Strategy in TECH...
High Note Sales, a custom integration-focused manufacturer sales representative firm based in Boca Raton, FL, announced this week that it has expanded its team – adding Sammy Garber as Vice President of Sales. Garber is well-known throughout the state of Florida having worked in various roles in the industry there for many years.
It was like my Uber car was actually a time machine. After landing in Reno, Nevada, my Uber driver – an eccentric older fellow who is both a ride-share driver and a real estate agent – demonstrated an uncommon grasp of the local geography and history. Heading south on I-580 out of Reno there was a dramatic ridge of mountains to my right and a nonstop running monologue from my old-West style stagecoach driver: “Those are the Sierra-Nevada Mountains,” he helpfully offered. And on the left…the high desert.
Sometimes, I’m amazed at what I’m able to pull off. A year or so ago, John Clancy, Crestron Vice President of Residential, invited me to tour Crestron, a place I’ve heard much about but have never seen. OK…it was at a tradeshow cocktail party and John may have been drinking…but I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Just a few weeks ago, that visit finally happened and Crestron – much to their credit – granted me unlimited access to whatever I wanted to see…and photograph.
Amazon has announced that the end-of-life for its Dash button is rapidly approaching. If you’ve been dying to try it, better move quick – Amazon will completely disable the system just three short weeks from now on August 31st.
Josh.ai announced today that they have a new multilevel partnership with Sonance that includes new integrations with Sonance amplifiers and a new TRUFIG flush mount for the Josh Micro device. The company says this new partnership allows their technology “to seamlessly fit into any architectural aesthetic.”
Formally announced back in April, Sonos has collaborated with IKEA on a line of products for which it has great expectations. The first products of this collaboration – a table lamp with speaker built-in, and a thin bookshelf speaker that sits on a shelf and LOOKS LIKE a book…are finally now available. Will IKEA fans turn out in droves to buy these new models?
Only six months to go and word has emerged that the Consumer Technology Association – the trade group behind the annual Consumer Electronics show – has proactively taken steps to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused them to endure a plethora of embarrassing headlines last year. The controversy, a self-inflicted wound, surrounded the Association’s awarding – then rescinding – of a CES 2019 Innovation Award…and retroactive cancellation of booth space for that company. The news dominated the early headlines during the January 2019 event…mostly because the matter involved sex.
In the choppy waters of today’s current economy, we continue to get mixed signals – this time from the housing market. Last week, we learned that residential construction starts declined in June by 0.9% below the rate in May. This week, we find that sales of newly built homes in June increased by 7% as compared to sales in May.
LG Electronics announced today that starting tomorrow Apple AirPlay and HomeKit will be available on its 2019 Thinq AI TV line. The company says this makes them the first global television manufacturer to support HomeKit.
Fortune just published its latest Global 500 ranking of the top companies in the world – and the results this year are earth-shaking. For the first time ever, since this list was launched in 1990, another country has more companies on the list of top companies than the U.S. And the bad news for the White House is that new #1 is China, the country with which it is currently in the midst of a high stakes trade war.
