Strategy in TECH...
Sonos announced a new product today called Amp. Amp is essentially everything Sonos offers for wireless powered speakers…for a normal wired passive speaker system. This opens the door to allow the integration of a wide range of third-party speakers into the Sonos ecosphere. But Sonos views Amp as much more than that – as the heart and start of integrating Sonos into a sophisticated smart home installation.
Are you ready for this? LG shows the “world’s first” 8K OLED TV at the IFA 2018 show taking place in Berlin right now. Noting that their are a leader in advance TV technologies with OLED, LG pushes the technological envelope again with 88-inch 8K OLED TV being shown to consumers for the very first time.
DTS announced this week that is has signed on International Audio Group (IAG), parent company of Mission and QUAD, as a new hardware partner in the DTS Play-Fi whole-home audio ecosystem. IAG joins a growing sphere of major brands supporting the DTS multi-room, wireless music system.
Monoprice, the company most successful at pursuing a low-price, cut-rate strategy in regards to cables, adapters, and accessories, and the bane of many upscale cable companies in the consumer electronics space, has continued to grow and expand, now adding housewares and home goods to their growing assortment.
With all that’s going on in the world of politics – or perhaps because of what’s going on in the world of politics – two senators are calling for an investigation of the Smart TV industry, citing concerns about a potential compromise of privacy for users of which they are unaware. This move is in response to news that emerged a few weeks back suggesting that Smart TV makers were tracking users viewing, unbeknownst to them.
Solid niche player Como Audio launched a new music system at last week’s CE Week called the SpeakEasy. Como Audio owner Tom DeVesto has practically invented the high quality small shelftop system – first at Tivoli, now at Como Audio – a category that most others fill with cheap, low-Fi junk to be sold in your local drug stores. SpeakEasy shows how DeVesto intends to retain their leadership in the arena by adding the latest and greatest technology.
In another example of a practical application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, at CE Week last week the company B’z T showed a line of children’s clothing with hidden sensors that make your kids truly trackable – in fact they call them “Trackable Ts.” Offering a wide range of styles, colors, and designs, the company has already seen its products picked up by Amazon and other dealers, creating a bit of a buzz.
One of the more interesting conference panels that took place at CE Week last week in the Jacob Javitz Center in Manhattan was a panel called, “Listening in the Living Room: How Smart Speakers are Striving to Be the Next Great Planform.” This panel featured Gary Schultz, Director, Business & Product Development, SDI Technologies Inc, the parent company of iHome and Andrew Vloyanetes, Sonos’s sales manager. The panel was moderated by John Quain, a contributor to The New York Times.
Some of what this panel had to say was in line with what you might expect – they are both pretty high on smart speakers and the category’s conjunction with voice control.
Control4 surprised everyone about a month ago when they suddenly announced the launch of no less than 140 Control4 Certified Showrooms in partnership with certain dealers around the world, including the U.S., Canada, UK, China, and Australia. These showrooms were said to meet “elevated standards” and were positioned with dealers who were “experts in WOW-ing’ homeowners through interactive storytelling, visually-stunning displays, and hands-on demonstrations.”
At the recent launch of these showrooms on May 31, 2018, in an event called C4Yourself, I had the opportunity to visit one of two Certified Showrooms in New Jersey and to meet with Larry Bennett, Control4’s Managing Director of Global Programs. Bennett is the Control4 executive in charge of their global Certified Showroom program.
When you first pull up in front of Total Home Technologies in Roseland, NJ, it looks pretty much like any other small town store, blending in perfectly with the feel and flavor of this humble little borough of about 5,800 people located twenty miles west of New York City in a picturesque hilly section of Essex County, New Jersey. That feeling persists when you first walk over the “Welcome” mat and enter through the front door to find a comfortable living room on your right and, somewhat surprisingly, an outdoor backyard scene on your left.
[Read more…] about What It Means to Have Your Showroom Certified by Control4
