Le Holdings Co. Ltd. (LeEco), a Chinese company with unusual multi-business aspirations, announced this week that they had acquired Vizio, a U.S. manufacturer of affordable televisions, in a deal worth $2 billion. The deal will serve as LeEco’s entry into the U.S. market with its unusual mix of products.
News
Remember When Crestron Said It Was Pulling Out of CEDIA Expo? Surprise!
BREAKING NEWS
Even Bigger Surprise: Who Crestron Has Partnered With
We have learned from multiple sources, and now confirmed with the company, that leading control systems provider Crestron will in fact have a presence at the upcoming CEDIA Expo this September in Dallas, TX. This news will come as a surprise, perhaps even a shock, to many considering that just a few months ago, the company announced its departure from the residential custom integration industry’s biggest annual event.
But perhaps a bigger surprise is with whom they’ve chosen to partner… [Read more…] about Remember When Crestron Said It Was Pulling Out of CEDIA Expo? Surprise!
With BluOS, is Lenbrook the Apple of High-End Distributed AV?
Company Expands BluOS into NAD Line, Expanding Its Options
Back in the Fall of 2013, we told you about the birth of a new brand called Bluesound – a new networkable, high-quality wired and wireless multiroom music system. Almost simultaneously, and in response to the obvious success of Sonos we suspect, new systems from Bose, D&M Holdings (HEOS), and Lenbrook were all introduced. But Lenbook officials maintained that their system had an advantage over most of the other systems – they had created their own operating system called BluOS.
And now BluOS is expanding in very interesting ways… [Read more…] about With BluOS, is Lenbrook the Apple of High-End Distributed AV?
Pokemon Go Hits Major Milestone, Already
Now On More Smartphones Than Twitter
This morning we learned a stunning statistic – Pokémon Go, that new game that incorporates augmented reality and that is all the rage right now – has hit an impressive milestone. According to data from MFour Mobile Research, Pokémon Go is now on more Android smartphones than Twitter.
Why is this stunning? Read on to find out… [Read more…] about Pokemon Go Hits Major Milestone, Already
New Large Freshman Class at ProSource
ProSource announced this week the addition of 21 new members, a fairly large freshman class, even for the organization that bills itself as the “largest audio, video and integration buying group in the country.” According to the organization, this freshman class is worth about $43 million in total retail sales.
See who joined ProSource… [Read more…] about New Large Freshman Class at ProSource
Look Out Nortek, Here Come the Lawyers
Acquirer Melrose Offers a Peek at Its Plans
The ink is barely dry on their agreement to be acquired by Britain’s Melrose Industries PLC, and already Nortek Inc. finds themselves the subject of multiple investigations by several major law firms who have publicly notified shareholders this deal may not be a good one for them. It is not clear if these law firms intend to take action yet, but if so, it could be a complicating factor in the transaction.
See who is stepping up to investigate Nortek… [Read more…] about Look Out Nortek, Here Come the Lawyers
AVAD Sold to Private Equity Company
BREAKING NEWS
Industry Veteran Tom Jacoby is AVAD’s New CEO
News comes this 4th of July holiday week that Ingram Micro, itself just recently acquired by a Chinese shipping company, has sold off AVAD, LLC and AVAD Canada Ltd., to Kingswood Capital Management, a private equity company. In an announcement from Kingswood, the company says it has brought in a new upper management team – including a new CEO, industry veteran Tom Jacoby.
See more on the sale of AVAD to private equity… [Read more…] about AVAD Sold to Private Equity Company
Nexia Brings Echo-Based Voice Control to Home Automation
Voice Command is ‘One of the Great Technological Breakthroughs’
Nexia, a division of monster company Ingersoll Rand and supplier of smart home products and solutions, announced this week that Nexia-certified products will now be able to be controlled with simple voice commands through Amazon’s Echo. Clearly joining the new wave of companies who believe voice-command is the “next big thing” in home automation, Nexia is moving quickly to embrace voice control.
See more on Nexia’s new initiative in voice control… [Read more…] about Nexia Brings Echo-Based Voice Control to Home Automation
Russound to Get Serious about Commercial at CEDIA
Company Will Premiere a New 70-Volt Line of Commercial Products
They’ve been hinting about it for months, now Russound makes it official, they will launch an all-new line of 70-volt products targeted for the light commercial market at the upcoming CEDIA Expo in Dallas in September. Although the company had no specific model/feature information for the press at this time, the news is noteworthy nonetheless as the company is clearly expanding into more commercial-appropriate products this year.
See more on this announcement from Russound… [Read more…] about Russound to Get Serious about Commercial at CEDIA
LCD Kingpin Sharp, Under New Management, Pursues OLED
Sharp to Cut Another 7,000 Employees
Big changes are coming to Sharp, Corp. in the wake of their acquisition by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co – better known as Foxconn. News out of Japan notes that the deal between Sharp and Foxconn officially closes at the end of this month. According to both parties, the acquisition is proceeding smoothly and is fully expected to close on time.
