>> Announcer: From San Francisco, it's theCube.
Covering Samsung Developer Conference 2017.
Brought to you by Samsung.
>> Hey, welcome back everyone,
this is theCube's exclusive live coverage
of Samsung Development Conference, SDC 2017.
I'm John Furrier, the founder,
co-founder of SiliconANGLE Media,
co-host of theCube.
My next guest is Kevin Hague,
Vice President of Technology Strategy at Harman,
now part of Samsung.
His twitter handle is JSGuy.
Welcome to theCube.
>> Thank you, thank you having me.
>> So HARMAN has a lot of cool things.
Obviously, you're known for music, audio,
in-car stuff, headphones,
really the premier audio tech.
>> Kevin: Yes, yeah.
>> So give us the update.
Part of Samsung.
When did that happen?
What have you guys done?
Have you integrated in to the edge of the network?
Is entertainment.
>> It is these days.
And it seems like more and more people
are becoming interested in audio.
Audio's becoming, you know,
a big part of everybody's lives.
Everybody will have headphones at work,
connected devices at home,
with AIs and voice assistance in their car.
You know, we're huge in the car.
A huge percentage of our automotive business is in audio,
and infotainment, IVI systems,
and we're really excited to be here
at the Samsung Developer Conference,
because this is our first conference,
kind of together,
and we're excited to show off a lot of cool developer tech.
>> So we're huge on internet of things.
I've been saying this for years,
but now it's so clear to the developer community
that internet of things includes people.
Wearables, we had guests on doing dresses
that are part of the internet,
and technology with robotic arms and software.
But headphones, you guys have a cool program
called Hack Your Headphones.
Which, tell a little about that,
and then we'll talk about this new product
that's here on the desk, I can't wait to get to, but
>> Yeah, we have a couple of new products
>> Hack your headphones, I mean,
you got to get developers excited,
because augmented reality and virtual reality,
no one wants to put those damn goggles on.
And it's got no audio.
>> That's right.
Yeah, so we're trying to fix that
with this particular product,
which is the JBL Everest Elite headphones.
And it's probably one of the first
consumer hackable headphones.
We have an API, out for Android,
that allows the developer
to control many of the features
and functions of this headphone.
And we've added a lot of extra features,
so this thing not only, when you put it on,
and you're wearing virtual VR goggles,
you're immersed, right?
And you don't even know what's going on
in the outside world.
Well, we've come up with some tech
that allows some of the outside world
to come in programmatically.
So within a game, or a VR game, or a VR application,
you can do something where
the outside noise can be added in to the gameplay.
So let's say if you're playing Fruit Ninja,
or something really crazy on your VR goggles,
and you're about to hit somebody,
it could warn you through audio signals.
So we're really excited about these headphones,
lots of other features that developers would like.
>> So let's talk about the API,
because this is a really cool feature,
and I want to get to that again,
the new thing, new device
that's coming out of this new,
breaking news here on theCube,
which is, these headphones, is about,
you guys have the normal coolness around,
noise canceling, all that stuff,
but you guys have tech that actually
lets developers play with the settings.
>> Kevin: That's right.
>> So you actually reverse the settings.
Right?
Like, imagining, like, okay,
what if I want to increase the noise out that comes in.
Is that the concept?
>> That's right.
And so we can adjust,
the developers can adjust, almost an infinite levels,
the noise ratio from outside to inside.
So if you want it perfectly quiet, you can set that.
If you want it where a lot of outside noise is coming in,
you can adjust that as well,
without having to do this to talk to somebody.
>> It's almost tap your phone, tap your app,
or have some notifications sensing,
so you're looking for creativity
from the developer community.
>> That's the objective.
>> We are.
And we don't actually know
what developers are going to do.
I always have a saying, that says,
If I put ten of my smartest guys in a room for a week,
they're going to come up with a 100 ideas.
If I throw this out to the developer community,
they're going to come up with a 1,000 ideas,
and I think that's what we're looking for,
is that kind of creative spark,
and we're just going to give them platform to do that on.
>> And that's super smart,
because now you can let the creative development community
tinker around, and kick the tires.
You guys get the free access to the creative,
but also you have APIs that make it kind of stable.
>> That's right.
And that's that something that we support.
We love developers to play with.
>> Alright, so now you have a new product.
So this is the exclusive Cube coverage.
So let's see this new product.
>> Actually, we just sent boxes right before coming on set.
>> Here, let me introduce this thing.
So this is looks like a collar.
Goes around your neck.
So, first of all, what's the product name?
>> So this is a JBL Sound Gear,
and it's going to be available starting next month.
So this is, as far as I know,
the first one in the United States.
I can't say that for sure,
but that's the first one I've seen in the United States.
>> So it looks like one of those old football collars,
but you put it around like this,
and it allows for music to come up only to my ears, right?
Actually, let's turn on the music,
and then they'll actually get to hear
through my little headset here.
>> Kevin: Yeah, we'll just throw something on.
There's a little, it's kind of cranked up, actually.
>> Okay, so this is cranked up.
Can you hear this?
>> Kevin: Just a little bit.
>> So he can barely hear this.
I'm, like, talking loud.
>> Kevin: Yeah, yeah, that's right,
because it's pretty loud to you.
>> So I could be a gamer,
I could be doing virtual reality with a headset.
This is kind of like my ear experience,
without and freeing my arms up.
>> Yeah, that's right.
And the nice thing is, we're looking in the future,
and seeing augmented reality-type experiences
are going to be important.
But with augmented reality,
you want that kind of pass through.
So I want to be able to talk to you
while you have your glasses on,
or whatever the future brings us.
>> So I can get a little notification,
bing, you got this car coming,
or about to get attacked by my app.
>> Yeah, imagine walking down the street.
Now you can listen to your music
while walking down the street,
and not worry about getting hit by a car or something.
>> Or pissing people off.
Hey, turn your headphones on!
Or having some ambient noise coming in so I'm aware.
>> Kevin: Yeah, that's right.
>> Yeah, that's cool.
>> And so that's a really exciting product.
>> They're not that flexible.
>> Yeah, it's a little bit.
So I think a lot of people put it on from the side
and twist it around,
but it's actually a pretty solid product,
and we're, you know, it's a transformative product.
There's nobody else shipping anything like this
that I know of.
>> So it has a little bit of wiggle,
but it's not, you could break it if you snap it,
like a chicken bone.
>> Kevin: Yeah, don't do that.
As far as I know it's the only one in the United States.
>> You can just throw it too, it's like horseshoes.
Just toss it.
>> We have other uses.
Yes, we made it multiuse.
>> Don't toss it.
It's not horseshoes.
That's awesome.
And you've also got a little pow here,
but also now,
the problem with some of these devices is on,
watching TV, or interfacing with a large screen,
there's latency issues and if people are talking,
and you're hearing it separately.
A lot of internet streamings we see that.
It's not like direct connected.
>> Kevin: Yes.
>> Talk about that.
How does that address that?
Does it have a feature
where you could create a low latency connection
to something that's either on the internet or TV?
>> Sure, so there's a couple of different ways,
so like audio latency's very important,
especially if you're watching TV,
and lip sync, it's always weird if you get that delay,
and so, that's why we actually pair
with this in the box comes a low latency transmitter.
So it's plug and play, plug it into your TV,
turn on this, it pairs up.
Now you can watch TV seamlessly in the house
without disturbing like everybody.
>> I can watch my football games,
make some dinner, lunch, whatever.
>> Or even late night TV,
somebody's asleep in the same room as you,
and it won't disturb them, right?
>> My wife, Linda, Linda, if you're watching,
this is perfect, save our marriage.
Turn the TV off!
Maybe not that.
But it'll be a first step,
but this is exactly the use of these.
Create a personal space,
and the technology as it shoots up from the sides.
>> Yeah, there's two speakers on each side.
>> And it shoots up to the ear, so it comes up this way.
>> That's right.
And we do a lot of work to make sure
that the beam of sound stays in the vertical space,
so that a lot of people can't hear it
from outside maybe three feet.
Literally, when you first put it on,
I couldn't even tell it was working,
and I was going, can you hear it?
And you're like, oh, it's loud!
And so.
>> And the folks listening heard it to,
'cause my microphone was right there.
>> That's right, yes, and that's the side effect,
is in this area here, you have full.
>> Okay so this product
>> Full awareness.
>> will be shipped and it's called the
>> AVL Sound Gear.
>> Sound Gear, it's available next month.
>> Next month.
>> In Best Buy retail.
>> Best Buy retail.
MSRP I think is going to be 249.
>> Which includes some accessories, right?
>> It includes a couple of accessories,
like the streaming unit and everything.
>> Yeah, that's awesome.
So it's not going to break the bank.
>> I don't think so.
>> Good.
Well, so that's a good price point,
I'm definitely going to buy one.
>> It's definitely different.
It's not like just a regular pair of headphones.
This is also available in the stores today, the 750.
>> And how about this being developer enabled?
API's for this, too, or not yet?
>> Not yet, but stay tuned.
>> This is the total Star Trek device.
>> Kevin: It is.
>> If you're a Star Trek classic fan like me,
you know the thrall collars.
(laughter)
>> Kevin: That's awesome.
>> And certainly, I can use this.
It's got voice in there just so I can talk to it,
like on conference calls?
>> That's right.
You can do a conference call with it, or.
>> Have intercommunications on gameplay, multiplayer?
>> That's right.
>> So yeah, I think gamers are going to love this.
>> I think so, too.
>> Yeah, my son plays Call of Duty and Destiny.
>> It's very comfortable to wear.
I think that's one of the key things,
is once you get it on, it feels like,
when I've tried some of our early prototypes of it,
I forgot that I was even wearing it.
>> I can listen to theCube music
while talking to the guests.
>> Kevin: I know, we need to get you one of these.
I mean, we'll get you one soon so you can try it.
>> Promotional considerations by Samsung.
>> Kevin: That's right.
>> Kevin, thanks for coming on,
great tunes, old school classics.
Yeah, crank it up a little bit more,
we'll end on some music.
Kevin Hague, Vice President of Technology at Harmon,
(upbeat music)
Samsung.
Bringing all the developer action to you here, theCube.
>> Kevin: Thanks for having me.
>> Alright.
More after this short break.
(upbeat music)