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Sonos & Google Patent War Intensifies as Each Fires New Salvos This Week

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tanks are aligned for battle between these two giants

It must be really interesting in those Sonos and Google joint product development meetings, where the parties meet to discuss their partnership on the Google assistant technology built into Sonos products. You see, in addition to this product partnership, both companies are ensnarled in a nasty round of lawsuits accusing each other of various patent violations – with tactics and rhetoric heating up as each fired new salvos at the other just this week. On Monday, Google sued Sonos. On Tuesday, Sonos sued Google. This is getting serious…

See what’s happening now between Sonos and Google

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VOXX Int’l Reveals It’s Been Hit By a Ransomware Attack

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Warns that Sensitive Employee & Contractor Info Compromised

VOXX International Corporation (NASDAQ:VOXX) revealed this week that they were the victim of a ransomware attack in July and that an assessment of the hack completed early this month shows that sensitive and confidential employee and contractor information has been compromised. The company has issued a warning to all employees and contractors who have worked for the company over the last 20-years.

See more on this surprising VOXX ransomware attack…

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At Crestron NEXT, the Company Reveals Trends Driving the Future

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Photo of Ranjan Singh of Crestron at Crestron NEXT

As previously reported by Strata-gee, the Crestron NEXT event of two weeks ago was a remarkable accomplishment for one company to pull off. With a full two-day agenda – Crestron NEXT offered lots of great content, such as its perspective on the tech business today, seminars on their key current tech products, and more importantly, advice on where things are going tomorrow.

Probably one of my favorite presentations was actually the closing presentation – where Ranjan Singh, Crestron’s Executive VP of Product and Technology summed up the key points of the last two days…and more importantly…offered some details on trends to watch today that will drive the future in a presentation titled “Future Innovations, Next & Beyond.” This is the kind of smart insight that most integrators never get to hear.

See Crestron’s trends driving the future…

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Savant Expands Integrator Opportunities via Alliances

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Savant has partnered with Devialet speakers, shown here in white

Cuts Tech & Distribution Deals with Robern and Devialet

No question about it, Savant is on a roll. Just four months ago in May, the company surprised the industry by announcing their acquisition of GE Lighting, instantly transforming the company into one of the top lighting providers in the US. But, clearly, they weren’t done yet, as the company announced two new partnerships at CEDIA Expo Virtual – one with Robern, a luxury bathroom furnishings manufacturer…and the second with Devialet, a unique design-centric powered speaker maker out of Europe.

See more on Savant’s expanding partnerships

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With Lots of Expo News from AudioControl, Here is My Favorite

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AudioControl, a specialty electronics manufacturer of residential, commercial, and mobile audio products, had several announcements at last week’s CEDIA Expo Virtual. While many of those were announcing, for example, the shipping availability of previously announced products, one announcement in particular caught my eye. And it’s not about a product at all!

See the announcement from AudioControl that I feel is the most significant…

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James Loudspeaker Launches All Terrain Outdoor Towers at CEDIA Expo

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James Loudspeaker all terrain outdoor tower speakers

In a press conference at CEDIA Expo Virtual last week, James Loudspeaker showed the gathered press a dramatic new expansion of their all terrain line of outdoor speaker products – new outdoor towers that just might move the earth beneath your feet. The company says that these new All Terrain Outdoor Towers “are designed to deliver concert-level performance outdoors.”

See more on these James Loudspeaker towers

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Next Big Virtual Event to Watch For: Snap Pro Live from SnapAV

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Snap Pro Live logo, a SnapAV event

Event season is upon us, as evidenced by the two major events that took place last week – CEDIA Expo Virtual 2020 and Crestron NEXT. This year, thanks to COVID-19, these normally in-person events took place in the digital domain as virtual events. And the next big show that integrators are going to want to watch for – which will also be a virtual event – is the upcoming Snap Pro Live being produced by industry powerhouse SnapAV.

See more on Snap Pro Live from SnapAV…

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Has Sonance Solved the Last Mystery of Invisibility?

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New Invisible Series Speakers Rivals Performance of Visible Models

At the dawn of the custom integration industry (then custom installation industry), it became clear to many that there was strong consumer demand for a more custom solution that allowed clients to reclaim floor space lost to big box speakers. This demand led to the creation of in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. Certainly, for many consumers, this was a dramatic step forward in regaining control of their interior design. Yet as time went by, it was clear that what many clients really wanted was…completely invisible sound.

CEDIA Expo Virtual logo

But invisible speakers generally don’t match the sound quality of traditional visible in-ceiling/in-wall models – a major performance compromise that causes many integrators to refuse to offer them. But in a press conference at the CEDIA Expo Virtual this week, Sonance told the gathered media that they have solved the conundrum of the sound quality compromise of invisible speaker performance.

See the innovative new Sonance Invisible Series…

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Emerald Expo Pulls Off CEDIA Expo Virtual, Or Rather, CEproDIA Expo

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logo for CEDIA Expo Virtual

CEDIA Expo Virtual was almost exclusively an online media event…rather than a real, in-person trade show. I know…duh! Yes, I knew this logically, but it hadn’t really hit me viscerally until I actually attended the event. But what that means for Emerald Exposition is that their expertise in fielding large scale, B2B, in-person events really doesn’t apply here. And that fact forced them to rely exclusively on CE Pro for almost the entire event, including content strategy, seminar production, and show performance.

See more of my thoughts on this CEproDIA Expo Virtual overview…

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Crestron Invites You to Leave the Now, and Head to What’s Next: Crestron NEXT

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Crestron NEXT logo and banner

Creston, one of the industry’s largest and most respected brands of control and automation solutions for the residential and commercial channels, is holding their Crestron NEXT virtual event next week – and it looks extremely interesting. Taking place over two days – September 15 & 16 (yes, during CEDIA’s virtual show), there are two versions: residential and commercial.

See more on why you should plan on attending Crestron NEXT…

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