This Thursday night, when the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots take the field at Gillette Stadium to host the Pittsburgh Steelers, each player on the field will be equipped with a set of RFID sensors about the size of a quarter in his shoulder pads, each emitting unique radio frequencies. Gillette Stadium, as […]

As some may have noticed in the profile description on the webpage, as well as if anyone has checked out my LinkedIn profile, you’ll notice the Convergent Tech Project which I’ve described as one which leverages technologies in audio visual, IT, video conferencing, Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC), cloud-hosted and virtual machine technologies, mobility/BYOD, Internet of […]

It’s mid-2015 and I believe in terms of what I’m hearing lately we have arrived at convergence, although I’m not sure that all in the industry agree quite yet. However, in supposing that we have arrived closer to that point of being there, it’s still only part of the overall equation. As an industry — […]

At InfoComm, Microsoft and AMX announced that they have entered into a partnership to integrate Microsoft’s Surface Hub collaboration system with AMX control. Microsoft Surface Hub is a collaboration system that features a Windows 10-based 55″ HD or 84″ 4K display serving as a focal point for typical activities that take place during a collaboration […]

Microsoft Surface Hub is now natively compatible with Crestron, thus, in collaboration with Microsoft, Crestron technology natively integrates with Microsoft Surface Hub. The new solution combines the premier large format Windows touch appliance with the leading global solution in control, automation, and video distribution. Pairing a Crestron DigitalMedia Presentation System (DMPS), TSW touch screen, TSS […]

InFocus has released three new 10.1-inch, Windows 8.1 tablets specifically designed for use in school and at work. The second-generation InFocus Q Tablet series now consists of the INP-120Q for consumers, INP-120Q-ED for use in schools and INP-120Q-PR for business. Each of the new models features a 10.1-inch display, a version of the Window 8.1 […]

Last summer one of the biggest stories (non-stories) was the large, vacant booth from Microsoft at InfoComm. It was almost as if they planned to release a product, but it was not ready. By the time that ISE rolled around this winter, we had already heard of the Surface Hub, but this show was their […]

Microsoft recently unveiled a series of commercials surrounding the long anticipated and much rumored HoloLens VR 3-D headset at both IES 2015 and during Super Bowl commercials in addition to press tours and the other typical Microsoft product showcases. This is on the heels of others such as Facebook’s recent purchase of the Oculus Rift […]

We actually shot video of the entire Microsoft press conference conference today so you can see the way they’re promoting the Surface Hub 84” multi-touch tablet/flat panel display to the ProAV market. It’s an interesting pitch as it’s big-data focused rather than application focused. I suspect that the Microsoft folks didn’t necessarily consider they audience […]

Ever since we broke the story that Microsoft would launch the 84” Surface Hub in their booth at ISE, everyone in the AV market’s been talking about what Microsoft would do with it and what features it would have. Well, now you’ll know as Gary did a one-on-one interview with their Director of Product Marketing […]

Back in the fall, I wrote a column about the Microsoft Surface 3. At the end of that column I teased a bit about what I thought was one of the best features of the Surface, but warranted a separate column. Specifically, the built in WiDi or MiraCast. Since that time I have gotten to […]

As you may know, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is Europe’s — and the world’s — largest AV show. Combining both residential and commercial AV technology in one giant trade show venue at the Amsterdam RAI, the show is nicely spread out in 12 easy-to-navigate halls that you can walk without back-tracking as it’s laid-out in […]

Although SMART Technologies invented the interactive whiteboard market, and therefore indirectly invented the interactive display market, companies like InFocus — with Mondopad — and Clary Icon as well as Sharp have developed it into more of a mainstream product category in recent years. So much so that Microsoft has now, well, copied it — but, […]

Microsoft is officially in the AV market, launching an 84” LED-lit LCD display called the Surface Hub. Surface Hub is integrated with the brand-new Windows 10 that launched today and is a multi-touch 4K resolution 84-inch display that it’s aiming to have AV integrators (yes, you read that right — a source told us that […]

In a recent Twitter conversation, the Microsoft Lync handle @msftLync was tagged, and after a few back and forth messages with others, I received this: @Cbmoss We recommend reading our blog for additional information. Stay tuned for #Skype4B updates. And with this, I decided to write an article about Skype for business. When Skype entered the […]

So just as the celebration of Native Americans and Pilgrims eating together way back when has become an annual tradition in the United States for most people, Blessings and Turkeys has become an annual blog tradition for me.  It’s the time of year when I give thanks for developments in the AV industry as well […]

Well, I’m just back from InfoComm, and after three days I have almost sorted out the debris. I have unpacked two suitcases full of dirty clothes, two boxes of literature I will never read, and several of the mysteriously popular LED flashing pins. Sometimes I wonder if trade shows are a conspiracy by the airlines […]

Lessons are taught as well as learned every day, and this one I consider a major one. I first want to send accolades to my fellow rAVe Publications blogger Mark Coxon for coming to the forefront and speaking his mind concerning the situation relating to Microsoft at the InfoComm show; I think he put in […]

I’ll start by saying I personally got a lot out of InfoComm14. I was able to connect with my company leaders and peers to discuss the vision for the rest of 2014 and to share strategies and best practices. I was able to connect with many of my AV integrator clients at the booth for […]

Some super-quick pixel-and-ink stained impressions from Day 1 of my InfoComm experience. Expect a longer update when I return to New York and have the time to digest the events of the show and figure out what the overall story is. For now, quick impressions: Pat Brown remains smart. I had the pleasure of a […]

Happy Friday, and once again, we have the Weekly Wrap-Up for you. Every Friday we post this past week’s most important news stories in case you missed them or so you can get a second look. As we are getting ready for InfoComm 2014 we posted a preview of THE GAME 5.0 at this year’s […]

I wrote another blog about Microsoft and InfoComm that asked whether Microsoft’s presence really signaled that AV/IT convergence was finally here.  The comments and Twitter discussion quickly turned to speculation about what Microsoft may actually be showing on the show floor. The consensus there was that we all expect to see Lync, Skype (perhaps with […]

Inspired by the presence of Microsoft at InfoComm 2014, AVPhenom announced today that he will debut his new startup AV control and video switching brand at InfoComm June 17th in Las Vegas.  rAVe Publications secured an exclusive interview with AVPhenom to discuss this “game changing” announcement. rAVe:  “What is your new company called and how […]

There has been much ado lately in the AV world about the appearance of Microsoft at InfoComm 2014. Most of that hype has been around the fact that they believe it means that AV/IT convergence is complete. I have my own thoughts on that subject which will be released shortly as an eBook download, but […]

Microsoft. The AV industry giants. The ever growing market of communications and collaboration. Digital signage and video walls. Interactive displays and whiteboards. Cloud and virtualization — strategic technologies enhancing enterprise collaboration, infrastructure and more. BYOD — the fastest growing trend in the enterprise today. The new market disrupters. And of course, the integrators and end […]

Well, June approaches again, and with it, among other things, comes the InfoComm show. And I don’t mean InfoComm Patagonia or InfoComm New Zealand or whatever they’re up to these days. I mean the original, accept-no-substitutes, convince-the-boss-I-NEED to-go, InfoComm show. Actually, that’s not to disparage InfoComm’s ever-widening pantheon of AV shows around the world. I […]

Apple’s Steve Jobs. Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson. Tesla Motor’s Elon Musk. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. And yes, Microsoft’s Bill Gates. All can be summed up in one word — influencers. Just what is an influencer? Even though the word itself doesn’t appear in WikiPedia or any online dictionaries, in an overview of the […]

Each year at this time, I am alerted to the coming of spring by that special fragrance that’s in the air, by those sounds that indicate the coming of a new season. In our business, that fragrance is the smell of shrink wrap and packing peanuts, and it harkens the coming of new technologies that […]

Hot on the heels of the January 10th announcement by InfoComm International, many of us now know that Microsoft is coming to InfoComm 2014 as a Platinum sponsor. In the announcement, David Labuskes, CTS, RCDD, executive director and CEO, InfoComm International said: “The decade-long conversation about the convergence of AV and IT technology has been […]

InfoComm International just announced that Microsoft will be a new exhibitor at InfoComm 2014 in Las Vegas. Microsoft will be a platinum show sponsor, occupying significant exhibit space, in the Las Vegas Convention Center June 18-20, 2014. “InfoComm has long been considered the ideal venue to showcase companies and products in the audiovisual and information […]

Barco has extended BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) support for its ClickShare product with the release of a new Android app. The app extends ClickShare support for mobile devices beyond Apple’s iOS – the iOS app debuted in the Spring. With ClickShare, Barco’s wireless meeting room collaboration system, users can present their content on the […]

Recently, I video interviewed a young, intelligent online education business owner in New York City, who introduced herself as Chief Storyteller for GoStrengths. There was no hesitation when I asked Renee Jain what I’d get if I opted into GoStrengths. This short video clip is a small part of my interview with her, but will […]