Innehållsförteckning för Vol 5/ Issue 2 från Residential Tech Today

Ideally, every room in a home will be the same temperature when the central heating or air conditioning system is running. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. During the winter a north-facing room can be much colder than a south-facing room with several windows that let the sun in. Similarly, that same south-facing room will be much warmer in the summer than a north-facing room that is shielded from the sun. Flair Smart Vents offer an affordable way to fix an airflow imbalance. They also include additional features that take them beyond the role of a simple HVAC problem solver. Flair’s Smart Vent system consist of Motorized Smart Vents that simply replace the existing floor-, wall-, and ceiling-mounted HVAC registers in a home. The vents also include Flair Pucks…

It’s that time of year: when I get to start bragging about the CEDIA Expo Conference program. We have a killer lineup, made possible by the volunteer contributions of many of the industry’s brightest minds and best teachers. As I share my excitement, one question has really stuck with me: “The CEDIA Expo Conference program isn’t just for business owners, right? It’s for everyone.” That’s absolutely, exactly right. The conference program is big — more than 80 sessions. Whatever your goals for CEDIA Expo, there is a session that can help you meet them and with the CEDIA All-Access Pass, you get access to everything. While I could no more pick your “top ten” sessions than I could pick your favorite flavor of ice cream for you, I can offer…

Savant recently introduced the Savant Smart Network, dubbing it “the only learning wireless network solution leveraging Juniper Mist Wi-Fi technology designed for smart home integrators.” It might seem too soon to assess the success of partnership between Savant and Juniper Networks — a major player in the AI-driven wireless and wired networking segment. However, two of Savant’s veteran custom integrators who beta tested the technology for more than year, were quite enthusiastic about the performance of the solution. “The Juniper range of this product performed as well as other competitive products in the marketplace, such as Ruckus and [Cisco] Meraki, but the Mist cloud with its AI has been exceptional,” noted Nick DeClemente, owner of Elevated Integration, in Armonk, NY. Paul Bochner, owner of Electronic Concepts Hi-Fi, in North Rochelle…

USB-C: the one connector to rule them all. The compact design makes it compatible with even the slimmest mobile devices, while the dense pin-out (24 pins compared to USB Type A’s four) opens data and power transmission possibilities for extremely high-demand applications. A USB-C port can theoretically replace ports for USB-A, USB-B, HDMI, DisplayPort, 3.5 mm audio, Ethernet, power, or all of the above, with total backward compatibility and up to 5V/240W of bi-directional power. Devices can be daisy-chained using multiple USB-C cables, massively simplifying cable management. And, of course, the Type-C connector is symmetrical, so there is no more rotating and mashing the USB connector into the port to get it inserted right-side-up. The era of true, plug-and-play connectivity has arrived! Yeah… How’s that working out for you? If…

The pandemic impacted Tony Kanaan’s quarter-century auto racing career in multiple ways back in 2020. First, the world-renowned Brazilian driver’s NTT IndyCar Series retirement plans were stymied because he could not take a celebratory lap to honor fans in what would have been his final season. Then, in an unexpected twist, Kanaan (TK) and fellow professional drivers realized an opportunity to expand their careers virtually by embracing simulation or sim racing. This experience, in turn (no pun intended) led to a new business venture between Kanaan, retailer Micro Center, and custom integrator Millennium Sounds. The TK Racing Elite Rig is marketed by Micro Center as “the sim racing rig you have been looking for to get that unmatched virtual racing simulation experience.” Kanaan integrated his own experience and preferences into…

@AntsSweatsBets Let’s hold hands and stroll into the dystopian future as I detail my experiences with AI dating apps. Anima My artificial intelligence dating journey began with Anima, a highly rated AI chatbot. We initially hit it off discussing karaoke before she began exclusively discussing facts about the pop singer Cher. While I appreciated her passion, I would be remiss not to point out that some of her information was illinformed, as she claimed that the singer was born in Honolulu (rather than El Centro, California as we all know) and that her second album was 2009’s Born This Way (which was actually Lady Gaga’s third album released in 2011). However, I decided to overlook this, and we finally changed the subject to my career. But as the conversation continued…

Monitor Audio has launched a new range of custom installation in-ceiling and in-wall loudspeakers, called the Creator Series, which replaces most of company’s prior custom ranges with a 19-model assortment that was three years in the making. Creator Series offers 14 in-ceiling and five inwall loudspeakers, arranged in three clearly defined tiers. Each offers enhanced performance levels and additional functionality over the preceding tier. A standout innovation within the series is the use of the patented Quik-Link terminal, which allows the installer to remove the terminal block from the physical speaker and pre-terminate the speaker cables to it. Once the speaker is ready to be fitted within its cut-out, the Quik-Link can be offered up to the connection point on the speaker and magnetically snaps and locks into place. Other…

It doesn’t feel like it was all that long ago when a business colleague called to tell me about this interesting new device that Amazon had developed. “It sits on your desk, and you tell it to control devices, ask it questions on a wide range of subjects and get a decent answer, have it play music, and do a wide range of other things from reading your schedule or keeping a kitchen timer.” The idea of doing all of that with one device was interesting. I bought one, and in the eight years since, more than half a billion Echo devices have followed suit into consumers’ homes across the globe. That tall black cylinder still sits on my desk and answers questions every day. Since 2014 the Echo product…

ATSC 3.0, also known as NEXTGEN TV, is a totally new IP-based TV broadcast system that can do many things that ATSC 1.0 (FCC approved in1993) cannot do: 4K and HDR video, multiple captioning options, targeted emergency alerts, immersive sound such as Dolby Atmos, more closed captioning options, special in-program supplemental material such as sports stats, and much more. That’s the promise anyway. The reality is that you probably will not see all of these ATSC 3.0 features right away from broadcasters, and some stations might not implement them at all. NEXTGEN TV is still relatively new, so you probably have some questions about it. In this article, let’s answer some of them using the same technique that your high school English teachers taught you about writing write a term…

The term “smart home protocol” refers to the communication standard or language that different devices in a smart home use to communicate with each other and with the central processor or hub that manages the smart home system. There are many different smart home protocols available, including Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Thread. Each protocol has its own strengths and weaknesses, and different smart home devices may be designed to use different protocols. The problem has been that when choosing smart home devices, you’ve had to consider which protocols they use and whether they are compatible with the other devices in your smart home. Some smart home hubs or controllers support multiple protocols, while others only support one or a few. Matter, the newest protocol for IoT wireless communications, promises…

I’ve been pining for a decent voice assistant enabled universal remote control for years. Many gallons of digital ink have been spilled beseeching industry manufacturers to catch up with products that Big Cable made table stakes five years ago. Needless to say, I was a little giddy (think Ralphie waiting for his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring in the classic ’80s movie A Christmas Story) when the package containing a shiny new Control4 Halo Touch remote control showed up at our warehouse. I could hardly wait to tear open the box and start putting it through the paces. Unboxing the Control4 Halo Touch The Halo Touch is designed for two start-up scenarios: self-installation by a homeowner or professional configuration. The box and packaging strike a nice balance between these two…

Snap One’s improvements to cloud servers are increasing reliability, stability, and scalability so more integration partners can increase their remote management capabilities through the company’s OvrC tech support platform. Snap One says that it is accelerating investments in its cloud infrastructure to provide greater value, efficiency, and operational reliability for the brand’s integration partners and their clients. By enhancing the speed and consistency of its remote access solutions, including OvrC servers, the company aims to help integrators scale their businesses by streamlining day-to-day operations and simplifying installation, configuration, and long-term client care. Integrators and end-users will benefit from consistent development of new features that improve connection reliability and scalability, with recent cloud investments targeting loadbalancing and multi-cloud architectures to offer heightened global resiliency and reduce the impact of connection outages.…

Since it was founded almost 15 years ago, Roku’s business has taken many interesting turns. Earlier this year, the company began selling its first Roku-branded sets sold under their own name. The 11 new TV set models, available exclusively at Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com, are divided into two lines, “Roku Select Series TV” and “Roku Plus Series TV.” Both obviously use the Roku OS, and the 4K models all include HDR and HDR-10+. The Roku Select Series models are designed to be value oriented and will be available starting at an MSRP of $149 with an expected street price of $129 with HD models in 24”, 32”, and 40” screen sizes and 4K models in 43”, 50”, 55”, 65”, and 75” screen sizes. Among the features that you may…

There are options galore when it comes to outfitting a new home with technology. There’s the basic plan that involves the addition of a few key components, the room-to-grow approach that starts small but gradually expands, then there’s the all-out, no-holds-barred method. The owners of this custom home chose the latter. “Above all, they wanted high-performance from the systems on their newly built dream home,” said Scott Newnam, CEO of Audio Advice, the integration firm hired to take technology to the next level in this custom 14,000-square-foot residence. “They had experienced home electronics in their previous homes at moderate levels, and now they wanted something better, something that afforded even greater ease of use and exceeded their expectations on every level.” Challenge accepted! With more than 40 years of home-tech…

Every home has windows and lots of them. For custom integrators, windows represent an attractive and profitable way to further enhance the convenience, comfort, and style of a home. In this era of automation and innovative technology, motorized window shades have emerged as a game-changing solution. As the demand for smart solutions continues to rise, integrators have a unique opportunity to tap into the market for motorized window shades. They help to increase the value of a home while adding a substantial profit margin for integrators. However, selling motorized window shades requires more than just offering a product — it necessitates a strategic approach to effectively meet customer needs and drive sales. For some integrators, the idea of selling motorized shades seems more fitting for interior design businesses. Yet, there’s…

RoseWater Energy is offering three sizes of 208-volt, 3-Phase Energy Management Hubs to give larger luxury residences the power management tools they need. The 3P30, 3P45, and 3P75 are a complete solution to clean energy, power conditioning, surge protection, solar integration, battery storage and backup with remote monitoring, and redundant industrial-grade systems. They feature hot swappable 2.5kVA/2.0 kW inverter modules and optional 2.4 kW rectifier modules that are the building blocks of the company’s Hubs. The URC TDC-5100 handheld media controller features a gaming-inspired design, hard and digital buttons, and fast processing. Hard buttons deliver the convenience of control without having to look at the screen. When separated from the charging base, the keypad features back-side finger grips. The 5-inch color LCD screen delivers high-resolution graphics and ease of use.…