The Wall Street Journal broke the news yesterday that United Technologies Corp. is in talks to possibly acquire Nortek, Inc. Nortek is best known in our industry as the parent company of Core Brands, a collection of several prominent lines – such as Niles, Elan, SpeakerCraft (and others) – that are focused largely on the custom integration business, but also produces commercial and residential HVAC and air handling equipment. United Technologies is a large conglomerate with diversified holdings such as Pratt & Whitney jet engines, Otis elevators, and Carrier air-conditioning equipment.
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Research: Don’t Just Watch a Movie, Use Brainwaves to Alter It
Watching movies is a serial, linear, common experience…period. No matter how great of a movie enthusiast you may be, the experience is the same for us all – you can only watch one movie at a time, and you watch it from the beginning to the end. And we all exit the theater having watched the exact same movie. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if our mind controlled the movie, changing the plot as it plays? Science fiction…or science fact?
See the breakthrough researchers are working on that creates an new cinema experience… [Read more…] about Research: Don’t Just Watch a Movie, Use Brainwaves to Alter It
Russound Expands XStream Line with Two New Components
Russound announced today that it is adding two new components to its popular XStream line that seamlessly integrates streaming music services to any system installation, residential or commercial. The new models are the XSource Streaming Audio Player and the XZone4 Four-Stream, Four-Zone Audio System.
See more about these brand new models from Russound… [Read more…] about Russound Expands XStream Line with Two New Components
Toshiba Struggles to Get Past Troubles
Toshiba Corp. has been subjected to almost daily press stories and analyses in the Japanese media on their continued struggles in the wake of a huge accounting scandal at the formerly blue-chip powerhouse company. The scandal was likely large in terms of financial losses, but even larger in terms of decimating the reputation of the company and its management. To turn the situation around, the company must start to build a new reputation for reliability. It isn’t going to be easy…
New President, new board, secret ballets…strange stuff… [Read more…] about Toshiba Struggles to Get Past Troubles
Planar Systems Acquired by Chinese Video Wall Maker Leyard Optoelectronic
Planar Systems, Inc. announced today that it has agreed to be acquired by Leyard Optoelectronic Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese provider of fine pitch LED video wall systems. Leyard will purchase all outstanding shares of Planar stock paying $6.58 per share, valuing the deal at $156.8 million. This represents a 42% premium over the value of the stock at closing before the deal was announced.
See more on this Leyard and this deal… [Read more…] about Planar Systems Acquired by Chinese Video Wall Maker Leyard Optoelectronic
TiO Turns On Next Color of ‘Belt’ in Ninja Training Program
Turn It On (TiO), the affordable wired and wireless multiroom home automation solution from Anuva Automation, announced on Wednesday that the next level in their comprehensive training program – known as the yellow belt level – is now live. TiO training, called “Ninja” training follows the conventions typical of martial arts programs, where each program level connotes to a different colored “belt” and dealers earn multiple colors of belts as they progress through the program. The first level of training, called the white belt, debuted in March and now the company has released the yellow belt level.
See more on TiO’s unique training solution… [Read more…] about TiO Turns On Next Color of ‘Belt’ in Ninja Training Program
Sales Down, Losing Money, Ingram Micro CEO Says ‘Doing a Great Job’
AVAD Parent Ingram Micro Reports Fiscal 2nd Quarter Results
Ingram Micro, Inc. reported results for the second quarter and first half of their current fiscal year and it would be easy to be confused by these results. Why? Well, sales were down 3.2%, operating earnings dropped an astonishing 98%, and last year’s net income plunged into a net loss this year. Yet CEO Alain Monié said in accompanying materials, “Our teams are doing a great job…”
Really?!?! See why Monié feels Ingram Micro’s doing a great job… [Read more…] about Sales Down, Losing Money, Ingram Micro CEO Says ‘Doing a Great Job’
The Future of Electronics? Two Words: Graphene Nanoribbons
On Tuesday, the University of Wisconsin-Madison gave us all a glimpse of the future of microelectronic devices when they reported a breakthrough in the development of a next generation technology – graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). This new technology promises to be a major advance in semiconductors with performance that is described as “dramatically” faster while simultaneously exhibiting better energy-efficiency properties.
See more about this breakthrough and learn why scientists are so excited about it… [Read more…] about The Future of Electronics? Two Words: Graphene Nanoribbons
Azione Unlimited Adds Select Core Brands Lines
Azione Unlimited, a national buying group of specialty retailers and integrators, said today it has added several lines of products from the Core Brands’ stable of brands to its mix. The Core Brands lines added include BlueBOLT, Furman, Panamax, and Xantech.
See more on this newly expanded Azione assortment… [Read more…] about Azione Unlimited Adds Select Core Brands Lines
Is HydraConnect Out of Business?
BREAKING NEWS
*STORY UPDATED* (See note below…)
It started innocently enough when we received calls and email messages asking us what we knew of what was going on at HydraConnect, the manufacturer of unique and useful HDMI matrixes and other devices. Rumors were swirling that the company was out of business. The plot thickened when we visited the HydraConnect website and found that it was down. Now we had a bit of a mystery. Phones at the company went straight to voicemail and we weren’t getting called back.
