Rebecca Day

Sports leagues, facing flagging TV viewership, have placed hope in sports betting “to help secure the future of engagement, the value of rights and open new avenues of monetization,” LightShed Partners wrote investors Tuesday.

Electric vehicles will help propel wireless power to a household term, Powercast CEO Charles Goetz told Consumer Electronics Daily. The coming transition to electric and autonomous vehicles will make wireless charging pervasive, but “there’s so much more that can be done and will be done with wireless power,” said Goetz.

After a “corporately life-threatening” year, AMC Entertainment delivered what CEO Adam Aron called an “immensely satisfying report” on its Q4 call Wednesday, despite dismal pandemic-driven Q4 results. Revenue for the world’s largest theater chain plummeted 89% year on year for the quarter ended Dec. 31, to $162.5 million.

Sonos’ launch of the Roam portable Bluetooth speaker (see 2103090046) is its expansion outside the four walls of the home, said Ted Dworkin, senior vice president-product management and customer experience, on the company’s virtual investor meeting Tuesday. The $169 portable is available for preorder at Sonos.com and due to deliver by April 20.

Sonos waded into a new category Tuesday, taking the wraps off a voice-controllable hybrid "ultra-portable" speaker called Roam. Casey Clemens, director-Americas commercial sales, told Consumer Electronics Daily the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi device is the company's “smartest and most versatile” speaker -- at the lowest price Sonos has ever set for a speaker. The Roam, similar in form factor to a JBL Flip or an Ultimate Ears Boom, went on preorder at Sonos.com Tuesday for $169; it’s to ship April 20.

Crestron partnered with Origin Acoustics on a co-branded line of in-wall, in-ceiling and landscape speakers, it said Monday. The control company also announced the DM NAX matrix/amplifier and streaming music player for high-performance audio-over-IP and native integration with the Crestron Home platform. Partnering with Origin allowed Crestron to fill a need in the residential market for a “no-compromise” solution combining speakers and distributed audio that “scales across project sizes,” said John Clancy, Crestron vice president-residential. The company identified a gap in the market for an audio solution that could “fully integrate into a smart home platform" and provide high-resolution and high-output audio for discerning audiophiles, he said. Clancy told us Crestron has had numerous audio and video distribution solutions over the years, and its NVX video distribution system “defines the industry standard.” The company sees an opportunity to do the same with audio via DM NAX, he said. Crestron will continue to work with other third-party partners, he said, “but market shifts and advancement in audio-over-IP technology has seen increasing demand from custom integrators for solutions that work actively with our systems,” he said: The development of DM NAX and work with Origin on the speakers created an “integrated high-performance solution that has been missing from the market.” The speaker line divides into two performance series: Reference and Ultimate. The baseline Reference tier of in-ceiling, in-wall and landscape models have Origin’s patented silk tweeters and glass fiber drivers. The step-up Ultimate speakers use carbon-fiber components and ceramic-coated aluminum tweeters; it also has a marine-grade option. The DM NAX matrix/amplifier line offers native connectivity with music streaming services Pandora, Sirius XM and iHeartRadio, with "more to come," said a spokesperson. Crestron Residential Speakers made by Origin Acoustics are due to ship in April; the Crestron DM NAX line is slated for early June. Preorders for both product lines begin March 30. Several distributed audio companies have teamed with speaker makers over recent years. Control4 bought Triad before its acquisition by SnapAV. The SnapAV website said Monday Triad’s “fully custom high-performance speakers are coming soon.” And Sonos inked a partnership with Dana Innovations in 2018 for co-branded Sonos and Sonance architectural speakers, also for the custom channel.

Dolby Chief Financial Officer Lewis Chew referenced the company’s “virtual cycle” ambition with its fledgling Dolby Atmos Music business, on a Thursday investor call. He likened it to the approach the company took with Dolby Vision in the TV market, which is now included in TVs from nine of 10 top TV makers, with Samsung the exception. The momentum of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos in movie and TV content is driving a growing lineup of home entertainment devices, he said.

Streaming music revenue potential has a long runway relative to smart device penetration, before reaching market saturation, said Warner Music Group CEO Stephen Cooper on a Thursday virtual investor event. Spotify’s experiments with pricing in developed and emerging markets and Amazon’s efforts with higher priced tiers and added functionality are “good news” for WMG, said Cooper. New business models -- social platforms, fitness and metaverses -- “are just getting started.” Those fast-growing categories are delivering revenue of $150 million per year, he said.

Universal Electronics Inc.’s goal in the connected home is to “help brands deliver managed services better and directly to the end users,” Arsham Hatambeiki, senior vice president-product and technology, told a virtual Parks conference last week. UEI is porting its QuickSet Cloud and voice assistant technologies, primarily used in the MVPD space for set-top boxes and remote controls, to the smart home space, announcing first steps last month (see 2102120042) through a smart thermostat. More connected products are due later this year. “We make finished products and software and services that integrate with existing [products],” Hatambeiki told the webinar, saying UEI onboards intelligence that can be put into HVAC equipment and appliances.

MQA Ltd. “could not be happier” for Tidal after the announcement that Square is investing in the high-resolution music streaming service, said MQA CEO Mike Jbara Thursday. “Tidal has been the most innovative streaming service from the start,” said Jbara, and the new structure “equips them and Square to go further faster together.” Tidal is one of a handful of streaming services that supports playback of the Master Quality Authenticated codec. Square announced Thursday it’s buying a “significant ownership stake” in Tidal for $297 million in cash and stock. “Existing artist shareholders will be the remaining stakeholders,” it said, and Tidal will operate independently within Square, alongside the Seller and Cash App ecosystems. Tidal relaunched in March 2015 as an artist-backed alternative to high-profile streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora and is indirectly owned by rapper Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, who will join the Tidal board after the deal is completed. Square CEO Jack Dorsey referenced an intersection between “music and the economy” and said Tidal will “continue to be the best home for music, musicians, and culture.” The deal is expected to close in Q2.