Over the last year or two, I have been reading with increasing frequency about AVaaS, or “Audio Visual as a Service.” In particular, I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the writings of my friend Gary Kayye. Gary is one of the best I have ever met at analyzing a product in our industry […]
In case you haven’t been paying attention, there is a mass migration going on in AV. AV manufacturers and integrators have been leaving their traditional farms and silos. Heck, even our trade association has made the move. Where are they all headed to? The fastest growing place in AV: Experienceville, USA. The move to experience […]
Where’s the Total Cost of Ownership? If you want buyers to make your brand their choice, manufacturers and systems integrators have got to help decision-makers understand not only the up-front costs but the long-term investment of any technology solution. Want to know the perfect place to start? The House of Worship (H.O.W.) market. Here’s what’s […]
The past centuries have spanned many technological eras, each with a dominant aesthetic as well as dominant technologies. The Victorian era was the age of steam, of the first attempts to harness electricity. It was also an era of brass, polished wood, colored glass. It was an era in which a technical marvel was also […]
THIS IS A PROMOTED POST FROM ALMO PROAV In case you haven’t heard, Almo Professional AV announced the E4 AV Tour 2018 dates and the first stop is scheduled for March 6, 2018 in Washington, D.C. The E4 AV Tour is a free one-day program that includes exploring new concepts, exchanging ideas with industry professionals, […]
Each year, we try and produce a fun (and different) way to see the shows we attend and cover with out rAVe NOW live show coverage team. We were at ISE in Amsterdam last week and we put together a video that we think you’ll not only love as much as we do, but it’ll […]
What Does No Really Mean? I don’t know which specific issues you encounter when dealing with a client who knows only one answer to every suggestion or idea you present — NO — but I do know we all have them. There are so many reasons and possible scenarios that can and will generate a […]
We took to Instagram – and their STORIES feature in fact – to ‘storify’ what it’s like to attend the world’s largest AV trade show, the Integrated Systems Europe expo in Amsterdam. But, most of our readers don’t have Instagram accounts [if you don’t, follow-us NOW, here: @rAVePubs or at instagram.com/rAVePubs], yet, so we’ve created another way for you […]
It’s 2018, cars drive themselves and run on electricity. We carry around at least one smartphone at all times and they are more advanced than the computers we used to send humans into space. Personal assistants are now virtual, built into watches, phones, tablets, computers, electronic accessories and they’ve got built-in artificial intelligence. Facilities, buildings […]
As the world moves further and further into a technology-enabled and -dependent world, serious questions arise about personal and institutional privacy. Recently, news headlines have revealed that a seemingly innocuous bit of data could have far reaching and deadly side effects. Over the past several years, the U.S. Army has issued fitness trackers to its […]
Update: I spoke to Robin van Meeuwen, president and CEO of Crestron EMEA, at ISE 2018, where he confirmed this story to be true. I think it’s possible that Crestron is, behind the scenes, forming an “alliance” of sorts of AV-over-IP companies that focus exclusively (for now) on the 1Gig method of sending AV signals over an IT […]
If you’re not headed to Amsterdam next week for ISE, you should be. So, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make reservations to go next year. ISE has quietly and quickly become the most important AV trade show on this planet. I don’t know which show AV people on Mars go to, but on Earth, nearly all of them are […]
If your worship facility is part of the 65+ percent of houses of worship in North America with a congregation number less than 300 to 400 members, you are probably facing the inevitable quandary of what to update and/or replace in your AV system and when. Since unlike the very large — or mega — […]
More impressive than the shifts in the audiovisual (AV) landscape during 2017 is the sheer rate of change that continues to accelerate with no hint of anyone applying the brakes. A year of change in this industry has brought some key trends to the forefront of 2018 and promised more changes in the near future. […]
According to CodeEval in 2016 (the last year data is available), the world’s most popular programming language is Python — with nearly 27 percent of the market. Java is number two with a 22 percent share and C++ is third with 10 percent. That’s not just AV control system programming — we mean all programming languages for […]
I still remember my first concerns about user engagement with the technology we provide. It was over a decade ago; we were fitting out four conference rooms per floor over about a dozen floors. Video teleconferencing in two, local presentation in the other. Pack up, head for the elevator, repeat. It was one of my […]
(Full disclosure: I don’t attend CES). My Twitter feed is rife with discussion about this year’s slate of keynote speakers at CES: six captains of industry and not one of them a woman (and only one of them not white). Even mainstream news outlets are talking about this. I mean, there was an article in […]
During the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) each year, nearly every big consumer tech company debuts something new — and many of them will declare it “disruptive” or “game-changing” or “innovative” or one of a dozen or so other self-congratulatory adjectives that mean nothing. And all the while, the city for Las Vegas commences to ripping people off […]
Today, Polycom announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Obihai Technology, Inc., a San Jose-based innovator in VoIP audio solutions. Obihai Technology develops software and hardware for VoIP endpoints. The strategic addition of its software and development team allows Polycom to compete more effectively in the global voice market and broadens Polycom’s portfolio to […]
Control4 today announced that it has acquired Ihiji, a provider of remote management services. Control4 says that by combining two industry-leading network and device management solutions — BakPak from Control4 (after Control4’s 2016 acquisition of Pakedge) and Invision from Ihiji — into one unified service platform, Control4 will provide offer integrators a unified cloud-based system […]
An AV consultant once had a conversation with an executive from manufacturer about the most expensive home he’d seen. He asked what kind of control system one would build for a ten-million dollar home. The executive answered that there’d be a single button. When the button was pressed, a servant would walk into the room […]
Integrated Systems Europe will take place this year from Feb. 6-9, in Amsterdam. Many of us in the United States view this show as “Europe’s InfoComm.” While the show takes place in Europe, it’s a viable show for people throughout the world. If you sell to education in any way, or work in education, you […]
The year 2018 could turn out to be full of giant changes. The market is certainly poised for it as you have a number of technological advancements that have emerged simultaneously — each of them have a lot of potential. First, let’s review all the latest in emerging AV technology and then and I’ll tell […]
Last month, we partnered with Almo Pro AV to create a comprehensive survey that asked you the AV community — users and integrators — to tell us what the state of the BYOD (bring your own device) and collaboration (insert your own definition here) market is. The results? Most importantly, nearly everyone in the AV market […]
Nortek Security & Control and Core Brands today announced a merger (something that they should have done YEARS ago) that combines the two companies. It’s a logical merger as the smart home and security markets have been merged into one for almost eight years now. The combined company, operating as Nortek Security & Control (NSC), […]
In my last column, I wrote about how virtual reality will offer amazing opportunities for integrators working in higher ed. A few days after I finished, I read an article that made me think about how augmented reality will change the basic functions of our industry. The article is titled “Why Every Organization Needs an […]
Words. We use hundreds, if not thousands of them every day. In a plethora of languages, dialects and forms, words are the building blocks of our verbal communications. Every sermon, homily, blessing, oration or prayer is made from words. Instinctively we “reach” for the right words to speak in any situation or moment. It is […]
It’s all in the fine print. Most people won’t open up new gear and grab the owner’s manual and warranty information and spend the next two hours pouring over that fascinating documentation. For those of us who do, we will find myriad legal terms that outline our options should we need technical support or have […]
The title of this column is a phrase that is the basis of a legal oath that has been part of English Law since at least medieval times and has essentially become embedded in our shared societal structure. The beliefs that have come to encompass our laws and governance concepts remain at their core based […]
Prysm, the unified communications company headquartered out of San Jose, Calif., may be forced to shut down if it does not receive new investor funding by January 2018. Company representatives warned employees and state officials that it may be shutting down operations and laying off all its employees, with the closure happening on Jan. 21, […]
“’twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop not an order is stirring so let’s get out the mop…” Yes, the holidays are upon us again. And with the exception of holiday parties and events, many of us can find ourselves looking for things to do. Having spent a few years working in […]
In the first part of this two-part series, published in September, a wide variety of acoustical solutions and issues specifically focused on dealing with a space that already exists were discussed. Although the basic concepts and applications outlined in that article apply regardless, the issues and problems of a new building are in many ways […]
