Rebecca Day

Sonos announced Sub Mini Tuesday, after the entry-level subwoofer was delayed due to a slow consumer response to its Sonos Ray sound bar that launched in June. The Sub Mini is due to ship Oct. 6 at $429 vs. $749 for the third-generation flagship Sub, which remains in the line, the company said.

Mastercard's SpendingPulse program is forecasting a 7.1% year-over-year holiday season retail sales increase (18.8% vs. 2019) for Nov. 1-Dec. 24, it said Monday. It predicted electronics sales will grow 3.5% year on year and 25.6% vs. 2019.

The smart TV “is basically a computer on the wall,” said Vizio Chief Financial Officer Adam Townsend at an investor conference last week, discussing the growing role of the connected TV in the home.

Bose introduced CustomTune sound calibration technology Wednesday with the launch of the QuietComfort Earbuds II at a New York media event. The true wireless earbuds, which offer up to four listening modes, went on preorder Wednesday and are due in stores Sept. 15 at $299.

Safety and women’s health, improved camera technology, advanced audio and a new iPhone screen design were among the highlights of Apple’s annual launch event Wednesday.

Privately held State Farm is taking a 15% stake in security firm ADT, totaling about $1.2 billion with the purchase of 133 million shares at $9 per share, the companies announced Tuesday. ADT stock jumped 16.4% on the news, closing at $8.39.

Cloud-based voice and collaboration platform company Ooma sees “a lot of opportunity with T-Mobile,” despite a drop in user count in fiscal Q2 ended July 31, said CEO Eric Stang on a Thursday earnings call. Initiatives planned for Q2 “didn’t really take hold, and we’re now looking at Q3” for some of the initiatives to happen, he said.

Conn’s is cutting operating costs, reducing capital expenditures and maintaining “conservative credit underwriting” in response to “challenging macroeconomic pressures,” said CEO Chandra Holt on a Q2 earnings call Tuesday.

Xperi launched its TiVo OS media platform at IFA 2022 Wednesday, saying Turkish electronics maker Vestel will ship the first Powered by TiVo smart TVs in Europe next year. Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner teased the news on the company’s August earnings call when he said the company had signed its first licensee for the technology (see 2208090037). Xperi is targeting tier 2 brands, “and some tier 1s,” with TiVo OS, Kirchner said on the call, saying the company is pitching the platform to brands looking for an open-end smart TV platform with “flexibility to customize their own user experience,” have a direct-to-consumer relationship and “participate in monetization over the long-term.” The Wednesday announcement referenced TiVo OS as a “first-of-its-kind neutral platform, aimed at giving [OEMs] significantly more control over the user experience and helping consumers cut through the clutter of streaming and linear content options with simplified universal discovery.” Xperi estimates 40% of the smart TV market is looking for an “independent platform like ours,” said Kirchner, calling TiVo a “supportive industry partner with deep domain expertise.” He said 30 million households worldwide use TiVo via connected TVs and other partners. A Powered by TiVo TV can deliver “better viewer engagement with an unbiased content-first user experience where live hybrid TV and streaming services are fully integrated,” and consumers can “intuitively discover” content across their streaming apps in a "free, familiar, and frictionless experience,” Xperi said. On the August call, Kirchner called the TiVo OS platform “content-agnostic. We're not trying to entirely control the direct-to-consumer relationship,” he said: “That’s for the people who make the equipment." Xperi isn’t trying to mirror streaming TV platform models on the market today, Kirchner said, saying TiVo OS strengths are in technology, business model and independence.

Samsung unveiled a new brand identity and partnerships for the Samsung TV Plus free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service that launched in 2015. Samsung TV Plus is integrated into all 2016-2022 Samsung smart TVs and Galaxy devices, plus select Family Hub refrigerators in the U.S. and Korea, the company said.