“It’s time,” Audio Video Systems executive Franklin Karp told Consumer Electronics Daily, after he announced his retirement Friday from the Plainview, New York-based custom integration firm after 15 years, effective Dec. 31 (see 2110080048). Calling his decision to leave the firm “amicable and nice,” Karp said it will be “my honor” to be at the company’s disposal, but it’s time for new management to take AVS forward “for the next 15 years.”
Rebecca Day
Rebecca Day, Senior editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2010. She’s a longtime CE industry veteran who has also written about consumer tech for Popular Mechanics, Residential Tech Today, CE Pro and others. You can follow Day on Instagram and Twitter: @rebday
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed retailers to experiment with new ways to engage with consumers shopping from home, said a Wednesday report from ICF Next on changing retail trends. Increased use of technology and personalization are now an expected part of consumer shopping, it said, and shopping experiences are increasingly blending physical and online retail experiences.
Streaming is trending toward advertising-supported services, with three in five consumers willing to pay for an ad-supported VOD service if AVOD lowers the monthly subscription cost, said a Roku-National Research Group study Wednesday. More than eight in 10 consumers said one of the biggest factors when choosing a new streaming service is whether there's a choice of free and paid tiers, said the report.
“In the new reality, you have to go where people are,” said Brightcove CEO Jeff Ray opening the company’s virtual Play 2021 event Tuesday on the future of video. The way companies connect with audiences and employees is changing, he said, and opportunities to reach larger audiences through streaming video is at a massive scale.
A year ago, Amazon kicked off an early holiday season with an October Prime Day sales event that was pushed from its usual summer slot due to inventory constraints caused by an uptick in online ordering during COVID-19 lockdowns. This year, amid a challenged supply chain, Amazon is prodding customers to “shop early and save big,” announcing Monday “Black Friday-worthy deals available today.”
Dialog terminated a strategic alliance agreement with Energous, the RF wireless power company said Thursday. Dialog invested $10 million in November 2016 and another $15 million in June 2017 (see 1706290019) and was the exclusive component supplier of Energous’ WattUp technology. Energous had agreed to use Dialog as the exclusive supplier of its wire-free charging technology for specified fields of use, subject to certain exceptions, it said. Both agreed on revenue sharing and to collaborate on commercialization of licensed products with each retaining its intellectual property. Terms of the seven-year agreement will continue through a wind-down ending in September 2024, and exclusivity ended, it said. Renesas acquired Dialog last month for about $5.6 billion. They didn't comment Friday.
As more devices and smart home functionality depend on a solid Wi-Fi connection, opportunities are rising for managed services to oversee home networks, said Shane Eleniak, Calix Edge Products senior vice president-revenue, on a Wednesday Parks Associates virtual smart home conference. The average U.S. broadband home has 14 connected devices, according to Parks.
Preferred scheduling, a commitment of over $75 million for existing hourly store employees, education benefits and paid back-up training are some of the ways Target hopes to ensure holiday season store shifts are covered in a tight labor market, said the retailer Thursday.
Roku is heading into the holiday quarter with new 4K streaming sticks with voice control, a revamped Ultra LT player and an upgraded operating system, said the company Monday.
CEDIA Expo parent company Emerald has held over 20 in-person trade shows, conferences and other events this year with 30%-70% of pre-COVID-19 attendance levels, said the events company Monday. “As expected, COVID-related issues such as international travel restrictions and date postponements for many Company events have impacted attendance,” it said. A spokesperson told us Monday CEDIA Expo 2021, Sept. 1-3 in Indianapolis, in early summer was on track to draw 10,000 attendees: "When the delta variant came through this year -- we had about 30%-50% of those originally registered attendees come to the show in person." Emerald said last week (see 2109130046) the custom installation industry’s annual trade event drew 82 exhibitors, down from more than 250 that were expected, after concerns about the COVID-19 delta variant caused numerous exhibitor and attendee cancellations. CEDIA Expo had 1,400 verified attendees: 35% first-timers and 58% integrators; 14 countries were represented. Emerald is scheduled to stage “dozens” of events in coming months and looks to return to a full slate in 2022, it said Monday. On its August earnings call, the company (see 2107300061) said it canceled 108 events due to the pandemic, 94 scheduled for 2020, representing $230.6 million of 2019 revenue, and 14 scheduled for this year, representing $71.2 million of revenue. It submitted $167 million in insurance claims for 2020 canceled events and received $121.1 million: $89.2 million last year, $31.9 million this year. It submitted an additional $52.9 million in claims for events not held in first-half 2021 (see 2104300064).