Strategy in TECH...
THX announced this week that it has joined the Streaming Video Alliance, an organzation that addresses ongoing video streaming issues through the development of best practices. THX says it is “uniquely qualified to make significant contributions to the Alliance.”
When it comes to sophisticated AV system installations, integrators have been forced to choose from a panoply of incompatible, proprietary matrix systems from a group of control manufacturers. These systems are complex and require specific programming protocols unique to them.
Then, at this year’s ISE, everything changed…
In reports out of Taiwan, sources say that Apple, Inc. has ordered 70 million bendable OLED panels from Samsung Electronics. An order of this size can only be for the upcoming iPhone 8, expected to be launched in late 2017. The order also suggests that Apple is expecting the iPhone 8 to be a big success.
Although many analysts criticize slowing innovation at industry powerhouse Apple, Inc., final results for global smartphone shipments shows Apple with four of the top five models. Not bad for a technology slacker!
Network systems provider Access Networks announced this week that it has hired Roy Beiser, a former Intel executive, as its first ever Director of IT. But even more than that, Beiser, who is said to be highly credentialed in network technologies and cyber security issues, will assist in helping Access Networks to establish “the highest IT and cyber security standards for the company’s base of integration professionals and their clients.”
Bloomberg News is reporting that, after a long wait, Google Alphabet’s Nest division is finally preparing to launch multiple new models. Nest, which is seeking to become a dominant player in the connected home space, has laid relatively dormant in the wake of the tumultuous exit of founder Tony Fadell. Now, Bloomberg tells us, things will begin to heat up with new models to expand the product segments in which the company participates.
Samsung Electronics has made another major investment in the Internet of Things (IoT) space, becoming an early stage Series A investor in Bayshore Networks. The company made the investment via its Samsung NEXT Venture fund, an investment fund created by the company to find and take positions in companies that are driving businesses that will yield future profits for the company.
One of the themes that appears to be emerging from the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show taking place in Amsterdam right now is several new competing solutions designed to distribute 4K Ultra HD over IP. We told you yesterday about Savant’s prototype solution and now we have Crestron with their DigitalMedia NVX Series, which it says transmits 4K60 4:4:4 HDR video over standard 1GB Ethernet “with no latency – an industry first.”
An interesting aspect of the Integrated Systems Europe Show (ISE) show is that it addresses both the residential and the commercial integration segments, making it a powerful draw for both types of integrators – although in Europe, it can often be one integration company that services both markets. Addressing the commercial side, LG Electronics took new digital signage solutions to Amsterdam – and with both LCD and OLED solutions, they caught our attention.
Savant has launched a new 4K Ultra HD video over IP switching solution at ISE 2017 taking place now in Amsterdam, NL. This is its first major product launch since Robert Madonna returned as CEO replacing outgoing CEO William Lynch in September 2016. The company says this system will give their dealers an “advantage in delivering premium distributed A/V content to their residential and commercial clients.”
