- Shure forms Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance
As wireless technology advances and continues to populate nearly every industry, the RF spectrum is becoming increasingly crowded. To help preserve this finite resource, Shure has announced the formation of the Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance (WMSA), which it describes as “a coalition of stakeholders who are committed to ensuring access to RF spectrum for wireless microphones.” Shure says that the alliance will be made up of end users, content creators, live production service providers, equipment manufacturers and other stakeholders.
The alliance will advocate for intelligent RF spectrum access across applications in a way that will preserve wireless communication, whether on a global stage or community platform. - Walgreens in $200 million legal battle over faulty cooler smart screens
Walgreens’ attempt to modernize its coolers with futuristic digital signage displays back in 2020 has led to the chain becoming involved in a costly legal battle. Over four years ago, Walgreens entered into a contract with CoolerX (formerly Cooler Screens), a start-up that specializes in retail displays. The agreement saw the convenience store chain replace its transparent glass cooler doors with CoolerX digital screens that showcased the cooler’s contents and pricing, as well as scan and retain the shopping habits of consumers.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, with Walgreens claiming that the displays were glitchy at best and dangerous at worst, often showing incorrect information, flickering on and off, and in at least one instance, catching fire. According to a report by Bloomberg, this was enough to lead Walgreens to attempt an early termination of its 10-year contract with CoolerX. In response, CoolerX countered with a $200 million breach of contract lawsuit. Bloomberg reports that CoolerX went so far as to intentionally terminate service to 100 Walgreens locations, resulting in dead displays that completely obscure the contents of coolers. - Sony shutting down recordable media division
Following the recent news that LG would be exiting the Blu-Ray market entirely, Sony has announced it will be shutting down its recordable media division. While this will not affect the production and distribution of Blu-Ray movies, it does mean that recordable Blu-Ray discs will no longer be available from Sony. Additionally, the company’s statement clarifies that there “will be no successor,” which, coming from one of the largest names in optical media, does not bode well for physical media industry. The announcement from Sony Japan states that the company will be shutting down the manufacturing and research hub for recordable media division, which encompasses recordable Blu-Ray as well as MiniDisc.
- Eclipsa Audio coming to Google TV devices
Samsung and Google’s upcoming spatial audio format will be coming to more devices than initially revealed. When Eclipsa Audio was formally unveiled, Samsung stated that it would be supported by Samsung’s 2025 range of TVs and soundbars, in addition to Google revealing it would be supporting the format through YouTube. We now know more devices that Eclipsa Audio will be coming to, as FlatPanelsHD has stated that it met with Google and the Alliance for Open Media at this year’s CES for a in-person demo of Samsung and Google’s hopeful Dolby Atmos rival.
“Google’s Jani Huoponen and Matt Frost informed FlatpanelsHD that Eclipsa Audio will be officially supported on Google TV devices from brands like Hisense, Sony, Philips and TCL starting with Android 16, where Eclipsa Audio will get OSlevel support,” FlatpanelsHD wrote.
Additionally, Google says that while its initial focus is on supporting Eclipsa Audio on its TVs and soundbars, integration for web browsers and mobile devices will be following suit.
