Dave Haynes, founder and blogger over at Sixteen:Nine, has launched an innovative service for digital signage operators in need of high-quality video content to run on a DS network. Spotomate is a cloud-based video template creation platform. Which, is a fancy way of saying that you drag-and-drop photos and enter text onto a template in a […]

The 2014 Toshiba LEAD conference in Dallas was great, and we’re glad rAVe could come and cover it again this year. It was my first time venturing into the strange world of Managed Print Services (MPS) and seeing how Toshiba ties AV into its business model. For those unfamiliar with this gathering, the show is primarily aimed at […]

On a random side-note, has anybody really read Frank Sinatra’s lyrics to “High Hopes”? They are weird. For instance — a ram trying to destroy a hydroelectric plant? I’m coming to CEDIA this year with an open mind — and like many attendees, I really want to be blown away with a clear winning product or […]

Despite some negative stereotypes about people who enjoy video games, most modern games have a social focus. From massive multi-player games that host thousands of people in the same persistent world like World of Warcraft and Dota II, to party matching systems for match based games, which is most of them. Even solitary games now […]

It’s Friday and time for the Weekly Wrap-Up! Every week we give you a second look at some of the top stories from the week. This week’s wrap-up features some new product announcements from Extron and Christie, a post from Matt Cooper on the state of virtual reality in the AV industry, a review of […]

I’m always up for a challenge and recently, Mark Coxon threw down the gauntlet and asked me to get a little more specific on what a home theater gaming setup would look like. Although it’s true I haven’t worked directly for a true AV integrator — I have done some HomeAV design and install work […]

Here’s a look back in case you missed these news stories this week including: Almo Pro A/V’s new digital signage content creation services, the latest gaming column from Matt Cooper, Extron does BYOD via LinkLicense, Digital Signage Poised to Change the Restaurant Industry and more. Enjoy! And, if you think we missed something, let us […]

Last column, I went over some basic types of gamers based on preferred hardware. Beyond that, it’s worth understanding gaming genres, as it can relate to some particular accessory sales and furniture placement. I’m also going to paint in some broad strokes to keep this article from taking 18 years to read. But, rest assured, […]

In my last article I got pretty specific with theater customizations that not every theater gaming client would need. This month I’ll dial it back in a and give a broader field guide to identify the particular genus and species of your gamer client. This will give you an edge on design recommendations, as well […]

Although this year’s DSE was full of great technology, the items discussed below are indeed a few of my favorite things. Before going into detail, let me just say that it has been a crazy DSE — I haven’t seen the official numbers, but attendance feels way up. I know this because part of my […]

It’s incredible that Gary’s first explanation of Bluetooth is 15 years old! What’s interesting to note is that this year’s CES has finally cemented “The Internet of Things,” which was one of the originally marketed purposes of Bluetooth but didn’t really catch on until recently. Early Bluetooth’s problems were due to a much shorter range […]

I’m sticking to my promise, and this will be my first article featuring specific ways to add value to your game-centric home theater setup. It may actually be too specific, in that you’ll have to do some custom woodwork until and unless an AV furniture company starts selling similar products. But I’m getting ahead of […]

If you read my last article on the PS4, you’ll no doubt be unsurprised where this article is going next. We’re covering Microsoft’s entry into the next-gen console market: the Xbox One. Next week will be my first non-review column and I hope to go into more detail with some specific solutions that will add […]

This is the first installment of rAVe’s new series about gaming in the HomeAV market. It’s no secret that gaming’s demographics have evolved from children to a majority of adults — and those adults have access to a substantial entertainment budget. As AV integrators, we have particular access to people already spending thousands on entertainment […]