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Crestron Home OS Launches a Huge Update with 20 New Features & Integrations

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Crestron Home has been dramatically upgraded
A new Crestron Home OS display showing in-app branding

See Crestron in Booth #1901 at CEDIA Expo 2024 in Denver Next Week

Crestron Electronics, one of the industry’s leading providers of control solutions and more for the smart home and home automation channels announced this week a significant update of its popular Crestron Home OS4 system. This impressive update includes more than 20 new features, as well as new important integrations that offer integrators a mind-expanding opportunity to better design solutions for clients…not to mention drive greater scalability for both residential and commercial installations.

See more on this major Crestron Home OS4 announcement

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Russound Raises Its Game with New Smarter-Design Models

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Russound Cinema Bar 3.0 with speaker grille removed
Cinema Bar 3.0 w/grille removed to show speaker configuration [Click to enlarge]

Earlier this summer, executives from Russound visited me to offer me (and Strata-gee readers) a pre-CEDIA Expo sneak peek at some newly redesigned models that are in many ways smarter. I say smarter because these new designs reflect input from integrators (as well as some industry trends) and have launched new sleeker (such as 1U models) and smaller footprint products (such as its popular mini-AVR models). The company is also previewing a new industrial design that I like a lot.

See new models from Russound

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Even With Snap One Included, Resideo Sees Revenues & Net Income Decline

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Resideo image from presentation

Last week, Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), the new owner of Snap One, announced its financial results for the second quarter of Fiscal 2024. This is the first earnings report that follows the closing on its acquisition of Snap One, the largely residential AV integration business, and therefore the first earnings in which Snap One’s business contributed to the results. Even with Snap One included in its numbers, the surprise was that the company reported a 1% revenue decline…and a 40% drop in Net Income.

I’d call that an inauspicious start for this new partnership.

See more on the report from Resideo on Q2 fiscal 2024

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Sonos App Disaster Spoils Launch of Ace & Better Results for Q3 of Fiscal 2024

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Last week, Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) announced the results for its third quarter of Fiscal Year 2024. CEO Patrick Spence must feel like the tech company can’t catch a break. The company successfully launched its first headphone product, Sonos Ace, to much fanfare in June – the load-in of which helped to drive better-than-expected results for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal 2024. And yet the company’s launch of its newest totally “re-architected” app turned into an unmitigated disaster – infuriating dealers and consumers alike and spoiling all of the positive momentum from Ace and the improved quarter.

What’s worse, the company warns financial analysts that the app disaster will likely continue, causing the company to push back the launch of two new products planned for the 4th quarter and to downwardly revise sales and profit forecasts for the next quarter and the full fiscal year. The ugliness, according to the company, will likely continue into the 1st quarter of Fiscal 2025. Ouch!

See more on the Sonos Q3 results, and the ongoing app disaster impact

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Revised Politan Proxy Material Offers a Surprising Masimo Tidbit

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Chancery Court Declines to Force an Earlier Stockholders Meeting

New proxy material produced and distributed to stockholders this week by Politan Capital Management – an activist investor in Masimo Corp (Nasdaq: MASI) – mostly contains information that was already known. The activist investor, as well as Masimo itself, must provide new proxy materials and voting forms as all previous votes were invalidated as a result of a rescheduling of the 2024 Annual Stockholders Meeting to September 19th (originally was to be July 25th).

But Politan included a few pages of updated background information which, among those items I’ve already written about, did include one fascinating or tantalizing bit of new information.

See more on the updated Politan proxy & its new Masimo tidbit

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Lutron Loses Appeal in J Geiger Lawsuit But Gets Penalty Reduction

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The judge hearing Lutron Electronics’ appeal of its loss to GeigTech East Bay (part of J. Geiger shades) in a patent infringement case has delivered her decision and it is sure to please neither side. Earlier this year a jury declared Lutron a willful infringer of a GeigTech patent and awarded it an eye-popping $34.6 million. Lutron appealed asking for a new trial, which was denied, but the Judge cut the award to $3.8 million, agreeing that it was “grossly excessive.”

So what happens now? Read on to see…

See more on this ruling of Lutron’s appeal of Geigtech’s trial win

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Sharp Cuts CEO After Two Years of Losses; Company Scaling Back LCD Div Significantly

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Sharp display at a trade show
REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

Remember: Sharp Manufactures Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer & Elite

Sharp Corporation, part of top Apple supplier Foxconn, saw its annual shareholders meeting turn contentious this year as investors are frustrated with management after the company has turned in two years of significant net losses. Perhaps to help mollify investors, the company announced its President and CEO, Robert Wu, has stepped down from his role at the company. Sharp also announced it is scaling back its struggling LCD business.

See more on troubles at Sharp

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Politan Reveals Masimo Lawsuit To All Investors; Says It’s Desperate & Defamatory

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Image of Masimo v. Politan lawsuit title page

Masimo: ‘Confidential Informants’ Allege Koffey Has Breached His Fiduciary Duties as a Director

Almost exactly one week ago, Masimo and its Board of Directors filed a lawsuit against Politan Capital Management in which it alleged Politan’s proxy materials contained material misrepresentations and asked the court to order the activist investor to correct them. The company also delayed its upcoming annual stockholders meeting from July to September. Two days after that, Politan responded with a countersuit in which it asked the court to order Masimo to hold its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders as soon as possible.

Now Politan has taken the unusual step of publishing Masimo’s lawsuit against them and providing it to all Masimo stockholders. The Masimo suit, which has some outrageous claims against Politan and particularly CIO Quentin Koffey, is being provided by a confident Koffey who believes investors will see it for what he says it is…a desperate attempt to stop the investor vote for independent directors.

See more on Politan publishing the Masimo lawsuit against it

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Politan Returns Fire; Files Countersuit Against Masimo & Directors in Delaware

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Politan investor presentation cover slide
Cover slide to Politan’s investor presentation

Claims Company is Violating Its Own Bylaws & Delaware Law

On Tuesday, I told you that Joe Kiani and Masimo Directors filed a lawsuit against Politan Capital Management and Quentin Koffey, asking the courts to force Poltian to correct what it claims are material misrepresentations in Politan’s proxy materials provided to Masimo stockholders. Late Wednesday, Politan returned fire, filing its own countersuit – but in a much more strategic way…

See more on Politan countersuing Masimo

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On the Defensive, Kiani & Masimo’s Claws Come Out; Postpones Annual Meeting & Sues Politan

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Masimo Sues Politan image

Company Chooses to Delay Annual Stockholders Meeting & Set New Record Date

Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: Masi) announced on Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in California against Politan Capital Management and CIO Quentin Koffey, asking the court for an injunction to force Politan “to correct material misstatements and omissions”…in its “proxy materials.” It also says it has set a new date for its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, with a new record date, “to ensure that the vote of the Company’s stockholders is fair and fully informed.” That move is clearly in reaction to evidence uncovered by Politan of a legal but ethically questionable move called “empty voting” in an apparent attempt by an individual who is a friend of Joe Kiani to swing the vote in management’s favor – a move that Politan says would disenfranchise investors who voted.

See the latest outburst of filings and accusations between Masimo & Politan

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