All items in category Industry News
Sonos Introduces New Features with AirPlay 2 Update
by audioXpress Staff

Sonos Introduces New Features with AirPlay 2 Update

AirPlay 2 is now available on Sonos. This means the sounds from any app – music, podcasts, radio, video, audiobooks, and more – on any iOS devices can be streamed directly to Sonos with multiroom and Siri support. Following the earlier announcement that Sonos would be updating some of its most recent systems to support Apple's new AirPlay 2 technology, Sonos now confirmed that its users can start using AirPlay 2 with a free software update.
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PMC Joins The Cinema Designer Database for Home Theater And Media Room Projects
by audioXpress Staff

PMC Joins The Cinema Designer Database for Home Theater And Media Room Projects

UK loudspeaker company PMC has strengthened its commitment to providing the custom install market with the ultimate surround sound cinema experience by joining The Cinema Designer’s (TCD) manufacturer database. By joining this multiple CEDIA Award winning, cloud-based design software, PMC is ensuring that integrators have much quicker and easier access to its full product range.
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Knowles Announces SmartMic Headset Development Kit for Baidu DuerOS
by audioXpress Staff

Knowles Announces SmartMic Headset Development Kit for Baidu DuerOS

Knowles Corporation announced that it has developed with Baidu and Bestechnic (BES) a new hands-free reference design for headphones, headsets and true wireless earbuds that works with smart devices powered by DuerOS, Baidu’s conversational AI system. The Knowles IA610 SmartMic supports the industry’s lowest-power, always-on voice wake capability to enable Baidu voice service on-the-go for ear worn consumer products.
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Voice Assistant Technology Making Waves into the B2B and Institutional Sectors
by Futuresource Consulting

Voice Assistant Technology Making Waves into the B2B and Institutional Sectors

The explosion of Voice Assistant (VA) technology in the consumer segment has been phenomenal, with 37 million units of smart speakers installed worldwide as of end 2017. This technology is starting to make waves into the B2B environment, with Futuresource Consulting predicting that by 2022, 82 million professional A/V displays and room control devices shipped will be voice-enabled. This excludes usage of dedicated consumer smart speakers in healthcare, hospitality and education.
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Global Music Production Software Market to Triple in Value in the Next Five Years
by audioXpress Staff

Global Music Production Software Market to Triple in Value in the Next Five Years

The global music production software market is expected to grow to USD 6.26 billion by the end of the period 2018-2022, from USD 2.12 billion in 2017, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. The new report, "Global Music Production Software Market 2018-2022," which is now available, forecasts high growth for music software (recording, mixing, and editing) due to the strong demand for digital audio content worldwide.
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New OEM Driver Company: BlieSMa
by Vance Dickason

New OEM Driver Company: BlieSMa

BlieSMa, located in Blieskastel, Germany, was founded January 16, 2018 by Stas Malikov. Prior to starting BlieSMa, Malikov worked at Ultrasound Technologies, at Morel as a QC manager and a transducer engineer, and at Accuton as a production engineer for the last 8 years. The first product released by BlieSMa is the T34A, a 34 mm tweeter. Available since May 2018, the T34A is a metal aluminum/magnesium alloy dome tweeter.
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Plantronics Completes Acquisition of Polycom to Create Total Communications Solutions Strategy
by Joao Martins

Plantronics Completes Acquisition of Polycom to Create Total Communications Solutions Strategy

The last of the surviving "videoconference companies" received a life buoy from Plantronics in March 2018, with the announcement of a proposed acquisition. Three months passed since the intention was revealed, Plantronics closed its $2 billion acquisition of Polycom. The strategic plan is to create "THE communications experience company that connects people to what is important at work, at home, on the road, in the car, or anywhere you have a connection."
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Martin Audio London Announces Management Buyout from Loud Audio
by Joao Martins

Martin Audio London Announces Management Buyout from Loud Audio

The parent company of leading audio brands Mackie and EAW, LOUD Audio, confirmed it has concluded the sale of the renowned Martin Audio brand to LDC, a private equity firm from the United Kingdom. In what was a long-expected move, following the acquisition of all Loud brands by the Transom Capital Group in October 2017, and the recent sale of Ampeg to Yamaha, now Martin Loud gets back to an independent position for the second time in its history.
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2018 AES International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality
by audioXpress Staff

2018 AES International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality

The Audio Engineering Society is promoting its second International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality. The conference and exhibition will bring together a community of influential research scientists, engineers, VR and AR developers, and content providers to explore topics such as spatial audio capture, binaural, ambisonics, wave field synthesis techniques, 3D Sound field navigation, HRTF modeling, reverb and room acoustics synthesis, 3D audio content production, and sound design for VR/AR. The three-day conference takes place in Redmond, WA.
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Radial Engineering Launches New Website with Improved Experiences
by audioXpress Staff

Radial Engineering Launches New Website with Improved Experiences

Just as it has been quietly doing with its other brands, Primacoustic, Jensen Transformers, Hafler, and Dynaco, Radial Engineering has launched its new website at www.radialeng.com. The new much improved website front has several features to make the user experience better, while maintaining the information rich content that Radial users have come to expect and rely upon. New 'personas' on the Home page are just one of several features improving user experience.
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