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Learn, Baby, Learn
My sons are, for the first time, both in middle school at the same time. And because of that our household is the proud...
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Consumers See The Light
Consumer awareness of home automation has never been greater. Earlier this summer, on Amazon Prime Day, the retailer prominently offered a bundle deal consisting...
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7 Reasons Your Installer Life is Easier Today Than 15 Years Ago
Recently, I had to look up my actual start day back in 2002. Here I am 15 years later. It had me thinking of...
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The Network Backbone Is Key
As incredible as it may seem, it has only been 10 years since the release of the original Apple iPhone, and to say that...
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What’s In Store For Consumer Tech’s Holiday 2017 Season
Each year around the holidays, NPD provides what we have come to call the Baker’s Dozen — a list of 13 predictions for the...
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Same-Day Delivery Is A Go For Best Buy
Best Buy is growing its same-day delivery program. Not only is the retailer adding cities where consumers can order products from BestBuy.com and...
Accessories
Beats Adds Studio Wireless3 Headphones With Apple W1 Chip
Beats by Dr. Dre has updated its top-of-the-line Studio Wireless headphones, adding the Apple W1 chip and upgrading the components. It also trimmed a...
Industry
More Than 300 Business Leaders Speak Out In Support Of DACA
A group of more than 300 business leaders and CEOs have sent an open letter to President Trump and congressional leaders urging them to preserve...
Accessories
Sphero, LittleBits & Propel Mark Force Friday II With Cool Smart Toys
The connected-toy industry ushered in Force Friday II with a warm welcome. In honor of the marketing event, intended to generate excitement for the...
news
IFA 2017: LG Adds Technicolor Expert Mode To All 2017 OLED TVs
LG and Technicolor have teamed up to demonstrate 2017 OLED TVs at IFA 2017 featuring Technicolor Expert Mode, which displays colors optimized by Technicolor’s...
CE Financial Strategies
What to do When Higher CE Sales Result in Lower or Slower Collections
Overcoming doubts about outsourcing and taking a deep dive into operational processes and efficiencies can reap benefits and lead to greater growth and profitability...
news
IFA 2017: TCL Bringing AI To Its TVs
TCL unveiled three new TVs in three distinct series at IFA this morning, along with an impressive conversational AI capability that allows natural voice...
Home Automation
IFA 2017: Not To Be Outdone, Sony Debuts Its Own Smart Speaker
Sony broke both size and sound barriers with a slew of new products unveiled at IFA 2017, including a palm-sized premium compact camera and...
news
IFA 2017: GfK Says Global CE Sales Will Rise 4% In 2017
After a flat 2016, the value of global CE product sales are projected to rise 4 percent this year, according to GfK forecasts presented...
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IFA 2017: Panasonic Unveils Hi-Fi Google Smart Speaker, 77″ OLED With HDR10+
In a surprise move, Panasonic matched Apple with a smart assistant speaker targeted to the audiophile — and also currently unavailable — when it...
Computers
Acer Marks IFA 2017 With A ‘1st” For PCs
To kick off IFA at a potpourri of a press event, Acer introduced a plethora of new products. The new devices include what it’s...
news
B&O & LG Turn Heads With Eclipse TV At IFA 2017
If only IFA was last week … Bang & Olufsen turned heads on Wednesday with the unveiling of its BeoVision Eclipse TV, manufactured in...
news
IHL Group Debunks The Retail Apocalypse
U.S. retailers are opening 4,080 more stores in 2017 than they are closing, and plan to open over 5,500 more in 2018, according to...
Home Automation
LG’s IFA Focus Is On Voice Control & Robotics
LG Electronics is at IFA 2017 this week to promote its agnostic approach to the smart home. The company said it has committed to...
Home Automation
IFA 2017: Polaroid Focuses On Its Hoop Home-Security Cam
PLR IP Holdings used the IFA tech show in Berlin to show off its two newest Polaroid-branded cameras on Tuesday: the Hoop wireless home-security...
Buying Groups
BrandSource/AVB Circles The Wagons At Summer Show
AVB/BrandSource, the $12 billion buying group for independent tech, appliance and home-furnishings dealers, got down to business yesterday amid the distractions of Las Vegas...
Audio
Amazon’s Alexa Brings Multiroom Audio To Echo — And Soon To Sonos & Bose
Alexa can now deliver multiroom audio. Amazon announced on Tuesday that its Echo devices can now act as multiroom speakers using Alexa. Consumers can...
news
Best Buy Earnings Exceed Expectations
Best Buy’s second-quarter earnings and sales topped analysts’ expectations as revenue approached $9 billion, up almost 5 percent, and same-store sales grew 5.4 percent....
news
Fitbit Ushers In Ionic Smart Watch With Its Own OS & App Store
Fitbit showed it was ready for a market-share fight with the debut of what it’s calling its first smart watch, the Fitbit Ionic. Although...
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Panasonic, Samsung & 20th Century Fox Plan HDR10+ Certification Program
Panasonic and Samsung are teaming up with 20th Century Fox to create an open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for high dynamic range (HDR) through...
Buying Groups
Nationwide Sets Its Agenda
While the rare solar eclipse was locally obscured by overcast skies and random drizzle, there was no shadow last week on the Nationwide Marketing...
Buying Groups
Mega Group To Members: You’ve Gotta Accentuate The Positive
Mega Group USA broke all attendance records with its Fall National Convention, held Aug. 12-15 at the Omni Hotel & Music City Convention Center in...
news
Independent RadioShack Dealers Unleashed By Latest Bankruptcy
RadioShack’s second bankruptcy in two years may have brought its company-owned stores to the edge of oblivion, but it has apparently sparked a renaissance...
Appliances
LG Breaks Ground On First U.S. Appliance Plant
LG Electronics took a ceremonial step closer to domestic manufacturing yesterday when dignitaries including U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross and Tennessee Sen. Bob...
news
Sears Closing More Kmart Stores
Sears Holdings has added another 28 Kmart stores to its list of locations targeted for shuttering this year. The announcement came with the release...
news
Samsung Expands The Boundaries Of (Screen) Space With Galaxy Note8
A year after a series of exploding Galaxy Note7 smartphones ripped a hole in Samsung’s reputation and bottom line, the company today responded with...
Audio
Yamaha Debuts R-N303 Network Hi-Fi Stereo Receiver
It has been 63 years since the Yamaha Hi-Fi Player, the world’s first audio component bearing the “Hi-Fi” name, was released in 1954, and...
news
Google, Walmart Partner On Shop-By-Voice
Your wish is their command. Beginning in late September, Walmart customers will be able to purchase hundreds of thousands of items from the discount...
news
Sears Licenses Kenmore Floor Care Overseas
Sears Holdings has culled some additional cash from its private-label Kenmore brand. The retailer, which recently began selling Kenmore appliances to Amazon, has given...
Appliances
Haier’s Kevin Dexter To Run Fisher & Paykel, Monogram Brands
Appliance industry veteran Kevin Dexter, who helped make Samsung a force in the U.S. appliance market, has been handed the keys to Haier/GE Appliance’s...
Industry
Meet Gina Waldhorn, Quirky’s Mother Of Invention
Remember Quirky, the crowdsourcing start-up responsible for Wink, GE Appliance’s Aros smart AC, and all manner of, well, quirky cable and power accessories? The...
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My VIP Wish List
My birthday is very close to Christmas, a dilemma that, growing up, I shared with many other fellow miserable Sagittarius cusp kids who lived...
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2017 TWICE VIP Award Winner, TVs: 40 to 57 inches: Samsung The Frame
The Frame is Samsung’s newest innovation that transforms the way consumers think about televisions in their home by challenging the idea of the traditional...
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2017 TWICE VIP Award Winner, Headphones $300+: Blue Satellite Premium Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphone
Blue’s Satellite features a built-in audiophile amp and two separate pairs of drivers to ensure the high-fidelity experience is never compromised. Satellite’s proprietary amp...
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2017 TWICE VIP Award Winner, Video Security Cameras: LG Smart Security Secured by ADT Canopy (LHC5200WI)
LG Smart Security (5 inches by 3.4 inches) is an all-in-one video security monitor and home automation device with Full HD video capabilities, providing...
Accessories
Voxx Code Alarm Line Gets Promo For Dealers
Voxx Electronics is supporting the launch of its new Code Alarm remote-start lineup with a six-month-long promotion for both dealers and consumers. It is...
news
2017 TWICE VIP Award Winner, Camera Accessories: Samsung 128GB EVO Plus
The Samsung 128GB EVO Plus MicroSD card leverages advanced NAND technology to provide consumers with faster speeds and expanded storage, making it ideal for...