Strategy in TECH...
James Loudspeaker, an innovative manufacturer of architectural speaker products for the residential and commercial custom integration industry, announced this week that they have redesigned their speaker grilles to a new Microperf-style for their small aperture product line. The new Microperf design is sure to be popular with architects, designers, integrators and end-users as it helps to more perfectly visually blend the speakers into the surrounding environment.
In consumer electronics, we tend to find products separated into certain ranges or categories, largely based on the intended target market. There are high-end/high-performance products targeted for audio aficionados (aka audiophiles) that tend to be better performing, but at a higher price. And then there are inexpensive items targeted to the mainstream consumer who likes the looks or features – such as a nostalgia look – but isn’t willing to pay much extra for performance…because that’s not necessarily their “thing.”
But like “East” and “West,” these two things almost never meet together in one product. Never, that is, until product design expert Hiro Ogura launched his Voiz lossless streaming smart speaker.
The last ninety days or so have been somewhat turbulent at Nortek Security and Control (NSC), with two top executives departing under foggy circumstances. First, in May we learned that President Mike O’Neal had left the company. Then, last week, news emerged that Joe Roberts, Executive VP of Products and Marketing had also departed.
I reached out to Joe Roberts to try to find out what was up with all of these changes at NSC.
TiVo Corporation announced this week that it has entered into a global IP (intellectual property) licensing agreement with leading home electronics supplier LG Electronics, Inc. (LG). This deal is consistent with the company’s persistent efforts to deliver a more comprehensive, unique, and easy-to-use feature pack and user experience on their premium TVs.
With most economists on pins and needles over the recent number of economic data points that seem to suggest an impending economic slowdown, word came at the end of the last week that the latest jobs report from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics saw employment take a big jump. According to this latest data, employers added a significant 224,000 jobs in June, a big increase from May’s anemic results.
Although the US is in the midst of a record period of economic expansion, more and more troubling signs have appeared over the last few months in the form of negative economic data points to suggest that a turn in the economy may be coming. This week, a trio of new reports – consumer confidence, sales of newly constructed homes, and corporate earnings revisions – suggest that economic growth is stalling and that “turn” may be here.
Perhaps this story will be a bit of a mirror of my experience from CE Week, some short takes on the interesting stories and technologies I uncovered there. Nothing was particularly earth-shattering…but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t many interesting items. So I encourage you to read on…
At CE Week last month, I was prepared to see the usual crop of gadgets and doodads designed to be sold to the masses through the retail channel. However this year, I was pleased to see a few more exhibitors offering products responsive to the custom integration channel. That includes the acoustics experts from Acoustic Innovations.
Smart home and security solutions were all over CE Week last month in Manhattan at the Jacob Javits Center. One solution I saw that hits both of those markets was the cleverly designed Smart Safe by Motorola. Didn’t think you needed your really dumb safe to be smart? Didn’t think you needed a safe at all? You may rethink all that when you hear Motorola’s pitch for their Flex and Bolt Smart Safe.
