Rants & rAVes — Episode 1309: Here’s What Logitech Will Debut at ISE 2024. Hint: Hollywood!
Logitech will be at ISE 2024 in stand/booth 2M300, showing a plethora of UCC solutions that address every need — from the remote participants to in-person participants — equitably! To talk more about this, Logitech’s head of video collaboration alliances and go-to-market, Sudeep Trivedi, joined my latest videocast to drop some big news about something […]
Google JamBoard: Lessons Learned
Google has recently announced that it is winding down the JamBoard product, and it will no longer be available after December 2024. Along with no longer selling the hardware, the software is also being discontinued. In a little over one year, the product will be completely useless. Google has said that it will work with […]
Google Nest Hub Is America’s Most Searched For Smart Home Product
A new study has revealed that Google Nest Hubs are the most searched-for smart home product line in America, with an average of 137,520 searches per month. Home and tech experts Smarthomestarter.com used Google data to analyze searches for various smart home related keywords to determine which smart device product lines were searched for the […]
Humly Solutions Becomes Google Cloud Partner
Humly Solutions just became a Google Cloud Partner, and now the Humly Room Display has been approved for the Google Certification program. This means that Humly Room Display is part of an exclusive shortlist of room booking solutions globally that have been certified and part of an even shorter list of certified solutions integrated with […]
Poly Announces Studio X Are the First Android-Based Single-Codec Video Appliances for Google Meet
Poly announced that its Studio X video bars will be the first Android-based, single-codec video appliances for Google Meet. The Studio X Family joins Poly’s growing list of devices certified for Google Meet, Google Voice and Chrome OS, so users can look and sound their best on every call. The entire Poly Studio X family, […]
Allo, Google?
Google’s Duo will rebrand as Meet with the features from both apps. But Google’s Meet’s will remain Meet. Yes, there will be just two Google Meet apps: Meet (let’s call it 1.0, the Meet app to be soon phased out) and the new Meet (let’s call it “2.0,” the new Meet app that combines both […]
Google Wants Us on Its Radar
The latest human-computer interface — an interface that could dramatically impact the AV business — comes from Google’s hardware invention studio, Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP). What if our devices (in-home, in-office building, and in-store) had social intelligence within? People and devices have their own concepts of personal space — and Google uses its research […]
Avocor To Exhibit Google Meet Series One Product Portfolio and More at ISE 2022
Avocor will exhibit several new innovations at ISE 2022, including the full Google Meet Series One product portfolio. ISE will be the first time, since the strategic partnership with Google was announced in August 2021, that both products will be showcased side-by-side. “ISE is the meeting place for the brightest ideas, smartest people, and most […]
Elo Releases Updated I-Series System and Backpack 4, Expands Enterprise Tool Capabilities
Elo announced the enhanced I-Series 4 and Backpack 4 products. This update adds Android 10, Google Mobile Services (GMS) and a suite of enterprise tools that enhance flexibility in device management to the products. The new I-Series is a touch screen POS system with Android 10, optional Google Mobile Services (GMS) and OEMConfig. The displays come in 10-, 15- and […]
Avocor’s Latest Launch Includes Stealing BenQ’s Thunder via Partnership with Google Workspace
Avocor today announced a global partnership with Google Workspace and also launched two new all-in-one videoconferencing and digital whiteboarding devices — the Google Meet Series One Desk 27 and Board 65. Both are touch-enabled video devices designed as part of the Google Meet Series One hardware portfolio (think Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams Rooms, but […]
Google Certifies QSC Q-SYS Platform for Google Meet Use
QSC announced that Google has certified the Q-SYS Platform for use with Google Meet hardware kits. This certification allows integrators and IT end users to select from any Q-SYS Core processor or USB audio bridging endpoint, regardless of processing or I/O requirements, to ensure integration with Google Meet hardware. All Q-SYS Core processors are driven […]
Where the Magic Happens: Engagement and Goodwill
Working As a Team It’s down to the wire. It’s going to take all hands on deck to save this install. We have to get it done — too much is on the line. Twelve hours of work today? Could be more. This one is going to take as long as it takes. Every integrator […]
Google’s Project Starline to Bring 3D Holographic Videoconferencing Booths to AV Market
Google announced the company has been working to perfect Project Starline — a technology project that combines hardware and software to enable friends, families and co-workers to “feel together” — for years. And, the demo was stunning. Watch this video so you’ll understand what I am writing about here: To make this experience possible, Google […]
“Alexa, Clean Out My Desk”
By Kate Couch How will smart devices be used in the corporate world in years and months to come? Last year, the corporate office took a large turn as many of us had to begin working remotely from home. This created an entirely new world for audiovisual — Zoom. Zoom, as most companies are aware, […]
Google — Is the Future No Longer Free?
For educational institutions far and wide, public and private, kindergarten to graduate school, Google services have one thing we all love — the price was right! For many of us, that meant it was free. There have always been some premium services that you can choose to pay for if you are a Google school, […]
From Entertainment and Search, to Smart Home Control, Voice Assistant Technology Comes of Age
By Jack Wetherill Futuresource Consulting Smart speakers continue to capture the hearts and wallets of consumers, driving demand for wireless speakers and establishing a wider acceptance of voice assistants. By the end of 2019, 21 million smart speakers were in use in Western European homes, on track to exceed 32 million by the end of […]
A Recap of LAVNCH EMEA’s Collaboration Session
What better LAVNCH EMEA session to recap on UCC Collaborative Day than the one titled “Collaboration Session?” I’m not being facetious; I was really excited to hear what this one had in store. And I was excited for the familiar faces in it: Jane Hammersley of Collabtech, Lieven Bertier of Barco, Nia Celestin of DTEN, […]
Elo Says It Has World’s First Interactive Display Line Certified by Google
Elo today announced upgrades to its Android-based I-Series, PayPoint, PayPoint Plus and Backpack products, with the availability of Google Play Services across its full line of 10- to 70-inch interactive solutions. Elo’s new third generation series of Android products enable access to the latest Google Mobile Services apps, including Google Chrome, YouTube, Play Store access […]
Philips Professional Display Releases MediaSuite Pro TV Across EMEA
Philips Professional Display Solutions (Philips PDS) has announced its complete range of new, Google-certified, Android-powered MediaSuite Pro TVs is now available to all customers across EMEA. Unveiled during ISE 2019 in Amsterdam, the new Philips PDS MediaSuite range has been designed to help revolutionise the way businesses and end-users can access and broadcast digital content, […]
Avaya Deepens Integration With Google Cloud, Adds AI
Avaya Holdings today announced further integration with Google Cloud Contact Center AI to provide better experiences. This includes embedding Google’s machine learning within Avaya conversation services powering the contact center, enabling easy integration of AI capabilities regardless of channel, promoting a consistent and intelligent experience for customers and delivering true omni-channel experiences with AI. Avaya […]
Home Technology’s Rise of the Smart Displays
Digital assistants are all the rage these days and they seem to live in so many places like your car radio, watches, smart phones, tablet, computers and the very popular “smart speaker” category. The smart speaker category has grown rapidly and has seen adoption from major brand names in the audio and tech industries — […]
SYNNEX Continues to Invest in Google Ecosystem to Offer Cloud Services for Recurring Revenue
THIS IS A PROMOTED POST FROM SYNNEX Everyone in nearly every industry is talking about the cloud. And, you likely already use it — whether you realize it or not. If you have your smartphone backing up your photos online, that’s the cloud. If you collaborate on documents with others, that’s the cloud. If […]
Savant Adds Google Home
Savant has announced compatibility between Savant’s smart home ecosystem and the Google Home Assistant speech-recognition engine. Savant pioneered the use of voice control as part of the connected home by introducing the Savant Pro Remote, enabling homeowners to activate a Savant Scene, choose a favorite channel or select a source within their entertainment system. With […]
Chromecast Now Supported in Roon — a New Hi-Fi Experience Awaits
Good news, everyone! Roon now streams to any Chromecast device, Google Home smart speakers, Chromecast Audio and Chromecast audio receivers, as well as a ton of third party devices. Roon announced it on their blog earlier this month (07/06/18) and you can read the full announcement here. “In addition to Chromecast streaming, today’s release includes […]
Videxio Announces Interoperability for Hangouts Meet by G Suite
Videxio has announced that it has signed an agreement with Google Cloud in partnership with Pexip and will be one of the first to offer video conferencing interoperability for Hangouts Meet. The new Hangouts Meet interoperability service means that users will be able to join Hangouts Meet using their existing video communication solution, whether that […]
Techlash vs Technological Advancements
Recently, a friend came to visit and left “The Economist” magazine on my table. He said he tried to give it to his sons. But as I opened them up, the pages were stiff, as if they had just been retrieved from the printing press. I flipped to the Editor’s page titled, “The World in […]
Amazon vs. Google Part 2
Smart homes and smart buildings aren’t for the ultra-rich… anymore. We’ve come to a time in our existence where our technological advancements have allowed for desire, need and know how of a more connected lifestyle, between home and work. After all, it’s no longer about a work-life balance, it’s really all about the work-life blend […]
Amazon VS. Google Part 1
Is anyone really surprised that Amazon bought Ring Labs? It doesn’t seem like that big of a shock, or shocking at all for that matter. Since they released their original Echo product, initially to Prime members only, and then later to the masses in mid 2015, the smart assistant, Alexa enabled, speaker and personal assistant […]
Google Updates Jamboard by Adding AI-Powered AutoDraw Integration as Well as a Mobile App
Google’s Jamboard is the company’s version of a collaboration board — exclusively for Google’s G-suite of apps. In addition to adding new country availability, Google has added an AI-powered feature called AutoDraw. AutoDraw is a new drawing tool in Jamboard that auto-detects sketches you make and pairs them with images. This works with both local and rooms […]
Google Enters the Videoconferencing Market With Hardware Kit
Google has had Hangouts — a software-based SORT-OF videoconferencing suite for years. But hardly anyone uses it. But now the company’s launched a hardware kit hardware including an ASUS Chromebox, USB camera (10.1” diagonal, IPS, 16:10, 1280×800 resolution), controller, speaker and mic set, known as the Speakermic. The Speakermic, custom designed and built by Google, […]
Advanced Partners with Google and BenQ to Launch New Google Jamboard in Canada
Continuing its efforts to promote the integration of innovative collaborative technologies into corporate and educational spaces, North American AV and collaboration technology solution provider Advanced today announced a new partnership with Google and BenQ to distribute Google Jamboard throughout Canada. Google Jamboard is a 55-inch, 4K display on which users can write, explore and import content on the web, […]
Advanced Partners with Google and BenQ to Distribute Google Jamboard in Canada
AV and collaboration technology solution provider Advanced today announced a new partnership with Google and BenQ to distribute Google Jamboard throughout Canada. Google Jamboard is a 55-inch, 4K display on which users can write, explore and import content on the web, and save their sketches and brainstorms to the cloud. Users can draw on the […]