Recently Filed in Home Control

If things go as planned, the home’s service bundle subscription – which can currently include phone, digital television, internet, and wireless – may get a little bigger. Home control and home security product manufacturers are in an effort to partner with telecommunication companies and MSOs to include their home automation and remote monitoring products and services into established service providers’ bundles. This so-called “Quintuple Play” will bring easy-to-use home control devices and applications into the home, enabling remote monitoring, simple lighting and HVAC control, and… View this story
Home Control • Safety and Security • Home Control • Info and Answers

You may already be receiving the “triple play” type of bundles from your cable company. Are you ready to turn a “quintuple play” though? Home automation and security systems will be booming over the next five years, according to a new study from ABI Research. Much of the boom will come from two areas—more mainstream systems based on standardized, packaged technologies; and managed automation services that will likely be offered by your broadband and telecom service providers. How much does ABI expect this category to… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Home Control • Product News

Automation has taken stargazing to a whole new level. With the help of a Crestron control system, one particular astronomy buff can zoom in on distant galaxies, star clusters and planets in just a few easy steps from the comfort of his home-based observatory. “Before we put in the system, getting the telescope into the right position was at least a 30-step process,” says project designer Dan Quigley of About Audio & Video of Franklin, NC. Now, the homeowner goes to his portable Crestron TMPC8X… View this story
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Can the consumer electronics industry really be green? Seriously, we’re gadget happy, we like bigger and better TVs and audio systems, and we love, love, love killer home theater systems with lots of high-powered, high-energy oomph. So I was curious as to what types of green electronics—if any—I would find at the recent CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) Expo in Denver. As one of my fellow airport shuttle passengers said upon hearing of my plans, “Good luck on your quest.” That made me… View this story
AV Components • Amplifiers • Multiroom Audio • Displays • LCD • Plasma • Furniture and Mounts • Home Theater Accessories • Home Control • Industry • Lighting Control • Surge Protectors • Green Technology • Info and Answers

In-wall speakers have come a long way. They look great and can sound just as good as free-standing models. Still, if you look hard enough, they are noticeable. Some speaker manufacturers believe they can do better at blending speakers into the home decor—and they have, by creating models that are completely invisible. One of the pioneers of the invisible speaker category is Sound Advance. The company’s flat-panel loudspeaker technology was acquired by Sonance a few years ago, giving Sonance an even broader lineup of speakers.… View this story
Home Control • Touchpanels and Keypads • Lighting Control • Fixtures and Switches • Lighting Control Systems • In-Wall Speakers • Home Control • Info and Answers • Slideshows

The U.S. prides itself on being the world leader on a variety of fronts, but is technology in the home one of them? Home electronic devices and products like televisions, computers, and plug-and-play home automation devices don’t know borders. Generally these goods are available to anyone, anywhere (though there can be lag-times and/or compatibility issues that delay or prevent arrival). But home technology services like high-speed broadband access, integrated services, and the infrastructure that carries them can be unique to each country and limited or… View this story
Home Control • Industry • Networking and Communication • Home Control • Info and Answers

For years, keypads have boasted rows of tactile buttons. They work nicely for most people, and while they definitely look better on the wall than a bank of toggle switches, they add little to the aesthetic of a home. With its new TouchLinx TLA250 touchpad, Netstreams offers a control device that’s as beautiful to look at as it is easy to use. “A lot of companies tend to just focus on technology,” says Kevin Reinis, Netsteams president and CEO. “We decided it was time that… View this story
Home Control • Remote Controls • Home Control • Product News

Coming from the land of horse racing, it’s no surprise that Elan Home Systems has introduced a thoroughbred of a touchpanel. The Lexington, KY-based company has added the XP-8.4 Wireless Controller to its lineup of Whole Home Touch Panels, and there’s not much that this beauty can’t do. The 8.4-inch LCD touchscreen allows for wired or wireless home control, with color graphics, web browsing, extended 802.11g Wi-Fi, longer battery life and embedded Windows XP. The deluxe docking/recharging cradle gives you Ethernet and USB ports, as… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Networking and Communication • WiFi • Home Control • Product News

Everyone’s hopping on the iPod/iPhone interface bandwagon it seems—even Lifeware, the Microsoft Media Center-based control platform from Exceptional Innovation. The company is giving a preview of its Apple iPod touch and iPhone interfaces to use with its Lifeware this week at the CEDIA Expo 2008 in Denver. Guess if we can run iTunes on Microsoft PCs, and Office on Macs, then why not do some more crossover? “Consumers have quickly embraced the iPhone because it provides them with a great experience,” Lifeware CEO Seale Moorer… View this story
AV Components • Portables • Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Home Control • Enhancements • Product News

Savant Systems is riding the Apple wave of success on its innovative home control system. The providers of the Rosie system, which hasn’t been around all that much longer than Apple’s iPhone, has created almost as much buzz in the custom electronics world because of its open programming to Apple developers. The company’s all over the iPod touch and iPhone biz this week at the CEDIA Expo—announcing an app that gives your iPod touch or iPhone native two-way command of your Rosie home control system,… View this story
AV Components • Digital Media Stores • Portables • Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Home Control • Enhancements • Product News

Gas prices aren’t the only energy costs going up, up, up. Electricity costs are on the rise as well. So what’s an electronics-loving homeowner to do? Watch the amount of electricity you’re using. Only can you? The electric meter records its usage on the outside of your home, so you’ll need an energy monitoring system to view your usage while you’re inside. Studies show that monitoring your energy use can save 10 percent or more in electricity. In other words, the more real-time info you… View this story
Home Control • Green Technology • Home Control • Info and Answers

Sure, custom electronics professionals who install big home systems will sell you a mondo, thousand-watt home theater. But even these purveyors of high-powered home entertainment systems are seeing more interest in energy savings from their customers, reports the Home Theater Specialists of America, a trade association. A survey of the HTSA membership shows that a majority are seeing an uptick in requests for systems that reduce energy consumption. “Electronics integrators have been designing systems that automate lighting, audio, video and climate control for years,” says… View this story
Climate Control • Home Control • Green Technology • Home Control • Info and Answers