Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI), a medical products manufacturer who also owns audio products maker Sound United, said this week that a U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) Administrative Law Judge in Washington D.C. has ruled that Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by importing and selling models of their Apple Watch that incorporate light-based pulse oximetry technology that infringes on two of Masimo’s patents. Apple first introduced its pulse oximeter sensor in their Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020 and continues to incorporate it into models up to the current series.
Strategy
2022 CEDIA Member Meeting was a Glossy Display of Overt Positivity

Selling a Vision Rather than Briefing Members w/Data
CEDIA held its annual member meeting just a couple of weeks ago in mid-December. The version offered this year was decidedly different than those in the past. This is likely due to the professional association management style of the organization’s new Global President and CEO Daryl Friedman.
CEDIA and staff offered members a slick marketing package of largely pre-recorded content and carefully controlled live content. But was it too slick? Did it really brief members with a balanced picture of both the successes and the challenges that CEDIA is facing? Or was it just a form of advertisement for the association?
Learn more about CEDIA’s 2022 annual Member Meeting…
[Read more…] about 2022 CEDIA Member Meeting was a Glossy Display of Overt PositivityDraper Factory Tour: 400k sq. ft. of Innovation, Customization & Variety

See How Shades, Projection Screens & Custom Structures for LED Panels are Made
Hop on I-70 and head East out of Indianapolis for around forty-five minutes or so and you’ll arrive in Spiceland, a quiet, rural village of under 1,000 people that with its brick church, quaint bandstand in the park, and a picturesque running stream, feels as country-style homey as you could imagine. What brought me to Spiceland? I came to visit the town’s largest employer and Henry County’s (named for patriot Patrick Henry) second-largest employer – Draper, a manufacturer of leading projection screens and roller shades.
See more on my visit to the Draper HQ & factory in Spiceland…
[Read more…] about Draper Factory Tour: 400k sq. ft. of Innovation, Customization & VarietyCourt Orders OSD Audio to Cease ‘Literally False’ Advertising Claim

In a decision announced last week, U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna has granted a motion for reconsideration by Outlaw Audio that included a restraining order preventing OSD Audio “from falsely representing” a certain feature of one of its products. This decision is a result of legal action taking place between direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands Santos Elecs. Inc. dba OSD Audio and Outlaw Audio LLC.
Learn more about this action between OSD Audio and Outlaw Audio
[Read more…] about Court Orders OSD Audio to Cease ‘Literally False’ Advertising ClaimSavant Tests a 2nd NYC Experience Center, The Savant SOHO Smart Home Gallery

In a dramatic move that represents a tremendous investment in consumer marketing, Savant Systems, Inc. (Savant) is piloting a second New York City showroom concept in Manhattan’s trendy SOHO district called, appropriately enough, Savant SOHO Smart Home Gallery. This new space joins the company’s long-running Flagship Experience Center, which is also in SOHO.
Why a second experience center in the same part of New York City? Read on…
[Read more…] about Savant Tests a 2nd NYC Experience Center, The Savant SOHO Smart Home GalleryMasimo, Sound United Parent, to Expand Denon’s HEOS System

Company Finally Gives a Glimpse of Its Sound United Strategy
In what may turn out to be the best test yet of Masimo’s long-term plans for Sound United, the company announced today that it is launching an expansion of HEOS, the wireless home system initially developed by the company’s Denon division as part of a whole-home wireless music system. When Masimo acquired Sound United back in February of this year, Denon’s “cloud-connected home ecosystem” was one of the items it specifically mentioned as what attracted them to make the acquisition.
With today’s announcement, the company says that the launch of this “…expansion of the HEOS platform [will] provide a robust and always-on connection to the Masimo Health secure cloud.”
See more on this latest announcement by Masimo
[Read more…] about Masimo, Sound United Parent, to Expand Denon’s HEOS SystemSavant Power Raises Savant’s Power in the Market by Partnering with Sunnova

Savant Systems, Inc. (Savant) announced on Monday it’s Savant Power division has partnered with heavyweight energy solutions and services provider Sunnova Energy International, Inc. (Sunnova) (NYSE: NOVA). This is the kind of deal that can turbocharge Savant’s growth in the energy monitoring and control segment – a segment in which they are already a leader in the custom integration space.
Learn all about this deal between Savant Power and Sunnova…
[Read more…] about Savant Power Raises Savant’s Power in the Market by Partnering with SunnovaEXCLUSIVE: AVIXA CEO Weighs In on Trade Assocs., Shows, Emerald & More

About five seconds into our phone call, before I even had a chance to explain myself, AVIXA CEO David Labuskes suddenly burst out: “Oh! I know why you called me!” This reaction caught me off-guard as we’d never spoken before. But when he went on to tell me why he thought I had called him, he was right on the money. It was a clue that he is a deeper thinker than many executives I reach out to, and as we spoke further, that impression only got stronger.
Another surprise was that Labuskes knew me (and Strata-gee) better than I realized…
Learn what the CEO of AVIXA shared with me in this EXCLUSIVE interview…
[Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: AVIXA CEO Weighs In on Trade Assocs., Shows, Emerald & MoreISUS in America? Emerald Adds a Commercial Show to CEDIA Expo; Exhibitors React

Emerald Expositions (NYSE: EEX), the national B2B trade show company that owns CEDIA Expo, CE Pro, and Commercial Integrator surprised the industry at the recent CEDIA Expo 2022 by abruptly announcing that next year they will be “co-locating” a show for commercial integrators at the same time and in the same facility. Reaction to this announcement was…to put it mildly…mixed. Is Emerald trying to imitate the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show – an event for both residential and commercial businesses – by launching an ISUS (Integrated Systems United States) event??
Do you wonder why there was a mixed reaction to Emerald’s move? Read on…
See why some big exhibitors were not happy with the Emerald announcement…
[Read more…] about ISUS in America? Emerald Adds a Commercial Show to CEDIA Expo; Exhibitors ReactSonance Names National Sales Manager for Canada Biz Transition

Sonance announced last week that it was transitioning its business model in Canada from one centered around a distribution model with an in-country partner responsible for all sales and servicing in the country to a new direct one where Sonance HQ will directly handle all sales and service of its products there. This week, we learn that the company has appointed a new National Sales Manager for Canada, responsible for implementing this new business model, building an all-new sales team, and managing their sales operations there.
That new executive is Toronto-based sales professional Brad Middleton.