Strategy in TECH...
At the end of January, Savant held their popular annual Integrator Summit – its 15th summit ever…but its first such summit held online as a virtual one. In a Zoom meeting with industry media following the summit, President J.C. Murphy recapped the event which is held privately with only Savant integrators in the room.
Savant had a lot to talk about.
LG Electronics announced this week that the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded it an Emmy for its OLED TV at the 72nd Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards event. The award is said to recognize LG’s “continuing innovations to enhance and evolve the televisions to meet reference studio specifications.”
Vanco International, a brand historically known largely for cables and accessories, continues their recent-history expansion of mission-critical integration solutions and overall A/V products. The company is displaying an uncommon level of savvy in design and in solution targeting, as management clearly has designs on expanding their impact in the industry.
“Please join us in looking forward as we continue to evolve as a ‘creative entertainment company,'” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony Chairman, CEO and President to kick off Sony’s presentation to the media on CES 2021’s press day this past Monday. It was a carefully crafted opening, with words of particular significance that contrasts strongly with previous company characterizations. Sony is changing.
Has the train jumped the tracks? Or has Sony hit the hyper-drive taking us to a new and exciting unexplored planet?
I’m sorry to report that we have some sad news out of Crestron today. On Tuesday, the company announced its long time Chief Technology Officer, Fred Bargetzi, has died. Viewed by many to be a key component of the success of one of our industry’s most respected technology companies, colleagues are said to be “in shock.”
Just last week I was an invited guest to an event that I wasn’t entirely sure would be all that exciting – yet another Zoom meeting in a year full of Zoom meetings. Or so I thought. My invitation came from industry powerhouse Savant, who wanted to host me on a virtual tour of their new Experience Center in Manhattan. Boy!…am I glad I agreed to participate….
Just about seven weeks ago, Strata-gee told you about Crestron’s cool new TS-70R touch screen which was solidly built, exceptionally attractive for either a residential or small office setting, and provided a great control solution for the Crestron Home operating system. Now, Crestron continues their Crestron Home-specific product launches with another new product – the MM30-R Crestron Home Audio Conferencing and Control Solution.
Sony Corporation has two large factories in Malaysia – one manufacturing audio products, and the other manufacturing predominantly video products. A new report out of Japan indicates that the company plans to close its audio factory in Malaysia by no later than the beginning of 2022 – or in other words, during the upcoming year of 2021. This move is likely a result of a previously announced strategic refocusing on businesses other than a/v electronics at the major consumer electronics manufacturer.
On Tuesday, specialty voice control supplier Josh.ai held an event they called their “keynote” which turned out to be a very professionally produced video presentation of a significant product launch for the company. In this presentation, the company Founder and CEO Alex Capecelatro shared his thoughts on smart home technologies, including the thought that smaller is better when it comes to smart home devices.
And with that, Capecelatro introduced their new Nano and Core products.
BluOS, the music management and operating system that is part of Lenbrook International, announced a couple of important integration partnerships today – and in so doing, demonstrate their growing influence as a leading premium music system user interface in the industry. The company says it has new integrations with both URC and Crestron.
