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Does the Sound Pop’s Sound Really Pop? Or Is That Sound Just Their Bubble Bursting?

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Photo of Sound Pop
Sound Pop on my desk.

When I first learned about AudioSource’s new Sound Pop – a small, relatively inexpensive (around $40 street price) Bluetooth speaker – I assumed it was just like all of those thousands of other Bluetooth speakers introduced over the last couple of years. You know: convenient, portable, maybe a cutesy design and…sounds like crap. Later, I got a press release and saw some specs. They look promising but, still, I remained…shall we say…skeptical.

Then, at CE Week last month, I met AudioSource’s CEO Tom O’Mara. He gave me “the pitch” and – perhaps sensing my skepticism – beseeched me to “Just listen to it” as he handed me a little box not much larger than a Rubik’s Cube.

See what happened when I “Just listen[ed] to it”… [Read more…] about Does the Sound Pop’s Sound Really Pop? Or Is That Sound Just Their Bubble Bursting?

Prominent NY Metro Rep Firm Audio Associates Sets Expo for Aug. 12/13

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Photo of Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf CourseAudio Associates, one of the more prominent sales representative companies in the New York Metro market (and the Middle Atlantic market) has announced its annual dealer Expo is set for August 12 & August 13. The company has been holding this event every year for the last seven years and it has become quite popular with area dealers.

And this year, Audio Associates kicks it up a notch by holding the Expo at the posh Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, New Jersey near the ever-popular Atlantic City.

See more on this event including important sign-up deadlines… [Read more…] about Prominent NY Metro Rep Firm Audio Associates Sets Expo for Aug. 12/13

AudioSource: Keeping the Foundation, But Building a Whole New Business

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AudioSource LogoThe theme for CEWeek this year – as far as we’re concerned – was “CHANGE.” There were very few “traditional” products shown or updated – and a plethora of new products and categories, such as wireless systems, mobile devices, innovative [predominantly mobile] accessories, new app concepts, and more. And one interview we conducted – with AudioSource CEO Tom O’Mara – seems to embody that sense of change, as he seeks to – while keeping the company’s foundation – build a whole new (and changed) company.

See the dramatic changes at AudioSource as their smallest product has the biggest impact… [Read more…] about AudioSource: Keeping the Foundation, But Building a Whole New Business

Seiki Shakes Up Industry, Offers Inexpensive 4K Ultra HDTV; ‘Not Helpful’ Says Major Competitor

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Photo of Seiki signIn yet another sign of an industry in transition, Chinese manufacturer Tong Fang Global – better known by the Seiki brand of A/V products it manufactures – has turned the typical industry model for introducing the latest and greatest technology on its ear. In the same show where Sharp rolls out a 70-inch 4K Ultra HDTV for $8,000, Seiki rolls out a 39-inch 4K Ultra HDTV for $700. How do they do it? Read on…

See more on this disruptive play from relative newcomer Seiki… [Read more…] about Seiki Shakes Up Industry, Offers Inexpensive 4K Ultra HDTV; ‘Not Helpful’ Says Major Competitor

Perfect Path Says It’s on the Growth Path at CE Week

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CE Week logoAs we walked the halls of CE Week, we kept running into old friends and well-known industry personalities. We met both at once when we ran into Eric Bodley of  PPC/Perfect Path who was at the show to support various partners of the company. PPC was recently purchased by cable giant Belden, Inc. and we’ve been anxiously awaiting more details on how this consolidation would be implemented.

Bodley wasn’t in a position to comment on that quite yet, but we took advantage of the meeting to ask him about a couple of other recent issues.

See Bodley’s comments on competition heating up & the Belden/PPC connection… [Read more…] about Perfect Path Says It’s on the Growth Path at CE Week

Core Brands Kicks Off KORUS at CE Week

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SKAA logoOne of the more interesting developments we saw at CE Week was the launch of a new series of products from Nortek, Inc. in the Core Brands, LLC booth called Korus. Korus is a line of wireless speakers designed to work with content streamed from you favorite smartphone/tablet/PC. Another line of wireless speakers is not particularly newsworthy. But Korus has a couple of tricks up its sleeve that IS unique…

See more on KORUS…including what really separates it from other streaming products… [Read more…] about Core Brands Kicks Off KORUS at CE Week

Sharp Says: This is Our Sharpest Set Yet

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Sharp LogoThe next phase of the TV wars has begun in earnest now in the wake of Sharp’s (and Toshiba’s) CE Week Day 1 roll-out of 4K Ultra HD television. In a presentation full of bluster and gusto, Sharp threw down the gauntlet with its 70-inch, top of the line Aquos UHDTV selling for a cool $8,000.

Learn more about this flagship set below – and see what Sharp’s VP told us about which retailers will participate in the rapidly approaching roll-out for this new technology.

Is Sharp’s 4K sharp enough?… [Read more…] about Sharp Says: This is Our Sharpest Set Yet

Sharp Adds Smarts to Its Robot Vacuum Cleaner

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Photo of Sharp Cocorobo Robot vacuum cleanerSharp Corp. announced today that it will release a new updated model of its Cocorobo home cleaning robot with a very important added feature: smarts. Sharp has added the ability for this new model to adjust the amount of suction on an as-needed basis – dramatically improving battery performance for longer operation on a single charge.

See more about this smarter robot – a category that some think is “the next big thing” in electronics… [Read more…] about Sharp Adds Smarts to Its Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Gibson Guitar Announces Name Change

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Gibson_Bus_Fleet-1Gibson Guitar announced on Tuesday that – in a bid to better reflect its growing family of products outside of the guitar category – it will be changing its corporate name from Gibson Guitar Corp. to Gibson Brands. While the move looks logical, there will likely be many who will bemoan the fact that the new name loses its ability to honor the company’s stringed-instrument heritage and still-important namesake product.

See more on why the company says this is the right move… [Read more…] about Gibson Guitar Announces Name Change

Core Brands Completes Downsizing of National Sales Force

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BREAKING NEWS

Nortek's Core Brands LogoStrata-gee.com heard this week from multiple sources that Core Brands had completed the analysis phase of its sales force consolidation, and was now executing the termination of the losing reps – and the reassigning of brands to the winning reps. Core Brands, a division of Nortek, Inc., had announced the downsizing process in a conference call with their entire sale representative network on April 19th – laying out a process for which the desired result was to create a smaller network of fewer authorized sales representative companies presenting most, if not all, of the company’s ten brands.

But there is some question as to how successful the process was, given continuing multi-rep territories… [Read more…] about Core Brands Completes Downsizing of National Sales Force