Volume 5, Issue 5 – March 13, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Welcome to another edition of rAVe! Have you heard about the feds raiding CeBIT in Hannover, Germany last week? No specific manufacturers have yet been named but with so many prominent companies filing patent infringements against other prominent companies, this could be interesting. Read about it below, and we'll update you as we get more. By now, you probably know that Pioneer decided to stop its own production of flat panels and outsource them instead. You can read about that, too. I just returned from the CEDIA Management Conference, and I have plenty to tell you about that great event in this issue. One thing is for sure: don't miss it next year. Enjoy the issue! –Gary Kayye, CTS
Editorial I had the privilege to not only attend CEDIA's 2008 Management Conference, but I was also asked to be a breakout session facilitator. So, I was privy to see both sides of the conference — as an attendee and as an instructor. I was simply amazed and thoroughly impressed by what I saw. And, if you didn't attend, I believe you made a big mistake. As with everything CEDIA does, this was a first-class experience from beginning to end. It all kicked off with Kevin Carroll, author of Rules of the Red Rubber Ball. Kevin is one of the most passionate and entertaining speakers I have ever seen in my life. CEDIA could not have chosen a better opening speaker for the Management Conference as he pleaded with the attendees to do their work, but make it all fun, too. His message centered around how adults forget how much fun we had as kids and how using that kid-based fun as a motivation now in our everyday professional lives will ensure we love coming to work and what we do. He jumped around, threw out prizes, virtually shook all of the 250 or so attendees' hands and closed by giving everyone Nike Dream silicone bracelets — a trend he's proud of starting way back when in his Nike days. OK, by now, you're wondering why the heck CEDIA even had a guy like him open a management meeting, right? Well, you NEED to attend in 2009 to see why. People couldn't stop talking about his presentation for three days! But, the quality didn't stop there. Through the three-day event, there were a half a dozen keynotes sandwiched between both fun-oriented networking activities and classroom-based breakout learning sessions. But, the real kudos belongs to the committee that put it all together and, specifically, Buzz Delano. They kept the attendees engaged and participating in every session so that they were not only absorbing the information they were learning in each session but also contributing to the learning experience by telling their "war stories" of how they've done things in the past. So, what was my session about? Well, I spoke about the need for HomeAV dealers to become more service-oriented and less reliant on selling gear. And, specifically, my session talked about the need for HomeAV dealers to start selling proactive service contracts. To that end, I wrote a white paper — http://www.ravehome.com/issues/2008/03/rhvol5iss5/PSAhomeAVfinalDRAFT.pdf that you're welcome to download and read about Proactive Service Contracts. Finally, when registration for the 2009 CEDIA Management Conference opens, GET REGISTERED. I assure you that your competitors were there…
Electronic Lifestyles® Forum – The Total Package CEDIA's 3rd annual Electronic Lifestyles® Forum is your chance to experience endless networking and educational opportunities. Meet with the most influential select group of architects, builders, and interior designers in Dallas, TX -April 30 – May 2, 2008. The event begins Wednesday with CEDIA's newly revamped Registered Outreach Instructor training program. This training program allows CEDIA members to deliver AIA-registered education to architects in their local areas. Also, on Wednesday Connie Podesta will deliver her insight on how effective communication can make or break a deal, determine outcomes, and affect our ability to achieve the success we desire. Attendees will then have the chance to meet with industry partners at Thursday's Welcome Breakfast. After a morning filled with networking and education, attendees will have yet another opportunity to build their relationships at the Networking Lunch — led by Tom Plake of Creative Resources. Plake will provide tips for making partnerships more valuable and beneficial for your business. Thursday and Friday will feature 20 educational courses. You will have the chance to build your own schedule, focusing on education that matters most to your business. View the registration brochure for a complete list of courses and descriptions. Wrap up your Electronic Lifestyles® Forum experience on Friday at the Experts Panel Closing Lunch. This VIP panel will recap the three-days and share how they plan to move forward with what they have learned. Relationship-building and education go hand-and-hand when cultivating the perfect way to conduct business, which will result in higher profitability, better customer satisfaction, and the full sense of a job well done. Visit www.cedia.org/elforum to view full event details or to register. Don't forget! Early bird registration ends March 12!
Place Your Company Ahead of the Competition! CEDIA's Electronic Lifestyles® Awards are the single greatest opportunity for CEDIA Members' work to be recognized by their peers. Manufacturers' premier products and technologies will be highlighted in the Manufacturers' Excellence Awards competition. ESCs can enter their most innovative projects in the Designer Awards. Enter in any of the following categories below … Designer Awards — Click here to view complete guidelines – Large Home Theater * All companies entering must be FULL CEDIA residential electronic systems contractor members. Best New Technology. New to the competition this year, this award will be given to the manufacturer who has developed ground-breaking technology that an ESC just can't work without. Three finalists will be announced in July as well. Product Hall of Fame. This annual award is new to the awards competition for 2008. This award will showcase the products that have helped ESC member companies make great strides in the industry. *All companies entering must be FULL CEDIA Manufacturer Members. If you are entering the Best New Product or Best New Technology categories you must also be officially exhibiting at CEDIA EXPO 2008. Get Recognized for Your Accomplishments: -Finalists & winners receive exclusive and free promotion in future issues of trade and consumer publications *Manufacturers' Excellence Awards only Thank you to our 2008 Award Sponsors!
Important Deadlines to Remember …. Designer Awards Deadline Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations Manufacturers' Excellence Awards Deadline Electronic Systems Contractor of the Year Deadline Electronic Systems Technician of the Year Deadline Visit www.cedia.org/awards for complete details and to enter the competition.
Seeing Double? You Could by 2013 Parks Associates is predicting the high-end entertainment market will nearly double in five years. Parks specifically points to adoption of networking technologies as making installed home theaters as well as multiroom audio systems more affordable and leading to this increase by 2013. The specifics: Total U.S. revenues for installed home theaters and multiroom audio systems will grow from $6 billion in 2007 to more than $11 billion by 2012, and analysts forecast the number of new installations to grow 67% over the same period, from 166,000 per year in 2007 to 277,000 by 2012. The report goes on to say that while most current high-end customers are wealthy and systems are going into new or renovated homes, networks will be ubiquitous in a wider variety of builds. For more information go to http://newsroom.parksassociates.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5009
It's a Raid! Authorities Seize Suspect Patent Products at CeBIT Associated Press reported that police and customs officers raided certain manufacturers at CeBIT, the huge annual European electronics show. They seized mobile phones, navigation devices and other electronics suspected of violating patent laws. The report also says many of the targeted companies were from China. More than 180 officials conducted the search last Wednesday, after which they left with 68 boxes of products and literature. (Can you imagine 180 uniforms bursting in on a trade show? That must have been quite a sight!) Only one person was uncooperative to the point of being hauled off to the police station. AP reports that of the 51 exhibitors were affected, 24 were from mainland China, three from Hong Kong and 12 from Taiwan. Another nine were German, with one each from Poland, the Netherlands and Korea. No one is yet saying which companies were involved. For the AP story, go to http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/06/technology/EU-TEC-Germany-Tech-Fair-Raid.php
CEDIA Management Conference Hosts 260 CEDIA announced record-breaking attendance at the 2008 CEDIA Management Conference held February 27 through March 1 in San Diego. The number included 100 first-time residents, making it a huge growth in new attendees. CEDIA says the total is a 40 percent increase over last year. CEDIA invited owners and management of all levels from both member and non-member companies to attend. Next up for CEDIA the third annual Electronic Lifestyles Forum, April 30-May 2 in Dallas, TX. For more information, go to http://www.cedia.net/press_media/mcwrapup_0308.php
Supplier of the Year at Wal-Mart: VIZIO It wasn't Apple or Philips or Garmin. No, it was VIZIO that nabbed Wal-Mart's Electronics Supplier of the Year award. And they did it just one year after introducing the VIZIO brand in the retailer's stores. Believe it or not, it was just May of 2007 when VIZIO hit the 3,400 Wal-Mart store shelves. Even though the company's products pretty well undercut competitors on price, VIZIO TVs seem to have maintained quite a good reputation. For more information, go to http://www.vizio.com/news/detail.aspx?nid=214
It's Official: Pioneer out of Plasma Production After days of rumors, Pioneer announced the company will no longer produce its own plasma display panels. BusinessWeek (and Pioneer themselves) confirmed what we suspected, that Pioneer will buy the panels from another company and is in talks with Panasonic parent Matsushita. For years, rAVe's been predicting that 2010 would be the last year we'd see plasma, and with this announcement from Pioneer, it appears the death of plasma is on the horizon. BusinessWeek also reported that Pioneer saw a 15 billion yen ($145.6 million) loss for charges for restructuring its PDP TV business compared to a previous forecast of a 6 billion yen ($58 million) profit. You can read the BusinessWeek story at http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8V8IDGG0.htm
InfoComm Registration Opens InfoComm announced that registration is now open for the show. The exhibition includes three halls, two shows (InfoComm and NXTcomm08 networking) and the integration of the NSCA Systems Integration Expo. InfoComm takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center June 14-20. And don't forget: Projection Summit, EduComm and Digital Signage Technology Summit '08 conferences require separate registrations! Gary Kayye will deliver the keynote at EduComm this year. To register, go to https://registration.expoexchange.com/ShowINF081/Default.aspx?HTTPSProxyDetectIteration=4
InFocus Introduces 1080p DLP Projector InFocus introduced a competitive 1080p home theater projector, the InFocus Play Big IN83. This is a DLP-based projector using DarkChip4 and BrillliantColor technologies from Texas Instruments. The IN83 is specified at 1600 max ANSI lumens and 5000:1 contrast ratio. It uses Pixelworks DNX 10-bit processing and HDMI 1.3. It also provides 2:35:1 Cinemascope/widescreen aspect ratio support without an external scaler (but you do have to buy the lens separately). It debuts at a nice $5,999 MSRP, AND the company says it's only available via InFocus resellers and installers. It ships this month. For more, go to http://www.infocus.com/
Student Wins Award for Developing New LED A Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student developed a new type of LED that could allow for their widespread use as light sources for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) on everything from televisions and computers to cell phones and cameras, according to the prize committee that handed him first place in a recent contest. Martin Schubert, a doctoral student in electrical, computer, and systems engineering, has developed what they claim is "the first polarized LED, an innovation that could vastly improve LCD screens, conserve energy, and usher in the next generation of ultra-efficient LEDs." Schubert's innovation has earned him the $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize. Here is how they describe the new technology: Schubert's polarized LED advances current LED technology in its ability to better control the direction and polarization of the light being emitted. With better control over the light, less energy is wasted producing scattered light, allowing more light to reach its desired location. This makes the polarized LED perfectly suited as a backlighting unit for any kind of LCD, according to Schubert. Its focused light will produce images on the display that are more colorful, vibrant, and lifelike, with no motion artifacts. Schubert first discovered that traditional LEDs actually produce polarized light, but existing LEDs did not capitalize on the light's polarization. Armed with this information, he devised an optics setup around the LED chip to enhance the polarization, creating the first polarized LED. The invention could advance the effort to combine the power and environmental soundness of LEDs with the beauty and clarity of LCDs. Schubert expects that his polarized LED could quickly become commonplace in televisions and monitors around the world, replacing widely used fluorescent lights that are less efficient and laden with mercury. His innovation also could be used for street lighting, high-contrast imaging, sensing, and free-space optics, he said. For more information, go to http://www.eng.rpi.edu/lemelson/
Syntax-Brillian in Trouble? Stock market publication Seeking Alpha is reporting that Syntax-Brillian, owners of the Olevia and Vivitar brands, may be in deep financial trouble. The stock has fallen about 78% from the beginning of the year and the most recent sell off was prompted by the company's creditors forcing the company to disclose they were in default over 19 covenants of their loan in an 8-K. The company's line of credit has been reduced from $250 million to $120 million. The revised agreement also imposed many mandates onto Syntax-Brillian. Many of them had a deadline of February 19, 2008, which the company failed to meet. The creditors have cut off the company's credit, required the company to have their approval before using any cash, forced the company to submit weekly budgets, and assigned an "Operation Advisor" to oversee the operations for the company. The "Operation Advisor" of course looks out first for the interest of the creditors rather than the shareholders. On top of it all, the creditors took title to inventory purchased outside of the US and required Syntax-Brillian to dissolve Vivitar Japan, pledge 65% of Vivitar France, Vivitar Asia, and either dissolve or pledge 65% of Vivitar UK as collateral. It remains to be seen if the company can further renegotiate with their lenders, obtain other financing, find some other way to repay the loan, or be forced into Chapter The company is also still unable to report their earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2007 after issuing a delay on February 11, 2008. As a result, the company received a Notice of Delisting from Nasdaq on February 22. Due to a delay in the build-out of the 2008 Beijing Olympic facilities, there are indications that a large number of LCD TVs already sold through distributors in China have not been deployed. As a result, Syntax-Brillian is in talks to buy back the TVs for redistribution primarily into the No. American retail channel. For the story, go to http://seekingalpha.com/article/66607-will-syntax-brillian-survive?source=side_bar_short_ideas
Canon Buys 25 Percent of Hitachi LCD Panel Unit Canon will pay $403 million for 24.9% of Hitachi's LCD panel business. Canon, the world's largest maker of digital cameras, currently buys LCD panels for its cameras, camcorders, copiers, and printers. Canon would like to buy all of Hitachi Displays' owner, Panasonic. Hitachi Displays itself own 50% of large LCD maker IPS Alpha Technology. For more information, go to http://www.canon.com/news/2008/feb27e.html
Rotating Outlets on New Tributaries Power Strip Organize Power Cords Tributaries Cable has a new power strip, the T12, that smoothes those installations where you have a lot of power cords. The T12 has 12 outlets, eight of which can rotate up to 90 degrees. It provides 4320 joules of surge suppression and noise filtering for AC power, and signal-line protection for telecomm (RJ-11), network (RJ-45), and cable, antenna, and satellite (F-connector) signals. The T12 has two status LEDs. The blue "Grounded" LED will illuminate when the electrical system is properly grounded; the red "Protected" LED, when lit, shows the AC surge protection is operating properly. The T12 is rated for heavy duty use at 15 amps for up to 1875 watts of load. The T12 is available now with an MSRP of $120. For more information, go to http://www.tributariescable.com/products/sheets/HNP_T12.pdf
Crestron Introduces Lighting Expansion Modules Crestron introduced the CLS-EXP line of lighting expansion modules to be used with Crestron dimmers and lighting solutions. These new modules enable the Crestron iLux integrated lighting system and other Crestron lighting dimmers to handle more load types, a wider range of voltages, and larger loads. There are four models in the line. The CLS-EXP-DIM model allows each output channel of the iLux system to dim a fully loaded circuit of incandescent, magnetic low-voltage, neon/cold cathode, or dimmable 2-wire fluorescent lighting loads up to 16 Amps. Residential integrators will welcome the CLS-EXP-DIMU Universal Dimmer model, which supports electronic low voltage (ELV) commonly found in recessed lighting. Additional models support 3 and 4-wire dimmable fluorescents, as well as switching for non-dimmable lighting and motors. CLS-EXP modules support a wider range of voltages, from 120 to 277 Volts. Also, with the ability to support a greater number of loads, CLS-EXP modules enable integrators to add up to five expansion modules to each iLux output for a maximum of 80 Amps per zone. iLux units feature six independent outputs and can support up to 8 additional units, expanding a system to 54 lighting zones. For more information, go to http://www.crestron.com/press_room/press_releases/show_release.asp?press_release_id=1310
Samsung Ditches Dual-Format Player Dealerscope reports that Samsung is canceling its most recent dual-format high definition DVD player. The company will product Blu-ray only and plans a new line of them this year. Dealerscope also reports that in an email, Samsung said they: "always believed that Blu-ray was the format best-positioned to win based on the studio support and the format's capabilities." Samsung and LG were the two manufacturers producing dual-format players. For the story, go to http://www.dealerscope.com/story/story.bsp?sid=92733&var=story
Circuit City Offering High Definition Player Exchange Program Circuit City announced that if you bought an HD DVD player from them in the last 90 days, you can bring it back to the store and get store credit, which can then be applied to buying a Blu-ray player (or whatever else you want). It is explained how this works on a blog on the Circuit City website. Ouch! This new program applies only to players and not to discs. For the whole blog, go to http://www.circuitcity.com
This in from rAVe Europe: The Embedded (In You!) Monitor Some people's genius is just frightening… Engineer Jim Mielke demonstrated his invention at a Greener Gadgets Design Competition in USA: a wireless blood-fueled display implanted under your skin. The 2×4-inch "Digital Tattoo Interface" Bluetooth device (made of thin, flexible silicon and silicone) is inserted through a small incision as a tightly rolled tube, and then it unfolds underneath the skin to skin and muscle. Via the same incision, two small tubes allow blood to flow to a coin-sized blood fuel cell and it converts glucose and oxygen into electricity. After blood flows in (from an artery) to the fuel cell, it flows out again (via the vein). On both surfaces of the display (top and bottom) is a matching matrix of field-producing pixels. The top enables touch-screen control through the skin. Instead of ink, the display uses tiny microscopic spheres, similar to tattoo ink (the spheres changes their color from clear to black, as aligned with the matrix fields). Your skin becomes a touch-screen cover that can operates as a cell phone display with the potential for 3G video calls that are visible from underneath the skin. When the phone rings, you push to turn your implanted display on, and "the tattoo comes to life" with a digital video of the caller." When the call ends, the tattoo disappears. The "tattoo" communicates like any other Bluetooth device. The display can be turned off and on by pushing a small dot on the skin. But unlike battery-powered devices… this device is the ultimate green concept and is always on as long as your blood flows. But you can read more of the story at http://www.physorg.com/news122819670.html Well, that's it for this edition of rAVe! Thank you for spending time with me as we muse the industry's happenings. To continue getting my newsletter, or to sign up a friend, click the link below. To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter – instead, write to me at gkayye@kayye.com or for editorial: Denise Harrison at dharrison@kayye.com A little about me: Gary Kayye, CTS, founder of Kayye Consulting. Gary Kayye, an audiovisual veteran and columnist, began the widely-read KNews, a premier industry newsletter, in the late 1990s, and created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue – which later became InfoComm IQ. Kayye Consulting is a company that is committed to furthering the interests and success of dealers, manufacturers, and other companies within the professional audiovisual industry. rAVe ProAV Edition was launched in February 2003. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-sponsored by CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. To read more about my background, our staff, and what we do, go to http://www.kayye.com Copyright 2008 – Kayye Consulting – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact Kayye Consulting, 400 Meadowmont Village Circle, Suite 425 – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – 919/969-7501. Email: dharrison@kayye.com rAVe HomeAV Edition contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors.
|