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At CEDIA Expo and Commercial Integrator Expo (CIX24), the Crestron booth was frequently packed to capacity. Here, we see the section dedicated to lighting control and shading.
At CEDIA Expo and Commercial Integrator Expo (CIX24) last month, the residential AV and commercial AV worlds came together. Commercial Integrator’s editors traversed the show floor, speaking to companies whose feet are planted firmly in both worlds. Here, we present four of the biggest stories we captured while onsite in Denver, highlighting not only product debuts but also strategic realignments that will reinforce brand leadership in key categories.
The stories we present here reflect the thrum of activity that prevailed throughout CEDIA Expo and CIX24, with integrators, consultants, end users and vendors alike embracing increased synergies between resi and commercial, as well as a shared imperative to deliver exceptional experiences every time.
NETGEAR Impresses With Access Points at CEDIA Expo & Commercial Integrator Expo
John Henkel, director of SMB product marketing at NETGEAR Business, expressed excitement about the industry’s response to the company’s new WiFi 7 Access Points during my booth visit. The WBE758 debuted earlier this year, whereas the WBE718 was new at the show. WiFi7 is, of course, a hot new technology, and it’s backwards-compatible with all the other WiFi versions. Henkel emphasizes it can even make WiFi6 devices work a bit better — namely, it enables improved interference handling, the ability to handle more customers and clients, and the capacity to navigate denser areas.
“The WiFi7s are newer, better and smaller,” Henkel enthuses, particularly emphasizing the much smaller form factor. “They’re pretty densely packed.” A mounting plate enables multiple options for mounting: on a ceiling or a wall, or behind something for discreet placement. “We’ve also dimmed the NETGEAR logo a bit,” he adds, “so it’s not as prominent.” This, of course, reflects a sensitivity to clients’ aesthetic sensibilities and wanting their technology to disappear into the background.
“The WiFi7 access points – they’re the really new, cool thing for us,” Henkel continues. “That’s managed by our Insight platform as far as remote cloud management, which also manages our non-AV switches.” He adds that NETGEAR offers a free service, Pro WiFi Design, that not only helps with heatmapping for a building or a home but also can tell you the proper placement for all those access points. To learn more about that free service, email ProWiFiDesign@netgear.com.
Nice Plans to Revivify Respected Brands
At the Nice booth, Mark Owen Burson highlighted the company’s recent creation of the ProAV Solutions division, which he will head up as managing director. This will be a key pillar of Nice’s North American growth strategy. According to Burson, the company intends to capitalize on Furman and Gefen’s brand legacies with fresh investment, more innovation and a commitment to execute on renewed brand leadership. “This is an end-to-end rebuild,” he explains. “We’re focused on isolating Furman and Gefen so that we can develop more of an agile, startup-like business within the larger group to drive growth.”
For Furman, the strategy is really about getting back to the brand’s roots by focusing on the musical space that propelled it from the ’70s into the 2000s. The company seeks to work with the big-name bands that are loyal to the brand, as well as grassroots, everyday musicians and DJs who are playing in local bars or smaller venues. “We’re building that organic army of passionate individuals who really care about the way that their audio sounds and the way that their equipment is protected through the power conditioning that Furman offers,” Burson declares.
For Gefen, too, the revivification is about getting back to the brand’s roots, albeit not in a backward-looking way. “It’s about building the future and moving forward by going back to the pioneering mindset we had when we were originally coming out with industry-leading solutions,” Burson explains. That comes alive with a focus on 8K and beyond, high-bandwidth throughput and embracing a wide range of vertical opportunities: stadiums, digital signage, broadcast media, retail, restaurants and more.
Ultimately, Burson concludes, the strategy is about “…rebuilding the Furman and Gefen brands back to the leadership positions that they were in.”
Crestron Home Takes Center Stage at CEDIA Expo & Commercial Integrator Expo
According to Crestron’s Joel Mulpeter, director – product marketing, Crestron Home stood firmly at the center of the company’s jam-packed booth at CEDIA Expo/CIX24. “We have everything set up here really based around Crestron Home primarily,” he explains when I arrive at the booth. “[We’re] showing all the hardware that then runs with [it].”
The company has certainly maintained a steady drumbeat of feature releases with Home. “We’re really focusing on taking Crestron Home to that next level,” Mulpeter explains, “adding more features our integrators need to solve problems with conditionals and things like that for end users, but also looking after the end users and making sure their experience of using Crestron Home is always a uniform experience across their home.” After all, he reflects, those customers spent a lot of money for their residence, as well as the smart home system that brings the space to life.
On the product side, Crestron showcased edge devices, amplifiers and more from its NAX audio-over-IP line, as well as how they interact with Crestron Home. Other key products that I scoped out at the show included a new graphics engine, DGE-1000, as well as a new line of glass-cover keypads with a highly aesthetic, visually appealing look.
Even with Crestron Home taking center stage, the company highlighted commercial offerings, as well. “We’re showing our Flex products, room scheduling, AirMedia and the way Crestron control interacts with all of those,” Mulpeter says. “The newest thing is Videobar 70 with Teams.” That is currently shipping, and Crestron has received certification from Teams, as well.
Just Add Power Brings Gaming, Guitars and Plenty of Ingenuity
Taft Stricklin, known as “The Dude” at Just Add Power, oversaw lots of initiatives at CEDIA Expo/CIX, but perhaps nothing got more attention than the company’s new MC-QX MaxColor 4K60 tiling and warping transmitter, boasting a smooth, intuitive end-user interface. “Your customer can drag images around, resize the images very easily and then adjust transparency,” Stricklin says. He continues, “The key with that is, a lot of sports fans don’t want to lose any content. They want an overlay so you can see the score but still see what’s going on in the other games.”
PS5 gaming interactivity was another booth highlight. “We do 4K60 4:4:4 on a 1Gb network without any latency,” Stricklin says. “So, we invited people to sit down in our gaming chair, grab the PS5 controller and tell us what’s direct and what’s over the network.” The upshot, he says, was that people simply couldn’t tell the difference between direct and network video.
Just Add Power’s relationship with Guitars for Vets also attracted attention and praise. “Being a guitar player, I love to give guitars away,” Stricklin begins. “Music is amazing. And so, this year, people stopped by the booth [and] entered to win a guitar, and we did a drawing each day of the show. For every guitar that we gave away — we gave away a total of three at the show — we’ll give three to Guitars for Vets. And then we also pay for lessons.” According to Stricklin, initiatives like this help a good cause and are simply good karma. “We need more good karma in the world,” he says with a smile.
More Stories from CEDIA Expo and CIX24
That just scratches the surface of the news that broke during CEDIA Expo and CIX24, which attracted more than 15,200 industry professionals, representing all 50 U.S. states and more than 20 countries, to Denver last month. With nearly 400 exhibitors participating in the U.S.’ biggest AV gathering of the season, the co-located event has many more stories to share. We’ll continue to bring them to you in the days and weeks ahead.
CEDIA Expo 2025 and Commercial Integrator Expo 2025 (CIX25) will take place Sept. 3 to 6, 2025. Once again, it will emanate from the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
(October 8, 2024). Dan Ferrisi. Retrieved from https://www.commercialintegrator.com/insights/cedia-expo-and-commercial-integrator-expo-four-of-the-most-noteworthy-booths/137488/
