Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2021 i Residential Tech Today

URC Lighting is a fresh start for a company that has been in the lighting control category for more than a decade. They have completely overhauled its home and commercial lighting solutions around the Z-Wave protocol in an effort to better serve its dealers and their clients going forward. “URC has been in the lighting business for 13 years. We’ve had a bunch of different lines,” said Joe Spinelli, URC director of product development. “But we really took a look at developing a lighting platform for the future that can enhance the installer’s life and the end user’s life. We based our new lighting line on feedback from our dealers and end users and what they have required over the years.” Simple and Scalable The goal of URC Lighting is…

For the past 17 years, the M1 Controls line has served as an enhanced, robust, high-end platform at the core of ELK Products’ security system offerings. Soon, ELK Products will unveil a new platform and security system – two years in the making – that offers a combination of modern convenience and capabilities along with traditional privacy and reliability. At the heart of this IP-based platform, which the company has dubbed Alarm Engine, is the hybrid wireless/wired E27 security system. While most of the security industry has been focused on 100% wireless security platforms where the entire brains of the system are contained behind a small on-wall touchscreen, ELK Products decided to take a more hybrid approach. The IP based Alarm Engine platform features the more typical hidden control panel…

Whether you’re an expert or a beginner in the world of audio, Monitor Audio is a brand that encourages you to set the bar high, and then help you to reach it. They have an abundance of technical knowledge and are big on the nerdy little details that make great sound possible. For this hi-fi audio brand, however, phenomenal audio is more than the sum of its parts. It’s about the finest metals and craftsmanship, as well as the warmth – the flesh and blood of the listener and the connection. That’s why, Monitor Audio’s mission is to make audio human. Leading up to its 50-year anniversary, Monitor Audio has introduced the 7th generation of its award-winning and critically acclaimed Silver Series, which embodies the company’s decades of audio expertise.…

The taxonomy of baseline necessities that have come to define a modern home in the United States has changed markedly over the years. Over the past 20 years, broadband access within the home has become, arguably, the de facto “must-have” in a standalone domicile or even an apartment in a multi-unit dwelling – as essential as running water, electricity, and indoor plumbing. Fueling this unquenchable thirst for increasingly faster broadband speeds in the typical household is an unmistakable change in the home networking space. Parks Associates has been examining this subject for years via consumer surveys that it conducts annually, and the results are telling. Here’s a quick overview of what the research firm has uncovered regarding the foundational demand for home networking products, services issues consumers experience with their…

SEPTEMBER 1-3 CEDIA Expo 2021 Indianapolis, IN 22-24 Azione Unlimited 2021 Fall Conference Nashville, TN OCTOBER 12-14 HTSA 2021 Fall Conference Dallas, TX 29-31 AXPONA Schaumburg, IL 23-29 InfoComm 2021 Orlando, FL JANUARY 2022 5-8 International CES Las Vegas, NV Future Issues: Jan/Feb 2022: The Evolution of Video Technology. Picture quality of TVs and projectors have never looked better or been more affordable. What’s the next step for video technology, how do you plan for it, and what do you need to know to prepare for the future? • Home Office Tech • Home Theater Speakers Mar/Apr 2022: Outdoor Entertainment. The global pandemic generated more interest in enhancing home entertainment system both inside and outside the home. Now, more than ever, the quality of outdoor speaker, TVs, lighting, and Wi-Fi…

Like so many entrepreneurial endeavors, Juke Audio was born out of a need to solve a technical challenge. Back in 2015, father and son company founders Brad and Colton Forth had moved into a new house with distributed audio ceiling speakers and in-wall speakers, but nothing to power them. They explored available amplifier options that would be easy to install and could connect to wireless streaming music sources from a mobile phone or tablet. “We didn’t really see anything that fit the bill,” Colton Forth said. “So, my father, who had been an electrical engineer before moving into finance later in his career, designed what would eventually become a prototype for Juke. Initially, it was only used to power the speakers in our own house.” As time went by and…

Smartlabs, in a partnership with Nokia, has launched a suite of IoT-powered lighting and electrical control products that are designed to make smart lighting straightforward to buy, easy to install, and intuitive to-use. Versatile and featuring universal compatibility, Nokia Smart Lighting brings consumers and builders a solution with high-end style, precision engineering, and wide-ranging capabilities at a more affordable price point than high-end systems. Nokia Smart Lighting product pricing ranges from $39.99 to $59.99 per device. Screw-less matching wall plates are available in 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-gang versions. “One of our focus areas in brand licensing is smart home connected devices, and we are excited to bring the first Nokia Smart Lighting products to market with Smartlabs, a technology leader in smart lighting control,” said Vipul Mehrotra, vice president,…

COVID-19 sent us all into our homes for months on end. Families threw their normal routines out the window and didn’t necessarily hold themselves or others accountable due to stress and operating in survival mode. The pandemic appeared to be an amplifier. Whatever was bad got really bad and, in some cases, what was good became amazing. In the case of kids and technology, the jury might still be deliberating, but my house saw a huge uptick in gaming, screen usage, and overall time spent online by everyone in the family. Clients at my custom installation company, Livewire, reported the same results, feeling guilty about restricting kids on screens, especially when it came to interpersonal communication. If they couldn’t get together in person, parents were hard pressed to lay down…

It’s called Vegas Modern 001, and it’s so much more than just another smart home experience center. The partnership between residential tech manufacturer Savant, design-led development firm, Blue Heron, and technology integrator Eagle Sentry, the 15,000 square foot model home is designed with the latest technological advances, all hidden in plain sight. Savant’s new west coast residential experience center in the greater Las Vegas area showcases an advanced smart living ecosystem combined with modern architecture and views of the Las Vegas Strip. Dynamic Tunable Lighting Visitors to Vegas Modern 001 will experience Savant’s smart lighting system paired with the latest in tunable LED lighting and specification-grade fixtures from USAI Lighting. Together, Savant and USAI Lighting create custom-tuned illumination for every scenario utilizing Savant’s Daylight Mode to perfectly synchronize lighting color…

The pandemic had a massive impact on how people teach. Remote learning became a norm overnight, with educators around the globe leveraging audiovisual technology to reach their students. Both CEDIA and many of its members rose to the occasion, offering new online courses, virtual conferences, webinars, podcasts, and video series. The pandemic didn’t change how people learn, however. Though learning style varies by individual, cognitive science leads us to understand two broad truths: 1. Variety is critical to helping people absorb new skills and information. Offering opportunities to try different modes of instruction, styles of interaction and practice, and learning sources yields better results. 2. People learn better in a richer environment, with more stimulus and opportunities to interact. People aren’t getting webinar fatigue because webinars are bad, but because…

The Crestron DM NAX distributed Audio-over-IP (AoIP) amplifier enable users to toggle between TV audio, streaming music, podcasts, alarms, doorbells, and paging and intercom usage to any speaker in the house. “DM NAX takes whole-home audio to a new level by removing the scale and functionality constraints that used to bog down usability,” stated John Clancy, executive vice president, residential, at Crestron. “DM NAX is a solution that is easy for dealers to configure and provides effortless audio distribution that a homeowner can operate from their phone, touchscreen, remote, or tablet.” Compact Form Factor Dealers who have worked with Crestron’s DM NVX products will find familiarity in DM NAX. It will integrate simply with legacy Crestron systems and offers flexibility within its compact form factor, allowing for audio from any…

The Definitive Technology Studio 3D Mini soundbar and 8-inch wireless subwoofer were recently sent my way to check out. The sleek new system sports Dolby Atmos, AirPlay 2, and a host of other shiny features all for under $900. Would it sound any good? I was about to find out. The Definitive Technology Studio Mini 3D comes packed in a well-designed box befitting the brand. Definitive is a higher end product line and they seem intent on preserving that equity with their forays into the sound bar space, crowded with cheap gear and crappy sound. The box opens to reveal a template for wall mounting and a quick start guide. There’s also a card sporting a QR code prompting the user to scan for a tutorial. I did so and…

Imagine yelling to a friend from across a noisy concert hall. It’s unlikely that he or she will be able to hear you. Now grab a megaphone and try again. You’ll have much better luck communicating when all of your verbal energy is focused in one direction versus a whole crowd. Add movement into the mix and it becomes even more difficult. This analogy applies to the Wi-Fi reception in a home. With so many mobile devices constantly competing for bandwidth, it’s a tough environment for Wi-Fi signals to communicate with clarity. The end result: smartphones, tablets, computers, streaming media players, and other smart home products struggle to connect simultaneously, impacting their overall performance and your Wi-Fi experience. Focused Wi-Fi Energy Leads to Better and Further Signal Reception Wireless access…

The Definitive Technology Descend Series subwoofers consist of four high-performance models featuring new design architecture called 3XR, which employs dual passive radiators coupled to an active drive unit to triple the bass-producing radiating area. The 3XR Architecture generates deeper bass and higher output levels due to the unique design of the two radiators, which are the same size as the woofer. And because this proprietary design does not rely on conventional bass ports, Descend Series subwoofers do not produce any chuffing or distortion that plagues ported models. Klipsch’s new lineup of four new soundbars range in size from 54 to 40 inches to match a range of TV sizes. The new Klipsch Cinema Sound Bars – the Cinema 1200, 800, 600, and 400 – are crafted from wood and utilize…