news
Margin Makers: Echo Spot
The Spot is a scaled-down version of Amazon’s Echo Show, also featuring a screen that displays videos, weather reports, to-do lists and calendars. It...
Post Type news_article
news
Hisense Adds U.S. Soccer To Its Endorsement Belt
Hisense has furthered its sports marketing strategy in general, and its soccer association in particular, by becoming the official TV and appliance manufacturer of...
Appliances
Whirlpool Wins Latest Round In Korean Washer Imports Case
Korean appliance makers Samsung and LG were dealt a major setback by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) yesterday, when the regulatory body unanimously...
news
The Biggest Roku TV Will Be Available In Time For the Holidays
TCL revealed pricing and availability for what it’s hailing as the largest Roku TV. The company first previewed the line at CES in January....
Home Automation
Google Takes On Amazon Dot With New Home Mini
Google unveiled a its new lineup of retail hardware products Wednesday, led by a new Pixel 2 lineup that will compete with new smartphones...
Home Automation
Amazon Invading Apple’s Ecosystem With Its Echo Smart Speakers
Smartphone users seem to be taking sides in the Amazon vs. Google smart speaker race. New analysis from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) indicates...
Accessories
Klipsch Extends Heritage Speaker Line With 1st Headphones
Voxx International’s Klipsch brand has dedicated its two-years-in-the-making new flagship Heritage HP-3 headphones to the memory of founder Paul W. Klipsch, who pioneered stereo...
Appliances
Sonos One Seeks To Be The Speaker For All (Digital) Voices
Sonos continued its commitment to voice control with the launch of a new “platform-agnostic” speaker that will be compatible with Google Assistant, Alexa and...
news
Hisense Gaining Retail Traction With H9D Plus 4K TV
The U.S. retail market is making way for Hisense’s first wave of premium 4K TVs. Leading the charge for the Chinese manufacturer is its...
news
Walmart Closing The Same-Day Delivery Gap
With most brick-and-mortar retailers now fully enmeshed in e-commerce, the next great differentiator, after price, is delivery time. And Walmart, which has been on...
news
NRF Holiday Forecast: Bright, With Strong Sales
A steadily improving economy and relative strength within the retail sector should contribute to a solid holiday selling season, the National Retail Federation (NRF)...
Industry
John Kodera To Replace Andrew House As Sony Interactive President
John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera has been named president/CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), replacing current president and global CEO Andrew House. Kodera, who was previously...
news
Holiday 2017: Black Friday TV Prices, Thanksgiving Store Closures & More
It’s only the second day of October, but our friends at BestBlackFriday.com are already spilling the beans on retailers’ best-laid holiday plans. Their latest...
news
Roku’s New Line Will Likely Cement Its Market Leader Position
Fresh on the heels of its IPO last Thursday, Roku updated its product line with a focus on an improved OS for both stand-alone...
Industry
GE Appliances Appoints Mary Putman Marketing/Brand VP
Procter & Gamble veteran Mary Putman has joined GE Appliances as marketing and brand VP. Her appointment marks the second time that the Haier...
Appliances
Roku Now Offers 5 Streaming Devices, Topping Out At $99.99
Roku is refreshing its hardware lineup and updating its operating system in order to better address the burgeoning — and wide-ranging — cord-cutter market....
Appliances
Samsung Teams With ADT For DIY Home Security Starter Kit
Samsung is partnering with ADT for a line of a DIY home-security solutions employing Samsung’s SmartThings platform. Two products will become available on Oct....
Accessories
The Mouse That Roared: Evoluent’s VerticalMouse Turns 15
You can argue that most tech products are designed to provide entertainment or increase productivity. Jack Lo’s VerticalMouse does the latter, but takes it...
Industry
Alpine Restructures Aftermarket Division: Names Mike Anderson VP & Brings On Dixon Smart
Alpine Electronics, a manufacturer of in-vehicle A/V and navigation devices, announced a restructuring of its aftermarket division. Mike Anderson has been promoted to VP...
news
RadioShack Alive, If Not Quite Kicking
RadioShack, which entered bankruptcy protection last March for the second time in as many years, is proceeding with plans to emerge from Chapter 11...
news
NRF Report Shows Brick-And-Mortar Shopping Alive And Well
A newly launched research effort by the National Retail Federation to gauge consumer behavior debunks the notion that brick-and-mortar shopping is defunct. The inaugural...
Home Automation
Amazon Whirlwind: New Echo, Plus, Spot, Connect, Fire TV Take The Stage
Amazon introduced a spate of new Echo devices and Alexa features on Wednesday, clearly determined to not simply put an Echo in every home...
news
U.S. Retailers Upbeat About Biz But Behind In Digital: KPMG Panel
Chief execs at retail and consumer goods companies are overwhelmingly upbeat about business, though most concede they’re behind the eight ball in digital capabilities,...
Home Automation
Connected Consumer Driving Home-Improvement Biz
The mood was decidedly upbeat, particularly for the custom integration crowd, at last week’s Insights Conference in Chicago, hosted by the Home Improvement Research...
Digital Cameras
Voxx’s New 360fly 4K Pro Camera Marketed As Security Solution
Voxx is bringing to market a professional version of its 360fly camera. The new 360fly 4K Pro camera, from Voxx’s Advanced Solutions Corporation (VASC),...
Home Automation
LG Completes Appliance Hook Up With Google
Four months after adding Google Assistant to its open platform, virtually all LG smart appliances are now compatible with the chatty virtual helper. LG...
Financial
Samsung Looking At Record Profits In Q4
On the news that analysts expect Samsung Electronics to reach a record $13.6 billion in operating profits in the fourth quarter, the company’s strategy...
news
Pain In The Glass: iPhone 8 Plus vs. Galaxy Note8 In Durability Challenge
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall” has never been truer than with the latest generation of bezel-free, all-glass phablets. To prove the...
news
Low and Slow
This was originally published in TWICE’s September 25 print issue. L’ Shana Tovah. I’m writing this on Rosh Hashana, the first day of the...
news
LG’s David VanderWaal Breaks Down The Luxury Majap Market
The luxury major appliances market has become the bread and butter for many retailers that are choosing margin over market share. TWICE caught up...
news
Samsung Supports Installers With ‘5-Star Solutions’ Program
Samsung Electronics America has introduced a new basket of services to assist custom installers. The new 5-Star Solutions program includes expanded control partnerships, IP...
news
Millennials Skipping Live TV In Favor Of On Demand
Millennials are eschewing live TV in favor of self-recorded and on-demand content, according to a new study from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Fifty-five...
news
Margin Makers: Fitbit Iconic
The company’s first smart watch employs Fitbit’s new proprietary OS and App Gallery app store, enabling consumers to download apps to the watch without...
News
LG Adds Technicolor Expert Mode To All 2017 OLED TVs
LG and Technicolor teamed up to demonstrate 2017 OLED TVs at IFA 2017 featuring Technicolor Expert Mode, which displays colors optimized by Technicolor’s “color...
news
Margin Makers: Coros Wearables Omni
The Omni hybrid smart cycling helmet employs openear bone-conduction technology on the straps, providing music, communication and data in a safe manner by sending...
news
Margin Makers: Apple Watch Series 3
Apple’s newest smart watch is a stand-alone cellular device that packs a ton of new features, including a new dual-core processor that is 70...
Home Automation
iHome Securing The Smart Home With Its New Sensors & Plugs
SDI Technologies will soon begin shipping a series of smart sensors under its iHome brand, as well as a new smart plug for use...
news
Alexa, Google Assistant & Other Voice UIs Come Into Their Own
This month’s CEDIA 2017 gave A/V products and custom-installed integrated systems more of a voice in the way they’re controlled. New products are on...
news
Another One Takes The Hit …
Continuing an escalating if unnerving trend this year, Toys“R”Us, No. 21 on TWICE’s Top 100 CE Retailers Report, has joined the growing list of...
Buying Groups
NATM Firing On All 12 Cylinders
The NATM Buying Corp., the 12-member consortium of independent box stores, gathered in Dallas for its annual vendor conference earlier this month, pumped up...
Appliances
Washer Import Case Brought Out The Big Guns In Washington
Some of the biggest names in the appliance industry converged on Washington this month as Whirlpool’s anti-dumping crusade against Samsung and LG came to...
news
Retailers Weather Hurricane Season With Replacement Sales
It may be small comfort to the tens of thousands of displaced families, but if there’s a silver lining to this year’s exceptionally harrowing...