Strategy in TECH...
Multiple media outlets, including the venerable Reuters News Agency, are reporting that Samsung Electronics chartered two jets to return a total of 20 of their executives and staff who became infected with COVID-19 at CES 2022. In addition to this, South Korean health officials are reporting that a total of 70 Korean nationals – including the 20 Samsung employees – returned (or are trying to return) from CES infected by COVID.
The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) announced today that its Cabling & Infrastructure Technician (CIT) Certification has received third-party accreditation which means that it conforms with the global ISO/IEC 17024:2012, General Requirements for Bodies Operating Certification of Persons standards. This is according to the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), a subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which oversaw the process that determined the CIT Certification program fully conforms with ISO/IEC 17024 global standards.
Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), a popular custom integration trade show that takes place in Barcelona, Spain, announced this week that the show managers have decided to postpone the event from its originally scheduled run of February 1-4, 2022 to now May 10-13, 2022. The reason for the postponement is due to the rapid rise of Omicron-variant COVID-19 infections in Spain as well as its impact on international travel overall.
Portal.io, an industry-leading cloud-based proposal tool, announced this week that well-known industry veteran Robert (Rob) Keeler has joined their team as Director of Vendor Services. Rob has worked in various roles with several top industry brands, most of which are the leading brands in their respective categories.
I don’t think it’s possible for me to overstate the significance of what just happened last week when, in a final decision from the U.S. International Trade Commission, the full panel affirmed a commission judge’s ruling that Google had in fact infringed on five patents held by Sonos. It is a real-life version of the bible story of David versus Goliath. Make no mistake, this David’s win may change our industry in fundamental ways.
Well-known industry personality Robert Heiblim died early Friday morning, January 7, 2022, after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 69. Heiblim enjoyed a long and prominent career in technology, first in corporate management and later launching his own successful consulting business. Most know him for his time at Denon, where he ultimately rose to become the President of U.S. operations. But his career, and his industry influence, ultimately grew to represent so much more than that.
On Monday evening (January 3, 2022), as part of their festivities kicking off the 2022 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Vice President of Research for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Steve Koenig shared what the association believes to be some of the top trends in Tech today. Saying, “…we’ve witnessed an abundance of innovation across this whole season and certainly over the past year…”
So let me start by saying there was a veritable slew of introductions at CES 2022 Media Day, which took place on Tuesday before the show opened. Most of them were incremental advancements of existing product lines. Only a couple of announcements rose above the noise to catch the attention of just about everyone who attended those presentations. One from an industry stalwart…and another from out of left field (almost literally).
Heading to CES 2022? Be sure to check the online version of the show schedule regularly, as Advertising Age (Ad Age) is reporting that CES has apparently removed “a slate of programs,” including several previously scheduled sessions and panels planned for Tuesday. The move is said to be a result of so many companies and executives canceling or otherwise pulling out of the show.
Strata-gee readers reached out to me on late Friday as word circulated that the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) was taking the unusual step of cutting the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) short by one day “…as an additional safety measure.” That is essentially all that an announcement from the association says about this decision, which on the face of it seems to call into question the safety of attending the event at all.
