CEDIA EXPO: Gearing up for the Show

CEDIA EXPO 2008 takes place next week, and the industry is gearing up for the best of the best in the custom A/V world. As Lee Distad points out on our sister Website Marketnews.ca, the current U.S. housing crisis doesn't exactly bode well for companies that thrive on high-end A/V systems in new homes. But there's still plenty of new technologies and interesting trends to be observed in that area; and plenty of potential customers looking to adopt the latest and greatest.

What do I expect to see at the show?

HD video distribution is probably going to be a hot topic. How effectively can this be achieved right now? And what new products are out there that can handle transmitting such a heavy amount of data? Belkin's FlyWire, first shown at CES, will likely be fully-functioning at the show, so I'm looking forward to a demo. The product, which is scheduled for Canadian retail availability in October for about $1,000, is said to be able to distribute HD video from one location to another, up to 30-feet away.

Just as we saw at CES, it'll be no surprise to see the most recently-introduced thin-bezel flat-panel TVs; as well as more 1080p displays that we can count on all hands and toes. Not to mention a multitude of innovative mounting systems for them that tilt, shift, and fit in awkward places.

Music and video storage is becoming of greater interest to consumers, especially as they continue to collect hundreds and hundreds of DVD movies and music CDs. While dedicated media servers have always been popular among the custom installation crowd, will we see a greater focus on the PC storage side? After all, the idea of the media PC as part of your home theatre is becoming even more apparent now than ever. What's more, how will companies approach the potential changes to copyright law in Canada that could effectively deem the majority of these products illegal?

Blu-ray will quite obviously be at the forefront of the DVD arena, along with Toshiba's recently announced XDE up-converting DVD player that serves as a mid-level product between standard DVD players and Blu-ray. It's a clever idea for the company now that it is officially out of the HD DVD business: why not have a solution that lets you play your existing DVDs while still enjoying a better viewing experience?

Naturally, products centred around the iPod music player haven't slowed down any (nor has consumer interest in downloading music) and we're likely to see some higher-end products in this realm. Of particular note already are the RED-I tube amp and speaker package from Fatman (which also works with the iPhone!); SpeakerCraft's new iPhone interface for its MODE multi-room home A/V control system; the Wadia Digital 170iTransport “high resolution” iPod dock that has component video outputs for viewing videos in full, DVD quality; and Xantech's XAN-XIS100 iPod dock with an HD component video output.

Finally, as the residential housing market hits a crunch, the commercial market continues to flourish. Even with the residential market taken into consideration, many dealers tells me that commercial applications are a huge part of their business. Will we see more products targeted toward commercial applications, whether they be restaurants, schools, or MDUs?

Stay tuned for more information for CEDIA EXPO, which takes place September 4-7, 2008 in Denver, CO.

Measuring the Importance of the Trade Show

In this industry, there are so many trade shows, that it's often times difficult to keep up. Some take place in local, Canadian city venues, while others are all over the U.S., most often in Las Vegas (which is beginning to look like our second home!) How pertinent is it to attend such shows?

From our perspective as journalists, it's obviously of high importance to attend. We need to report on the products, see them, try them out, learn about them, and ask the necessary questions that allow us to properly educate and inform our readers. But what about retailers? Manufacturers? Installers? Distributors? Is it better to attend local shows, or the major ones, like CES, CEDIA, PMA, E3, and CTIA, to name just a few?

It really depends on the particular show, and what any given person's exact role is. Many industry members have told me that small, local events make more sense, cost less, and allow for better business deals when dealing with existing partners. But if you're looking for a fancy new line to distribute, or a cool new product to offer through your retail store, often times the neatest start-up companies can't afford to see you, and need you to come to shows like CES or CEDIA to see them. Sure, you'll have to weed through aisle after aisle and booth after booth of products you're not interested in, knock elbows with the crowds walking by, and invest in a new pair of comfortable shoes to cover all the necessary ground, but that's the price of doing business.

But don't completely rule out the "big" shows as useful events for maintaining your existing relationships. The other day, one industry member commented to me (upon discussing a particular trade show that we were at) that you're often not noticed when you're there, but it's definitely noticed if you're not. In that respect, sometimes it's necessary to attend shows just keep up appearances, so to speak. If you see your local rep every week, that's great, but so what? If his boss, and his boss's boss from the U.S., or even an international location, sees you down in Vegas for CES or Denver for CEDIA, that looks better on him, and, in turn, on you and your organization.

When it comes to smaller-scale, local events, they're equally as important for both fostering existing relationships, and nurturing new ones. One industry member told me that he might meet with 1,000 people at a major trade show, while only a handful are actually qualified. Meanwhile, he could speak to just 50 individuals at a small, local event, yet most, if not all of them, are good, qualified leads.

So what's the answer? Trade shows certainly are important, both big and local. They do get expensive and time consuming, so it's important to pick the ones most pertinant to you and your customer base. Most important, however, are the intimate meetings, one-on-ones, and of course, the occasional glass of beer (or wine!) to wash down all that business talk!

Which shows are most important to you?

First Hollywood Writer's Strike in 20 Yrs Fueled by DVD & Internet Distribution

For the first time in two decades, The Writer’s Guild of America is on strike, due largely in part to the growing popularity of DVD and online content distribution. Writers feel like they’re getting the short end of the, er, pen, when it comes to royalties from the sale of DVDs, as well as revenue generated via TV shows and movies distributed in digital format over the web.

The Internet has been causing a lot of stir in all areas of content distribution, given that it’s a relatively new and significant medium that really hasn’t been regulated by any unified standards. The music industry has been the most outspoken about being compensated for everything from digital music downloads, to wanting a piece of the pie from the sale of digital music players that have built-in hard drives. Now, it appears to be the video side's turn.

It makes sense: video is now becoming the "hot" medium, especially online. Who down the line of creation of content isn't get what they deserve? Judging from the picket lines in NYC, and the several TV shows that could be forced to run reruns should they continue, writer's feel they're tops on that list.

The Associated Press quoted a Late Night with Conan O'Brien writer as stating: "They claim that the new media is still too new to structure a model for compensation. We say give us a percentage so if they make money, we make money."

Until the issue is resolved, your primetime sitcomes will probably be safe, since many episodes are written and filmed in advance. However, live shows (like late night and daytime talk shows) might be shaking in their boots right about now. Saturday Night Live will probably look more like Saturday Night in syndication!

As various types of content flood more and more to the web, the industry will be forced to come up with some sort of standard for compensation. This might have been relatively easy with physical formats like DVDs, CDs, and cable boxes, but with a worldwide, easily accessible and updateable medium like the Internet, things could get very messy.

CEDIA EXPO Begins

This entry will be short and sweet, as I'm currently in Denver, CO attending the 2007 CEDIA EXPO, a trade show that caters to the custom integration market. Anyone into audio/video likely has some sort of "home theatre" at home, consisting of a flat-panel TV (or maybe even a projector and screen if your budget should accomodate such luxuries), speakers, and perhaps some other fancy-schmancy things, like home automation, music servers, and the like.

Anyone who has anything to do with custom A/V is at this show, learning, teaching, or just simply experiencing new products and technologies. These range from the high-end custom shops that cater to the rich and/or famous; to the traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers who have recently added "custom" to their regular floor sales offerings.

There's no question that custom is the direction the industry is moving as a whole. I think within the next 10 years, the whole idea of "custom" will be encompassed in the term "retail". Essentially, custom will swallow retail whole: if you aren't offering your customers some type of added value, whether it be to mount the flat-panel TV they just bought off your sales floor, or to connect that new media server to their Internet connection and music system, you might want to start looking in that direction.

Meanwhile, check out the Marketnews Website for some highlights of what's to come at the show, which officially begins tomorrow.