With two weeks to go before showtime, rAVe’s Gary Kayye, sat down with ISE’s Managing Director, Mike Blackman and gets filled in on all the pre-show preparation and what to expect as ISE 2013 opens at the end of the month! The key takeaways are BIG, BIG, BIG: Biggest AV Show ever Most exhibitors than any other AV show in history More show […]

We are excited to share this exclusive 30-minute interview with David Labuskes, the new executive director and CEO of InfoComm International. Our own Gary Kayye had the pleasure of “sitting down” with David last week for his FIRST interview in his new role — literally on the last day or his first week on the job. This interview is a […]

Today, rAVe is announcing that we are partnering with Insight Media to bring the AV industry even more in-depth video coverage and analysis at trade shows and major industry events. Chris Chinnock and I have been friends a long time. There’s a huge amount of mutual respect and he’s provided invaluable editorial content over the years with our partnership […]

Yesterday, Kaleidescape announced it signed a multi-year agreement with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to offer films for purchase. In addition, the company will upgrade all Warner Bros. titles purchased through the Kaleidescape Store to UltraViolet in March 2013. The company went as far as saying that the UltraViolet deal is, “giving users a powerful way to enjoy their collection across their various devices.” […]

According to Yahoo News, the winner of half of the $587 Million jackpot from last week’s Powerball lottery was Matthew Good of Arizona. So, why care? Well, he’s the same Matt Good who works for D&M Holdings, parent company for Denon andMarantz. Here’s the Yahoo Story:  http://news.yahoo.com/ariz-powerball-jackpot-winners-name-released-171448048.html

In states all over the country, electrical unions are trying to convince state and local governments that low-voltage installs need to be handled by them. That’s right — to keep people safe from the 5-, 7-, 11- and 12-volt signals (and, of course 70-volt audio systems too) running down speaker wire, Ethernet cables, RS232 cabling and through HDMI ports, […]

There are two stories that caught my eye today, and both have implications in the HomeAV market. The first: Biscotti 2.0 Biscotti Inc., the company that created the Biscotti TV Camera, released new MyBiscotti Cloud Services, making the product much more than just a home-based videoconferencing system. Biscotti’s MyBiscotti Cloud Service is aimed at extending the smart TV cam experience, transforming […]

As a last-ditch effort, Best Buy has hired Sharon McCollam, a former Williams-Sonoma finance wizzard. She accepted, coming out of retirement to helm the Best Buy recovery plan financially. The stock already wet up today from the news, but can she even accomplish this? Best Buy made a living under-cutting the hundreds, no thousands, of mom-and-pop as well […]

I can’t help but write a column about STAR WARS. I’m a huge fan — I saw the original at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre back in summer of 1977 after standing in line for at least five hours. I sat in the 11th row (yes, that’s how geeky I am) on the far right of the screen by myself — all […]

There’s a lot of buzz in and around the industry about Best Buy’s financial woes and how it may actually take the company under. In fact, there are all sorts of celebratory LinkedIn posts and Tweets abound that the HomeAV market will be upright, again, when Best Buy goes bankrupt. But that will be the worst thing […]

According to a Reuters story just posted this week, Sony has slashed its earnings AND sales forecasts for 2012-2013. This is terrible timing as it comes barely a month before CEDIA Expo next month in Indianapolis.  Apparently, Sony’s Q2 2012 profit (April through June) dropped a whopping 77 percent (vs 2011) – nearly twice what they’d originally expected. Who […]

Leviton this week announced it has purchased Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) – giving Leviton customers access to HAI control system products. Exciting? Yes! Well planned? No. “Leviton’s acquisition of HAI represents a significant expansion of our offerings in the residential market, and furthers Leviton’s commitment to providing customers with the latest technologies as affordable, easy-to-use solutions,” said Daryoush Larizadeh, chief operating officer of Leviton. “Leviton and HAI are two established brands […]

In a terrible move for the HomeAV market, indicating that a recovery is still far away, Best Buy has announced they will lay off at least 2,400 people — including at least 600 Geek Squad members. The report, first made public by CNBC last week, says that Best Buy is still moving to become a stronger, better […]

Recently, an industry pundit and self-proclaimed HDTV expert wrote that there’s a trend away from the projector and towards LCDs in meeting room applications. Although he cites no statistical evidence of this, he says it as though it’s a point of fact. Well, he’s dead wrong. Are there rooms where LCDs are being installed instead of projectors […]

Samsung has made it official. Following in the footsteps of the successful Apple stores which debuted in 2001, Samsung plans to open stores all over North America. So, what’s this mean for HomeAV? Simply put — not good! We can all live in denial and think that this won’t affect us, but that’s a lie. This […]

If you’re reading this in the first 10 minutes of me posting it, statistically, you’re likely work for AVI-SPL. And, if you’re reading this from a referral via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, I’ll almost guarantee you that you heard about it from someone who works at AVI-SPL! Why’s that? Well, simply put: AVI-SPL is frickin’ blowing every other integrator away […]

Well, the Spring 2012 edition of the Almo ProAV E4 AV Tour just finished with a stop in Washington DC last week and it couldn’t have ended at a better location. Why? Well, for the 2011-2012 edition of the ALMO ProAV E4 Tour my keynote was How to GoGreenAV, Profitably and since a lot of the GreenAV initiatives are headed up by InfoComm, who’s also headquartered […]

The future Motorola-branded set-top (cable) box will soon get a whole lot better. Like, way better. Thanks to a new software interface called DreamGallery, you won’t need to look for entertainment on your TV the way you do now, linearly (you know, flipping through channels in order that they appear and by time). DreamGallery will bring you […]

Today, I received this eBlast from Arrive Corporation (see image, linked to actual e-blast). It’s not the first communication I’ve ever received from them, but it’s the first in a while. Why do I care? Way back some 10 months or so ago, I asked their PR folks to send me ONE contact of ONE client who’s […]

The best laid plans… There was a time when SMART Technologies simply dominated any discussion around classrooms. If you were integrating technology of any kind into a classroom – especially K-12 classrooms – you had to figure out a way to spec and install a Smart Board. Interactivewhiteboarding was not only invented, but also perfected by […]

If you’re not making money selling HDTVs now, you NEVER will — so get out of it ASAP! Why? Well, the IKEA announcement earlier this week that they’re integrating HDTVs into their home furnishing line (they are literally selling a piece of furniture with an already-builtin TV and other AV gear) will spark copycats by everyone from Target to Pottery Barn. […]

I just finished reading a report published today by Leichtman Research Group — the market analyst firm I’ve been following for some time now and whose data I trust. Basically, the report cites the real numbers on so-called connected TVs (Internet-enabled) and what’s going on with them in the home. So far, 38 percent of all U.S. households […]

Japan’s leading business publication, KIKKEI, is claiming that Sony’s getting ready to dump 10,000 people from their company payroll. The story is here. As most of you don’t speak Japanese, I’ll translate it to you. Basically the story says that this cut will result in about a 6 percent workforce reduction as Sony has about 160,000 employees. […]

Since breaking the news that Extron is no longer exhibiting at the InfoComm USA or Integrated Systems Europe shows two weeks ago, we’ve had a deluge of comments on our website, our LinkedIn page, our Facebook page and even our Twitter feed. And, the opinions have been all over the place. On one side are those that think this is simply a bad decision. Why? […]

Microsoft Labs has started to demo a new “wearable” projection technology – and I have to say I am impressed. Everyone knows that the future of advertising is displays everywhere, but who would have thought, just 10 years ago, we’d be tethered to our phones to keep us connected to everyone and everything? Well, it […]

DirecTV just entered the digital signage market with an amazingly simple system that leverages its existing set-top boxes – like their most popular HD set-top box, the HR24. Basically, the way it works is through a monthly fee, you get access to a cloud-based graphical “wrapper” that appears along the bottom and right side of a […]

Yesterday’s news that BroadSign had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy came as a surprise to some but not to others. Not only was BroadSign a major player in the DS market for years and a front-and-center manufacturer hanging out at the entrance of the show floor for the past few years, but they have been (and are this year) a major show […]

Although the 2012 version of the Digital Signage Expo floor hasn’t opened yet this morning, one clear trend has already emerged for me: Applications. Just two years ago, this show was chalk-full of hundreds of manufacturers showing off the gear that makes digital signage systems work. Literally hundreds of media player manufacturers took 10×10 or even 20×20 booths to […]

I was saddened by the news that Extron has decided to pull out of exhibiting at both the InfoComm USA show as well as the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show. For me, it was a bit personal. I was an intern while in college for Extron in 1986 when they first exhibited at the show in Atlanta. I was also there […]

Last week, Samsung debuted the first smartphone with an embedded pico projector that should be taken seriously. The Samsung Galaxy Beam is an Android-based cell phone weighing in at 1/3 of a pound, with a 4″ LCD screen and just a half-inch thick – so, like every other Android smartphone. But, one thing sets this one apart […]

A start-up called Aereo has quietly rolled out a service that will allow for over-the-air TV via the cloud. Although only available in New York right now, Aereo, for $12 per month, streams live TV (including ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX and CW) via the Internet and even allows you to call up programming on-demand and record TV for […]

Just hours before the European Commission’s (EC) deadline to finalize the Microsoft acquisition of Skype, for which negotiations have gone on almost three months, Cisco makes a last-minute appeal to the EC to regulate the deal. Yes, regulate. Why? Well, get this: Cisco claims it’s concerned that such a merger might make it possible for […]