CE Pro Podcast

This year for the second year in a row I visited the Design & Construction Week festivities, which includes the International Builders Show (IBS) and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), owned by the National Association of Home Builders and National Kitchen & Bath Association, respectively. 

Last year’s return to an in-person show in Orlando was big, but this year’s event in Las Vegas was record setting. Hear about some of the innovations, trends and technologies as I discuss the event with executive editor Chelsie Butler and managing editor Leslie Claggett of CE Pro sister publication KBB, in this week’s podcast episode.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, was held a few weeks ago and it did not disappoint. The pre-audit attendance of 115,000 made it the largest show since early 2020. While most of the event is not targeted at integrators, there were some interesting exhibits that bode for the future. 

CE Pro editor Jason Knott spoke with CEDIA VP Giles Sutton about what they saw at the show and what it means for integrators.   

This week on the CE Pro Podcast we’re looking back on the editors’ of CE Pro’s favorite podcast moments from 2022. Executive editor Arlen Schweiger, senior editor Bob Archer, editor in chief Jason Knott and web editor Nick Boever all hosted guests on the CE Pro Podcast in 2022, and while we’d say all the conversations were gems, we of course have moments that stand out more than others. 

So stay tuned in this episode for highlights from our selections, featuring guests Chris Pinder of HDANYWHERE and Ian Morrish of Together For Cinema; Brian Hoyer of Shielded Healing; Joel Silver of the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF); Harman Luxury Audio’s Jim Garrett; and David Ly of Iveda. 

CE Pro senior editor Robert Archer has been covering the custom electronics industry for 20+ years and never misses a CEDIA Expo. Over the years, Bob has also gone through curriculum from CEDIA and other associations like the Home Acoustics Alliance to further his AV expertise.

So when Bob does his annual top products of the year posts, we know he does not take the selections lightly and brings more than two decades of industry and AV knowledge to his choices. After he posted his favorite products for 2022, we asked Bob if he could join the CE Pro Podcast and share his rationale behind the selections, which represent a multitude of categories to help dealers.

Additionally, Bob, editor-in-chief Jason Knott and Arlen Schweiger recently pulled together our annual list of suggestions for “5 Hot Technology Opportunities for Integrators” for 2023, which is covered in our January issue State of the Industry section. Keep an eye out for the issue for more in-depth information, but in this podcast episode Bob and Arlen reveal the top five tech trends and offer some reasoning for the forecasted trend.

With a background in smart city technologies, Iveda is now eyeing smart home. The release of IvedaCare brings an AI-driven software solution powered by sensors straight to the hands of integrators, and though it focuses on aging-in-place solutions, the possibilities go far beyond that.

The solution is scalable, customizable, and comes with out-of-the-box readiness that can be expanded upon as needs change. Though the core focus is for aging-in-place solutions, the software is capable of being used in energy and environmental monitoring solutions, gathering data, and allowing professionals to develop truly intelligent automations for their clients. 

In his first podcast since joining CE Pro as Web Editor, Nick Boever speaks with David Ly, CEO of Iveda, to learn more about the product and its potential use cases for integrators in both residential and commercial channels.

Is 8K ready for prime time? It seems like an odd question to be asking since it feels like the industry only recently converted to 4K. But with gaming as the driving force behind 8K content, the momentum is already building for the next wave of video resolution. So what does 8K actually bring in terms of color gamut and HDR? How will 8K alter video distribution? Will the current HDMI 2.1 spec support 8K AV-over-IP?

These are just some of the burning questions that CE Pro editor Jason Knott posed to Mike Tsinberg, president, and Leon Tsinberg, business development manager, at Key Digital Systems in this week's CE Pro Podcast.

Outdoor technology remains red hot, and one company that’s been leading the charge for custom integrators is outdoor lighting and audio specialist Coastal Source. The Moorestown, N.J.-headquartered company, which also has offices in the Florida Keys, had a big presence at the recent CEDIA Expo 2022 in Dallas … did you get a chance to check out their booth?

Actually, Coastal Source had multiple areas showcasing its solutions – one wasn’t a booth, however, but the Destination Backyard event it co-hosted with ruggedized display manufacturer Séura outside the front of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Coastal Source president Franco D’Ascanio and VP of operations Jon Bowman discuss the company’s new products highlighted at CEDIA Expo, trends in outdoor technology requests, dealer benefits and programs, plus more on the latest CE Pro Podcast episode.

Cellphone signal boosters has been a growing category for integrators for several years now, largely dominated in the custom industry by a couple of companies – SureCall and Wilson Electronics, which are always at the top of CE Pro’s Brand Analysis rankings. Uniden Cellular by Siyata Mobile is an established company that’s joining the custom fray with cell signal booster solutions for home, commercial and in-vehicle.

LaRue Martz, VP of sales for the Americas at Uniden, discusses the company’s products, installation process, trainings and certifications, sales demos, differentiators and more in this week’s CE Pro Podcast episode.

This is a hosted panel discussion that brings to life The Cinema Connoisseur’s inaugural "Cinema Sommelier" movie review that used scenes from the hit 2018 movie "A Quiet Place," including supervising sound editor Erik Aadahl. 
In the review and in the podcast, Sean Skelley, owner of Definitive Audio in Seattle, describes the specific scenes from the movie he uses to demo home theater to his clients, and explains why he chose a movie whose central theme is the lack of noise and how the movie demonstrates the impact of surround sound effects, or lack of, to enhance the impact of the demo. 

Have you ever wished you could install an in-ceiling loudspeaker and not worry about running wire to drive it and connect sources? Well, let us introduce you to Surrey, U.K., brand Lithe Audio, an innovative speaker company that makes all-in-one products that allow you to do just that.

Amit Ravat, co-founder and director of Lithe Audio, debuted the brand to the U.S. market at CEDIA Expo 2022 in Dallas recently. He was excited to show off the all-in-one aspect of the powered speakers, which have built-in support Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast, depending on the model. He went over the details with me in this week’s CE Pro Podcast episode.