Sound Tube and Original Syndicate added new hires. D-Tools, Somfy, and Miri Technologies made product enhancements. Sony, Panasonic Projector & Display, and Martin Professional announced new partnerships. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
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Original Syndicate Expands Leadership and Specialist Team
Original Syndicate (OGS) has strengthened its leadership and specialist capabilities with the appointment of three new team members. Joining the company are Tyler Baum as business development manager, Michael Hernandez as head of production and Bryan "Bee" Washington as technical operations center operator. They join Monica Vandehei, senior technical producer, and Cassidy Pearsall, senior technical producer, as part of a broader expansion that reflects OGS's continued investment in technical expertise, production excellence and client support as the business enters its next phase of growth.
Baum is focusing on developing strategic partnerships and helping organizations navigate increasingly complex communications technology projects. Drawing on extensive experience across LED volume environments, virtual production and business development, he will work with organizations to identify technology solutions that align with their operational and creative objectives. Hernandez brings extensive experience in creative production, virtual production, and large-scale immersive projects. Having worked across live touring, XR Studios, and the launch of Sphere, he oversees the production systems that support the successful delivery of OGS projects, ensuring teams, workflows, and project execution remain aligned from concept through completion. Lastly, with more than a decade of broadcast engineering experience supporting global sporting events, major streaming platforms and international broadcasts, Washington plays a key role in monitoring, maintaining, and optimizing technical systems for clients.
SoundTube Expands Customer Design Resources
SoundTube Entertainment welcomed Nelson Lugo as design engineer, further expanding SoundTube's ability to support integrators, consultants, and end users with expert audio system design, product selection, and project support. In his role, Nelson works directly with customers to develop audio system designs, recommend solutions tailored to project requirements, and provide engineering support throughout the design and specification process. His addition reinforces SoundTube's commitment to helping customers deploy high-performance audio systems with confidence while expanding the resources available through the company's Design Services program.
Nelson brings nearly two decades of experience spanning professional audio, technical support, manufacturing, AV integration, and customer-facing engineering roles. Over the past 18 years, he has developed extensive expertise designing, supporting, and implementing professional audio systems from concept through deployment.
Partnerships
Martin Professional Announces Strategic Partnership with the Iconic Royal Albert Hall
Martin Professional has announced a strategic partnership with London’s Royal Albert Hall, creating a closer collaboration between manufacturer and venue that will help shape future lighting technology development. The partnership creates a direct feedback loop between real-world applications and product design, providing Martin with insight from one of the world’s most demanding venues while supporting the Royal Albert Hall’s continued investment in advanced lighting systems across a diverse global program.
The Royal Albert Hall maintains a substantial Martin Professional inventory, comprising MAC Ultra Performance, ELP PAR, MAC Aura XIP, MAC Encore Performance CLD, and MAC Viper Wash DX fixtures in the main auditorium. MAC Ones, ERA 400 Performance CLD, and ELP CL Profiles can be found in a smaller performance space in the building.
Neutrik Group Americas Expands Distribution Reach for NEUTRIK and REAN Brands
Neutrik Group Americas introduced a new channel partnership with DigiKey, an electronic components distributors. This collaboration will expand DigiKey’s customer access to the complete portfolio of NEUTRIK and REAN connectivity solutions across the Americas as well as the global markets.
Through this new reseller relationship, DigiKey will offer both NEUTRIK and REAN brand products, making these solutions more accessible to engineers, integrators, manufacturers, OEMs, and technical buyers who rely on DigiKey’s extensive distribution platform and streamlined purchasing experience.
Panasonic Projector & Display Americas and Illumibot Launch World's First AI-Powered Mobile Projection Fleet
Panasonic Projector & Display Americas launched IllumiBeastin partnership with Illumibot. As part of the fleet of co-branded, AI-powered, projection-enabled Cybertrucks, Panasonic Projector & Display Americas will sponsor the first six IllumiBeasts that bring professional-grade projection mapping directly to brands, venues, events, and audiences anywhere in the United States.
Projection mapping has grown in popularity as organizations look to enhance audience engagement. Historically, projection mapping has been reserved for large-scale productions with significant budgets, specialized technical crews, and fixed venues.
Illumibot aims to transform this landscape with the world's first AI Personalized Projection platform. Designed so users can leverage a smartphone camera and natural language prompts to detect surfaces, generate visuals, and map projections in seconds, the technology helps reduce the need for complex mapping software.
The IllumiBeast powers projection mapping on wheels. Smaller scale projects that couldn’t otherwise benefit from projection mapping due to space, budget, and staffing restrictions receive a comprehensive system that’s fully self-contained, AI-ready, and designed to be operational within minutes, directly to their door.
Each vehicle arrives fully equipped with MEVIX laser projection technology, including the PT-MZ20K, a 20,000-lumen 3LCD WUXGA laser projector that’s ready to deliver large-format, high-impact projection experiences on demand. As the solution’s projection sponsor, MEVIX equips each IllumiBeast with professional-grade projection technology, enabling a mobile projection mapping solution that any brand, event organizer, or venue can access without a production team or a permanent installation.
Sony Electronics, CatchLight Collaborate to Expand Visual Reporting Capacity in Local Newsrooms
CatchLight, the organization investing in the power of images to inform and connect, announced a new strategic equipment initiative with Sony that will put professional camera and video tools directly in the hands of local visual journalists. High-quality visual journalism depends on reliable equipment that can capture clear images, video, and audio in the unpredictable conditions local journalists face every day. With Sony and other collaborators, CatchLight is expanding access to the tools and support local newsrooms need to strengthen their visual capacity and tell deeper, more nuanced stories.
Through the initiative, Sony will provide 24 professional Alpha camera and video kits to select CatchLight Local member newsrooms, including 16 CatchLight Local Fellows and Report for America Corps Members. Each kit includes professional equipment, including full-frame cameras, telephoto zoom lenses, digital shotgun microphones, and external flash with wireless radio control. In addition to equipment kits, Sony will also provide access to Sony Pro Support memberships, technical support representatives, and online training sessions that can be accessed through CatchLight’s learning library.
Products
AIMS Announces Second IPMX Product Testing and Certification Event
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), will host the second IPMX Product Testing and Certification Event. Scheduled for Aug. 24–28 at the EBU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the week-long gathering is open to AIMS and VSF member companies and will expand the growing IPMX-certified product ecosystem while introducing formal certification of new capabilities developed as part of the IPMX roadmap.
The Geneva certification event follows a "dirty hands" interoperability session scheduled for July 20–24 at the Matrox Video facility in Montreal, Canada. That members-only session will give AIMS participants hands-on testing of new IPMX developments ahead of the formal certification event, continuing the model of pre-certification interoperability work that has proven effective throughout the IPMX program.
The August event will introduce certification for capabilities that have been in active development prior to the launch of the full realized standard in 2026. These include Host Key Exchange Protocol (HKEP) and HDCP handling for protected content, and the Privacy Encryption Protocol (PEP) security layer, which enables interoperable content encryption across multi-vendor deployments. HEVC and AVC compression profiles, which have seen strong industry interest in enabling efficient transport across existing infrastructure, are also progressing toward certification.
Audio-Technica Introduces 20 Series USB Microphone Control Application
Audio-Technica unveiled its new 20 Series Control Application, a Stream Deck plug-in designed to provide streamlined control of compatible Audio-Technica USB microphones directly from Elgato Stream Deck devices. Developed for streamers, content creators, podcasters, gamers and audio production professionals, the application delivers fast access to essential microphone functions through customizable Stream Deck keys, dials and foot pedals.
Compatible with the Audio-Technica AT2020USB-X, Audio-Technica AT2020USB-XP and Audio-Technica AT2040USB microphones, the 20 Series Control Application allows users to mute and unmute microphones instantly, adjust microphone input levels, and, for AT2020USB-XP users, control Automatic Gain Control (AGC) and Noise Reduction (NR) functions directly from the Stream Deck interface.
D-Tools Cloud Release #100 Delivers 66 New Capabilities in Platform History
The new D-Tools Cloud Release #100 delivers 66 improvements, more new capabilities than any release since the platform’s 2018 debut, spanning payments, sales reporting, inventory, and project drawings. Many of the improvements came directly from customer requests, and together they make D-Tools Cloud faster, clearer, and more complete at every stage of the integration business lifecycle.
Some of the new capabilities are Accelerated ACH Deposits, a new next-day funding option in D-Tools Payments; a new QuickBooks Online and Xero filter that shows at a glance which invoices have been pushed to accounting, and which still need to be linked, across Purchase Orders, Change Orders, and Billing, reducing the risk of duplicate or untracked entries; a new Product Tracking Mode lives on the product itself and can be switched individually or in bulk, with a change-guard dialog that protects data integrity by blocking any mode switch while a product has assets or quantities allocated, checked out, or reserved, and explaining why; and the enhanced Interconnect Diagrams module, launched last fall, with more branded, flexible, and production-ready for client-facing documentation.
The Sales Results module receives the largest set of upgrades: a new default “Total” revenue view that combines project, service contract, subscription, and service call revenue without double-counting; new date-range presets; a cleaned-up Lost Opportunities gadget; and a new drill-down Details view exposing the underlying opportunities, service calls, and change orders behind any number. Sales Forecast receives parallel improvements, including clearer labels, an improved 12-month projection window, corrected tooltips, and subscriptions now folded into forecast totals.
Miri Introduces New Platform for NetConnect+ Plans
Miri Technologies is rolling out a new online portal that provides customers and resellers with self-serve management tools and usage analytics for the company's NetConnect+ global mobile data plans. The intuitive Miri Data Platform lets users manage the full lifecycle of NetConnect+ SIM cards and plans themselves, from provisioning new SIMs to usage reporting and billing.
The Miri Data Platform dashboard provides users with full autonomy to control and monitor usage of their purchased NetConnect+ SIM cards. It enables self-activation of new NetConnect+ SIMs while offering at-a-glance views of active SIMs and their associated devices, along with high-level usage information.
Somfy Releases a New Verified Plugin for Q-SYS
Somfy has a new Q-SYS Verified Plugin supporting PoE (Power over Ethernet) shading solutions. As a contributor to the Q-SYS Ecosystem, Somfy collaborated with Q-SYS to create a market-ready control solution that integrates seamless control of Somfy’s intelligent motors into the Q-SYS Full Stack AV Platform.
The Somfy Sonesse PoE Motors Plug-in enables integrators to configure, monitor, and control PoE-powered shading systems directly within Q-SYS Designer Software. By leveraging network-based power and communication, the plugin helps simplify system architecture while supporting reliable and consistent performance.
The solution also allows integrators to align shading control with AV and environmental systems within a unified platform, improving usability, and delivering a more cohesive experience across commercial environments. This plugin complements Somfy’s existing Q-SYS Verified Plugin for Somfy Connect UAI Plus and SDN motors, providing additional flexibility when designing IP-based shading systems alongside AV, lighting, and environmental controls.
Audinate, SMPTE
Audinate Introduces All-New Spanish Language Dante Training Program
Audinate's new Dante Certification program is now available in Spanish. Designed for today's rapidly evolving AV landscape, this essential update equips professionals with the networking and AVoIP expertise the industry demands, while offering up to 19.75 AVIXA Renewal Units and up to 10.75 CEDIA CEUs.
The updated curriculum reflects the latest developments across the Dante platform. Participants will gain deeper insight into foundational networking concepts such as IP addressing, VLANs, QoS, multicast, and IGMP, as well as Dante-specific topics including network design, Dante Controller, AES67/ST2110 interoperability, Dante Domain Manager, Dante Director, advanced troubleshooting, and more. Courses are offered free of charge for all three levels, and certifications remain valid for three years.
SMPTE Builds IP Skills for the AV and Media Technology Workforce
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is expanding access to practical, industry-focused education that prepares today's AV and technology workforce for increasingly connected production environments. Building on its open-access Standards Library, SMPTE's education offerings help professionals progress from foundational knowledge to real-world IP media implementation. The journey begins with the free, self-paced Essentials of Media over IP (EMIP) course and continues with the instructor-led Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 virtual course, beginning July 21.
Developed in collaboration with EVS, the free Essentials of Media over IP (EMIP) course introduces the fundamentals of IP networking for media. Participants can then continue with Understanding SMPTE ST 2110, where live instruction, demonstrations, and interactive discussions explore the standards, technologies, and workflows used to deploy interoperable IP-based production environments.
Graduates of Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 are eligible to participate in the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive hands-on experience developed in collaboration with Lawo. Completion of Understanding SMPTE ST 2110 is required before participating in the Practical Lab, where participants configure, synchronize, test, and troubleshoot interoperable IP media systems using technologies from leading industry partners including Lawo, Arista Networks, Meinberg, Bridge Technologies, Matrox Video, AJA Video Systems, Macnica, Leader Electronics, NVIDIA, Embrionix, and others.
The course is led by Willem Vermost (EBU), Wim Van Roy (Lawo), Gerard Phillips (Arista Networks), Chris Lapp (Cisco), and Leigh Whitcomb (Meinberg). Guest lecturers include Felix Poulin (Radio-Canada), Andreas Hildebrand (Lawo), Olivier Ettlin (Simplexity), Pedro Ferreira (Bisect), Stefan Ledergerber (Simplexity), and François Legrand (Radio-Canada).
