I echo Rob Goodale's comment that the self-tuning system will be no
threat to the tuning trade.  From all I have read, it is certain that
pianos so equipped will still need maintenance of some sort.  Any that
I might be asked to attend to will somehow have to be sandwiched into
my already overfull clientele including two universities, dozens of
church contracts and countless individuals.

I certainly have no question that heating the strings will adjust the
pitch, because I have battled that factor in attempting to tune grand
pianos with morning sun rising over my shoulder and once in a concert
hall with high-intensity spotlights turned on.  In those cases, the
heat was un-tuning the piano while I worked!

One factor I have not seen commented on so far is the degree to which
new strings will stretch in the first two or three years.  I have seen
many cases in which a new piano will drop a half tone in pitch if left
untuned for two years, even if tuned up to pitch at the point of
delivery.

No piano manufacturer can afford to store a piano for two years to
get the initial stretch stabilized.  Since the self-tuning system does
not raise the pitch but lowers it by heating the strings, I would
assume that the factory tuning would have to be higher than the A=440
Hz standard.  If they intend to make the piano stay at A=440 Hz in the
long term, without a tuner's attention, the factory tuning would have
to be considerably in excess of A=440, which in my estimation raises
the question of exceeding the elastic limit of the wire (damage leading
to eventual string breakage).

At any rate, I will be very interested to see or service a self-tuning
piano should any fall within my purview.

Bill Maxim - Maxim Piano Service
Columbia, SC