Part 2: What I Learned About the Industry by (Not Attending ISE or InfoComm, But) Watching 2,000 Product Videos

Part 2: AV-Over-IP, Software-Based AV and AI This is part 2 of an article about all the things I noticed from ISE and InfoComm this year, two shows to which I didn’t go, but as the editor in charge of video titling for rAVe [PUBS] for both, I did watch pretty much every video the […]

Part 2: What I Learned About the Industry by (Not Attending ISE or InfoComm, But) Watching 2,000 Product Videos

Why You Should Consider Selling Office Furniture, Or at Least Consider Space Design

I’ve read Barco’s new survey of 1200 executives across 13 countries to find out how the office is changing and how workspaces are used — and it’s enlightening. My biggest takeaway? The business I want to be in right now is selling office furniture and the tech to support it! In my opinion, that’s exactly where AV […]

Why You Should Consider Selling Office Furniture, Or at Least Consider Space Design

Security Could Be Success or Failure for Schools

In December 2021, Lincoln College in rural Illinois suffered a devastating ransomware attack. The attack shut down all systems, including those for recruitment, retention and fundraising. While the college had preexisting fiscal problems due to the pandemic, this ransomware attack proved to be too much for the college to navigate. In the spring of 2022, […]

Security Could Be Success or Failure for Schools

Part 1: What I Learned About the Industry by (Not Attending ISE or InfoComm, But) Watching 2,000 Product Videos

Part 1: UCC and Display Technologies I didn’t go to ISE in Barcelona this year, or InfoComm in Las Vegas just a few weeks later, but as the editor in charge of video titling for rAVe [PUBS] for both, I did watch pretty much every video the team shot from both show floors, which was […]

Part 1: What I Learned About the Industry by (Not Attending ISE or InfoComm, But) Watching 2,000 Product Videos

Sennheiser Adds Merging Technologies; Will Align With Neumann.Berlin

Chalk it up to the list of strangely worded press releases, but acquisitions sometimes have to tread carefully because they are works in progress rather than completed deeds. A joint announcement declares Germany’s Georg Neumann GmbH and Swiss digital audio specialist Merging Technologies will be working closer together — because both are now fully part […]

Sennheiser Adds Merging Technologies; Will Align With Neumann.Berlin

Bluetooth Adds ‘Auracast’ Public Audio

There are few smartphone users who haven’t used Bluetooth, by far the most-recognized wireless standard for audio streaming, with an estimated 1.1 billion devices shipped per year. LE Audio, the next generation of Bluetooth Audio, is expected to boost this number, with earbud users as the main contributor. LE Audio brings broadcast audio to Bluetooth […]

Bluetooth Adds ‘Auracast’ Public Audio

Trade Show Season Is a Time to Support Diversity

rAVe [PUBS] and many other industry publications have written recently about the great work of the AVIXA Women’s Council and its partnership with Rosie Riveters. Since this has been written about in many places, I won’t rewrite everything here. There are a few points I would like to make, however. First, it is fantastic to […]

Trade Show Season Is a Time to Support Diversity

Keep Your Customers and Your Teams Connected: Turn on Your Camera

We, the ProAV people, know better than anyone that video communication has been around a long time. The first official video call was in 1958. I remember working to help corporations define a return on investment for the videoconferencing infrastructure. They had an automatic message for every travel request. For example, “Could this meeting be […]

Keep Your Customers and Your Teams Connected: Turn on Your Camera

rePLAY InfoComm 2022 — We’re Just Getting Started

rePLAY InfoComm 2022 kicked off today, and we have an exciting recap of Day One for you! We had a great time in Las Vegas gathering content (over 1,100 videos and over 12,000 photos) on the show floor that we will be showcasing over the next three days during our InfoComm rewind. Day one started […]

rePLAY InfoComm 2022 — We’re Just Getting Started

How to Make a Case for Getting Training and Professional Development

It’s good to be back to having conferences, trade shows and events in person again. They started out with lower attendance numbers, but seem to be bouncing back. Over the past few weeks, and every time trade show season rolls around, there’s a lot of discussion about paying for training, particularly in-person training. In fact, […]

How to Make a Case for Getting Training and Professional Development

Up Your Whiteboard Game by Combining the Best of Analog and Digital

Trade show season is back. ISE is going on in Barcelona as I type, and Infocomm 2022 in Las Vegas is just 25 days away. This means that manufacturers, integrators and *gasp* end users are all converging to explore new partnerships and help people bridge the analog-to-digital gaps that have been isolated during the great […]

Up Your Whiteboard Game by Combining the Best of Analog and Digital

How a Dutch Company Became a Tiny Bottleneck in the Enormous Semiconductor Supply Problem

The shortage of semiconductors has had a profound effect on the global economy. Semiconductors, in particular microprocessors (semiconductors containing a CPU, essentially a computer), are the brains inside so many things that are a part of daily life: washing machines, toys, watches, cameras, ATMs, planes, televisions, LED light bulbs and nearly every form of human […]

How a Dutch Company Became a Tiny Bottleneck in the Enormous Semiconductor Supply Problem

Expectations for ISE 2022: Press Briefing and More

This year’s ISE Show arrives in Barcelona on 10-13 May 2022. Speaking at a press briefing last week, Integrated Systems Events managing director, Mike Blackman, said: “I’m delighted, and honoured, to be standing here today five years since Integrated Systems Events, and its co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA, decided to relocate the Integrated Systems Europe show […]

Expectations for ISE 2022: Press Briefing and More

Artificial Intelligence in AV

Here’s an acronym that has gone from high thinking darkroom nerd zone ether to everyday common lingo and even general conversational fodder over a latte on a sunny afternoon with some friends. Artificial Intelligence or AI, this acronym seems to have evolved into the general public lexicon and is persuasively become a hot selling point […]

Artificial Intelligence in AV

Rethinking Space

If there’s one topic that has been totally exhausted and “overthunk” in the last year, it’s the post-COVID return to work. I don’t say that because it’s unimportant; I say that because most of the pieces we see written try to draw some new one-size-fits-all conclusion to what the… gulp… “new normal” will, or should, […]

Rethinking Space

Google Wants Us on Its Radar

The latest human-computer interface — an interface that could dramatically impact the AV business — comes from Google’s hardware invention studio, Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP). What if our devices (in-home, in-office building, and in-store) had social intelligence within? People and devices have their own concepts of personal space — and Google uses its research […]

Google Wants Us on Its Radar

Will NFTs Play a Role in AV?

Over the past two months, I have written about the metaverse and cryptocurrency. The next logical topic of this new digital world is the NFT. What is an NFT, and will you as an AV professional ever have to deal with them? Let’s get started with the first question. NFT stands for non-fungible token. That […]

Will NFTs Play a Role in AV?

Is Cryptocurrency Right for Your Business?

Last month, I wrote about the metaverse. As I mentioned in the article, I am not an expert in the metaverse, but I need to better understand it as we hear more and more about it in our industry. The same is true about cryptocurrency. There is a general assumption that the way things will […]

Is Cryptocurrency Right for Your Business?

Enterprise Connect rePLAY: Featuring Our Favorite Products From the Show Floor

I had a great first Enterprise Connect in Orlando! As you probably know, most people are ready to get back to trade shows. We are ready to get back to in person and figure out more about how to do that in a way that’s respectful and comfortable for all. EC was a great reminder […]

Enterprise Connect rePLAY: Featuring Our Favorite Products From the Show Floor

Enterprise Connect 2022 Will Be the Hybrid, New Normal, Pivoting Trade Show of My Dreams

All those buzzwords got you to click, didn’t they? And they say clickbait doesn’t work anymore. Let’s get to the point — our team will be at Enterprise Connect 2022 March 21-23 in Kissimmee, Florida. We’ll be on the show floor (at the Gaylord Hotel) doing what we do best: Creating a virtual video library […]

Enterprise Connect 2022 Will Be the Hybrid, New Normal, Pivoting Trade Show of My Dreams

Desire Paths: Hidden Opportunities for Improvement

You have most likely run across one of these pictures posted on social media, showing a high-end corporate campus or university with an engineered walkway through a large expanse of grass that is marred by a dirt trail worn through the landscape as a shortcut. It’s just as likely that you’ve seen these in real […]

Desire Paths: Hidden Opportunities for Improvement

The Incredibly Complicated, Extremely Small World of Semiconductor Manufacturing

In 1965, a remarkably prescient young chemist working at Fairfield Semiconductor wrote an essay for “Electronics,” a trade magazine. His essay was quite technical, but it has been boiled down to a rule that has been often referenced over the years when people talk about the speed of technological advancement in computers. That chemist was […]

The Incredibly Complicated, Extremely Small World of Semiconductor Manufacturing

Kayye’s Krystal Ball: 2022 Edition

Welcome to my 22nd annual Kayye’s Krystal Ball! I can’t believe I have written this article 22 times. I am beyond humbled by how many of you read this; last year, it was viewed by over 90,000 #AVtweeps. #LOVE ❣️ The bottom line is I love writing this article. It keeps me curious and humble. […]

Kayye’s Krystal Ball: 2022 Edition

What in the Universe Is the Metaverse

In IT (and therefore AV as well), we certainly don’t have a shortage of our acronyms and buzzwords. When Meta, formerly known as Facebook, changed its name in October, the newest buzzword, “metaverse,” exploded into our feeds. We have heard the word countless times, but what the heck does it really mean? What, after all, […]

What in the Universe Is the Metaverse

Gaming Accessories Market Growth Aided by a Growing End-User Group: At-Home Workers

By Maxym Dmytriyev Futuresource Consulting According to Futuresource Consulting’s latest Gaming Headset Market H2 2021 report, the overall gaming accessories market is expected to grow 10% year-on-year in 2021, despite a deceleration in volume and value growth compared to 2020. Onset by the continuous efforts in combating COVID-19’s spread, work-from-home trends have supported market growth, […]

Gaming Accessories Market Growth Aided by a Growing End-User Group: At-Home Workers

How COVID-19 Has Reinvigorated the Professional Camcorder Market

By Helen Matthews Futuresource Consulting COVID-19 has had a lasting impact on the professional camcorder industry. Its initial impact appeared to be negative, with the first half of 2020 seeing a significant downfall in sell-in compared to previous years. Lockdowns, social distancing and event cancellations affected markets across the globe, resulting in the majority of […]

How COVID-19 Has Reinvigorated the Professional Camcorder Market

Collaboration Is About Workflows — Not Screen Sharing

As we navigate the reasons to get together in person, collaboration seems to be one of the main terms used as to why we still need physical spaces. We’ve seen a multitude of solutions pop up in this arena, typically consisting of a screen, cameras, microphone, speakers and screen sharing software. Some systems take this […]

Collaboration Is About Workflows — Not Screen Sharing

Log4j Could Drive New Business for AV

In late December, a flaw in software that is ubiquitous around the world was reported, and it sent cybersecurity pros into a frenzy and turned the hairs of technology pros gray. There are countless articles about this vulnerability, so I am not going to go deep into the technology of what occurs. Here is what […]

Log4j Could Drive New Business for AV

Learning From the Exercise Industry

After all the guessing, prognostication and assumptions, it actually happened. InfoComm 2021 took place in Orlando the last week in October. What surprised me most during the event was the social media banter that went back and forth between the “should” and “should not” crowds. That is those who thought that AVIXA “should have” InfoComm […]

Learning From the Exercise Industry

The Connection Center

There’s a lot of debate about the return to the office, the hybrid work week and the potential hub and spoke layout of the future. To be honest, I’m not sure every company needs an office, but I know for certain that if you are keeping a real estate footprint at all, you should be […]

The Connection Center

Protecting the Supply Chain to Serve Integrators and End Users

By Bryce Dunn Audinate Supply chains — once solely the domain of product managers and procurement specialists — are now being discussed in the evening news as disruptions impact the availability of a wide range of consumer and commercial goods. Semiconductors, in particular, have been affected by a significant uptick in demand that has not […]

Protecting the Supply Chain to Serve Integrators and End Users

The Blue LED Problem: How a Difficult Solid State Physics Obstacle Delayed LED Technology by Decades

The first LED was invented, or actually, accidentally discovered, in the fall of 1961 by engineers working at Texas Instruments. James R. Biard and Gary E. Pittman were working together on a project for the U.S. Airforce to build “low noise parametric amplifiers for X-band radar receivers,” and discovered that IR light was being emitted […]

The Blue LED Problem: How a Difficult Solid State Physics Obstacle Delayed LED Technology by Decades