Among the disruption brought about by the coronavirus (aka Covid-19), the sports calendar is currently all but empty, as matches and leagues are either postponed or outright cancelled. However Futuresource points at a possible replacement-- esports.

Traditional sports teams are already familiar with esports, as clubs ranging from the top European football leagues to the NBA already field teams for digital tournaments and even retain players on salary. The sports currently leading in esports are football, basketball and sim-racing. The digital versions of such sports, the analyst says, make an ideal transition for traditional fans, given the inherently familiar spectator viewing positions.

As the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) affects over 100000 people across 80 countries, Futuresource predicts poor results for the global CE industry in Q1 2020, with supply chain chain disruptions leading to difficulties in product delivery.

The analyst says the problem may extend into Q2 2010, but pent-up demand might somewhat, if not wholly, compensate for the difficulties experienced in H1 2020. Thus, consumption patterns should see a shift in seasonality as opposed to an overall yearly decline. However, Futuresource says the CE market will see a full year revenue decline of -2-5% in 2020. In the long term CE makers should look into diversifying supply chains, as the coronavirus highlights the risks associated with over-reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

It is the end of an era-- 14 February 2020, Valetine's Day, was the final day of ISE at the RAI Amsterdam, a 15-year stay brought to an end with a special ¡Hola Barcelona! event bringing together politicians, executives and attendees in a salute to the RAI and the city of Amsterdam.

ISE 2020 was somewhat subdued compared to previous years. After all, it was held against a backdrop of an international health crisis with the coronavirus (aka Covid-19), not to mention the impact of Storm Ciara on air travel across Europe. According to the organisers, unique ISE 2020 attendees total a respectable 52128, yet down from 81268 in 2019. The cumulative total visits (including repeat visits by individuals on subsequent days) totals 116599-- a much better result than other trade shows like Mobile World Congress which had to cancel/postpone their event.

Entries are open for the 2020 CEDIA Best New Products Awards and Product Hall of Fame programs. The honours, open to CEDIA member manufacturing companies and trade suppliers, include hardware and software categories.

The Best New Products Awards recognise hardware and software technology offering exceptional innovation and installation value for the industry, enhancing the lifestyle of homeowners. New product entries need to have been released and fully shipped between 3 September 2019 and 30 September 2020. Meanwhile entries for the CEDIA Product Hall of Fame need exhibit significant, positive impact industry and bring value to CEDIA members. Products must have entered the market a minimum of 7 years ago.

Owners of older Sonos products might need to start looking into potential upgrades, as Sonos announces it will no longer push software updates for a number of "legacy" products starting from May 2020.

Sonos has already ended support for a couple of older devices, such as the Sonos Dock and CR100. As for products to not receive updates in the near future, the company lists the original Zone Players, the Connect and Connect:Amp, the first generation Play:5 and the Bridge. Of course, customers will ask why Sonos will no longer support these products, and the company simply says these old products are "stretched to their technical limits" in terms of memory and processing power.

Bose starts 2020 with the closing down of all retail operations in Europe, N. America, Japan and Australia. The reason? You might have guessed this correctly since it is, as the company puts it, "the dramatic shift to online shopping."

"Originally, our retail stores gave people a way to experience, test, and talk to us about multi-component, CD and DVD-based home entertainment systems," a statement from the company continues. "At the time, it was a radical idea, but we focused on what our customers needed, and where they needed it-- and we're doing the same thing now."