There’s plenty of sayings for the humble apple in popular culture today, but what is there to say about the not-so-humble Apple? After this year? Quite a lot. And the news that came out this week is only adding onto that, but before we get into that, we have some updates from elsewhere in the smart home and AV industry we want to touch upon.
As always: I’d like to welcome you to the week in Playback, our weekly news recap where yours truly pulls together some of the most noteworthy stories across the custom integration industry into a series of highlights for you to peruse at the end of your work week.
We’ve got updates from L-Acoustics and Roku on the docket for today, as well as an interesting bit of research on home security, so sit tight and I’ll give you all you need to know.
L-Acoustics’ Plan to Connect More with Dealers
L-Acoustics announced the formation of a real estate division this week that would work to more strategically build out the company’s physical footprint internationally.
That’s bully for U.S. customers as right now, California serves as the main HQ for L-Acoustics in the states (though there is a facility nearing completion out in Nashville, Tennessee as we speak).
Either way, this announcement plays into L-Acoustics’ broader push to connect with customers across the pond and more targeted push to open greater resources for its CI clients as the company continues to reconnect and grow its relationship with the channel.
Surveillance as a Lifestyle Choice
Surveillance cameras? In my neighborhood? Sign. Me. Up. In fact, sign everyone up. At least that’s what homeowners seem to be saying in a recent consumer survey put out by U.S. News.
Despite consumers having apprehensions of big tech companies listening in on them, plenty are saying that they would feel more comfortable and safer in their neighborhoods if more of their neighbors started putting up surveillance cameras on their properties.
It’s an interesting shift in public opinion as what was once largely seen as a defensive measure against home intrusions is now becoming a basic lifestyle choice that offers homeowners piece of mind and greater control over their living space.
Roku and the LLM
Among the many great values extolled by AI evangelists, the technology’s use in more intuitive interfaces seems to catch a lot of attention. It’s a perfect use case for the smart home, and in the case of Roku, streaming. After all, with a massive library of entertainment, don’t you want to make it as easy as possible to navigate?
That’s the bulk of Roku’s most recent announcement as the company is adding AI-powered voice control to its streaming-focused OS this week. As the company says, it’s just in time for the sports season, though I don’t think even AI is going to be able to help out with navigating the nightmare that is the sports streaming landscape at this point.
Apple Moves to Vietnam (Kinda)
When it comes to the smart home, Apple has always been an odd duck. It’s not that they don’t have a smart home offering like their contemporaries, it’s just that, while Google and Amazon will pair up with just about anything, HomeKit has always been a more siloed, less-promoted ecosystem.
Or at least it used to be, as now recent reports have revealed that not only is Apple working on developing several new smart home products, including a revamped hub and potential OS rework, the company is also shifting its manufacturing hub for these products specifically to Vietnam: the growing mecca for manufacturing consumer electronics.
Now interest would stop there if it wasn’t for the fact that this whole push into the smart home came as a pivot out of Apple’s abandoned attempt at developing an EV, which analysts viewed as being Apple’s next big business breakthrough akin to the iPhone while it was in development.
The Week in Playback
If you’re interested in learning more about Apple or L-Acoustics plans, a link to our full analysis on the news will be provided below. Additionally, we’ve got some other top news from the week, including an interesting bit of research on what clients might be looking for with their home security, as well as Roku’s AI plays on its streaming platform.
Once again, this has been this week in Playback, and we hope to see you next week:
