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Jeff Drobny Discusses Everything Product Development | Concrete Facts

Jeff Drobny, Director of Marketing and Product Development, explains Gates & Sons unique development process for safety and usability. KEY POINTS: 1. Safety is a number one focus across many industries. 2. Gates & Sons listens to advice from end users to help improve products. 3. There is a rigorous quality control system in…

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Jeff Drobny, Director of Marketing and Product Development, explains Gates & Sons unique development process for safety and usability.

KEY POINTS:

1. Safety is a number one focus across many industries.

2. Gates & Sons listens to advice from end users to help improve products.

3. There is a rigorous quality control system in place.

Concrete, Gates & Sons, product development, R&D, improvements

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Software updates are now a buying event at IBC2026

Software updates are now a buying event at IBC2026

At IBC2026 in Amsterdam (Sept. 11–14), Clear-Com and TSL are selling a similar operational message from different angles: the next hard problems are control, monitoring, and safe change in IP workflows. Clear-Com’s Eclipse HX EHX v15 adds ARC (Access Resource Configuration) features that enable access to intercom ports and resources without adding hardware, and expands capacity and resource management, according to Sports Video Group. AVNation reports TSL is emphasizing “reduced complexity” for control and monitoring across IP workflows, pushing teams to treat qualification, rollback planning, change windows, and licensing and support terms as first-class spec items.

  • 01Clear-Com is attaching new intercom access and resource controls to Eclipse HX via EHX v15 and ARC, so refresh planning shifts from “replace frames” to qualify releases, plan rollbacks and schedule change windows, according to Sports Video Group.
  • 02For distributed productions, FreeSpeak Cell leans on LTE and 5G rather than venue cabling, shifting runbooks toward coverage assumptions, service management and fallbacks when cellular performance drops, according to Sports Video Group.
  • 03AVNation reports TSL is pushing “reduced complexity” for control and monitoring across IP workflows, a sign that configuration, visibility and alarm routing are becoming day-to-day requirements, not optional add-ons.

Sep 8, 2026

AV integrators are buying scale because meeting rooms now run like software

AV integrators are buying scale because meeting rooms now run like software

Forté’s acquisition of Vega Global, adding more than 750 employees across 17 APAC countries, is a prominent 2026 sign of consolidation in enterprise AV, according to AV Magazine. At InfoComm 2026, Cisco, Crestron and HP showed room platforms centered on ongoing management, with Cisco and NVIDIA introducing RoomOS 26 AI agents that run on in-room hardware and HP tying Poly Lens to its Workforce Experience Platform, as reported by AVIXA and HP. Separately, Cisco’s Webex AI roadmap adds “agentic” automation and governance that reaches beyond room systems into the contact center and workforce management, according to No Jitter. As a result, standards, telemetry, security and service-level performance are taking a larger role in how contracts are evaluated, influencing both vendor choice and integrator consolidation.

  • 01When services are 38% of channel revenue and hardware is 36%, the integrator RFP stops being about the bill of materials and starts being about uptime, monitoring and lifecycle outcomes, per AV Magazine citing AVIXA channel research.
  • 02“Edge AI in the room” shifts how outages and performance issues play out: RoomOS 26 adds on-device agents and features such as Audio Zones that can lessen reliance on cloud connectivity, but it also increases requirements for endpoint compute, device governance and disciplined update processes, according to AVIXA and rAVe [PUBS].
  • 03Consolidation is becoming a procurement feature: Forté’s move from a federation model to owned operations signals multinationals want one throat to choke for standards, security and service outcomes across regions, per AV Magazine.

Sep 1, 2026

Sony’s BRAVIA Pro displays run VITEC Avedia IPTV with no external media player

Sony’s BRAVIA Pro displays run VITEC Avedia IPTV with no external media player

Sony Electronics and VITEC announced a global integration that lets Sony BRAVIA professional displays run VITEC’s Avedia IPTV and digital signage software natively, eliminating external media players, according to PR Newswire and AV Magazine. Management runs through VITEC’s CMS, and the companies say it can scale to thousands of displays across corporate, hospitality, healthcare, venues, and public facilities, per PR Newswire and invidis. For enterprise IT and facilities teams, the practical shift is a new procurement and governance model: treat “display plus software” as one Android-based endpoint, then manage it like an IT fleet with fewer devices to install but stricter expectations around app lifecycle, security requirements, and vendor roadmaps. The announcement also lands alongside Sony’s previously reported Bravia Inc. joint venture with TCL, which invidis says will move operational control in April 2027, a reminder that longer-running display deployments should track who sets the roadmap over the life of the fleet.

  • 01Player-less IPTV changes the bill of materials: endpoints shift from “screen + player + mounts + power” to a single managed display, which can compress install labor and reduce failure points.
  • 02The phrase “thousands of displays” (PR Newswire) is the right scale test: if the CMS and network design cannot handle a four-digit endpoint count, this architecture won’t match the promise.
  • 03Sony’s display governance is expected to change in 2027 under the TCL-led Bravia Inc. venture (invidis). For deployments that will still be operating then, teams should address it now as part of contract terms.

Sep 1, 2026

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