Strata-gee editor Ted Green was a guest panelist on this week’s ResiWeek webcast (recorded on Halloween), a production of AVNation.tv. Hosted by Matt Scott, the panel, which also included Jason Griffing of Harrison Home Systems and Jason Knott of CEPro, covered a range of topics in custom integration.
Savant Reorganizes Its Sales Force
BREAKING NEWS
Within a span of just minutes today, we began hearing from multiple sources around the country that something was afoot at Savant Systems, LLC. Word quickly spread that the company was terminating salespeople around the country, a move that was occurring in the wake of founder Robert Madonna’s return to the company to replace former CEO William Lynch.
What’s going on at Savant? Strata-gee digs deeper… [Read more…] about Savant Reorganizes Its Sales Force
Samsung Will Destroy All 4.3 Million Galaxy Note 7s
Company Makes Painful But Pragmatic Decision
Samsung Electronics is in the process of recalling their recently launched Galaxy Note 7 smartphone that came with the unusual feature of self-immolation included at no additional charge. The company’s initial production run was 2.5 million units. Then, trouble ensued and the company ceased production of that version. This was followed by the production of another 1.8 million “fixed” versions. Now…they are all recalled and the model has been cancelled.
What is Samsung going to do with 4.3 million defective smartphones? Destroy them… [Read more…] about Samsung Will Destroy All 4.3 Million Galaxy Note 7s
Onkyo Internally Announces Major Sales Structure Reorganization
BREAKING NEWS
Four Major Brands to be Consolidated into Two Divisions
In a national conference call with sales reps yesterday, Onkyo announced a major restructuring of their sales organization. This overhaul involves consolidating their four major brands – Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite – into two newly-created divisions.
See more on this breaking news from Onkyo… [Read more…] about Onkyo Internally Announces Major Sales Structure Reorganization
With New ‘Skill’ Logitech Offers Voice Control of Your Entire System
Company Develops Alexa Voice ‘Skill’ Enabling Spoken Control of AV Entertainment System
Logitech announced this week that it has developed an Amazon Alexa skill that will allow users to control their entire AV home entertainment system with simple spoken commands. Voice control has become a hot topic in the industry since CEDIA 2016, when one of the keynote speakers was Charlie Kindel, an Amazon executive working on their voice-enabled products like the Echo and Dot.
See more on Logitech’s move into voice control… [Read more…] about With New ‘Skill’ Logitech Offers Voice Control of Your Entire System
Leviton & Samsung SmartThings Partner on Automation Package
Leviton announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with Samsung’s SmartThings division to offer a simple home automation starter package that will be made broadly available through distributors and the “professional dealer” market. Designed to be an affordable, whole-house, home automation solution – the package pairs products from SmartThings with Leviton Z-Wave enabled devices at discounted pricing.
See more on this new Leviton-SmartThings smart home market partnership… [Read more…] about Leviton & Samsung SmartThings Partner on Automation Package
GoldenEar Earns Patent for Innovative SuperSub Technology
GoldenEar Technology announced last week that it has earned a patent for its innovative dual-plane, inertially-balanced subwoofer technology used in its SuperSub™ line. The U.S. Patent Office awarded GoldenEar patent #9,462,39 on its technology, protecting the company from anyone copying their unique design.
See more on this GoldenEar technological achievement… [Read more…] about GoldenEar Earns Patent for Innovative SuperSub Technology
Jetbuilt – Not Just a Name, But a Description
At CEDIA 2016, Jetbuilt CEO Paul Dexter’s voice was holding out…but just barely. Between the loud environment and the constant talking, it’s amazing anyone can talk by the end of day 2. Yet when an intrepid journalist showed up to ask about his software, Dexter shifted into high gear and in only about ten minutes, we had a complete picture of what Jetbuilt is all about. And that’s when we realized the name, Jetbuilt, was not just a company name, but was also a description of the end product – a good looking, well designed, full project proposal – built insanely fast by a savvy software solution.
See more on Jetbuilt… [Read more…] about Jetbuilt – Not Just a Name, But a Description
Access Networks Offers Access to Live Monitoring
In our wrap-up of the top stories from CEDIA 2016, #3 was “Managed Services are Growing.” One such service was OneVision Resources, which will partner with integrators to offer remote system monitoring and customer support. At CEDIA 2016, residential networking provider Access Networks also announced that they will be launching a new Live Monitoring solution.
These services look similar, but there is one very big difference… [Read more…] about Access Networks Offers Access to Live Monitoring
Millson Custom Solutions Goes From Crawl to Jog in Just One Year
Millson Custom Solutions Celebrates Its First Birthday
Most new start-up companies like Millson Custom Solutions (MCS) choose to develop a new product concept and spend their first year setting up distribution, making sure internal systems operate smoothly as sales begin to happen, and in general scale slowly before they take that next step in expansion. It’s sort of a crawl before you walk – walk before you run strategy.
But not MCS – no sooner did they get their remarkable CinemaFrame launched, then the company rolled out a second product, their RSMS Roller Shade Mounting System and then a third product, the FutureFrame.
