By now, you may have heard that Savant has acquired Racepoint Energy, LLC, which will now operate as Savant Power. In another post, I discuss this acquisition in a little more detail and interview Savant Power President Anna Demeo. Demeo is incredibly smart and because of this, it was one of my more challenging interviews – let’s just say you don’t want to take her on in a game of Scrabble. This is a big move by Savant and if you don’t look closely, you may miss the importance of what it potentially represents – a significant disruption of the power segment.
Integrators
Savant Power Play, Connecting Integrators to Power
Strata-gee Interviews Savant Power President Anna Demeo
Last week, Savant Systems, Inc. announced that it had acquired Racepoint Energy, LLC, a provider of innovative power solutions. What many people did not know was that Racepoint Energy was another venture launched by Savant CEO Bob Madonna, and was originally intended to be a freestanding solution – primarily targeted for commercial, industrial, and utility markets.
But then the world changed and it made sense for Savant to bring it under their residential automation brand.
See my interview with Savant Power President Anna Demeo…
[Read more…] about Savant Power Play, Connecting Integrators to PowerAudioControl Rolls Out Drivers for Full Integration into Creston Home Systems
AudioControl announced this week that it has released certified drivers for Crestron Home for its line of specialty electronics. This news means that the company’s products, already popular in home automation systems, will now integrate into the rapidly expanding Crestron Home ecosystem.
See more on these new drivers from AudioControl
[Read more…] about AudioControl Rolls Out Drivers for Full Integration into Creston Home SystemsCrestron Home is Center of Attention in a Pair of New Partnerships
Somfy and Josh.ai Say Dealers Demanded They Partner with Crestron Home
Ever since Crestron launched Crestron Home it became obvious that there had been a sea change in the company’s go-forward strategy. The new Home operating system was easier to program and deploy, more visually attractive for end-users, and more clearly differentiated from their more robust high-end programming solutions. But also, the company’s style of operation changed as well, from doing it all in-house to opening itself up to partnerships.
Now we learn of two more in a long line of technology partnerships as the company continues to evolve and propel Crestron Home down the path to becoming the dominant smart home OS in the industry. The new partnerships are with Josh.ai and Somfy, both well-regarded technology players in the custom integration channel.
See more on the new Crestron, Josh.ai, and Somfy partnerships
[Read more…] about Crestron Home is Center of Attention in a Pair of New PartnershipsSnapAV and Control4 are Rebranded as Snap One
SnapAV Execs Hindman & Vaughn Explain the Rationale Behind the Change to Strata-gee
Recently, in a special Zoom presentation for Strata-gee by SnapAV executives Jeff Hindman (Chief Revenue Officer) and Kordon Vaughn (VP Marketing), I was about to learn about the company’s new brand strategy going forward. Ever since SnapAV acquired their largest division, Control4, there has been much speculation about how to address the market with two strong, well-known brands. I joked, “So what’s it going to be…ControlAV or Snap4?
It turns out I wasn’t that far off, as the executives shared with me that they would be rebranding the organization as Snap One.
Learn more about how SnapAV became Snap One…
[Read more…] about SnapAV and Control4 are Rebranded as Snap OneTOLA Expo: Industry Groups Partner for Super-Regional In-Person Dealer Expo
A group of industry manufacturer sales representatives in the Southwest has partnered with Samsung to produce one of the first in-person industry dealer events in more than a year called the TOLA Expo. The event, which takes place on June 29-30, 2021 covers a huge region – organizers refer to it as a “super-regional show” – drawing from the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas…hence, TOLA.
Learn more about next week’s TOLA Expo
[Read more…] about TOLA Expo: Industry Groups Partner for Super-Regional In-Person Dealer ExpoISE 2021 ‘Heralds’ Getting the Industry ‘Back to Business,’ But Did They?
In a press release distributed Wednesday morning, Integrated Systems Events (part of Integrated Systems Europe) announced the conclusion of their annual ISE event, this year in Barcelona, Spain for the first time on June 1-2. It was a hybrid-style event, offering an online or virtual conference as well as an in-person event with exhibitors in the Fira de Barcelona exhibition center. The organizers heralded the event as helping “the industry getting back to business.”
But how successful was the ISE this year? See more…
[Read more…] about ISE 2021 ‘Heralds’ Getting the Industry ‘Back to Business,’ But Did They?Bryston Partners with Azione Unlimited
Bryston Ltd., a well-regarded manufacturer of high-end audio and home theater gear, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Azione Unlimited, a nationwide buying group of integrators. The move looks to expand their potential network of dealers here in the U.S.
See more on this Bryston and Azione partnership
[Read more…] about Bryston Partners with Azione UnlimitedNext Week is Going to be Big; How Big? Crestron Masters Big!
Next week is the latest incarnation of the Crestron Masters Week, in this case Crestron Masters Week 2021. These events are incredibly popular with the company’s integration dealers and offer a wide variety of intensive training sessions that deal with real issues in the real world. Set to run April 27 – April 30, the buzz of anticipation is building…
But this year, something is different…and that something is pretty big!
See what is different this year from Crestron…
[Read more…] about Next Week is Going to be Big; How Big? Crestron Masters Big!Bowers & Wilkins Launches 16-Ch. Distribution Amplifier
Yep, you read that right. Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) today announced that they have launched an impressive looking 16-channel distribution amplifier aimed at the custom integration channel. Long deemed by many to be the king of Hi-Fi stereo sound, the company is making a power move into a decidedly integrator mainstay category. So say “Welcome” to the new CDA-16…