Vegas Buzz

SPORTS TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE ADDRESSES WHITE SPACES IN DC
The Sports Technology Alliance, formed by the Sports Video Group (SVG) and comprised of major professional and collegiate US sports leagues and major national broadcasters and content distributors, met this week with leading members of the FCC and members of Congress. The group's mission was to discuss the negative impact of certain current proposed "white spaces" wireless spectrum legislation with regards to athlete and fan safety at their events and the quality of live event coverage, broadcast production and the reception of digital television signals.
According to Mark Brunner, senior director of industry and public relations for Shure, “To our knowledge, a group of representatives from America’s professional and collegiate sports leagues like we had yesterday has never made this kind of visit to Capitol Hill. It shows how important the ‘white spaces’ issue is to these people and what’s at stake for any sports fans who have come to expect an extremely high level of video and audio production for each and every game.”
Current legislation directs the FCC to allow the distribution of new portable wireless devices that use the spectrum currently in use by wireless microphone systems. The Sports Technology Alliance is concerned that interference from those new radio devices could knock wireless communication systems, such as headsets used by coaches and officials, as well as microphones used by players and in-car communications, off the air and also prevent wireless microphones from being used to enhance coverage and interview players, coaches and fans.
See the July 2007 issue of Sound & Communications and last month’s NEWSLETTER: Internet Edition for additional news about legislative activity.

BEHRINGER RESPONSE TO FCC RULING
Resolving issues that led to the recent FCC Forfeiture Order began several years ago, according to Behringer (Bothell WA) spokespersons. “The products in question were shipped to the US between the years 2000 and 2005,” stated Ron Koliha, global communications director. “One of the FCC’s allegations was that we didn’t comply quickly enough with their notifications. Behringer’s top management took that as a serious ‘wake-up call’ and set about to prevent mistakes like this from happening again. That’s one reason why all currently available models, shipped to US dealers after our response to the complaint in early 2006, fully comply with FCC regulations and are properly identified as such.”
CEO Michael Deeb touted Behringer’s $600,000 investment in what he termed “state-of-the-art safety and RF emissions pre-testing facilities” with full-time staff of 15 technicians and engineers, appointment of a corporate compliance officer, consolidation of compliance activities and operations to ensure all products comply with FCC and other global regulatory standards, and development of an in-house tracking and global regulatory review system. “Testing and labeling oversights like the ones that happened prior to 2005 are behind us now,” he declared.
Koliha further explained that even prior to the new testing and compliance program, Behringer products were not known to pose safety or RF emissions hazards.

Community Offers All-Weather / All-Purpose Catalog

Community Professional has released a new catalog covering their two popular lines of all-weather, all-purpose loudspeaker systems, the R-Series and WET Series II.

The catalog provides a full overview of both product lines, including clear and concise application data, no-nonsense specifications and useful manufacturing information.
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AMX ACQUIRES INSPIRATION MATTERS
AMX (Richardson TX) has acquired Inspiration Matters, a UK-based manufacturer of digital signage solutions, sold under the brand name Inspired Signage. With this acquisition, according to the company, AMX’s digital signage offering will enable the company to meet virtually any digital signage design, management and distribution need. Inspired Signage products allow customers to schedule and deliver vibrant, animated multimedia content to display screens across a network of sites locally, nationally or globally. Its media distribution technologies are used in a variety of commercial environments.
“The digital signage market has been a topic of discussion for many years, but it is only now—as the cost of display technologies has come down—that the demand has really taken off. AMX has identified digital signage as a high-growth market that aligns with our overall corporate strategy, and we will continue to expand our product portfolio in new and exciting ways,” said Rashid Skaf, AMX president/CEO. “With the additions of AutoPatch, Endeleo and now Inspired Signage, AMX will be able to offer a variety of robust, end-to-end digital signage solutions—from distribution and switching technologies to content design and management. AMX customers will now have a virtual one-stop-shop for digital signage solutions that will meet nearly any audiovisual communication need.”
Added Bryan Crotaz, research & design (R&D) director, Inspiration Matters, “With access to AMX’s worldwide sales and distribution channel, as well as its marketing organization, Inspired Signage will now be able to reach heights we only dreamed possible.”
For more information about AMX, see Sound & Communications’ exclusive interview with Rashid Skaf, beginning on page 62 of our July 2007 issue.

ONKYO PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY EIKI
Onkyo Professional (Upper Saddle River NJ), a division of Onkyo Corp., has signed a distribution agreement with Eiki International, Inc. (Osaka, Japan), which currently supplies Eiki brand data/video projectors for commercial use throughout the US and Canada. Keith Haas, Onkyo Pro director of sales, said, “This agreement…will be good for both companies. We believe the addition of Eiki International and its dealer network will significantly improve the availability of our products in professional and commercial markets. This, in combination with several important new product announcements at InfoComm ’07, will give Onkyo Pro a much higher profile in the marketplace.”
Steen Sorensen, Eiki national sales manager, offered, "We're really pleased to be able to offer the recognized performance of the Onkyo Pro product line to our commercial AV dealer network.” He added, "During our 15-year factory relationship, we've come to respect the uncompromising quality of Onkyo engineering. We're convinced Onkyo Pro products are a perfect complement to Eiki projectors...and we're confident our dealers will reach the same conclusion. It's a fit!"

YAMAHA COMMECIAL AUDIO TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE IN LAS VEGAS

The entertainment capital of the world will be the setting of an open house to be held by a Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. for members of the local professional audio community on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 10-11, 2007 at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, Crown Room.
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