There’s someone who is betting that lots of European companies need a new AV brand. The multibillion-dollar Econocom Group launches Gather, its new AV brand. As one of Europe’s leading tech providers, the publicly listed group announces Gather will create intelligent audiovisual, unified communications and information technology solutions from state-of-the-art collaboration spaces to smart digital […]

While this article features two lectern companies, it’s really about all lecterns. The author has no commercial involvement with any of the companies mentioned in this article. There it is, always on stage. Standing on a podium for so long and so often, some of the users even call it a podium. But it’s not […]

Megapixel Brings Hollywood Tech to Architectural Applications With Launch of Ventana MicroLED Displays With Hollywood’s rapid adoption of virtual production studios, you’ll find Megapixel whose core technology (with more than 200 patents) for LED displays and video processing helped transform the way Hollywood produces its visual effects. Megapixel’s Emmy- and Oscar-winning technologies have become the […]

Congratulations to the organizers of INTEGRATE ME for their first show dedicated to ProAV. Co-located with CabSat, the show drew in an enthusiastic crowd of ProAV May 16-18, 2023 — much to the satisfaction of the exhibitors. The industry held its breath (several attempts in the MENA region have failed) and at first glance, many […]

The global digital signage market may be projected to reach US$29 billion by 2027 (with an anticipated growth rate of 8%, according to The Business Research Company’s “Digital Signage Global Market Report 2023”), but we all know it isn’t easy dough (DOOH). Even so, newcomer Ynvisible announced a deal with a prominent European customer specializing […]

For the very first time, the world governing body for basketball allowed a state-of-the-art court with an interactive video floor. In Madrid, the site of the FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023, players dribbled over an innovative ASB GlassFloor. While fans didn’t “dribble” in the same way, their mouths were certainly left agape. The […]

This is the summer of blockbuster music tours. Just as “revenge travel” saw tourists hellbent on traveling post-pandemic, “revenge concertgoing” is packing Europe’s outdoor live events, arenas and stadiums. It’s a post-pandemic boom for live events, boosted by some of the world’s biggest entertainers who have emerged with post-pandemic projects. And it’s not just the […]

NASA recently named the four astronauts flying on NASA’s Artemis 2 moon mission in 2024. They will be the first people to travel to lunar in more than 50 years. But Artemis 2 will be carrying more than astronauts in its payload. NASA will send up a new laser communications terminal, the Orion Artemis 2 […]

With AI rolling across the tech landscape, we’re entering new territories — a Wild West of content creation where no one has gone before. In Europe, an AI-generated “interview” with Formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher highlights the danger (Schumacher has not been seen in public since his brain injury in a skiing accident in […]

London’s Northbank Business Improvement District (BID) wanted artists to help celebrate a new public space (Strand Aldwych) where the first radio transmission of the BBC happened 100 years ago. “How about a commemorative art installation designed to foster the exchange of ideas, education and art appreciation in a well-traveled common space?” they asked artists. Nick […]

By ChatGPT and Bob Snyder AI (artificial Intelligence) is often mistakenly dismissed as a social media parlor trick, while on the other hand, we fear a dystopian future where humans can’t compete with their own creation. What AI really is, in the near future, is the next computer paradigm — a way to leverage computer […]

Good things come from watching America’s Super Bowl. And not only for Kansas City fans. A few years ago in Germany, the founder of Circus Roncalli, Bernhard Paul was watching an NFL Super Bowl half-time show when an idea came in as clear as a 28-yard field goal. The Circus Roncalli founder decided his circus […]

They’re coming for your business. Flattened by the pandemic and bolstered by the ProAV market trend towards experiential, Europe’s live events companies will broaden their businesses to include systems integration. For decades, it was an exception if you saw a specialized AV events company with a full business unit in the more static business of […]

New research from Sony Professional Displays & Solutions reveals UK and German retailers are proactively preparing for crucial trading period whilst French adopt more laissez-faire approach Being under-cut on price by online stores is the biggest concern for retailers in Europe1 this festive period (43%) Four-fifths of retailers (78%) are investing in in-store operations for the remainder of the year Revamping their pricing strategy is the […]

The invasion of Ukraine, following on the heels of the loss of business due to the pandemic, creates economic aftershocks in the very heart of the European AV business. Soaring energy costs now cripple the cultural sector, and an example from Brussels, the heart of the EU, shows the stress on the AV and related […]

Chances are you never give a second thought to one of life’s essentials: Earth’s magnetic field. We almost never think about the magnetic field — but our lives depend upon it. It extends several tens of thousands of kilometers into space and saves the Earth from becoming the sun’s frying pan by protecting Earth (and […]

Filmmakers Adam May and Amy Zimmerman created an immersive HoloLens experience (called Critical Distance) to tell the story of a threatened orca and her pod. Orcas, stuck with the historical name “killer whales,” are mammals and the largest in the dolphin family. They are apex predators, able to hunt in “packs” and known as killers […]

There’s a new industry association to talk up the sustainable benefits of Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) lighting and technology (versus traditional high-voltage electrical infrastructure), to highlight PoE’s key strategic value to organizations, and to advance more interoperability for smart buildings. The seven founding members of the PoE Consortium are: Igor, specializing in enterprise smart building infrastructure, software […]

March 2023 will be Armageddon for the 8K industry in Europe. New EU power consumption regulations will go into effect then — and the new power consumption limits required for 8K TVs (and microLED-based displays) are so low that experts claim no devices will pass. Not a one. This effectively bans the sale of 8K […]

What is the Sound of All Human Knowledge? Here’s a challenge for audio pros and everyone else: Through an open contest, the Wikimedia Foundation invites you to create nothing less than “The Sound of All Human Knowledge.” The Wikimedia Foundation is the global nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia and Wikimedia, the movement behind Wikipedia and 12 […]

We all know the brand Tripp Lite with its product line of power strips, UPS and other IT peripherals. If you don’t know the brand made popular at PC retail chains and residential installers, you may know Tripp Lite as a leading supplier of “power quality” products and connectivity solutions including single-phase uninterruptible power supply […]

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 […]

It’s the Holy Grail of videoconferencing. Or maybe more like “Lord of the Rings:” One Platform to Rule Them All. Any way you look at it, it adds up to the same concept: How do we get a single platform that incorporates all the benefits of the single-purpose solutions we now use? The first company […]

Chalk it up to the list of strangely worded press releases, but acquisitions sometimes have to tread carefully because they are works in progress rather than completed deeds. A joint announcement declares Germany’s Georg Neumann GmbH and Swiss digital audio specialist Merging Technologies will be working closer together — because both are now fully part […]

There are few smartphone users who haven’t used Bluetooth, by far the most-recognized wireless standard for audio streaming, with an estimated 1.1 billion devices shipped per year. LE Audio, the next generation of Bluetooth Audio, is expected to boost this number, with earbud users as the main contributor. LE Audio brings broadcast audio to Bluetooth […]

Yes, we suffer from more than just Zoom fatigue. The ProAV industry also suffers from “would-be-Zoom fatigue.” The weariness that comes with hearing about another contender that hopes to knock out remote work incumbents like Zoom and Teams. Yet, Switchboard comes with more spark. Spark Capital, that is. Switchboard raised $13.8 million backed by Spark […]

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 […]

Beginning January 2022, the European Commission awarded Avex and Videlio a four-year contract as the audiovisual provider of event facilities for all types of EU summits and events. While some industry press noted the award, the significance becomes clear when the EC highlights this as the single biggest award the EC has ever given. Ever. […]

War is an ugly thing at any time. However, on the heels of a divisive pandemic and as the most significant conflict since World War II, the war in Ukraine throws a monstrous shadow across the European continent — one that scares, yet unites, Europeans. Europeans who aren’t Ukrainian, who don’t have Ukrainian relatives and […]

While some parts of our industry thrive in the pandemic, we should not forget our brothers and sisters in the events business. A year-end 2021 study just released by KdG Expert (Centre of Expertise for the Event Sector) highlights the pain with some research results in Belgium that will sound familiar to many in Europe […]

Wi-Fi has been the dread of most professional installers who would usually rather lose a finger than predicate any of their solutions on wireless. If Wi-Fi 6 from CES 2022 doesn’t convince the wire-pullers, then Wi-Fi Alliance has another runner to put in the race. Kiss weak Wi-Fi goodbye and say hello to HaLow from […]

Pamplona Capital Management and EET management will acquire the European distributor from FSN Capital. The sale is expected to close in Q1 2022. EET is a value-added distributor of IT technology components and solutions with a growing presence across Europe, selling branded and private label products (like Vivolink) to over 30,000 customers. EET has a […]