With the summer, Labor Day weekend and CEDIA 2017 now in the books, CE pros can now set their sites on the fall installation season and the end-of-year holiday rush.
The demeanor of this year's CEDIA show reflected its location — San Diego — sunny and delightful. It may have been the most optimistic, most positive edition of the trade show since the heyday of the industry back in 2006 and 2007.
Technology snobs may criticize the event for lacking knockout, killer products, but realistically the show was more about the maturation of existing products and technologies and their transition toward meeting the goals of Millennial consumers and broader mass-market audiences.
Surprisingly, Ultra HD 4K, HDR and video weren’t the focus of the show. Dominating the show were Amazon Alexa, as well as other heavyweight companies like Google and Sony.
Also surprising was the emphasis on multipurpose rooms and commercially-influenced home theater speaker packages that produce high SPL levels and low distortion.
It's also worth noting, in my opinion, that CEDIA 2017 was the best show Jeremy Burkhardt and his team have ever had. It seemed that every product Origin Acoustics announced during the event filled a niche within the market, without being a “me-too” solution.
Click the slideshow for 12 standout products representing a variety of categories at CEDIA 2017.
SLIDESHOW: Bob Archer’s ‘Best of CEDIA’ Products for 2017
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