European Custom Installer

CEDIA announces a European roadshow for The CEDIA Designer (TCD)-- one taking the software to three locations across Mediterranean Europe to show installers the capabilities of the tool in their own language.

“The CEDIA Designer is a fantastic tool for our members and the wider industry to improve the professionalism and quality of home cinema design, as well as saving them valuable time on projects," CEDIA EMEA says. "We’re excited to give integrators further afield the opportunity to gain an overview of the software, the different packages available, and the CEDIA member benefits.”

Bose announces the Portable Home Speaker-- a compact combo of battery-powered speaker, Bluetooth connectivity and voice control promising 360-degree sound and deeper bass within a design weighing just 1kg.

The Bose Portable Speaker features a proprietary voice pick-up system compatible with either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, allowing users to access playlists, podcasts, news, weather, smart devices and more through the power of their voice. AirPlay 2 compatibility provides connectivity with Apple devices, while Spotify Connect pairs the speaker with the Spotify app.

OnePlus starts drip-feeding details on its upcoming TV, starting off with the name-- it's "OnePlus TV," shockingly enough-- and an initial September 2019 release date in India, with Europe to follow on a later, unspecified date.

Founder and CEO Pete Lau first took to the OnePlus forums to announce the TV plans back in September 2019. Back then, the promise was of a TV with "premium flagship design, image quality and audio," as well as the capability to "seamlessly connect the home." But why will it first launch in India? As Lau puts it, OnePlus has "a very positive relationship" with content providers in India, ensuring customers in the most populous democracy in the world have plenty to watch on their OnePlus TV.

The global smart speaker market totals 26.1 million units in Q2 2019, Canalys reports-- a 55.4% Y-o-Y increase, with Amazon taking the lead while Baidu beats Google to 2nd place despite serving solely the Chinese market.

Amazon Echo smart speakers total 6.6m units in Q2 2019, a 61.1% Y-o-Y increase, while Baidu shipments are up by an impressive 3700% Y-o-Y to 4.5m units following a Q2 2019 reentry in the market with the Xiadu range of devices. It should come to little surprise that China is the biggest global market for smart speakers, with quarterly shipments of 12.6m units, over twice a US market of 6.1m units.

MSE Audio announces the CEDIA 2019 debut of the Phase Technology Variable Length Soundbar, a product featuring cut-to-length rods allowing the soundbar to match the length of a TV screen.

Featuring an 8-ohm impedance, the soundbar incorporates three speaker enclosures with six 3-inch ultra-long throw polypropylene subwoofers with NBR surround sound and a 0.75-inch synthetic soft dome tweeter. It is 9.6cm deep and 15.5cm tall, and is designed for applications demanding a width of 1.4m or longer.