Dennis van Schie has been named corporate VP, head of sales and marketing worldwide, at Sony Mobile Communications, reporting to president/CEO Kunimasa Suzuki. Van Schie is a 10-year Sony Mobile veteran, having served most recently as corporate VP, head of the product business unit, and will be based in London ... Ryan Conway was promoted to western regional sales manager of custom install sales at Panamax/Furman.

NEW YORK – Home and car audio supplier Pyle is entering the sports accessories market with a line of sports watches with built-in fitness monitoring capabilities.

At the top of the line, Pyle is shipping a GPS sports watch that comes with a 2.4GHz digitally coded wireless heart-rate monitor chest strap to help fitness enthusiasts track and analyze workout data.

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy house brand Insignia announced last week that it will bring to market an HD Radio designed for the blind and visually impaired.

The Narrator radio includes audible voice responses, access to local HD Radio broadcasts of reading services, and an ergonomic design designed in collaboration with the International Association of Audio Information Services (IAAIS) to be accessible for people with visual impairments. It was introduced last week at the IAAIS annual conference in Houston.

AliveCor Touts Benefits Of Smartphone ECG

SAN FRANCISCO — AliveCor, which markets a mobile electrocardiogram (ECG) recorder for smartphones, announced results from a study that demonstrated the real-world effectiveness of simple heart-rate monitoring for users.

The eight-week study, “iPhone Rhythm Strip: Clinical Implications of Wireless and Ubiquitous Heart Rate Monitoring,” enrolled 54 participants to determine how they use the device.

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. – Striiv is shipping the latest iteration of it Striiv smart pedometer, a small, touchscreen fitness device that accurately tracks steps and motivates its users to walk more.

The always-on device can track steps, distance, calories burned, stairs and minutes of activity throughout the day.

With its proprietary Fitness Motivation System, Striiv learns a user’s behavior and then encourages activity via personalized challenges and goals, games and donation opportunities.

SAN FRANCISCO — Fitbit has begun shipping its Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale.

Aria is a high-performance digital scale that tracks weight, body fat percentage and body mass index, and can automatically upload the info via Wi-Fi to a users’ personalized online Fitbit account. The account lets a user set weight goals, track progress, and garner extra motivation by earning reward badges through Fitbit’s online tools.

The Fitbit online dashboard is also accessible through a free iPhone and Android app.

New York – AMD has reiterated its plan to enter the tablet processor category, stating that the company will have a low-watt processor ready when Windows 8 tablets begin to ship later this year.

Leslie Sobon, AMD’s product platform marketing VP, said tablets are the obvious future growth area for processors. The company announced its intention of entering the tablet category in February, but it had not stated before when this might happen.

IRVINE, CALIF. – Tablet sales’ meteoric ascent will continue, with 126.6 million units expected to ship in 2012, according to IHS.

The IHS iSuppli “Worldwide Tablet Market Tracker” report states the 126.6 million units shipped worldwide is an 85 percent increase over the 68.4 million that shipped in 2011. In 2010, 16.4 million tablets were sold.

Looking ahead, IHS is predicting sales to jump another 63 percent in 2013, with 360.4 million shipping by 2016.

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Home Entertainment Source (HES) has added nine more manufacturers to its vendor roster.

The additions include Savant, Planar/Runco, TK Living, SIM2, Lutron, Vutec, Salez Toolz, Cinemacoustic Solutions and Zvox.

The specialty A/V buying group, a division of the $14 billion BrandSource organization, said the new additions provide more options for its independent dealer members and demonstrate the group’s growth.

Los Angeles, Calif. - Massive Audio plans a second wave of six more OEM-replacement car audio speakers in the early summer to follow the recent shipment of six models.

The speakers, all in the DX series, are sensitive enough to be powered by the built-in amplifiers of factory head units, the company said.

Massive recently shipped the coaxial DX 4, DX 5, DX6, DX46 and DX 57 and a three- way 6x9. They'll be followed in early summer by the DX2, DX3, DX65 and shallow-mount DX6S, DX69S and DK6 component speaker.

Prices weren't available.