Howdy folks, welcome to the week in Playback. If hiring woes have got you down, some news from earlier this week might get you to perk up.
Amplify People made a quiet, yet groundbreaking announcement that it would be opening a job board specifically for the custom integration industry. If you’ve been around long enough to have seen the other attempts at this, you likely have an idea of why something as simple as a job board could be seen as “groundbreaking.”
Talent shortages aside, this is something that the industry has been trying to put together for a while to varying success. CE Pro and its sister site Commercial Integrator tried their hands at developing a job resource way back when EH Publishing was still the owner and, through acquisitions and leadership changes, that eventually got dropped.
Both CEDIA and Nationwide Marketing Group made their own attempts at it, but the former’s Career Center Portal now sits nonfunctional, and the latter stepped away from that endeavor quite some time ago. Yet after all of that, appetite remains for a centralized job board specifically for the industry.
I can’t blame anyone for wanting to keep trying. I’ll admit that after coming across CE Pro’s history there, I had my own musings on what it would take to revitalize that endeavor before promptly getting buried in my other duties. A niche industry whose biggest weakness is getting people to recognize it exists? We need all the help we can get when it comes to labor.
Still, it does make me curious: why do these job boards keep failing? Has it just been bad luck all around? Maybe the wrong groups have been trying to take ownership of the endeavor? It does make sense that a recruitment agency should be the one to run a job board. Who knows. I wish Amplify People the best of luck either way.
That’s enough speculation. Let’s see what the Playback has for us this week.
1. Integrator ListenUp Gets Hall of Fame Recognition
Source: Denver’s ListenUp to Be Inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame
Denver-based specialty audio/video retailer and integrator ListenUp announced it will be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame on April 8, 2026, as part of the organization’s inaugural Community Impact class.
Founded in 1972 by Walt Stinson, Steve Weiner, and Mary Kay Stinson, ListenUp says it has been involved in the design and engineering of sound systems at several Colorado concert venues, including Ebbets Field, Boulder Theater, Fiddler’s Green, and Rainbow Music Hall.
Today, ListenUp operates six retail locations across Colorado’s Front Range and in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and provides custom design and installation services, as well as an e-commerce platform that launched in 1997, the company says.
The induction ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Colorado Convention Center and will include performances, a silent auction, and access to the Hall of Fame exhibit.
2. Amplify People Takes a Crack at the Labor Shortage
Source: Amplify People Has Launched a Dedicated Job Board for the CI Industry
One Firefly’s recruitment division, Amplify People launched a dedicated job board for the custom integration (CI) industry this week.
The new job board serves as a centralized destination for technicians, project managers, sales professionals, operations leaders and executives seeking opportunities in residential and commercial AV, home automation, security, and related technology fields at a time when labor shortages and hiring challenges continue to impact CI.
Unlike general job boards, Amplify People states that the opportunities featured on its site will come from vetted integration businesses as opposed to a simple “accept all comers” approach.
Beyond job listings, Amplify People has also stated the Job Board will continue to evolve as a career resource center for industry professionals, with plans to integrate educational content, hiring insights and professional development resources being in the pipeline for future updates to the site.
3. The Fight for CE Airwaves
Source: Z-Wave Alliance is Fighting to Protect the CE Industry’s Airwaves
A recent petition to the FCC was made to reconfigure part of the lower 900 MHz band to support a high-power 5G-based terrestrial PNT network, according to a report penned by the Z-Wave Alliance.
Notably, the petition seeks removal of interference protections currently afforded to low-power devices operating in the band.
Debate is raging over whether high-power transmissions can co-exist with low-power systems without harmful interference, but the question for integrators being posed is: if this petition succeeds, will smart home systems using the band keep working?
“Reclassifying the lower 900 MHz band could do serious reputational damage to the entire CE industry, but the problems go beyond bad reviews,” argues Avi Rosenthal, chairman of the Z-Wave Alliance. “For security and life-safety systems, even intermittent disruption is unacceptable.”
4. AI X OS Creeps Ever Closer
Source: Josh.ai Keynote Emphasizes Seamless, Adaptive Smart Home Control with AI X OS Launch
Josh.ai held its 2026 keynote webinar this week, outlining a software-first roadmap for its platform with the impending availability of its AI X OS operating system being one of the highlights of the presentation.
The update, first introduced at CEDIA Expo/CIX 2025, is expected to roll out this Spring and will connect all Josh.ai products within a unified software framework.
According to Josh.ai, the approach aims to move beyond traditional pre-programmed installations toward systems that can be adjusted dynamically by both dealers and homeowners.
“For years, installing a smart home meant interviewing the client, pre-programming the system, installing it, then returning again and again to refine it as the homeowner figured out how they actually wanted to live in the space. With Josh.ai, that model changes. Systems can now be configured on the fly using natural language, even by the homeowner themselves,” commented Josh.ai CEO Alex Capecelatro.
5. Samsung Resurrects QNED Project
Source: Samsung Display Reportedly Revives QNED Development
Reports started circulating from various outlets that Samsung Display had resumed development of its quantum dot nanorod display tech (or QNED, referring to the Quantum Nanorod Emitting Diodes used in the tech) this week.
The news comes right as competition has been heating up in the residential display category, as RGB and large moves by major competitors have made headlines over the past few months.
“The team that previously worked on QNED has regrouped,” ETNews said in its report (which has since been translated), citing an anonymous industry insider. “Internally, there is a recognition that nanorod LED technology should be pursued as a long-term strategy, which prompted the restart of QNED.”
Speculation has already entered the conversation that the decision to revitalize the QNED program has come because of increased competition from Chinese manufacturers in the LCD and Mini-LED markets. Separate reports also point to these manufacturers potentially being not too far behind OLED, another major market for Samsung, as well.
