On the cusp of the annual Thanksgiving Day holiday the smart home or custom installation industry is gearing up to take some much needed and welcomed time off.
Just because the holiday is rapidly approaching however, it does not mean the market is resting on past accomplishments. The team over at CE Pro has been busy traveling covering events such as Total Tech Summit (TTS) and buying group events like HTSA’s Fall 2025 show.
Recapping the buying group event, Nick Boever from CE Pro says HTSA asserts the industry is still moving forward, despite the turbulence of the economy. Boever also states that AI was a major talking point for the nearly 100 group members that attended the event.
Here’s Boever’s full run down of the HTSA Fall 2025 event.
Looking at some product news, Residential Tech Today reported on the newly announced Kaleidescape Mini Terra Prime. The publication points out the latest Kaleidescape product is engineered to deliver the same level of performance the company is known for, but in a smaller form factor to make it more homeowner friendly.
Check out the story on Kaleidescape’s new Mini Terra Prime here.
Going deeper into the industry’s favorite topic—products—Residential Systems ran through its Best of Show awards program. Citing more than 50 products, the winning products ranged from control and lighting solutions to surround sound processors, and MicroLED displays.
Here is the complete list of winners from Residential Systems annual awards program.
Over in the world of commercial AV, the staff at Commercial Integrator covered an item on a Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group installation that featured equipment from Epson. The article looks at some of the challenges the famous show presented to the technicians installing the AV system and how they overcame those obstacles.
The story can be found here.
KMB Comm’s Look at National News
A new report published by LinkedIn says that October’s unemployment figures offer a mixed bag of results. According to the story, unemployment increased slightly to 4.4%. The story notes the figure is caused from a combination of permanent job losses and people quitting their jobs.
What is surprising continues LinkedIn, is the economy did pick up nearly 120,000 jobs, which is a number above estimates.
LinkedIn adds the next job reports is expected in mid-December. Here is the post from LinkedIn.
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.