Strategy in TECH...
Tidal Music AS (Tidal) has announced that users “will no longer be able to access music in the MQA or 360 Reality Audio formats via any TIDAL application or integration.” So that’s that…MQA is done and gone…as of July 24, 2024. The company says it will replace all MQA tracks with “the highest quality FLAC version” available.
On Tuesday this week, a previously announced program being offered by Snap One – now Resideo – has begun. This program, called Control4 Connect, is a mandatory program that requires all integrators to connect all new client installations of Control4 products directly to Snap One’s central station for future software updates and data collection.
It is a new kind of transactional connection that establishes a direct relationship with the client for direct-to-user system updates and base-level client support supplied – not by the local integrator – but by Control4 support.
It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for everyone at AudioControl over the last couple of years. The company, a leading specialty manufacturer of integrator-focused, high-quality audio electronics, has had three different owners in the last two years. Have they finally found their new home?
GE Appliances and Savant Systems announced today that they are partnering in the launching of an innovative new home energy solution they call the EcoBalance System. The goal of this system is to offer the residential market a “whole-home, connected solution” that delivers the ability for consumers to take full control of energy delivery and utilization in their homes for unparalleled energy efficiency and management.
Canada’s The Lenbrook Group announced today that it has spun off its digital media and content-related businesses as a separate unit, independent of its hardware brands. The new unit will be known as The Lenbrook Media Group and is to be headed by former MQA Ltd. CEO Mike Jbara.
MQA Limited has notified Companies House, the U.K. government agency that is roughly equivalent to our Securities and Exchange Commission, that it has changed its name. After nine years as MQA Limited, the company will now be known as Wave Realisations Limited.
Well, another CEDIA Expo is in the books and we return to our daily duties and launch into a new Fall season full of promise…and concerns. What were the big stories of this year’s edition of Emerald’s (a public, for-profit company that owns the show) CEDIA Expo? Well, I’ve scanned several summations from others in the media and it almost seems like we attended different Expos. Here’s what I think they are…
OneVision, one of the original remote 24/7 service support providers for integrators, is now offering a new set of service options called Flex Support Packages designed to make it easier than ever for integrators of any size to get started with the company’s remote support service and recurring monthly revenue (RMR) options. A company started (and still run) BY integrators FOR integrators, OneVision continues to offer integrators smart support options that make it simple and profitable for them to get started.
Last week, Snap One Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SNPO) released its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the 13-week period ending June 30, 2023. The company reported mixed results with a continuing sales decline but with a reduced net loss in the quarter.
On Monday, Snap One revealed that it had filed a lawsuit against two other well-known, if smaller, brands, alleging patent infringement and a range of illicit and unethical business practices that it claims violated existing contractual agreements. The defendants in this matter are Josh.ai and AVA.
The allegations, if true, are really quite surprising.
