SRS Labs is on the warpath, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down. Just days after syncing up with Vizio, it now has two more partnerships to brag about: one with Sharp, one with Syntax-Brillian. As for the former, you can now sleep easy knowing that (most) AQUOS LCD HDTVs will come with TruSurround XT built right in. As for the latter, this deal ensures that the all new Olevia 2 Series and 6 Series LCD HDTVs have the same technology, which will supposedly make owners "feel as if phantom speakers are placed around them." We're getting chills just thinking about it.

Read - Sharp agreement
Read - Syntax-Brillian agreement

Turns out that not everybody is lawyer-angry with Vizio right now. The company has entered a partnership with SRS Labs that will give it access to SRS's portfolio of audio technologies. Fruits of the partnership will start showing up in Q2 of 2008, when Vizio starts making SRS TruSurround XT available in three models: a 42- and 46-inch LCD, and a 50-inch plasma. Not exactly new, TruSurround XT is all about virtual surround sound; that audio we sometimes find phasey and unnatural to the point where it decreases our involvement with the content. But Vizio and SRS have data to back up their strategy: a Consumer Electronics Association poll showed that 76-percent of all flat panels are used without any external audio. We're used to being a minority opinion, but we don't understand the widespread fear over multiple discrete speakers in the room, especially with the rash of stylish HTIB systems now available. If you're in that 76-percent crowd, we suppose virtual surround is better than mono; but you're missing out.

Apparently, SRS Labs is really lookin' to get its name out there. Barely a week after we heard that it was looking to bring surround sound to mobiles, the audio processing firm has now created a business unit with the sole purpose of developing "solutions for set-top-box applications worldwide." Apparently, the outfit will be working hand in hand with cable operators and STB manufacturers -- not to mention the likes of Conexant Systems, Broadcom, NXP and STMicroelectronics -- in order to "integrate SRS technologies into set-top box platforms." Of course, we've no idea how long it'll be before boxes start hitting cable carriers and store shelves with an SRS Labs emblem on 'em, but it certainly looks as if the wheels are already in motion.

With all these companies honing in on bringing HD capabilities to handsets, we were beginning to wonder when someone would step up and lend a hand on the audio front. Thankfully, both Dolby and SRS Labs have come forward at Mobile World Congress to announce separate enhancements to mobile audio, so we'll touch on the former first. Dolby Mobile, hailed as an "audio processing technology platform that brings rich, vibrant surround sound to music, movies, and television programs on mobile phones and portable media players," is available as we speak on the FOMA SH905i and FOMA SH905iTV in Japan, but will hopefully float out to other handsets in due time. As for SRS Labs, it's boasting its own SRS CS Headphone technology, which reportedly "takes stereo or surround encoded 2-channel audio and processes it using an ultra-low-power Circle Surround decoder to create 5.1 highly accurate channels." Granted, we're still wondering exactly how 5.1 channels make their way though stereo earbuds, but we'd be up for a listen, regardless.

Read - Dolby Mobile
Read - SRS CS Headphone technology

While ViewSonic already hit us up with a duo of LCD monitors sporting Vista compatibility and HDMI ports, the company isn't done yet, as now we've got two new LCD HDTVs to gawk at, both touting 1080p. The pair of displays also brings along a myriad of inputs, including HDMIATSC / NTSC TV tuners. The 42-inch N4261w offers up a 1,500:1 contrast ratio, 450 cd/m2 brightness, and 178-degree viewing angle, while the larger sibling touts an 800:1 contrast ratio, 500 nits of brightness, and a 176-degree viewing angle. The 42-inch N4261w should hit shelves just in time for March Madness at a cost of $1,799, while the N4661w's price and availability is being withheld until the second quarter of this year.