by Bob Archer | Jan 16, 2026 | Blog, KMB Communications
It’s been back to the grind and for many within the electronics industry, and the month of January means shows like CES and preparation for other events such as Integrated Systems Europe in Barcelona and Lightapoolza which takes place in Austin this February.
Of course, KMB Comm will be at shows like Lightapalooza and KBIS and with the smart home industry working through these consecutive trade shows, the influx of market news has been inconsistent, but this week’s Technology Week in Review has some noteworthy items.
A Speaker Review from Across the Pond
KMB Comm’s Technology Week in Review hasn’t covered many product reviews, but the British publication Essential Install has just posted a look at the Lyngdorf FR-2 loudspeakers.
The publication points out the Lyngdorf speakers utilize a unique design that combines attributes of a traditional floorstanding, as well as an in-room loudspeaker, and a design-friendly on-wall loudspeaker. The review goes onto explain the setup of the speakers and the experience homeowners will get living with the speakers.
Here is the complete Essential Install Lyngdorf FR-2 loudspeaker review.
More product news that traces back to the just completed CES 2026 show is Loewe showcasing its new line of OLED displays, and its first headphone product: the Leo.
The OLED TV product line according to the Residential Systems story offers a choice of screen sizes ranging from 42 inches up to 97 inches, and the 4K products offer Loewe technologies like MLA solution, which is said to aid HDR reproduction.
Making its first personal audio product, the German luxury electronics company’s Leo combines a DAC, integrated amplification, 50mm drivers, and noise cancellation options. The Residential Systems story goes on to note the Leo headphones support high-resolution audio, wireless audio, and immersive audio including Dolby Atmos.
To learn more about the new Loewe products click here.
KMB Comm National News Highlights
It’s been a relatively quiet week in the worlds of residential and commercial electronics, but there have been several items pop up nationally that are worth investigating.
The first KMB Comm national news item comes from Yahoo Finance. According to the story, the financial community is waiting for the monthly Consumer Price Index, which is expected to remain at the annual increase rate of 2.7%. Yahoo Finance reports that experts are expecting inflation to ease, which will help to drive the stock market.
The story, which can be found here, adds that based on recent unemployment figures, the Federal Reserve could potentially cut interest rates to aid economic activity.
LinkedIn, has a couple of items worth examining this week. The first item reports that U.S. retail sales increased this past November in 10 out of 13 tracked categories. LinkedIn says these indicators suggest that Americans kept shopping despite factors such as an unstable job market, rising energy costs, and slight increases of inflation.
The other item from LinkedIn is a story on Google’s Alphabet market cap eclipsing the $4 trillion plateau following the news of a newly formed partnership with Apple. The story states that Google Gemini and cloud technologies will power future AI features in Apple products such as Siri.
Moving onto to some entertainment items, the NFL playoffs are moving into the league’s divisional round. Star players such as Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, and Josh Allen are leading their teams into a weekend of football action. To learn more, go to the NFL.com website, which has a rundown of dates, times and the respective TV networks covering the games.
Concluding the KMB Comm look at this week’s technology news item, is a look at some of the new media releases. This media rundown comes from the Portland, Maine-based retailer Bull Moose.
The New England comic book and record store says some of the new UltraHD 4K discs released this week include “Babe,” “Dante’s Peak,” “Evil Dead Rise,” and “Pink Panther: Revenge of the Pink Panther.”
Blu-ray releases include “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3,” “Elfen Lied Complete Collection,” and “The Power of Darkness.”
Audio releases include “Frank Zappa Mega Box,” “Warning, Watching from a Distance,” and “The James Hunter Six Off the Fence.” Wrapping of the physical media releases available from the retailer are vinyl releases such as, “The Beatles Live from Canada 1964: Montreal September 8th,” and “John Coltrane Giant Steps (Mono).
KMB Communications hosts a podcast called AV Trade Talk. Listeners can check out the podcast to learn about the latest happenings in the custom installation electronics industry. To listen to the KMB AV Trade Talk Podcast, click here.
by Bob Archer | Jan 9, 2026 | Blog, KMB Communications, Kordz, Leon Speakers, RoseWater Energy, SONOS, Trade Show news
For most of us the holiday season goes holiday season goes by entirely too fast. For those in the technology industry, including the smart home and commercial AV markets, the end of the holiday season means the beginning of trade show frenzy season with several events set to take place in concurrent weeks.
Starting things off of course is the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) show with other shows such as Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), International Builders’ Show (IBS) that includes the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), and Lightapalooza 2026.
KMB Comm will have feet on the ground at both IBS and Lightapalooza supporting brands such as RoseWater Energy, Sonos, and Leon Speakers, and ISE lending support to Kordz and Sonos.
What’s Happening in the World of Consumer Electronics
Getting back to the start of the winter’s run of trade shows, there is news coming out from CES from all the major global brands that include LG and Samsung. Looking at audio, Ecoustics has an item from Onkyo’s CES announcement in which the popular company introduced a new line of compact, smart-home friendly amplifiers. The article points out this year marks Onkyo’s 80th anniversary, and the new Muse Network Streaming Amplifier Series includes the Y-40 and Y-50 models.
Check out the new Onkyo products here.
Over in the audiophile world, Future Audiophile has a product review on the VPI Signature 21. The review points out that VPI Industries was started in 1978 by Harry Weisfeld in Cliffwood, N.J. with the goal of selling turntable solutions to local audiophile hobbyists.
Fast forward to 2026, the review goes on to point out the company offers a complete line of turntables ranging from the $1,500 Traveler to the top-of-the-line Titan Direct that retails for $64,000.
To read the entire review for the $8,700 Signature 21 go here.
Rounding out the KMB Comm look at the residential side of the electronics industry is an Amazon Alexa item from LinkedIn.
According to the LinkedIn post, Amazon has introduced a new website that allows site visitors to interact with Amazon’s Alexa+ AI assistant. The post also includes news about other newly announced Amazon products.
To learn more about the browser-based version of Alexa AI+ go here.
Commercial AV News for the Week of Jan. 5
If you like the Star Trek franchise this story from SCN may be your favorite news item of the week. The story explains the German company UNWARE has launched its Holodeck portable VR CAVE that delivers cinema-grade immersive experiences that are inspired by the fictional show’s holodeck simulation room.
SCN notes the system includes a 6.5-foot high, 220-degree curved screen, spatial audio, and AI-powered body tracking.
Click the link to beam over to the UNWARE story on the SCN’s AVNetwork website.
KMB Comm National News Wrap Up
Earlier this week Yahoo Finance posted a story on the U.S. Midwest grid teaming up with the tech company Microsoft. The alliance between the parties will allow Microsoft to utilize its technologies in the Midcontinent Independent Operator grid that provides power for 42 million people in 15 states, as well as the Canadian province of Manitoba.
According to Yahoo Finance, the Microsoft technologies will be used to predict weather-related incidents, along with transmission line planning and other operational elements.
To read about the new Microsoft partnership, click this link.
Wrapping the KMB Comm Week in Review up, we thought we would take a bit of a diversion from electronics with a rundown of game times for the National Football League’s (NFL) Wildcard weekend.
NFL.com has the full slate of dates and game times on its website to help football fans plan their weekend of couch potato activities. Games this weekend include MVP (most valuable player) candidate Matthew Stafford and the L.A. Rams traveling to North Carolina to play the Panthers, then one of the league’s oldest rivalries with the Bears playing the Packers.
Sunday, the Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills travel down to Florida to play the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 p.m. The 4:30 p.m. game features the champion Philadelphia Eagles taking on the San Francisco 49ers. The Sunday night primetime game features Drake Maye and the New England Patriots hosting the L.A. Chargers in Foxboro.
Concluding Wildcard weekend slate of games, the Houston Texas and the team’s number one ranked defense traveling to Pittsburgh to play Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.
KMB Communications hosts a podcast called AV Trade Talk. Listeners can check out the podcast to learn about the latest happenings in the custom installation electronics industry. To listen to the KMB AV Trade Talk Podcast, click here.
by Bob Archer | Dec 19, 2025 | Blog, D-Tools, KMB Communications
It’s been a busy week in the world of technology and the KMB Comm Technology Week in Review reflects the rush to close the year strongly as we wind up the holiday season.
This week’s roundup of news includes items from Residential Systems, Commercial Integrator, Mix Magazine, LinkedIn, and Yahoo Finance. These items cover a range of topics from D-Tools’ latest partnership to some unexpected, good news regarding the economy.
KMB Comm Look at the World of Residential Technology
Like always, let’s start with a look at what’s going on in the smart home industry. Covering the latest firewall from Firewalla, Residential Systems states the new networking product—the Firewall Orange is a portable Wi-Fi 7 firewall and router. The portable firewall supports up to 50 clients, and Residential Systems adds the device is good for users in locations such as hotels, shared workspaces, client sites and more.
Check out the new Firewall product here.
Normally, content from Mix Magazine would be placed within the KMB Comm coverage of commercial AV news, but the publication’s story on a documentary produced by the audio production software company Waves Audio will interest the audiophile community.
Mix Magazine has a writeup on the origins of the “loudness wars,” and the story points out that according to the documentary, “How Music Got Loud: The Untold Story of the Loudness Wars,” the audio industry has made considerable efforts to balance the popularity of “loud mixes” with the ability to maintain dynamic range.
To learn more about Waves Audio’s loudness wars documentary click here.
Moving onto Parks Associates’ latest study, the research firm finds that 51% of Americans are using generative AI tools for applications such as work, personal activities and learning. As part of its research, the study notes that Chat GPT is the top AI application, but products such as Google Gemini, Apple Intelligence, and Samsung Galaxy AI are increasing in usage.
Here’s a link to the Parks data, which was posted on LinkedIn.
Commercial AV Happenings for the Week of Dec. 15-19
D-Tools, the popular provider of dealer software tools that helps integration firms run their businesses more efficiently, recently announced a partnership with the AiN Group. Commercial Integrator has details on this newly announced alliance that includes special pricing rates for members on the company’s D-Tools Cloud and System Integrator (SI) tools.
Here is the complete story from Commercial Integrator.
SCN has a nice holiday item on a mapping display in London. As part of the holiday happenings in the international U.K. city, Outernet is treating visitors to a winter wonderland experience using 8K display technologies.
The exhibit runs through Christmas, and the story includes a YouTube video to provide a more visual element to the SCN write up.
Important National News
KMB Comm always has an eye on the economy, and several outlets including Yahoo Finance are reporting just announced government inflation data. Yahoo says the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data from November that reveals the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose just 2.7% over the prior year. This number falls in less than the 3.1% that economists were expecting for the month.
Yahoo Finance emphasizes the November numbers are the first inflation report that’s been released since September, and overall, the story cites comments from Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economic research at Fitch Ratings, that raises hope for optimism, but he adds there is a lack of detail, which does raise some concerns.
For more on the inflation numbers go here.
Looking ahead at what lies ahead economically, LinkedIn has a post on what some experts are saying to expect for the upcoming year.
Here is the entire LinkedIn post on what the experts are expecting with the economy in 2026.
With all of that said, we at KMB Communications would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday season.
KMB Communications hosts a podcast called AV Trade Talk. Listeners can check out the podcast to learn about the latest happenings in the custom installation electronics industry. To listen to the KMB AV Trade Talk Podcast, click here.
by Bob Archer | Dec 15, 2025 | Blog, D-Tools, KMB Communications, Leon Speakers, Quantum Media, Somfy, SONOS, Torus Power, Wall-Smart
As 2025 draws to a close, it is time to take a look what KMB Communications (KMB Comm) has been doing to support its clients—and help to contribute to the smart home industry’s growth.
Led by founder and CEO Katye Bennett, the veteran public relations professional works closely with the popular smart home B2B (business-to-business) publication Residential Systems contributing monthly columns that focus on a range of topics.
KMB Comm’s Lisa Montgomery, another veteran market professional, has also written a range of content items for publications across the consumer electronics industry.
Highlighting Bennett and Montgomery’s contributions to the smart home industry in 2025, here’s a look at some of their articles.
A Look Back at KMB Comm’s Residential Systems Columns for 2025
Over the course of the year Bennett’s monthly column tackled a variety of topics to stir conversation, while providing thought leadership to help integrators streamline their businesses.
Here is a recap of the KMB Comm Residential Systems for 2025:
Highlighting a few of these columns, March’s “Outsmarted by a Smart Toilet” demonstrated that just because a product incorporates the latest technologies, it does not mean people will use the product if the solution isn’t intuitive to operate.
In May issue of Residential Systems, the KMB Comm column, “How to Stand Out in a Competitive Marketplace” looked at ways integration firms can make their businesses stand out. A few points of interest from the column include the importance of clear communications and the ability to deliver ongoing support and maintenance.
The column also provides examples of ways that integrators can validate their work to show potential clients their capabilities.
Towards the end of the year, the KMB Comm Residential Systems’ column, “From Browsing to Beling: Turning Clients into Community” examined why it is important for dealers to make clients feel like they are a part of something bigger.
The column makes the point that homeowners aren’t just buying a smart home system, they are buying integrators’ solutions and culture. Bennett recommends several ways that dealers can involve their clients in their communities—and most importantly make them feel like a valued member of a community.
Content for Other Media Companies
Montgomery has also been active throughout the year providing stories to publications that include CE Pro and Residential Systems.
Using her decades of industry experience, which include work at the consumer publication Electronic House, as well as the B2B publication CE Pro. Earlier this year Montgomery contributed an item to CE Pro on how to sell power management and energy storage, and just recently she contributed an item on high-performance, luxury home theater.
The KMB Comm account manager & copywriter’s contributions to Residential Systems includes an item on how to use the popular audio brand Sonos in light commercial environments such as restaurants and retail stores. Another interesting contribution Montgomery made to the large publication was a story on the rise in high-performance video walls in luxury home theaters.
In addition, the newest KMB Comm team member is former CE Pro staff member Bob Archer. Joining the team about a month ago, he had written a couple of noteworthy items for CE Pro earlier this year.
In the spring of 2025, he put together a story on the grassroots industry organization BIG AV. BIG AV’s goal is to provide more educational and employment opportunities to its diverse membership to help grow the smart home industry and fulfill its need for qualified labor. The other noteworthy story he wrote was the second annual CE Pro Women to Watch List for 2025. This story recognizes the contributions of women to the growth and prosperity of the smart home industry.
Of course, KMB Comm has its own website where visitors can learn about the PR firm’s roster of clients and what’s happening in the residential and commercial electronics industry. Go here to check out everything KMB Communications has to offer.
KMB Comm Sponsors CEDIA Awards
Helping to fuel the public relation firm’s profile within its core market, KMB Communications served as a sponsor for the CEDIA. The trade organization points out that KMB served as the headline sponsor for its 2025 Smart Home Awards, along with the firm’s clients that include Apex Technologies, Leon Speakers, Quantum Media Systems, Somfy, Torus Power, Wall-Smart, and D-Tools.
The awards recognize industry professionals that are driving current and future trends as the home technology market continues to evolve.
Commenting on the sponsorship of the annual CEDIA program, KMB Communications founder Katye Bennett emphasizes the awards provided her firm a platform to showcase its support of the smart home industry.
“At KMB, our support of the industry runs deep. So much so, that we were compelled to be the headline sponsor of the CEDIA Awards at CEDIA Expo. This provided us the opportunity to share who we are, what we do, and why we love and support the industry as we do—creating, distributing, sharing, and celebrating compelling content, creative, communications, and strategies for some of the best brands and people in the biz,” states Bennett.
“It was nerve-wracking at first [read the post on the event on LinkedIn] that was published in KMB’s feed the week after the show) but for me personally, it served as a career-defining moment. KMB turns 15 in 2026, and you will be hearing a lot more about our company, partners, offerings, and growth plan. Until then, you’re just going to have to wait eagerly …”
KMB Communications hosts a podcast called AV Trade Talk. Listeners can check out the podcast to learn about the latest happenings in the custom installation electronics industry. To listen to the KMB AV Trade Talk Podcast, click here.
by Bob Archer | Dec 12, 2025 | Apex Technologies, Blog, D-Tools, Daisy, KMB Communications, Quantum Media, RoseWater Energy, Somfy, SONOS, Torus Power, Wall-Smart
With Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror and Christmas and New Year’s rapidly approaching the entire technology industry is trying to button up their 2025 activities. Keeping pace with this end-of-year pace, KMB Comm has its weekly roundup of technologies stories for the week of Dec. 8-12.
Headlining the week’s news cycle, Residential Systems has announced its 2026 Companies to Watch list. Several KMB Comm clients were represented in the list, including Apex Technologies, Daisy, Global Wave Integration, HYPERSUB, Quantum Media Systems, RoseWater Energy, Somfy, Sonos, Torus Power, TPI Aerospace, and Wall-Smart.
In addition, Residential Systems named KMB Communications as a company to watch for its work within the smart home community helping its clients to meet the media goals.
The complete list can be found here.
Over in the world of audiophiles, the Audioholics website posted an item on Integra’s latest high-performance amplifiers.
The new Professional Series of Amplifiers offer a choice of models with features that include DSP capabilities that are highlighted by presets for Klipsch loudspeakers.
Check out the Audioholics item here.
Also, in the world of residential technologies, the popular data and research company Parks Associates released a study on the multi-family, multi-dwelling (MDU) category. The firm posted the item on LinkedIn and a couple of takeaways from the data include people are delaying moving and the spending of their disposable income.
Other findings in the report include that 14% of those polled in the study pay a technology fee, and more importantly, Parks Associates emphasizes, 84% of those paying this fee, which averages $75 per month, state the fee is worth the price.
The Parks Associates study can be found here.
One of the most difficult categories in the home technology market to navigate is power. Helping to shed some light on what some of these products and systems offer from this often-misunderstood category, RoseWater Energy has a nice summary of the differences between the solutions.
RoseWater Energy in its latest blog summarizes power terms such as solar power, battery backup, power conditioners, surge protection, and more.
The new RoseWater Energy blog can be found here.
KMB Comm Technology Week in Review’s Look at Commercial AV Happenings
Some of the best usage cases for video technologies can be found with 3D video walls and more specifically 3D billboards.
SCN’s AVNetwork website has an item this week on Disney+’s promotion of the second season of its “Percy Jackson” series. The billboard is located on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, and the story notes the second season, which the 3D billboard is promoting is based on the second book, “The Sea of Monsters.”
The story also explains that underneath the billboard is a pool that catches splashing water from a water tank that supplies the exhibit to add the fun factor to the advertisement.
To see the 3D billboard in action and to learn more, click here.
Noteworthy National News
One of the big news items from the prior week was Netflix’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Following this news, numerous reports suggest the acquisition is now under scrutiny over concerns of antitrust regulations.
For more on these reports, check out this LinkedIn post.
The KMB Comm Technology Week in Review also has another LinkedIn item. This post focuses on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s comments on U.S. employment figures. The story goes on to assert the economy is entering a time of uncertainty led in part to statistics that may not be accurate.
Here’s more on Powell’s comments.
One last story from LinkedIn on Apple and how the tech giant handles AI. The story points out that Apple shares have increased 35% since mid-year based on some its competition perhaps moving too quickly with their AI plans, while the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has taken a more measured approach.
See the Apple AI post here.
KMB Communications hosts a podcast called AV Trade Talk. Listeners can check out the podcast to learn about the latest happenings in the custom installation electronics industry. To listen to the KMB AV Trade Talk Podcast, click here.
