CEDIA announces the sale of its USA flagship trade event, just two weeks before the ISE 2017 in Amsterdam which CEDIA co-owns.

With 19,000 attendees visiting more than 500 exhibitors (and 100 of them first time exhibitors), CEDIA 2016 was clearly a successful event.

So why sell it? Obviously CEDIA decided they weren't in the trade show business. It's hard when you have a big annual event. It's "only once a year" but you need staff working 12 months on it. That drains the profitability of the event but also drains valuable staff resources.

CEDIA wants to close the year with members' opinions as it opens the 2016 online membership questionnaire-- a survey offering a chance to win an Amazon Echo.

The questionnaire features 20 questions divided in two sections, one focusing on member business, and the other covering their experiences with CEDIA. It is designed to help the organisation better understand its members, and thus covers the size of business, areas of expertise, geographical scale and training, as well as membership engagement.

SnapAV continues with the acquisitions as it buys Autonomic, the company best known for the Mirage streaming players, as well as multiroom amplifiers, mobile device apps and in-wall keypads.

Financial details of the deal are not available.

“We are thrilled to add Autonomic to the SnapAV lineup,” SnapAV says. “This is a company that focuses on the custom channel and has shown continuous expertise in the media streaming category. Autonomic has the right products, people, and culture to make this deal a success for everyone involved, including our dealers.”

Loudspeaker specialist Monitor Audio acquires fellow British high-end audio manufacturer Roksan, with a Facebook post announcing claiming the two companies' product portfolios share "incredible synergy."

"Like Monitor Audio, Roksan is a British company committed to superior audio performance with a reputation for design excellence, premium quality and exceptional value," the announcement reads. "We are excited about the possibilities this acquisition offers."

MIT joins forces with the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop a cheap and portable system to monitor how much electricity household appliances, lighting fixtures and electronic devices consume.

The system consists of 5 small sensors placed above or near power lines coming into the house. The sensors pinpoint each light or appliance based on power use, before pushing the data to a companion app in realtime. Each sensor is self-calibrating, and can pinpoint the strongest electrical signals. In turn the system can distinguish between each type of light, appliance or device based on unique signals.

The result allows users to check the power consumption of a specific device during a specific time, and as such can reveal when a refrigerator goes into its defrost power or how regularly a water heater switches on and off each day.

InfoComm International announces it will offer Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) study courses at ISE 2017, as well as over 80 professional development sessions, all available with a single pass.

Staff instructor Marcus Yarborough will lead the 2.5-day CTS Prep Course at ISE in a collaborative environment where students can explore the exam format and learn test-taking strategies. Following the course is an optional half-day CTS Study Session providing more preparation time in a group environment with the instructor. CTS testing takes place on 9-10 February, and InfoComm recommends early appointments, as seats are limited.

“The CTS designation has become the universal mark of professionalism within the AV industry,” the organisation says. “At InfoComm, it’s our role to elevate our vocation, and that is done by continuing to educate our workforce. We’re excited about the CTS program we’re bringing to ISE 2017. It will allow people to prepare in a group environment and take the exam alongside their peers.”