Strategy

Formation – A Formidable Foray into Digital for B&W

April 24, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

Ever since EVA Automation acquired Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) back in 2016, I have nervously watched to see the impact of this clash of cultures – new wave with old school. Strata-gee had already exhaustively reported on the painful slow-motion train wreck of Thiel Audio – another high-end audio brand purchased by private equity. In that case, its ultimate demise was in part due to the launch of affordably-priced, but common Bluetooth technology speakers relying on the power of the Thiel brand to justify the non-common selling price.

Would audiophile darling B&W suffer the same fate?

See more on B&W’s new Formation wireless line…

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The Ticket is $3,000 to See a Cinema at This Most Exclusive Theater

April 11, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

Are you a one percenter who loves movies, but doesn’t love sharing a theater experience of dirty seats and sticky floors with the unwashed masses? Then Red Carpet Home Cinema is for you! You can see first-run, genuine (non-bootleg) blockbuster Hollywood movies in the comfort of your very own plush home theater for the positively pedestrian sum of a mere $3,000! And you can absolutely see them on the same date & time they are in commercial theaters! Hurrah!

See more on Red Carpet Home Cinema…

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Panasonic/Sony OLED Joint Venture JOLED Raises Money

April 10, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

There’s been a lot of action this week on the OLED beat – in this case, news that holds promise for a new robust competitor in the OLED market. The company, known as JOLED (for Japan OLED), is a joint venture between two TV powerhouse brands and a major display manufacturer that has successfully raised money to complete a new OLED factory.

See more on just what Panasonic and Sony are up to…

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CEDIA Celebrates, Hoping You Don’t Notice That Little Spark Catching in the Corner

April 5, 2019 by Ted 5 Comments

Photo of CEDIA HQ — CEDIA’s new headquarters building in Fishers, Indiana

On March 28th CEDIA held a grand opening gala to celebrate their brand new $14 million glass and stone castle in Fishers, IN with about 250 of their closest friends. Depending on your viewpoint, this new facility is either a shining shrine to the strength of the custom integration tech association – or it is a monument to the monumental arrogance and ego of an association that is drifting further away from the very community it purports to serve.

But what many of these guests to the opening celebrations didn’t know was that, as they sipped champagne and oohed an ahhhd over the new gorgeous digs, there was yet another small member flare-up taking place in the background…with significant members expressing strong dissent on yet another Association initiative.

See more on this two worlds of CEDIA…

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Tech Hit Hard in Latest Reputation Index Survey

April 4, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

Privacy Backlash Hits Google, Amazon & Facebook; What About LG, Samsung, Sony?

In a new survey by Reputation Institute on corporate reputation, known as the 2019 RepTrak 100, we see wild swings in tech brands’ reputation with consumer privacy concerns finally appearing to take a major toll. With an overall all-category average reputation rating increase of +0.8 points, technology as a segment saw its collective reputation drop by 1 full point on the scale.

But the news wasn’t all bad – movie king Netflix, Inc. jumped 23 spots to come in at #1 for the first time in their history.

Read on to see how your favorite tech brand fared…

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Tech IPOs: Lyft, Uber, Pinterest… ComoAudio? Well, Sort Of…

March 29, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

Como Audio, Tom DeVesto’s latest innovative venture and maker of fine streaming smart speaker systems, has launched a funding campaign on Wefunder, seeking to raise between $100,000 to $1,000,000 in equity investment. Investors on the Wefunder site can buy preferred shares of Como Audio stock priced at $2.50/share and own a piece of the company.

You too can become a Como Audio owner…

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Sonos One to be Replaced with Upgraded ‘Gen 2’ Version

March 7, 2019 by Ted 2 Comments

Thanks to some heads-up reporting by The Verge, we learn that Sonos will announce an upgraded version of their Sonos One speaker system. According to the report, the upgrades are all internal and the new version will, somewhat confusingly, look exactly like the original one.

See more on the ‘new’ Sonos One…

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Japan Opens Antitrust Inquiry into Amazon

March 6, 2019 by Ted Leave a Comment

At the urging the industry minister of Japan, the country’s Fair Trade Commission will look at a new program announced by Amazon Japan that some suggest may be anti-competitive in nature. Depending on the Commission’s findings, Amazon may be forced to abandon the idea, which is a form of a consumer rebate program.

See more on Amazon’s troubles in Japan…

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Amazon Acquires WiFi Router Maker Eero

February 13, 2019 by Ted 2 Comments

This week we learned that Amazon has acquired Eero, a start-up company that offers a mesh WiFi system. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company does reveal what drew them to the still small, but rapidly growing Eero.

See why Amazon wanted Eero…

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I Smell a Scam

January 31, 2019 by Ted 2 Comments

Photo of Foxconn's Terry Gou & Scott Walker

The headline caught my attention immediately – “Exclusive: Foxconn reconsidering plans to make LCD panels at Wisconsin plant.” This story, from the highly respected Reuters News Agency, follows a series of articles on Foxconn’s growing business struggles in the wake of a decline in sales to Apple. But it immediately raised a red flag with me…

See why I question Foxconn’s motives…

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Strategy

Formation – A Formidable Foray into Digital for B&W

See more on B&W’s new Formation wireless line…