained, "great music is delivered in stereo, yet our consumer research indicates that people enjoy surround sound." QuantumLogic 3D's surround sound expands beyond the boundaries of the vehicle's cabin, providing "a sense of detail and spatial placement that you don't get in stereo." Five height component speakers mounted in the corners of the headliner, and above the rearview mirror, elevates audio beyond the confines of the roof, "almost like you're in a convertible," said Muzio.

London hogging too much transport investment

THE UNDERFUNDING of transport projects outside London in recent years "cannot be allowed to continue", says a report from MPs. Ministers must use the new funding arrangements for local projects to "ensure that there is a fairer allocation of funding", said the report from the House of Commons Transport Committee. "No area across our nation should be second class in relation to the allocation of transport infrastructure funds," the MPs said.

Porsche 918 Spyder here in 2013, says new CEO

New Porsche president and chief executive officer Matthias Müller has confirmed that the new 918 Spyder hybrid supercar is on track for a 2013 delivery. Speaking to CAR at the 2010 Paris motor show, Müller said the engineering programme was on time and that the 918 would stay faithful to the concept car revealed in March this year. ‘We are doing [engineering] concept work on the 918 at the moment and will finish at the end of 2010,’ said Müller.