With August at our doorstep, the summer is about half over. NFL training camps have started, depending on where you live, parents may be school shopping for their children, and if you work in the electronics industry, you may be gearing up for CEDIA Expo 2026.
Interestingly, beside the CEDIA Expo news cycle starting up, it seems the rest of the tech industry may have gotten off vacation as the national and global news cycles have also picked up.
This week’s KMB Communications’ Technology Week in Review looks at news from Roku, Apple, Panasonic, Cary Audio, and the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU).
The news from this week’s roundup comes from Arstechnica, Yahoo, LinkedIn, eCoustics, and Future Audiophile.
Technology Week in Review:
- Arstechnica posts story on rising Roku prices
- eCoustics has a story on Panasonic closing its Malaysian plant
- Future Audiophile reviews Cary Audio DMS-800PV Network Streamer DAC
- LinkedIn says that Apple has reclaimed the title of the “most valuable publicly traded company”
- Yahoo says that music has a “Gen Alpha Melody”
- LinkedIn states that Marvel Studios has laid out its movie roadmap through 2042
KMB Communications Home Technology News
Ending last week and beginning this week’s news cycle, Arstechnica is reporting the global home electronics company Roku is raising its prices by as much as 60%.
The story picks up an item from The Desk that says the price hikes are the result of memory storage and other component shortages. The Arstechnica post points out the cause for the price increases contradict statements made by the company this past spring when memory shortages were, “great.”
The next item in KMB Communications’ tour of weekly tech news comes from eCoustics. The enthusiast website has posted a story that Panasonic is set to close its Malaysian AVC by March 2027.
eCoustics notes the factory currently manufactures TVs, Blu-ray disc players, and some Technics branded stereo products. The story stresses the move does not mean the company is leaving the Blu-ray disc player category and that manufacturing will be done elsewhere.
Wrapping up the residential technology news for the week is a product review from Future Audiophile.
The review focuses on the North Carolina-based company Cary Audio and its new DMS-800PV Network Streamer DAC. Cary Audio built its reputation for producing some of the consumer audio market’s finest tube-based components. Over the years, the company expanded into solid-state components for not only two-channel, but also home theater.
This new product addresses the two-channel streaming category and audiophile pursuits.
For more on the $14,995 DMS-800PV all-in-one Network Streamer DAC, check out the review here.
National and Global Technology News
Kicking off the KMB Communications look at news beyond the residential technology industry, is a post from LinkedIn.
In the post, the author James Callan, says the tech giant Apple is “defying” the tech selloff that has been happening recently by reclaiming the title of the “world’s most valuable publicly traded company.”
The story reports that Apple stocks rose earlier this week by 1% to reach the plateau of $339.57. Year-to-date gains according to LinkedIn for Apple stand at 24%.
Moving away from tech news and into the related topic of entertainment for the last couple of KMB Communications weekly items, Yahoo has picked up a story from the Washington Post that focuses on the “Gen Alpha Melody.”
In the Yahoo post, the lead says the Danish musician Carl Martin thought he wrote a beautiful melody back in 2019. Over the years, the story continues, Martin would hear the four notes in songs from artists such as Rose and Bruno Mars, and other pop artists.
After researching the melody online, the story says Martin found about 500 songs with a similar melody. From there he narrowed the list down to 72 songs that were even a closer match.
Eventually, he called the four notes the “Gen Alpha Melody.” Posting his research online in a YouTube video, the content item now has about 3.3 million views.
Closing out the KMB Communications tour of tech news is another entertainment story. This story was posted on LinkedIn and it sums up the news of Marvel Studios announcing its latest projects during the annual San Diego Comic-Con event.
LinkedIn’s story says the new Marvel Studios project roadmap includes a new “Ghost Rider” movie starring Ryan Gosling and a new “Black Panther” movie. The story notes that superhero movies have not fared well at the box office recently, and Marvel’s plans extend through 2042.
For more news from KMB Communications, check out this recently released podcast and blog that previews the CEDIA Expo 2026 and the new CE Pro All Star Band.