Home Entertainment & Automation Services in Matthews, NC.
Home Entertainment & Automation Services in Matthews, NC.
Home audio and Video Services in Matthews, NC.  TV installation, Surround Sound, Home Entertainment Systems
Philips Pronto is ‘Not Dead at All,’ Distributor Says

Custom Installation Services - Charlotte's Source For Home Electronics!Sources say Pro Philips Pronto will re-emerge within 60 days, with “the same name, new owners,” and controllers announced at CEDIA will ship on time.

The buzz in Europe is that Philips Pronto is well on its way to a new life with “the same name, new owners,” sources tell CE Pro in confidence.

The news comes more than a week after Philips announced it would close its remote-control and home automation division, rather than sell the assets.

Philips had claimed that “no suitable partner was found for the acquisition of these [Pronto] activities,” even though major U.S. vendors told CE Pro that Philips never approached them about a potential acquisition.

It appears, however, that a partner has indeed been found.

CE Pro has obtained a letter, dated 2 November, from a major Philips Pronto distributor in Europe, telling dealers (translated), “As you can see, the future of Pronto is already on its way with new players. For you, for us, no worries, nothing changes.”

The distributor claims that the new Pronto Edit Pro 3 (PEP3) programming platform is still scheduled to ship this month, and that the Philips TSW9500 in-wall touchscreen will be delivered in December, as originally planned.

Furthermore, a new central controller (the Pronto CRX?) is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2011, according to the distributor.

Reached today via email, another European source familiar with the Pronto business tells CE Pro, “There is a deal in process” and Philips will make an official announcement within 60 days. “Dealers and end users will not see the transition to new ownership.”

The comments affirm what CE Pro learned last week from a U.S. manufacturer that had inquired about purchasing some Pronto assets from Philips. The manufacturer shared with CE Pro some correspondence that indicated Philips was pursuing other partnership opportunities.

Meanwhile, a CE Pro reader in Europe tells us, “I did contact Pronto. None of the employees have been dismissed as of today.”
So Why the Announcement of Pronto’s Closure?

Why did Philips announce in the first place that it was closing its Belgium-based Pronto business and that it could not find a buyer, even though U.S. manufacturers told us Philips never even approached them?

We have heard that Belgian and/or EU regulations prohibited Philips from selling its assets to a company that would send manufacturing overseas. We know for sure that Philips had attempted to move its manufacturing to Asia, but was unable to do so.

Our distributor source in Europe points to the “Renault law” — named after the sudden announcement of the closure of the Renault plant in Vilvoorde in 1997 — which requires that companies with more than 50 employees make a public announcement prior to business closure or impending layoffs, allowing time for employees to respond.

According to the International Labor Organization:

Further to the Renault case (related to the sudden announcement of the closure of the Renault plant in Vilvoorde in 1997), some changes to the procedure for collective dismissals were introduced by the promotion of Employment Act of 13 February 1998 clarifying the obligation of employers to consult with workers’ representatives and creating an obligation on employers to analyse and formally respond to any proposals from workers’ representatives. In addition, sanctions for non-compliance are strengthened to include the reimbursement of any subsidies paid by the federal Government to the employer to create jobs.

So Philips dealers and distributors are optimistic that the Pronto will rise again.

Meanwhile, competitors are banking on the uncertainty. For its part, URC is offering training for Philips Pronto dealers, helping them to convert them to URC’s CCP programming platform. Training begins this week.

UPDATE

Philips posted this notice to Pronto dealers today, indicating that PEP3 programming software will be released this month, and the new TSW9500 in-wall touchscreen will be distributed on a “best-effort basis.” In the U.S., call center support services will be offered at least through 2011.
Dear Pronto Dealer,

This letter is intended to clarify the consequences of Philips’ decision to close our Pronto business unit in relation to support, warranty, product and software availability.

Although Philips will stop selling Pronto products, we will continue to offer product service and support for the Pronto products. The intent of Philips is to make sure all warranty and service obligations will be honored by Philips.

For the United States, Philips will continue to offer call center support services (888-773-7384) until at least the duration of 2011, and the Pronto repair center will remain operational throughout that time.
Outside the USA, all warranty obligations will continue to be honored by the present Pronto distributors. Philips will ensure that a sufficient stock of spare parts will remain available to service product repairs.

Regarding products and software, all current Pronto products are still available for purchase by Pronto distributors throughout the month of November. Dealers are advised to order any additional products from their distributor immediately to secure their required product quantities.

The recently announced ProntoEdit Professional3 (PEP3) will be released as scheduled this month. The TSW9500 product will be distributed on a best-effort basis, depending on the received orders and availability of components and resources to manufacture the unit. It is also Philips’ intent to put forth a best effort to make firmware for all TSU and RFX devices available to be fully compatible with PEP3.

We hope to have informed you sufficiently and would like to thank you for the loyalty you have shown to the Philips Pronto products.

Sincerely,

The ProntoTeam

By Julie Jacobson

http://www.cepro.com/article/philips_pronto_is_not_dead_at_all_distributor_says/?utm_source=CEPWeekly&utm_medium=email

Custom Installation Services, LLC – We specialize in fixing the $99 TV install by our “competitors”!

Posted in Automation, Home Theater, i-Pad, lighting control, Media Rooms, News, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment


TV Recycling: What to Do?

C.I.S. Will Recycle Your Old TV - We Are Helping To Keep Charlotte Greener!

When you purchase a new HDTV from C.I.S., we will take your old TV for recycling!

Big box retailers don’t help much, but there are plenty of other options.

Still have an old CRT TV you want to get rid of and replace with a shiny new HDTV?

You should definitely look to recycle your old TV, but where? A report on HDguru.com lists the lack of in-store recycling options by big-box retailers such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, and the like. Walmart has partnered with Samsung for recycling Samsung products, and Sam’s Club has a trade-in program through EcoNew.

According to HD Guru, Best Buy charges $10 fee for each in-store TV (or monitor) dropped off at a Best Buy location and will offset that by giving you a $10 Best Buy gift card in exchange. (Does anything actually cost $10 or under at Best Buy?)

Yes, there is a dearth of recycling options at the big stores. But there are plenty of other recycling options, which we have detailed in previous posts:

Check the Electronics Takeback Coalition’s Guide to Recycling Your Electronics. There’s also a chart comparing what can be recycled in each state, and a summary of state programs and pending legislation.

Find listings of local e-waste collection sites at E-Cycling Central and manufacturer programs and other options at the Consumer Electronics Association’s Digital Tips site.

Sony has a free take-back program in conjunction with Waste Management, at locations throughout the country. MRM (Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company), a joint venture between Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp, offers 640 locations for recycling. Last year Mitsubishi joined the program, and MRM says most of its drop-off sites accept all types and brands of consumer electronics for recycling.

Look for hazardous waste collection days in your community. Many cities and towns sponsor these for their residents to dispose of electronics, appliances and household chemicals, through a recycling company.

You can also ensure a TV or other device will be recycled or reused when you purchase it, through TechForward’s buy-back program that locks in a value for your product upon its purchase and depending on how long you keep it. The product is then resold, reused or recycled responsibly.

Also, make sure any recycler or e-cycler recycles responsibly. Many electronics recyclers ship the products to developing countries, where they are often disassembled dangerously, exposing children and low-wage workers to toxic metals such as chromium, cadmium and mercury. In some of the world’s poorest communities, the plastics in electronics are burned in pits, causing medical and environmental hazards.

Some e-cyclers have take a pledge from the Basel Action Network (BAN) to recycle responsibly and not ship old electronics overseas. BAN now has an e-Stewards certification program for electronics recyclers to ensure that discarded electronics containing toxic materials aren’t being shipped overseas and disassembled. You can see a map of responsible recyclers meeting the requirements.

by Steven Castle

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/tv_recycling_what_to_do/

Custom Installation Services, LLC – ”We may be a few dollars more than the competition, but we are a million times better”.

Posted in 3D TV, Flat Panel TV's, Home Theater, LED, recycling, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment


Channel D Pure Music Bolsters iTunes’ Performance

Serving Boone, Mooresville, Charlotte, Davidson, Blowing Rock, Statesville

C.I.S. - We Are Here To Answer Your Home Technology Questions!

Computer audio enthusiasts that want additional performance from their computer-based systems can run Channel D’s new Pure Music software on top of Apple’s iTunes to play back music files at their native resolutions.

Channel D, a developer of audio software solutions for Apple Macintosh computers, which includes its Pure Vinyl transcription, archiving and record editing software, recently introduced a new high-resolution digital audio playback software program for Apple iTunes.

According to the company, Pure Music is based on its Pure Vinyl audio playback engine and it automatically docks with Apple’s free iTunes digital jukebox software to handle music playback with a high-resolution playback engine. Channel D says that when iTunes and Pure Music are run together, iTunes will act as the database and playlist organizer, while its software leverages the user’s familiarity of iTunes functions such as track selection, music library navigation, and more. Channel D adds that when these programs are combined with a high-resolution sound card or DAC, Pure Music will deliver a dynamic and detailed audio playback.

Robert Robinson, director of engineering for Channel D, notes that one of the major advantages of the new software release is that it will playback audio files at their natural resolution without downgrading the bitrate and sampling frequency of those files. 

“Pure Music offers many benefits over iTunes alone. Foremost, iTunes plays all audio tracks at the sample rate detected when launched. If this were 44.1kHz [CD quality], then all high resolution audio tracks [up to 192kHz/24-bit, which can be purchased and downloaded on the Internet] would be downsampled and played in a CD format, diminishing playback quality.  On the other hand, Pure Music will automatically play high-resolution audio tracks at their native sample rate [if supported by the connected sound card or DAC]. This capability was previously only available in costly ($995) audio playback software, but now is available with Pure Music for just $129.”

Channel D continues by stating Pure Music offers more than native file type resolution playback by also offering features such as Memory Play, real-time high resolution upsampling of CD tracks, a 64-bit internal signal path, dithered volume control, subwoofer crossover, multichannel support, audio processing plug-ins, CoreAudio Hog Mode playback, high resolution audio streaming, precision signal metering, reverse play, and it works with all iTunes-supported audio formats, including but not limited to Apple Lossless, AIFF, Wave, AAC and MP3.

by Robert Archer

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/channel_d_pure_music_bolsters_itunes_performance/

Custom Installation Services, LLC – Charlotte and Boone NC’s Source For Technology Answers!

Posted in Audio Systems, i-Pad, Multi Room A/V, Music and Movies, technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment


Custom Installation Services, LLC | P.O. Box 132 Matthews, NC 28106 | 704-400-8701 | dmiller@cis-nc.com
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