Strata-gee.com

Strategy in TECH...

You are here: Home / Archives for News

News

BREAKING NEWS: Politan Wins…Court Denies Masimo Request for Preliminary Injunction

by 2 Comments

Politan CIO Quentin Koffey

Politan Candidates & Proxy Vote Goes Forward Next Week; Masimo Demands a ‘Contempt’ Order

Late on Thursday, Politan announced that Judge James V. Selna of the U.S. District Court, Central District of California has denied Masimo’s request for a preliminary injunction in the matter of Masimo Corporation v. Politan Capital Management et.al. that sought to block Politan’s nominees for the Masimo Board of Directors. This is a big win for Quentin Koffey and Politan as it means that despite Masimo’s effort to disqualify its candidates, they remain eligible to run for the open Board positions and that the vote by investors can continue as planned at the Masimo 2024 Annual Stockholders Meeting, scheduled less than a week away, on Thursday, September 19, 2024.

Learn more about this big news in Masimo v. Politan

[Read more…] about BREAKING NEWS: Politan Wins…Court Denies Masimo Request for Preliminary Injunction

A Huge Merger of Major Specialty Distributors; WAVE Elects. Acquires KOA Elects.

by Leave a Comment

WAVE CEO Mark Fukuda & KOA CEO Anton Tomassian
Mark Fukuda (L) CEO of WAVE Electronics and Anton Tomassian CEO of KOA Electronics Distribution

BREAKING NEWS

Houston, TX-based WAVE Electronics, one of the nation’s largest independent distributors for the custom integration industry, announced today that it has acquired KOA Electronics Distribution, itself a leading CI distributor based in Panorama City, CA. This merger creates a mega-distribution business spanning multiple locations in multiple states.

Learn more about this WAVE & KOA acquisition

[Read more…] about A Huge Merger of Major Specialty Distributors; WAVE Elects. Acquires KOA Elects.

On Eve of CEDIA Expo 2024, Oasys Announces Partnership with Sonos

by Leave a Comment

Sonos booth at the 2022 CEDIa Expo

Oasys Residential Technology Group, a division of Nationwide Marketing Group, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Sonos, a leading wireless audio brand popular with consumers. The announcement comes on the eve of today’s opening of CEDIA Expo 2024, taking place in Denver, CO from September 5-7, 2024.

Oasys group managers say that this is a significant deal with “a massive brand.”

See more on Oasys partnering with Sonos

[Read more…] about On Eve of CEDIA Expo 2024, Oasys Announces Partnership with Sonos

Proposals That Build Themselves – See the Game-Changing ‘AI Proposals’ From Portal

by Leave a Comment

AI Proposals by Portal

Automated Proposals Built Literally in Minutes Before Your Eyes

Portal executives Kirk Chisholm and Josh Willits recently gave me a sneak preview at a dramatic new feature they have developed for Portal users that is a potential game changer for those seeking to increase companywide efficiency by streamlining an essential but time-consuming process all integrators face – building compelling, complete, and accurate proposals. With Portal’s new AI Proposals, your proposals practically build themselves – literally in seconds on simple installations or in a minute or two on more sophisticated projects.

AI Proposals is a new use for artificial intelligence (AI) with real-world consequences that benefit integrators and their clients.

Learn more about the all-new AI Proposals from Portal

[Read more…] about Proposals That Build Themselves – See the Game-Changing ‘AI Proposals’ From Portal

It’s a Sonance Tsunami of Innovation at CEDIA Expo 2024

by Leave a Comment

Photo of a kitchen with Sonance Small Aperture Series speakers
Sonance says ‘Life is Better with Music’ as this couple dances to Small Aperture Speakers [Click to enlarge]

See Sonance at CEDIA Expo 2024 in Booth #3501

In a torrent of multiple releases from Sonance, it has unleashed a veritable tsunami of innovation covering several product categories and market segments. Scheduled to be shown at this week’s CEDIA Expo 2024 show in Denver will be a wide array of new products from Sonance and its entire family of brands, including James, IPORT, and TRUFIG. The company will also launch new modules for its Sonance Design Gallery – winner of the “Best New Software” award at last year’s CEDIA Expo 2023.

Also to be unveiled is a redesigned Sonance.com website and a fully functional my.Sonance.com platform with added configuration enhancements. Finally, the company will be demonstrating a new immersive music experience for attendees every 15 minutes. Like I said, it’s a Sonance tsunami of innovation.

See more on these and other new items from Sonance at CEDIA Expo 2024

[Read more…] about It’s a Sonance Tsunami of Innovation at CEDIA Expo 2024

Voxx Jettisons Jamo & Energy Brands as It Tries to Stop the Bleeding

by 1 Comment

Jamo founders in 1968; Jamo is part of Klipsch which is part of Voxx International
Jamo founders Preben Jacobsen and Julius Mortensen in 1968

Will Voxx International Itself Be Sold? It Says It’s Exploring *All* Options

Premium Audio Company (PAC), a division of Voxx International Corporation (Nasdaq: VOXX), announced today that Voxx has sold off both the Jamo and Energy brands as part of its plan to divest multiple brands in an effort to stave off its financial decline and revitalize its profits. The brands were sold to a Chinese manufacturing company and a Chinese distributor. Oddly, this announcement was retroactive, as the transaction was said to have taken place on August 15, 2024. No reason was given for why this announcement of the transaction was withheld until now.

See more on Voxx selling off underperforming brands

[Read more…] about Voxx Jettisons Jamo & Energy Brands as It Tries to Stop the Bleeding

Russound Raises Its Game with New Smarter-Design Models

by Leave a Comment

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

[Read more…] about Russound Raises Its Game with New Smarter-Design Models

New VP & New Product Shows AV-over-IP is Big at AVPro Global & AudioControl

by Leave a Comment

AVPro Global and AudioControl images

Two big announcements this month from the folks over at AVPro Global, one of the most kinetic entities in integration right now, show how important AV-over-IP is at the company. One announcement is the appointment of a new VP for the company, and the other is about the launch of a new AudioControl product that is really new – as in nothing like it ever existed in any form before now.

While big in commercial, AV-over-IP and Dante is still relatively new to many residential integrators. However, most think this category will grow in popularity on the residential side as more companies begin pushing their solutions.

See what’s going on at AVPro Global and AudioControl

[Read more…] about New VP & New Product Shows AV-over-IP is Big at AVPro Global & AudioControl

B&W Updates Premium Earbud Line with New True Wireless Pi6 & Pi8

by Leave a Comment

New Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 and Pi8 premium wireless earbuds
B&W Pi8 in Dove White [Click to enlarge]

Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), a premium U.K.-based maker of high-performance loudspeakers, earbuds, headphones, and more, announced today a significant update of its premium earbuds line with the launch of the all-new Pi6 and Pi8 models. The company notes that these new models were crafted by the same design and engineering teams who were responsible for creating the well-received Px7 S2e and Px8 headphone models.

Learn more about the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 & Pi8 premium earbuds

[Read more…] about B&W Updates Premium Earbud Line with New True Wireless Pi6 & Pi8

Samsung Employees Return to Work as Union Ends Strike with No Concessions

by Leave a Comment

Samsung employees in NSEU union
[PHOTO: Tina Hsu for The New York Times]

Earlier this month the National Samsung Employees Union (NSEU) opted to end its strike, even though it won no concessions from the company. The strike was the first ever union-directed work-stoppage action in Samsung’s history and threatened to impact critical production schedules at one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies.

See why Samsung union employees went back to work with no deal

[Read more…] about Samsung Employees Return to Work as Union Ends Strike with No Concessions