Business News
Feb 1, 2002 12:00 PM
CORPORATE EVOLUTIONS
Gentner Now ClearOneCommunications
Effective January 1, 2002, Gentner Communications Corp. becameClearOne Communications Inc. The company’s shareholders approved theboard of directors’ recommendation for the name change. The company nowtrades under the symbol CLRO on the NASDAQ stock market.
Gentner’s conferencing products will still be branded under the sameGentner name. In November, Gentner announced that it had entered intodefinitive purchase agreements to sell 1,289,124 shares of newly issuedcommon stock at $17 per share to selected institutional and privateinvestors.
DAR Restructures with AMEK
Harman International Industries announced a restructuring programfor Digital Audio Research. DAR will relocate to a new AMEK Manchesterlocation. The company hopes DAR products will benefit from AMEK’sstate-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, enhancing productconsistency and reliability.
SALES TOOLS
NEC Technologies
NEC Technologies’ new Visual Systems Extranet site helps NECpartners reduce costs associated with the sale of NEC projector andplasma display products. Partners can track the status of their ordersin real time, receive closed-loop leads, learn detailed informationabout NEC display products and applications, and find NEC-producedliterature. The site’s document library stores all of the company’sspec sheets, order forms and marketing program bulletins.
PUBLICATION
Listen Publishes
Spanish Catalog
Listen Technologies has published its product catalog in Spanish.Find it at listentech.com/Literature.html.
EDUCATION
New Certification Course
Cable solutions manufacturer ICC developed a new CertificationCourse program. It is a comprehensive, 1-day installer seminar toprovide information on current networking and structured cablingstandards. Visit icc.com to learn more.
Wiring Installer Certification
BICSI recently accredited Leviton Manufacturing’s InstallerCertification Program, which provides product and installation trainingfor Leviton Integrated Networks. Those who complete the course receiveeight continuing education credits, which can be applied to apprentice,installer and Registered Communications Distribution Designercertification.
CONGRATULATIONS
AudioControl Award
AudioControl’s new 5-channel theater amplifier, the Pantages, wasawarded a 2002 Innovations Design & Engineering award by theConsumer Electronics Association.
Stardraw Wins Eddy
Explains Stardraw president Randell Green, “The HeritageTheatre software sits on top of the Stardraw platform and enablesoffline editing of any scenes and settings for the Heritage 1000console…” This software, developed by Stardraw for Midas,was one of five outstanding new products to be singled out for an Eddyaward for major technical advancement in the field of professionalaudio.
Innovations 2002
The ReplayTV 4000 digital video recorder and the Rio Advanceddigital audio center, from Sonicblue Inc., won the Innovations 2002award sponsored by the CEA and presented in conjunction withInternational CES. Innovations awards recognize the best designed andengineered products in the consumer technology area.
CONDOLENCES
Gerald Nash, gifted theater designer and champion of the digitalcinema movement, died on October 29, 2001, of cancer at his home inSanta Monica, California. Nash was involved in the success of variousprojects and in the design of pavilions for three world’s fairs, aswell as the Henry Ford Museum, the National Aquarium in Washington,D.C. and the Simon Wiesenthal Museum in Los Angeles. In the 1970s, hejoined Doug Trumbull and was instrumental in the design and developmentof the systems for what ultimately became known as Showscan. SteveFerguson, part of the Rapco family since 1990, died on October 2, 2001at the age of 48, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Ferguson was Rapco’snational sales manager and had won several Salesman of the Year awards.He was a musician, singer, comedian, songwriter and novelist. A fund tohonor Steve Ferguson, “The Rapco Cable Guy,” wasestablished with an initial gift from members of the Alliance ofIndependent Music Merchants to support the Child Life Department atCardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. Those wishing tomake donations should send a check to The Steve Ferguson Child LifeFund, SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, 1465 South GrandBoulevard, St. Louis, MO 63104.
William Stow Grommes, co-owner and founder of Grommes-PrecisionElectronics Inc., died on November 24, 2002, at the age of 89. He andhis late wife, Esther, owned and operated Grommes-Precision since itsfounding in 1946. The company continues to be run by the thirdgeneration of the family.
INDUSTRY NOTES
Limited Edition Dolby
The December DVD release of Touchstone Pictures’ Pearl Harborfeatured a special, limited-edition Dolby Headphone bonus track. Thetrack allows movie viewers to enjoy the movie’s 5.1-channel soundtrackover any pair of regular stereo headphones, using any DVD player orreceiver with a headphone jack. This was the first DVD release tofeature a Dolby Headphone soundtrack.
Emerging Company
Audiophile electronics engineer Richard Sequerra and audio“renaissance man” Mark Conese recently formed SequerraAudio Labs LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. Their mission is tomanufacture technically and aesthetically perfect professional audioequipment. Though just over a year old, the company has distributionthrough Transamerica Audio Group. Their first product is the 1070.Amicrophone preamplifer.
Illinois, Wisconsin Adopt NFPA Codes
The state of Wisconsin has adopted the most recent edition of theNFPA safety code, NFPA 1, Fire Prevention Code. The NFPA is workingwith the Wisconsin Fire Service and the Wisconsin Department ofCommerce to arrange free training sessions and complimentary copies ofNFPA 1 and NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, for state authorities.
The state of Illinois also adopted the most recent version of NFPA101, which specifies minimum building design, construction, operationand maintenance requirements to protect building occupants from fire,smoke and toxic fumes.
THX Approval for QSC
The THX division of Lucasfilm Ltd. approved two models from QSC’sISA Installed System Amplifier series, certifying the ISA 450 and 750for use in THX-certified cinema auditoriums around the world.
Sampo Signs Four Retail Partners
Sampo America signed on Fry’s, Buy.com, 800.com and Home ShoppingNetwork to carry the company’s digital display products. See sampoamericas.comfor details.
Minicom 10% Savings
Minicom’s offers a 10% savings on purchases of 10 or more KVMswitches, which can be used to connect hundreds of servers using asingle CAT5 cable.
Price Reductions at Communications Specialties
Effective January 1, 2002, Communications Specialties began a pricereduction on the Deuce MC and Deuce HD products. See commspecial.com fordetails.
Acoustics, Transportation and Strategy Founded
ATS Consulting LLC is a new company focusing on transportation andother infrastructure and development projects in the Western states.The company’s address is 725 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1580, LosAngeles, CA 90017. Check them out at atsconsultingllc.com.
Plasma Survey Says…
Potential buyers of plasma displays for home use will spend onlyabout half as much as the industry had assumed. Manufacturers would dowell to reset their pricing expectations from $100 to $45 — 60per square inch, based on the 2001 Home Entertainment Displays End UserStudy by Pacific Media Associates.
