Sonos Says Sales Doubled in '13 as Home Sound-System Market Grew
Sonos Inc., the maker of multiroom speaker systems, said revenue almost doubled to $535 million in 2013 as consumers increasingly used wireless technology with music services like Pandora in the home.
The closely held maker of high-fidelity speakers and streaming software is disclosing its revenue for the first time. Sonos is attempting to expand from its base of music enthusiasts to grab a bigger share of the $10 billion home-audio market, said Tom Cullen, a company co-founder, in an interview. The Santa Barbara, California-based company, which raised $40 million in 2012, is operating at break-even, he said.
“We’ve set ourselves up as the best-kept secret in electronics, but the scale of everything we’re trying to achieve really requires us to do things differently,” Cullen said.
Nine years after the company pioneered the whole-home wireless stereo market, it faces competition as bigger consumer electronics makers build products for the fastest-growing category in home audio.
Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), based in Suwon, South Korea, in October introduced the Shape music system, while closely held Bose Corp. developed its SoundTouch speakers. Bang & Olufsen A/S (BO) has released new wireless systems developed under an audio standard known as WiSA, in which Sharp Corp. (6753) and Pioneer Electronics Co. also are members.
Best Buy Still Leads Retail Market Share; Apple Store Gaining
Best Buy's share of the U.S. specialty electronics market remains around one third, but Apple has gained into double digits for the first time. That's according to data from Euromonitor International, as cited by MarketWatch.
The top five- Best Buy, Apple, RadioShack, hhgregg and Micro Electronics- remains intact from 2009 and 2011, but Best Buy's share has slipped from 33.5 percent to 31.3 percent, with Apple jumping from 5.9 percent in 2009 to 10.8 percent in 2011 to 15 percent in 2013. RadioShack's share has dropped from 5.5 in '09 to 4.5 percent four years later.
Home Energy Management Systems Will Reach $2.8 Billion in Annual Revenue by 2020, Forecasts Navigant Research
Until 2012, home energy management (HEM) systems, which help residential customers monitor and adjust their energy use, struggled to gain market traction. More recently, however, non-utility stakeholders have moved into this segment, increasing awareness of new tools and helping to drive steady growth. Click to tweet: According to a recent report from Navigant Research, worldwide revenue from home energy management systems will grow from $512 million in 2013 to $2.8 billion in 2020.
The market is expected to decline significantly after that, to $1.8 billion in 2022, the report finds.
"Companies like Comcast, ADT, Verizon, and AT&T in the United States have added energy management as an option that can be bundled with home security, automation, or internet access," says Neil Strother, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. "The uptake of home energy management by consumers is still relatively low, but these service providers are seeding a market that has reasonable potential over the next several years."
The primary driver for HEM systems is consumers' desire to reduce their electricity bills. At the same time, the advent of smart thermostats - which include two-way communications capabilities that can take advantage of demand response signals - is creating new appeal among consumers and utilities alike. The acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest Labs by Google, for a reported $3.2 billion, is seen by many industry observers as a potential watershed moment for the overall HEM market. Cont'd
HomeSeer Unveils World's First Android Tabletop Touchscreen for use with Home Automation
HomeSeer announces the release of the world's first and only Android tabletop touchscreen for home automation! The new WFTT07 performs like a tablet but is free standing, has impressive sound quality and boots automatically to the company's HSTouch home automation app.
The tabletop form factor is unique in the industry and makes the WFTT07 ideal for use on night stands, coffee tables, counter tops and work benches. Additional Android apps may also be installed onto the unit to transform it into a streaming music and video player, recipe manager or social media portal.
Setup is quick and easy. Simply connect the included power adapter, configure the WiFi and HSTouch server settings and you're done! A rechargeable lithium ion battery enables the unit for portable use, if desired.
WFTT07 Touchscreens are in stock and ready for purchase now through HomeSeer and its worldwide network of dealers and distributors.
HomeSeer automation systems are designed to work seamlessly with industry standards and products from leading Z-Wave manufactures such as Cooper, Schlage, Kwikset, Baldwin, Yale, GE, Honeywell, Leviton, Linear, Everspring, Evolve, Fibaro, FortrezZ, Aeon Labs, RCS, and many more.
SAVANT® SYSTEMS INTRODUCES ALL NEW SMART SERIES LINE
Savant Systems introduced the Smart Series control and automation product line. Smart Series products utilize the brand's award-winning technology to bring the Savant experience to a broader audience. Complete packages start at $1,599 MSRP and include the new Smart Host ($799 MSRP), remote and controller. Deployed over multiple rooms within the home, this brings the cost of a Savant solution as low as $1K per room. The new Smart Series product line will be offered through Savant's network of over 1,500 authorized integrators spanning 35 countries.
Savant's technology is the center of the smart home, enabling management of home theater, music, security, thermostat, lights, energy management, automated shades and more, all from a single intuitive app. The company provides homeowners seamless, simple and reliable management of "the internet of things," all easily controlled via leading portable devices including iOS and Android™.
Three Reasons Ruggedness Matters
You can no longer walk through a shopping mall, airport or museum without seeing video screens and digital signage technology on display. It is no surprise that industry analysts continue to predict double-digit growth in the digital signage market, and that industry events are attracting widespread attention.
We require so much more of public displays than we do of our televisions. Commercial-grade digital signage displays must stand up to the demands of a 24×7 environment. They must have sophisticated mechanical designs and connectivity to allow for the management of signage networks. And they must also be rugged.
Here are three reasons why ruggedness matters as well as how to evaluate digital signage solutions for this important characteristic: Cont'd
Amazon set to battle Apple TV, Roku with new box
Amazon’s long-rumored plans to develop a “TV box,” to compete with Apple’s Apple TV, Google’s Chromecast and Roku’s family of products, are set for fruition with a rollout as soon as next month, Recode reported Friday.
According to the report by Peter Kafka, which cited “industry sources,” Amazon had originally planned to unveil the product for the holidays but will instead aim for March:
That won’t be a huge shock, since Amazon has been working on a box for much of last year. The company had planned on launching one in time for the Christmas shopping season, then shelved those plans.
A box is also a logical move for Amazon, which is investing heavily to build up a Web video catalog, and is starting to produce its own shows as well. An Amazon box will allow its customers to easily watch that stuff on their TVs; it should also give other content providers a chance to serve up their stuff via apps, in the way that Roku and Apple TV boxes do.
Game-Changing Bluetooth(R) Smart Solution Enables Whole Home Control from the Smartphone for the First Time
Technology pioneer CSR plc today announces the launch of a technically disruptive new Bluetooth(R) Smart solution designed to place the smartphone at the center of the Internet of Things (IoT). CSR Mesh allows for an almost unlimited number of Bluetooth Smart enabled devices to be simply networked together and controlled directly from a single smartphone, tablet or PC for the first time.
The solution, which is optimized for smart home and IoT applications, combines a configuration and control protocol with CSR's proven Bluetooth Smart devices, including CSR101x(TM) and CSR8811(TM). It will allow consumers to control any Bluetooth Smart enabled device in the home from wherever they are, including lighting, heating, appliances and security systems. Crucially for the consumer experience, solutions based on the protocol don't require the complex setup, pairing, or use of an access device such as a router.
"Unlike other home automation connectivity solutions, such as Zigbee or Z-Wave, CSR Mesh ensures direct control from mobile devices anywhere in the home, because it doesn't have a limited range or require a hub," says Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President, Business Group at CSR. "CSR is committed to driving Internet of Things innovation. We believe this Bluetooth Smart solution will be a real game changer for developers because it means they don't have to turn to proprietary solutions or add anything else to create products that give consumers what they want -- complete home automation they can control from anywhere that 'just works'."
Belkin Patches WeMo Home Automation Vulnerabilities
Belkin has an intriguing suite of WeMo-branded smart devices for home automation, including light switches, motion detectors, integration with appliances, and more, but security firm IOActive recently discovered multiple vulnerabilities in WeMo--vulnerabilities that Belkin says it has now patched.
Belkin’s statement on the subject reads in part:
Belkin has corrected the list of five potential vulnerabilities affecting the WeMo line of home automation solutions that was published in a CERT advisory on February 18. Belkin was in contact with the security researchers prior to the publication of the advisory, and, as of February 18, had already issued fixes for each of the noted potential vulnerabilities via in-app notifications and updates.
The most recent firmware update resolves the issues, which included the ability for a hacker to snag cryptographic keys and passwords, the ability to hack one WeMo device from another, an XML injection vulnerability, and a lack of SSL integrity.
Canary is simple, affordable home security
Crowdfunding has been a boon for connected home technology gadgets. Canary was quite the hit on IndieGoGo, exceeding its $100,000 goal by about 1,860,000 to fund its development. Now, the $199 box is almost ready to start protecting homes around the world. Canary is a sensor you can place anywhere in the room that combines video, heat, humidity, and motion-sensing capabilities into one box that’s connected to your home network. An app on your smartphone or tablet alerts you to changes in your home.
One of the big advantages of Canary is that the device learns habits, such as your comings and goings.
Automatically adjusting for times it knows you’re not at home, it won’t set off the alarm for that 2AM baby feeding like it would if it was 2PM and everyone is at school or work. In all cases, Canary sings only to you, no fire departments called or some guy from the alarm company calling when you leave the water boiling too long on the stove. The wide-angle lens in Canary also features IR night vision, and the video can be streamed to anywhere you are for total piece of mind. So if you get an alert and are worried your house is on fire, just check the security feed to see the true state of your home. At $199 per unit, Canary is great for people without a lot of area to cover, like an apartment. Those looking to cover a large house with dozens of rooms might want to build up a system slowly to spread the cost out over time.
Comcast deal a blow to Apple TV and Netflix
Apple investors and Netflix fans better start writing to their elected officials in Washington to oppose Comcast's $45 billion acquisition offer for rival Time Warner Cable.
The reason?
If the giant cable merger announced today is approved by regulators without any conditions to protect consumers, the deal will be a disaster both for users who want access to low-cost, Web-based entertainment and for the companies that want to deliver it.
The acquisition could put a major hurt on Apple CEO Tim Cook and the company's shareholders, who've been hoping for more than a year that a digital entertainment device might help revive the company's fading revenue growth.
The Comcast offer came amid reports this week that Apple was once again negotiating with Time Warner to license movies and TV programs for the long-rumored Apple TV platform.
Without that type of premium content, any future Apple device will likely be a poorly-selling box that consumers can't watch much with.
But in the wake of the Comcast's announcement, any leverage Apple may have gained in those talks by playing America's two largest cable rivals against each other has evaporated.
It's as if Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has told the Apple CEO, "Here's what I think of your latest proposal to Time Warner, Mr. Cook!"
Roberts is no fool. He and others in the cable industry have seen how Apple's iTunes store has eviscerated the profit margins of the music business.
Google comes to the digital signage side
Intel dropped a Google-sized rock in the digital signage pond in the middle of today's opening keynote at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas.
Intel's Jose Avalos, the company's director of digital signage, embedded and communications group, announced that, on the heels of the release of Google's Chromeboxes last week, the search engine and Internet services behemoth would be turning at least some of its focus to digital signage.
The Chromeboxes could become very inexpensive digital signage media players, and the Chrome platform itself could make the back end cheaper as well, Google's Rajen Sheth, director of product management, Chrome for business and education, told Digital Signage Today in an interview following the keynote.
"So really what it is is the Chrome platform and a few things that we're doing with the Chrome platform," Sheth said. "First is to make the hardware itself lower and lower cost and affordable — for example the new Chromebox we released with ASUS last week is only $179, and it's coming down and down and down in price — but then the bigger thing is, even if the hardware is low cost, it's very tough to maintain this kind of a distributed network of hardware, and that's what we really make possible with the Chrome platform."
URC launches ccGen2 whole-house automation system
From the entry-level DIY smart home products that seem to be flooding the marketplace to the more sophisticated and comprehensive (not to mention expensive) automation systems, the home automation business is experiencing a boom right now. Somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum is URC, which offers a mid-level automation with it’s Complete Control and Total Control systems.
Today URC announced it’s ccGEN2, which means Complete Control Generation Two, a two-way, Internet-based automation system scheduled to roll out through select distributors starting early next month with distributor Volutone, located in California and Nevada.
The ccGEN2 line will include 12 different products, including two wand-style remotes, two in-wall keypads (one is a touchscreen), mobile apps and network system controllers. Doug Cole, senior vice president and general manager of URC, says:
“… we’re excited to offer ccGEN2 through our distribution partners as a newfound opportunity to make the most of the growing awareness and marketing for home automation in a simplified, yet powerful way. We expect this next generation line to take the Complete Control brand into the whole house and the future.”
ccGEN2 products, with few exceptions, are not compatible with URC’s one-way, RF/IR Complete Control system or with Total Control products. The base system starts at about $ 1,000 with the main controller and the top of the line remote control with video capability. For the main controller and an app it is about $800. You can scale from there to add keypads and other things.
Verizon drops Home Monitoring and Control service
Verizon has stopped accepting orders for its Home Monitoring and Control product, and will only allow FiOS customers who already subscribe to the $9.99 monthly service to continue using it, a spokesman said Monday.
Verizon introduced Home Monitoring and Control, which lets FiOS subscribers control security cameras, lighting, door locks and thermostats with their FiOS TV remotes, and through a mobile application and website, in 2011. It stopped accepting new orders in October, spokesman John Columbus told FierceCable.
Rival AT&T launched a wireless-based home automation service last year called AT&T Digital Life, and Comcast and Time Warner Cable market their respective Xfinity Home and IntelligentHome products to broadband subscribers.
Verizon officials suggested that the telco may introduce a new home automation product, but wouldn't say if the company is considering adopting a wireless-based approach similar to AT&T Digital Life.
"We are revisiting the service to more accurately reflect our vision for the connected home. As technology and consumer expectations evolve so must our offerings," Columbus said.
Ex-Google employees announce Beep, the Chromecast of audio
Two former Google employees on Thursday announced Beep, an audio device designed to make it simple for users to stream music throughout their home speakers.
Beep is a small copper device that connects to users Wi-Fi networks to play music from streaming services such as Pandora. The device is designed to make it easy for users to listen to music from the Internet without having to leave their smartphones hooked up to their speakers.
The device was created by a team of 10 led by Daniel Conrad and Shawn Lewis, both of whom trace their roots back to Google. The duo began working on Beep a year and a half ago.
“There’s no good way today to play the Pandoras and Spotifys of the world on your home speakers,” Conrad told The Times. “You’ve got it on your phone, you’ve got it on your laptop, but you don’t have it on your home speakers.”
Conrad and Lewis said setting up a Beep device takes only a matter of minutes. Users connect the gadget to their speakers using an auxiliary or optical cable. They then download a mobile app to set up the device and connect it to the Internet. Once that’s done, users can begin playing music.
The device connects directly to the Internet on its own, but users control it with an app on their Apple iOS and Android mobile devices.
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