Audinate Unveils Refreshed Company and Dante Brand Identity

Audinate Group Limited announced a refreshed brand identity for both Audinate and Dante, including a new logo, tagline, and color palette. The developer of the industry-leading audio networking technology, Audinate insists that its technology will be also a professional "AV-industry" (meaning audio and video) AV-over-IP solution. The new brand identity is supposed to "capture the essence of Audinate and the Dante platform."

Responding to the Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids, HearUSA announced that it will offer Sony’s new over-the-counter hearing aids. The first two models – the Sony CRE-C10 and Sony CRE-E10 – will be available for clients to purchase early next year in all HearUSA centers and online. These solutions result from Sony's joint development with WS Audiology Denmark with the aim of supplying products and services in the OTC self-fitting hearing aid space.

Following the recently issued rule establishing Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aids by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sony Corporation and WS Audiology Denmark A/S have entered into a partnership agreement and various ancillary agreements with the aim of jointly developing and supplying new products and services in the OTC self-fitting hearing aid market, beginning with the United States. US consumers will be the first to be able to buy Sony-branded hearing assistive products.

McIntosh Group announced a change in brand name of its US Distributor, Sumiko Audio, to Fine Sounds Americas. The name change is a rebranding effort designed to mirror the growth and transformation of the company, providing clarity for customers and partners to better express the company’s family of products and initiatives. Fine Sounds Americas is responsible for the distribution of premium audio brands including Bassocontinuo, Pro-Ject, Sonus faber, Rotel Electronics and Sumiko Phono Cartridges throughout North, Central and South America.

The measurement-focused business group established by Battery Ventures, and comprised of Audio Precision, GRAS Sound & Vibration, and imc Test & Measurement, announced its new name and brand: Axiometrix Solutions. Supporting a global customer base in the test and measurement space, Axiometrix Solutions intends to span the most technology-intensive industries including electronics, aerospace, automotive and audiology.

Post-CES 2020 Impressions. "CES is over but we’re just getting started!" That’s the optimistic vision propagated by many companies who just attended the gigantic Las Vegas event and they leave without really knowing if it was a success or not. Because this is no longer the old days when audio companies would leave CES with their order books filled. Currently, all you have are “contacts” and “great meetings” and little else to backup the promises of future business. And that’s the most important game after all at a show like CES. That and the media hallo effect that new product presentations might have caused.

A recent IHS Markit survey finds that premium audio from recognized brands remains an important consideration when acquiring a new vehicle. Branded audio system volumes in new vehicles are expected to grow from just under 12.4 million units globally in 2018 to 14.7 million units in 2023, according to new vehicle production forecasts for these systems from the business information provider research.

The level of interest in adding a premium audio system as an option at vehicle purchase increased from 2017 to 2018 in both the US and Western Europe. In the new 2018 Premium Audio Report from the Strategy Analytics’ In-Vehicle UX (IVX) team, consumers in the US, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK were surveyed in respect to their interest and willingness to pay for an in-vehicle premium audio system. Bose was the preferred brand, while Sony gets the most recognition among consumers.