The second annual 2008 EMEA+InAVation Awards were announced at ISE in a Gala Dinner just before the show opened.
Lead by InAVate magazine and supported by significant media (including us), the industry voted for those vendors and installers) most deserving to be recognized.

• Audio Product for Residential Use (Non-Loudspeaker)
  Escient Fireball FP-1
  
  
• Video Signal Processing or Distribution Product for Residential Use
  Kramer Electronics VS-42 HDMI
  
  
• Loudspeaker Product for Residential Use
  Genelec AOW312
  
  
  
  
• Display Product for Residential Use
  Mitsubishi HC6000
  
  
• Control Product for Residential Use
  Stardraw Control 2007
  
  
• AV Accessory (Commercial & Residential)
  NTI Minirator MP Pro
  
  
• Residential Project (Small – Medium)
  Dark Side of the Room – Marmonier - France
  i.life solutions –  Bristol Cinema - UK
  IAV (India) Pvt Ltd - Prakash Residence - India
  
  Winner: Smart Business - Alberto Aguilera - Spain
  
  
  
  
• Residential Project (Large)
  AVI Pro – Grand Cinema – Spain
  Design Logistics – Hertfordshire – UK
  DSE Digital – Heathfield – UK
  Global Technology & Control Solutions – Quinta Verde – Portugal
  Marmann Bau GmbH – Niedrigenergihaus – Germany
  
  Winner: SmartCom – Villa Oasis – France
  
  

Computer graphics board maker NVidia buys the dedicated Physics Processing Unit (PPU) maker.

The industry leader in gaming physics technology, AGEIA's PhysX® software is widely adopted with more than 140 PhysX-based games shipping or in development on Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, and gaming PCs. AGEIA physics software has more than 10,000 registered and active users of the PhysX SDK.

Go NVidia Buys A PPU

Record numbers of attendees, the euphoric show-floor atmosphere and the sold out exhibit space distinguished this year’s Integrated Systems Europe 2008.

A total of 22,199 attendees (up from 16,269 in 2007) were drawn to 481 exhibiting companies (up from 363 last year). Many noted the significance of the custom home install market in Amsterdam..

Collaborative conferencing, lighting control, and home automation technologies are all expected to be drivers for expansion in 2009, say the organizers.

Sister publication RAVE EUROPE did their bit to make ISE an even more exciting event by demonstrating a virtual studio with live streaming, direct from the show floor.

There was no glass booth, no hermetically sealed environment. They were in an island stand, open on three sides with a rock band playing behind (one aisle away), a very large wall-mounted LED flashing onto the stand from the front, and a constant flow of passers-by (who became the audience).
Interviewees sat in front of a green sheet and used technology from Darim Technology to do live interviews on the show floor.

Want to see how they did? Listen to Wendy Griffiths, Director of CEDIA Region 1(that’s us in EMEA), distributor BMB Electronics, Waterfall Audio, display specialist PSCo, …and even more.

Go Virtual Studio

The war has ended: Toshiba says it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD. Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told reporters in Tokyo, "We concluded that a swift decision would be best."

This makes Blu-ray (backed by Sony & Panasonic and five major Hollywood movie studios) the winner in the battle over high-def.

Nishida cites the decision by Warner Bros. to release movie discs only in the Blu-ray as the pivotal battle. WalMart’s decision to go exclusively with BluRay and Netflix (the US rental king) also piled on the layers of inevitability.

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray deliver high-definition and many think the conservative Toshiba mainly lost to the Blu-Ray camp because of superior marketing (which includes alliances).

Toshiba says shipments of HD DVD to retailers will stop by end of March. But every war has victims: an estimated 1 million people already bought HD DVD machines and videos. Toshiba will continue to provide product support for the technology but these consumers now own phased-out technology.

While these consumers will need to re-invest in their high def future, pulling out will improve Toshiba's profitability between $370-$460 million a year.

The HD DVD camp included Microsoft, Intel Corp and NEC Corp. So you could also conclude the consumer electronics boys outmaneuvered the IT guys that in this war.

Read The Surrender Document