The Advanced Media Workflow Association disclosed changes in its membership, in written notifications filed with the U.S. attorney general and the FTC, said a Justice Department notice in Wednesday's Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1ylmueC). Canon U.S.A., Swedish companies Vizrt and Kista, and John Fleming of Australia were added to the organization, while EMC, Encompass, The Weather Co., Andreas Georg Stasheit of Germany and Jone Lee of South Korea withdrew from the association, the notice said.
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is “seeing the right trends illustrating that the marketplace is accepting” Version 1.0 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, said Danielle Kriz, director-global cybersecurity policy, in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1rpPQmz). ITI was one of several information and communications technology (ICT) sector participants that submitted comments to NIST on industry use of the framework, which the agency released in February (see 1410140173). Companies in the ICT sector “are having new conversations about cybersecurity risk management” and the market is responding with new products and services to manage cyber risks outside the sector, Kriz said. ITI said it is urging NIST to “pivot away from developing a framework or standard and focus its work on” on its Privacy Engineering Objectives and Risk Model, which is meant to address gaps in privacy-related technical best practices. “Such a resource would be useful to organizations seeking to improve how they build privacy into their information management structures,” Kriz said. ITI suggested NIST seek out additional comment on the Cybersecurity Framework in a year’s time.
"Futurecast,” the technology that LG, Zenith Labs and GatesAir submitted to the Advanced TV Systems Committee as their proposal for the “guts” of the next-gen ATSC 3.0 broadcast system (CED April 9 p1), will be showcased in a demonstration in the wee hours of Oct. 22 in Madison, Wisconsin, at Quincy Broadcasting’s WKOW, Futurecast’s backers said Friday. WKOW will transmit Futurecast-modulated advanced TV signals to specially designed receivers, but Futurecast transmissions can’t be received by current DTV products, and the station will be able to transmit Futurecast only from 1 to 4 a.m. that day, they said. As one of the proposed ATSC 3.0 physical layer technologies, Futurecast’s “flexible parameters allow broadcasters to mix diverse services within a single RF channel with maximum efficiency,” the backers said. Next-gen broadcasting services enabled by Futurecast “range from deep indoor handheld reception to high-speed mobile reception to Ultra HDTV for the ultimate home entertainment experience, all within a single 6 MHz TV channel,” they said.
RadioShack was running a three-day sale on audio products through Sunday, the retailer said in an email to customers Friday. Featured products included the company’s private-label branded Auvio Element earbuds with microphone for $14.99, down from $29.99; Auvio 3-foot stereo audio cables for $9.99, down from $14.99; and RadioShack 2.1 multimedia speakers marked down to $14.99 from $24.99, said the ad. Also on sale was the RadioShack Slim Portable Power Bank for $34.99, a $10 discount, it said.
The Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA) added integrator members ACT Technologies, Nashville, and Sound Xperience, Philadelphia. Both dealer member companies are experienced in design and installation of electronics systems including AV, home theater, lighting control, security, IT and home automation, HTSA said. ACT Technologies and Sound Xperience are aligned with HTSA vendors including Bowers & Wilkins, Control4, Savant and Sony, it said. HTSA also said member company Electronic Integration of Colorado has expanded operations to include the Minneapolis region through a strategic partnership with Lelch AV, St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The business will operate as Lelch AV under the direction of Roger Koehler and Alex Lelchuk, HTSA said.
Not putting a cap on the amount of population served that a broadcaster can lose as a result of the incentive auction repacking “would be a plain violation of the Spectrum Act,” said NAB in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Oct. 7, according to an ex parte filing posted online Friday in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/1yWXSgi). FCC predictions that TV stations after the auction will receive no more than 2 percent interference are “underestimates” NAB said. “For some reason, the staff elected not to take into account that more than half of all stations will move, and thus arrived at a smaller per station percentage,” said NAB. If the commission stands by that figure, it should institute a 2 percent cap, NAB said, though NAB has previously asked for a 1 percent cap, the ex parte filing said. The FCC should “foster confidence” among broadcasters by “providing them the certainty they need through capping the amount of new losses in population served they can receive,” NAB said.
Mobile phone accessory sales were a record $249 million in the two weeks following the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, said a report by NPD Group released Friday. Last year, in the two weeks following the release of the iPhone 5s and 5c, mobile phone accessory sales were $195 million, it said. “New iPhone form factors always provide a short-term boost to traffic and volume to the consumer electronics market, but it’s the accessory purchases that keep the momentum going,” said Stephen Baker, NPD vice president-industry analysis. Sales of cases primarily and accessories in general are “an excellent proxy in measuring the long-term demand for a phone,” Baker said. An NPD smartphone accessory report said 41 percent of iPhone customers say they buy accessories when they buy the phone and 58 percent buy accessories after they've left the store. Buyers also said they spend nearly double after they leave the store as they did during the initial purchase, NPD said. New iPhone releases and associated mobile accessory purchases resulting from purchases help “set the stage for a strong fourth quarter and holiday season,” Baker said.
As retailers begin the crucial fourth quarter, several pushed cart-priced TVs on their websites Thursday. Seven weeks ahead of Black Friday, top-end HDTV models are being squeezed by competitively priced 4K Ultra HD TV models, we found. At h.h. gregg, even the LG 55UB8500 4K Ultra HD TV found its way into the bargain bin with a disclaimer on the website: “When our price is lower than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, hhgregg cannot show you the price until the item is in your cart.” Cart price for the LG 55-inch 55UB850 4K TV was shown as $1,698 compared with $1,799 at Best Buy and $2,299 on LG’s website. Also at h.h. gregg, consumers had to place the Samsung UN65H6350 in their virtual shopping cart before the sale price of $1,588 appeared. Best Buy also had cart pricing for the UN65H6350 at a $1,596 price. A Toshiba 50-inch HDTV, model 50L1400U, was cart-priced at h.h. gregg for $498, a $151 discount, and was selling for $1 more at Best Buy without cart pricing, we found. A cart-priced Sharp 60-inch LC60UQ17U was selling at h.h. gregg Thursday for $1,799, a $1,200 discount, although that was the same price Sharp showed on its site. At Walmart Thursday, Vizio’s recently launched 50-inch P502ui-B1E retained its $998 price, while a Seiki 39-inch TV took entry-level pricing for 4K TV to $339.
Android Wear smartphone owners will soon be able to control music from the iHeartRadio streaming app from their wrists, iHeartMedia said Thursday. Users who sync an Android Wear smartphone -- including the Samsung Gear Live, Moto 360 and LG G Watch -- with a compatible Android phone will be able to access the iHeartRadio app via voice activation, iHeartMedia said. Features that will be available through Android Wear integration, effective Oct. 15, include voice search, access to favorites, customized recommendations and a thumbs up/thumbs down feature, the company said. IHeartRadio also has announced integrations with Amazon’s Fire Phone, Amazon’s Fire TV, Android Auto, Apple’s CarPlay, Chromecast, Qualcomm’s AllPlay, Samsung’s Gear 2 Smartwatch and auto partnerships with AT&T Drive, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Subaru and Volvo, iHeartMedia said.
High-resolution audio is “hitting the market at the right time," but it has hurdles to overcome, said DisplaySearch analyst Ben Arnold in a blog post Thursday. Sony is the “lone official hardware supporter” of high-res audio, which is “still in search of broad backing,” Arnold said. For awareness of high-res audio to gain traction, more audio companies need to help promote the feature and build awareness beyond the audio enthusiast base, he said. According to an NPD headphone study, 58 percent of premium headphone buyers said sound quality is an important purchase motivator, and 89 percent of wireless speaker owners said sound quality was the leading motivator in their purchase decision, with market numbers indicating some consumers are paying more in support of those trends. Wireless speakers priced above $150 have shown 103 percent sales growth over past year, and soundbars above $600 grew in sales by 44 percent, Arnold said, showing a “growing market for premium, better sounding audio products.” While legacy AV receiver sales as a whole have declined 12 percent in the past year, sales of those above $1,000 grew by 4 percent, he said. Another limiting factor for high-res audio is scarcity of content, Arnold said, citing HD Tracks and iTrax as the most widely known distributors of lossless digital music downloads. But popular streaming services including Pandora and Spotify and marketplaces including iTunes and Google Play Music don’t currently offer “true hi-res” music files or streaming options, Arnold noted. “If the true test is hearing the difference between standard MP3 files and lossless hi-res music, consumers have few places to listen,” he said. While hardware specifications and bitrate statistics may move some consumers to step up to higher quality audio, the majority of consumers need to listen to the difference before they can be swayed, Arnold said. “This requires a broader alliance of industry partners with manufacturers, retailers, and content providers all playing a role,” he said. Music listeners have indicated they want the best quality audio experience possible, he said, “but without the opportunity to hear for themselves, the days of good enough quality are here to stay.”