In most outdoor entertainment spaces, rain showers bring the party inside, but in this exterior A/V paradise, which was recently earned the Electronic House Home of the Year award for Best Outdoor Space, the family can enjoy music and movies no matter the weather. Should Mother Nature throw a monkey wrench into their plans, they […]
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Samsung Galaxy Home Smart Speaker Unveiled; Powered by Harman
If you have been looking for a new kind of smart speaker to carry out your voice commands, Samsung has recently entered the ring. Its newly unveiled Galaxy Home, is a Bixby-supported smart speaker voice control product powered by Harman AKG technology, and features a unique design. The Galaxy Home sports a totally different look […]
A Smart Home Lifestyle for All Generations
Photo credit: Elan Home Systems In luxury condo communities where high rents often afford fantastic views, superb locations and high-end accoutrements, residents expect the amenities and community areas to be easy-to-use and up-to-date. Scottsdale Waterfront Residences in Scottsdale, Ariz., recognized this need and recently upgraded its common areas with the latest Elan smart home system […]
New Soundbar from Yamaha Loaded with Features
Soundbars are a simple-looking device. They hang from your flat-panel TV, blending in and delivering audio from the display. But there’s a lot that this skinny speaker can do than perform as your TV’s audio sidekick. Yamaha proves this with the introduction of its MusicCast BAR 400 sound bar. Retailing for $499.95, this soundbar do […]
Home Theater Masterpiece
Photography by Brad Montgomery If there’s one room where customers can let their imagination run wild, it’s in a home theater. The owner of this award-winning home theater let his personality and heritage reflect in the design by incorporating decorative pieces made of steel. Owner of a steel factory, he put his creativity to work […]
Noon Home Disrupts Lighting with ‘Floating’ Switch, Bulb-Detection Technology
Inside the Noon Home dimming base unit, an algorithm can identify the low-level current wave form of the lighting flowing through the switch. That could be an LED, halogen or incandescent bulb in a magnetic low-voltage (MLV) fixture, electronic low-voltage (ELV) fixture, chandelier, recessed light, sconce… anything. Aiming to disrupt the lighting control market, Noon […]
New Samsung SmartThings WiFi System Melds Home Automation with Mesh Wi-Fi
The new SmartThings Wifi from Samsung is a wireless mesh networking system with a full-fledged SmartThings home-automation hub built in. So while it controls smart-home devices via ZigBee, Z-Wave, IP and Bluetooth, it also extends Wi-Fi signals around the house with Plume AI technology. Plume, which sells its own Wi-Fi mesh networking products called Pods […]
Ready to Cut the Cable TV Cord? Check Out These New Streaming Services from Microsoft, Vizio and Roku
If you’ve been waiting for a good time to cut the cord, the timing couldn’t be better. Microsoft Movies & TV and Vizio have partnered with online streaming services to offer thousands of movies and programs to consumers, some of which are free of charge. Roku, meanwhile, has launched The Roku Channel for free streaming […]
The Ultimate Smart Home: When Beauty and Brains Unite
photos by Jenny Terrell In the world of smart homes, there’s often a disconnect that happens between a home’s design and its technology. Sometimes, the technology can overpower the architecture in a smart home, and then there are times when a home’s design dictates the performance of the electronics gear. A pleasing middle ground where […]
Microsoft Xbox One X First Device to Support HDMI 2.1
Credit: Images provided by Microsoft The home systems industry has been waiting … and waiting … and waiting for a device to support the new HDMI 2.1 specification. The wait is finally over. The new $499 Microsoft Xbox One X gaming console has taken the pole position. For consumers the new HDMI spec promises higher […]
