Strategy in TECH...
LG Electronics announced this week an interesting new compact laser projector targeted at the home cinema enthusiast. Although quite affordable, this light and compact projector – called the LG ProBeam – features some very cool technology and features sure to delight residential movie fans.
Nest Labs announced on Wednesday their all-new, upgraded indoor security camera, called the Nest Cam IQ, with new “intelligent” features to make it more useful and secure. For the first time, consumers are able to not just remotely monitor their homes, but receive more – and smarter – alerts thanks to this cameras remarkable new smart technologies and features.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced this week that at its upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2018 in Las Vegas, there will be a new area of focus on Smart City technologies. The group plans both a dedicated display space featuring the technologies of Smart Cities, as well as a full schedule of related conference programming.
Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai is feeling pretty good these days. After an incredibly tough turnaround period where many questioned his plan, Hirai said this week that the company expects to book an operating profit of ¥500 billion ($4.5 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2018, its highest operating profit in 20-years according to a report by the Nikkei. But the CEO admits that, as good as this news is, the company is still short of a full turnaround.
What’s needed for a complete turnaround of Sony’s business? Innovation…
Momentum continues to build for voice-enabled devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home products, according to new data and forecast from eMarketer. Usage rates also appear to be increasing for the broader category of virtual assistants, such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana.
During the Sapphire Marketing NYC Road Show in Manhattan this week, we had the opportunity to spend time with Jeff Singer, Crestron’s Executive Director of Product Marketing, who shared with us the latest updates on the company’s major residential technology initiatives. He also helped us gain a better understanding of the company’s philosophy of product development and design, saying “We’re just trying to figure out how to solve real world problems for real world people.”
THX announced this week that it has joined the Streaming Video Alliance, an organzation that addresses ongoing video streaming issues through the development of best practices. THX says it is “uniquely qualified to make significant contributions to the Alliance.”
When it comes to sophisticated AV system installations, integrators have been forced to choose from a panoply of incompatible, proprietary matrix systems from a group of control manufacturers. These systems are complex and require specific programming protocols unique to them.
Then, at this year’s ISE, everything changed…
In reports out of Taiwan, sources say that Apple, Inc. has ordered 70 million bendable OLED panels from Samsung Electronics. An order of this size can only be for the upcoming iPhone 8, expected to be launched in late 2017. The order also suggests that Apple is expecting the iPhone 8 to be a big success.
Although many analysts criticize slowing innovation at industry powerhouse Apple, Inc., final results for global smartphone shipments shows Apple with four of the top five models. Not bad for a technology slacker!
