Strategy in TECH...
Rarely in the affordable high-performance audio market are product designers able to offer a solution that possesses an optimal combination of convenience, attractive design elements, and performance. But Pangea Audio, out of Grand Rapids, MI, has been able to achieve this holy trinity with their new Vulcan Turntable Wall-Mount Shelf.
IPORT, a Sonance company, announced this week it is launching an all-new, totally redesigned IPORT Connect Pro line of products. IPORT is an award-winning line of products that hold, charge, and protect tablets in a residential or commercial space. IPORT Connect Pro takes its already user-appreciated design and utility to the next level.
LG Electronics announced today that it is targeting the super-luxury residential market with a new wall-sized display based on Direct View LED (DVLED) technology. They call their new series DVLED Extreme Home Cinema and while they are not the only purveyor of the technology, LG says they are best positioned for success in the category due to their “years of [experience] building premium consumer electronics, keen understanding of affluent consumers and deep expertise as an innovator of DVLED technologies.”
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) announced today that they have partnered with BMW as the audio system provider for their new luxury electric SAV (sports activity vehicle)…the eagerly anticipated iX. The company says that engineers from both of the partners worked closely together to develop an audio experience that “feels as though you are there with the artist in the studio” – or what B&W likes to call “true sound.”
Schneider Electric is looking to take that dumb old 110v power coming into the typical residential home and make it smarter…much smarter. As part of its strategy to lead the digital transformation of energy management and automation in the home, the company has launched two new lines called the Square D X and XD Series of connected wiring devices. This opens up a whole new world of control convenience and possibilities for homeowners, and the integrators who serve them.
Last week, Savant Systems, Inc. announced that it had acquired Racepoint Energy, LLC, a provider of innovative power solutions. What many people did not know was that Racepoint Energy was another venture launched by Savant CEO Bob Madonna, and was originally intended to be a freestanding solution – primarily targeted for commercial, industrial, and utility markets.
But then the world changed and it made sense for Savant to bring it under their residential automation brand.
I first told you about the remarkable new form factor for OLED TVs back in 2019 when LG showed a rollable OLED technology concept (along with a separate bendable OLED technology as well). It was an interesting concept and resembles a simple sideboard cabinet in which the screen rolls up out of the cabinet like a motorized shade – only rolling up. LG had shown it more as a concept piece back at the 2019 CES – a demonstration of the technology, but not a real product at that time.
Now, rollable OLED TV is for real.
In a press release distributed Wednesday morning, Integrated Systems Events (part of Integrated Systems Europe) announced the conclusion of their annual ISE event, this year in Barcelona, Spain for the first time on June 1-2. It was a hybrid-style event, offering an online or virtual conference as well as an in-person event with exhibitors in the Fira de Barcelona exhibition center. The organizers heralded the event as helping “the industry getting back to business.”
LWith great fanfare, Crestron kicked off their annual festival of all things Crestron – Crestron Masters 2021 – with a keynote address titled “Innovation Fuels Us.” And in a bit of irony, Mother Nature, or should I sway Mother Internet, reminded us all of who’s in charge by causing the program to suddenly stop at about five minutes in. About fifteen minutes or so later, the program started again and, save for a couple of stutters later, attendees were entertained with an impressively professional and compelling pre-recorded video presentation that celebrated Crestron’s history of innovation and set the tone for the week of education and conversation to come.
Bowers & Wilkins continues to forge new paths through the audio jungle, bringing along their trunks full of high-end ethic and high-performance sensibility to help civilize the undisciplined hoards of audio mediocrity. Now part of the Sound United family of brands, B&W hasn’t skipped a beat as they continue to address both new products and new product segments as first revealed to the press seven months ago.
Yesterday, the company launched a pair of true wireless earbuds that completely embody the company’s unique bespoke design style in both industrial design and technological innovation – meet the PI7 & PI5.
