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Home control is all about simplicity. You press a button and a million things happen. If you can’t find that button, though, it’s pointless to even have a system in your house. That’s why it’s so important to make sure the interface (i.e. remote control, touchpanel or keypad) you use to command the lights, thermostats, A/V gear and other devices is well designed by your custom electronics professional. It’s a difficult endeavor, both for manufacturers who build the interfaces and for the pros who design… View this story
Home Control • Touchpanels and Keypads • Remote Controls • Home Control • Info and Answers

It never fails. As soon as I’m in bed, I remember all the things I should have done before I hit the sack. Things like checking the back door to make sure it’s locked, turning down the heat downstairs and shutting off the outdoor floodlights. It’s too bad I don’t have some sort of control device on my nightstand. That way, I could just lean over, press a few buttons and take care of whatever needs taken care of. Unfortunately, I’m like the cobbler’s wife.… View this story
Remote Controls • Touchpanels and Keypads • Telephones • Product News

If you’re interested in monitoring your home’s energy use, there have been two basic options: expensive systems starting at $5,000 that can give you detailed breakdowns of your gas, electric and water use—or inexpensive systems that can give you the basics of your total electric usage. There hasn’t been much in between. So what if you could get some pretty fancy energy monitoring and some basic home control on top of it for free … from your electric utility? That’s what home control manufacturer Control4… View this story
Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Green Technology • Info and Answers

At CEDIA Expo 2009, Control4 is showing OS 2.0, which allows custom electronics professionals to design their own GUIs, at least to some extent. “There’s more flexibility and personalization around the GUI,” says Control4 president Glen Mella. “We’ve always been the guys with one default screen. Now, if you want just TV and music in a room, then you can do that level of customization.” During a sneak preview before CEDIA, John Yoon, director of marketing demonstrated a “global” thermostat view, in which users could… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Product News

Tops on Russ and Vivian Fessel’s electronic wish list was a system that could deliver music and video to every room of the house, wouldn’t require any special training to operate and would fit into their budget of $60,000. “We wanted to be able to pick up one remote and operate any of the 12 TVs in our house. Their custom electronics professional, Derek Cowburn of DistinctAV of McCordsville, Ind., chose two identical T2C RTI color handheld remotes—one for Russ and one for Vivian—for the… View this story
Remote Controls • Touchpanels and Keypads • Info and Answers

It’s easy to get swept away when planning for a home automation system. The systems are so robust they can do just about anything. However, it’s important to keep a level head when designing a system for your house. Your custom electronics professional (CE pro) will be there to guide you, of course, but it never hurts to know what to watch out for yourself. Here are some tips. Overdoing it. “Designing a grand home control system can be a very intoxicating experience, and something… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Info and Answers

Projector technology has shown it can be squished into smaller footprints these days, hence the increasingly popular “pico” projector. Touchscreens have grown to where some are the size of mini TVs—17-inchers—with similar functionality. How about bridging the gap and marrying the two types of products? That’s what British-based company Light Blue Optics (LBO) is working on, and plans to help introduce to the market, probably in products from other companies next year—with LBO serving as the OEM. The company recently raised $15 million in funding… View this story
Video Projectors • Touchpanels and Keypads • Product News

Careful attention was paid to integrating A/V into this kitchen remodel, as both homeowners were passionate about cooking, and used this space for a main gathering and social area. So custom electronics pro Sensory Environment Design cooked up some nifty solutions to keep A/V out of the way while delivering impact and everyday conveniences. “The original design had located the TV in the corner above the desk area on an articulating mount,” says SED’s Shane Seira. “After some on-site analysis and meetings with both the… View this story
Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Kitchen • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

Q. Is there a system with a touchscreen wireless remote that will let me control EVERYTHING in my home? Lights, music, heat, security, video….. Thanks! - Todd/Seattle A. Actually there are many but I have to ask ... do you want to control them all with one system or have multiple systems? I will infer that you really want it all under one hood. A do-it-yourself guy has very limited options. Most of which consist of multiple systems loosely tied together via X10 devices and… View this story
Home Control • Touchpanels and Keypads • Remote Controls • Home Control • Ask a Pro

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. It’s an old cliche, but it still holds true today, especially if you’re thinking of having an automation system installed into your home. Automation systems, by nature, are able to perform some pretty amazing (and unusual) feats. They can regulate the temperature of fish tanks and hot tubs, snap on the lights when you step through the door and open the window shades precisely at 9 a.m. It’s this kind of magic that makes automation… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Home Control • Enhancements • Info and Answers • Optimize

Savant Systems—the same company that created the funky candy-dish remote control, the flying-icon on-screen display (OSD) and the automation industry’s first iPhone interface—now has another potential game-changing product: its new intuitive “virtual control” user interface (UI). Making a touchpanel’s user interface intuitive is one of the keys to satisfying a homeowner with a whole-house control system. With that in mind, Savant debuted a new intuitive “virtual control” interface that allows users to touch or swipe an actual photo of their home as the touchpad skin… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Product News

Tired of turning on your bathroom faucet and arduously adjusting the temperature every single morning? iHouse provides a solution in the form of SmartFaucet, which includes a facial screening application to recognize the user and automatically turn on the water to his or her desired temperature and flow. Finally! The SmartFaucet also features a touchscreen, allowing users to access e-mail, peruse a calendar and check the outside temperature among other things, according to Bornrich.org. When a user steps to the faucet the facial recognition technology… View this story
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