11/06/2009 by David Slade.

For all couch potatoes everywhere, you can now watch ad get some fresh air and get a tan for free. Get your self a outdoor weatherproof LCD.

This product has also many commercial possibles. But that’s a separate topic in itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NosyWGPreuE

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11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Audio, video, lighting and more can enhance your home’s exterior almost as much as its interior.

As much as your spectacular home theatre might make you want to stay inside all day watching movie trilogy marathons or baseball from noon until midnight, it’s okay to venture outdoors once in awhile. If you install some entertainment components in your backyard, by the swimming pool, or on your patio, you’ll be spending more time out there, doing a lot more than just cutting the grass. You know that great multiroom audio system that allows you to pull a song from any source to any room inside your house? Your professional electronics installer can route it outdoors, too. It’s one of a variety of ways to spruce up the space for everyone’s enjoyment.

Awesome Audio
Because a distributed audio system involves delivering music (or audio from the television) to separate zones in your house—theater, kitchen, master bedroom, master bathroom, children’s rooms, family room and more—adding your yard or patio would be like assigning any other room or zone to the setup. If the kids want to listen to Justin Timberlake while they’re playing in the pool, but you and the other parents would rather have some 70’s rock with your grill burgers, you could separate your outdoor space into multiple zones.

Where’s the music coming from? Your electronics don’t have to go outside with you, fortunately. Trenched wiring can guide the signal from the multiroom audio system housed in the basement equipment closet to your outdoor loudspeakers and volume or source controls. The same AM/FM or satellite radio tuner, CD player or digitally stored content you blast in the family room can be accessed in an outdoor zone through a handheld touchpanel or maybe a waterproof remote control.

With such a wide range of music available, you’ll want good speakers so the tunes don’t sound distant or muffled as they did when you used to just put the boom box on the patio. Outdoor speakers come in many fashions, including some with chameleon-like camouflaging prowess. Weather-hardy rock speakers are available in several shapes and colours to blend in with your landscaping, and planter models can give a lift to your daily gardening. Other low-profile speakers can easily hide in the shrubbery, and some sub woofers can even be installed underground to really shake up the yard. Find out if the speakers that interest you are waterproof or weatherproof—resistant not only to precipitation, but to extreme temperature ranges, dust and more. If you’d rather keep the speaker covered, many models can be mounted under the eaves and other protected areas of your home’s exterior. These can usually be painted or finished to match the scheme of your residence, cabana or outdoor living room. Additionally, rather than cranking up one or two speakers, you can pepper them throughout your yard for smoother and more seamless audio that doesn’t strain from being overextended. Just make sure most of the speakers, and definitely those located on the perimeter, are pointed toward your home. That will help boost the overall sound and, hopefully, decrease the chances of a neighbour calling the police or the local council representative to have your party shut down.

Picture This
Video displays are becoming more common in outdoor installations, with more manufacturers producing all-weather televisions or screens. If it’s an outdoor bar or living room area that’s well protected from the elements and shaded from the sun, you can opt for one of the usual suspects and mount a plasma, LCD or even a boxy CRT television and slip a dust cover over it when it’s not being used. If solar glare or other weather conditions factor into your video placement, weatherproof LCDs will handle climate extremes and the images are not as susceptible to being washed out by the sun. There are even small wireless TVs that can be brought outside if you’re seeking a portable solution.

Projection-screen set-ups provide phenomenal video experiences in your controlled indoor theatre environment, but what about outside? Some projectors are lightweight, portable and even incorporate a DVD player, making it easy for you to throw an image onto the side of the house during an outdoor party. In a more permanent outdoor living room with a sturdy covering, you can have a projector installed in a protective enclosure. Just beware: Projectors are certainly not weatherproof, so take great precautions if you want to go this route. Motorized drop-down screens, glass screens and inflatable screens can be used in a projection set-up, but you’ll have to wait until sunset to start the movie, because light will drown out the image.

professional installer can add an outdoor display into a video distribution solution, so you can flip through choices from the cable or satellite TV receivers and DVRs stored inside the house, as well as pull content from your media server or DVD player. If your outdoor living room or patio has ample protection and space for its own equipment cabinet, video components can also be stored locally, making it convenient for when your buddy stops at Blockbuster on his way to the house for poker night.

Greater Control
An outdoor installation might be fun for the audio and video aspects, but it’s an absolute playground for fans of whole-home control. If there’s something in your outdoor space that can be electronically controlled, it has the potential to be tied into your robust home automation system. A popular choice in this realm is lighting. Decorative landscape lighting, pathway and driveway lighting, cabana lighting and more can be configured and commanded through entryway keypads and wireless touchpanels. You won’t just be controlling the amount of light flooding your yard, either, but coordinating it with events. An installer can program certain lights to turn on and off at certain times, whether it’s daily or in conjunction with an astronomical clock. Tied into your security system, exterior lighting can be triggered by motion sensors to greet you as you arrive home from work or to deter potential burglars.

With programmable scenes on your control touchpanel, lighting can work in concert with audio for an evening party. Pressing a welcome scene button might play some classical or jazz music and light a pathway for guests to travel from the front door to the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails table by the pool. An entertain button might raise the volume of the music, select a rock n’ roll playlist, dim the pathway lights, and activate some colour-changing LED lights as the party gets going.

The outdoor party doesn’t stop there, though. Your swimming pool and spa equipment might be automated, from cleaning filters, heating hot tubs, turning on underwater lights, and pulling back or putting on covers. Irrigation can be monitored and controlled, whether it’s an automatic sprinkler system or decorative water fountain. In the winter months, your driveway heating system might be conveniently triggered through your automation setup. Whatever the season or occasion, electronic enhancements can make your outdoor space a prime destination.

Posted in Outdoor Spaces, Home Automation | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

According to a study from the Consumer Electronics Association, 82 percent of multiroom audio video (MRAV) system owners would recommend their system to others.

A survey in the trends in Multi-room Audio Video Usage found that 85 percent of homeowners who have a MRAV system would want to install a system if they bought a new home.

Fifty-five percent of MRAV system owners use their system daily with entertainment the most common usage, according to the study.

Here are the main reasons for owning a MRAV system:

• Enhancing the home entertainment experience (63 percent)
• Listening enjoyment (61 percent)
• Entertaining family and friends (48 percent)

“The MRAV market has blossomed as consumers demand access to content anytime and anywhere,”

“As the desire for multiroom solutions continues to grow, manufacturers must focus on a variety of solutions, including aftermarket products, to address the vast market of existing home owners who demand multi-room audio.”

It was found that Sixty-three percent of MRAV systems were installed after the home was originally built.

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11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Protege8 and Protege15 touchscreens from Borg Displays offer custom Windows XP embedded or Linux builds for your automation and A/V systems.

It’s great to have software that can run the electronic devices in a home, but the big-sell to consumers is usually the device used to transmit commands to those devices.

Many home control manufacturers design their own styles of handheld remotes, keypads and touchscreens to do the job, but there are some that focus solely on software and contract with other companies to develop the interface.

Borg Displays is such a company. It has developed two new touchscreens, the Protege8 and the Protege15 for in-wall touch access to control applications from not only home control companies but DVRs, energy management solutions and web-based devices.

The touchscreens offer the flexibility of Windows XPe or a custom

XPe or Linux-based builds. Plus, Borg says they’re energy-savers, consuming a small fraction of the energy of a PC and built to comply with RoHS standards.

Together, the touchscreens offer manufacturers and consumers one more choice when it comes to user interfaces. A qualified custom electronics professional designer, can help you choose the best type for your family.

Posted in RoHS, Touchscreen | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

You’ve probably stumbled across the term “two-way communications” when researching universal remote controls, home automation systems, even light dimmers.

What does that mean, and how does it compare to “one-way?”

In home-control speak, two-way refers to feedback.

A two-way remote control, for example, may not only operate the thermostats remotely it would also be able to display (in real time) the thermostat’s settings.

A one-way remote, on the other hand, could control the thermostats, but if you adjust the thermostat from the unit itself, it won’t be reflected on the remote’s display.

Two-way communications becomes especially important in a whole-house control system. You might want to know what the lights are doing in every room of the house. You might want to know what tunes are playing in each zone.

With one-way, you could do ALL OFF or ALL ON or dim the rooms to preset levels. But did the lights really respond to the commands? You may never know.

The biggie with two-way is metadata, most commonly associated with music playlists, artists, cover art, etc.

With one-way solutions, you may very well be able to view and browse through these attributes, but you won’t get the real-time “what’s playing” info delivered to your touchscreen, keypad or handheld remote.”

What it Takes to be Two-Way
For two-way communications to happen, obviously the controlling device (say, a keypad) must have the functionality.

But the device being controlled (say, a dimmer), also must have two-way capabilities.

If you press the OUTDOOR LIGHTS scene on your keypad, and you want to know for sure that the lights were turned on, those lights need to be able to send that information back to the keypad.

One-way isn’t bad, of course. Solutions are often less expensive, and they do just fine with virtually any control or entertainment function.

For richer applications and feedback, though, ask about two-way communications.

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11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Architectural (in-wall and in-ceiling) loudspeakers have become the leading product sellers for many companies.

Their popularity is driven by the desire to be heard and not seen. It’s much easier to get the clients’s approval when the speakers are blending and not clashing with a room’s décor.

Professional electronics installers have responded to this trend by pushing their manufacturing partners to develop more ergonomically friendly, better sounding solutions.

Posted in loudspeakers, Sound | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Confused about the switch to digital television coming near your?

This guide will ease your concerns.

One day soon, TV as we know it will enter a new era: the digital era. While many stations have been broadcasting in digital for the last few years, analog signals will be turned off completely, and only digital broadcasts will be delivered to your TV set. Say goodbye to the analog era of snow and static. You will have no other option as a consumer than to watch digital television, which will impact on consumers watching free, over-the-air analog broadcasts. The transition is going to be a simple affair, despite consumer trepidation. If you have cable or satellite, the transition to digital will actually be completely seamless. More on that later.

The Benefits
Let’s cover some basics first. If you’re confused about the difference between analog and digital, you are not alone. Digital Television, aka DTV, is broadcast in ones and zeros, rather than over the radio waves. Digital TV offers several benefits to the consumer, including:

• Enhanced Picture and Sound Quality. Because digital TV is broadcast in ones and zeroes “all those ones and zeros have to come back together to work, so you don’t lose picture information as the signal travels,” says Pollock. Because digital information is compressed, you also can get a lot more data in a smaller amount of bandwidth, such as 5.1 channels of surround sound for a more immersive audio experience or more lines of resolution for HDTV transmissions, which are inherently sharper, more detailed, and more lifelike.

• Multicasting. In addition to better-quality programming, with DTV, broadcasters will have the ability to multicast. On the old analog spectrum, a broadcaster might have been able to offer one channel on given bandwidth. With digital TV, broadcasters can offer more: More channels and more programming options. “Consumers really won’t have a good understanding of how great multicasting is going to be until they see it,”  “Imagine a station broadcasting in English, another station broadcasting the same content in Spanish or another language.”

• Wireless. The old analogue spectrum, now freed up by TV broadcasters, can be used in ways that we are only beginning to understand. “In addition to things like ubiquitous wireless internet in towns and cities, applications like internet in the car, and faster internet on mobile devices, the analog spectrum can be used in ways we haven’t even thought about. We are just at the beginning of realizing how exciting this could be.”

What You Need to Enjoy DTV
As we mentioned before, if you have cable or satellite TV, you are already reaping the rewards of digital TV. If you have an old analogue TV without a digital TV tuner and are watching over-the-air broadcasts, you need a digital-to-analogue converter box. Take a deep breath, this box is your friend and is very simple to find and set up. It is smaller than a cable box or DVD player, and is available at major retailers across the country. They are inexpensive. Here’s how the box works: Think of the converter as a translator. With an analogue set, the digital signal coming in is like a foreign language to your TV, the box simply translates digital to analogue so you can watch it.

Another exciting aspect of the transition, is that those with analogue sets who buy this digital-to-analogue converter box will essentially be upgrading their TV. “The box offers the ability to use a remote control, which some analogue sets don’t have, adds parental-control capability, and also closed captioning.” “People using 20 year old analogue sets may be among the demographic who now need close-captioning.”

The digital-to-analogue converter boxes are available now. As most stations are already broadcasting over-the-air in digital, you can start enjoying digital TV broadcasts immediately. The only possible drawback is that you will not receive analogue stations that are not yet broadcasting in digital, unless you purchase a digital-to-analogue converter box that passes the analogue signal through as well. This type of converter is also readily available. You will also need to keep your antenna on the roof or bunny ears atop your analogue set to continue to get free over-the-air broadcasts.

How Much Will It Cost?
The next logical question on the lips of most consumers is how much the DTV transition is going to cost. Essentially, it’s free. Over-the-air broadcasts will continue to be free, and other than the minimal cost of the digital-to-analog converter, there will be no additional costs.

Remember that DTV is not necessarily high-definition TV (HDTV). HDTV is a type of DTV with greater resolution. Of course, because the digital spectrum offers the ability to pass high-definition and surround sound, along with greater programming options, you may see more premium channels being offered by your cable or satellite provider, which most likely come at an additional cost. Check with your cable or satellite provider for more information on programming packages.

Do Your Research
As with any transition, the more information you are armed with the better. If you are an analogue TV owner looking into new TVs that include a digital TV tuner, for example, it’s important to know about the products you are considering purchasing. “For a long time, TVs were just big boxes, and the only option was colour versus black and white.”  “With all the increased options available now, it is really important to do research, just like you would before you buy a computer or an audio system. Go online or talk with your local retailer.”

Posted in DTV, HDTV, Dig­ital Transition TV | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Voice command software allows homeowners to play music, manage lighting, security and climate control systems.

From the USA come one of the Voice-Activated Control solutions.

Some homeowners love showcasing their big-screen TV, speakers and audio/video gear. But when they really want to wow guests, they start talking to HAL.

It’s not HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but software provider Home Automated Living and its apropos acronym.

This HAL won’t question the homeowners’ requests, either. When they want to hear a selection from the 4,000 or more songs in their digital music collection, all they have to do is speak into a computer microphone or house telephone, and say something like “Open music, open Led Zeppelin, play ‘Black Dog.’”

“The only trick is that the computer microphone is really sensitive to background noise and can get confused, so normally they pick up the house phone.”

The HAL software is integrated with automation controls from HAI (Home Automation Inc.) and its connectivity partners, so the homeowners can also command the Leviton lighting system, GE security sensors and HAI thermostats via voice. HAL also announces incoming phone caller ID names.

There’s no need to worry about missing any calls during movies or vacuuming, either. Caller ID is also displayed on the TV when it’s in use; and the MD Manufacturing AirForce central vac automatically powers off when the phone rings. When visitors come to the door, their arrival is announced as well.

Sample Equipment List

Video

• JVC 70-inch HD-ILA TV
• Philips 23-inch LCD TV
• Sharp 15-inch LCD TV
• Peerless Rotating TV Mount

Speakers and Electronics

• Polk Audio Speakers (5)
• Definitive Technology Supercube Subwoofer
• Sony DVP CX995 400-disc Megachangers (2)
• NAD T163 Preamplifier
• NAD 925THX Amplifier
• DirecTV HD Receiver
• DVDO VP30 Processor
• Logitech Harmony 880 Universal Remote

Other Equipment

• HAI Omni IIe Automation System
• HAI Thermostats
• Leviton DHC, Vizia RF Dimmers
• Simply Brilliant UPB Dimmers
• Home Automated Living Voice Software
• Dell Desktop PCs (2)
• Linksys Gigabit and Wireless Network
• MD Manufacturing AirForce

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11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Powerline adapters can help you bridge the gaps in your home network.

Until recently you had two options for setting up a computer network in your home - wired or wireless.

First on the scene was wired networking. The upside is clear and reliable connections between your computers and all the devices attached to your network - printers, external storage, etc. The downside: unsightly wires everywhere.

Then along came wireless technology. No more wiring clutter. All your networked devices could “talk” to each other throughout your home without stringing wires across the floor, over doorjambs and around corners. The use of the new “802.11n” technology with its ability to send wireless signals further and stronger makes the wireless option even more popular.

However, in some homes wireless networking literally runs into “walls.” Your home may have “dead spots” caused by such things as lathe and plaster, steel, aluminum or stone walls, alcoves or other building design elements that block wireless signals.

But, fear not, there is an easy fix to these situations. It is called “powerline networking.”

Networking companies like D-Link offer Powerline Ethernet (wired) Adapters, inexpensive devices (under $140 per pair) that take advantage of your home’s existing electrical wiring. You’ll need at least two to create a network, and more adapters can be added depending on the configuration of your home.

Simply plug them into your wall sockets to create or extend the digital network in a house or apartment. It turns every power outlet into a possible network connection where you can plug computers, digital media players, game consoles, network storage units and other devices in your home’s network.

Certain home appliances, like vacuum cleaners or hair dryers, can slow down your powerline connection, but the overall benefits far outweigh any performance loss and are well worth the cost. In fact, in addition to plug-and-play installation, D-Link’s powerline adapters can prioritize Internet traffic to allow larger data files like movies and video to flow through your network at greater speeds than word processing documents, for instance. They also have security and power-saving green features to boost your network’s effectiveness.

So go ahead. Plug in a powerline adapter on your patio, put your feet up on the chaise lounge and watch your favourite movie on your laptop.

Posted in IT Network (power over Ethernet), IT, Home automation network (HAN) | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

Two wireless protocols fight for mindshare in the home control space, but how much should they matter to consumers?

When selecting a home control system, should you care if it’s compatible with Z-Wave or ZigBee?

It depends!

Both technologies enable two-way wireless control of various electronic devices including remote controls, dimmers and thermostats.

Both employ mesh networking, which means that the more devices that are on the network, the more powerful the network becomes.

ZigBee has a higher bandwidth, so it can accommodate richer information, such as metadata from your music library.

Z-Wave has the benefit of being a real “standard,” meaning Z-Wave products from one manufacturer are interoperable with those from other vendors (with a few exceptions).

ZigBee is trying to get there, but currently you cannot mix-and-max ZigBee products from multiple vendors.

Proponents from both camps claim they will own the market for “smart meters” and therefore will become the de facto standard. We’ll see.

Price-wise, the common perception is that Z-Wave is cheaper than ZigBee, but that really is not the case. It just so happens that most of the ZigBee implementers in the home-control space (AMX, Crestron, Colorado vNet, for example) serve higher-end markets.

Yet a ZigBee dimmer from Control4 can cost less than a Z-Wave dimmer from Leviton.

Bottom line is this: For do-it-yourselfers, Z-Wave is really the only option. You can’t just go out and buy ZigBee products.

For higher-performance systems, it doesn’t really matter. I wouldn’t use Z-Wave or ZigBee as a litmus test for choosing a home-control system. I’d go with the system that had the best features for my needs.

In any case, it’s tough to make a mistake on this one since a variety of adapter products exist.

Don’t Forget the Other Wireless systems - some thes are only available stateside

If you’re in the market for retrofit solutions, also consider Insteon from SmartLabs. Insteon-compatible products are available for both wireless (RF) and powerline control (powerline products communicate over the home’s existing electrical wiring.) Insteon products are inexpensive and reviews on the technology are generally positive.

Universal Powerline Bus (UPB) from Powerline Control Systems is arguably the best technology for powerline-based automation gear.

And HomePlug, the organization that brought us high-speed powerline networking, has a new automation protocol called Command and Control. Like the Z-Wave and ZigBee advocates, the HomePlug Alliance believes its protocol will be selected by utilities for their smart-energy initiatives.

Posted in smart meters, Universal Powerline Bus (UPB), HomePlug Alliance, music, metadata, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Home Automation, Home automation network (HAN) | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

The ability to manage your home’s electronic systems from one main control system can make your household run smoother, feel better and save energy.

The trick is to find a system that will meet all the demands of your household, now and in the future. Most systems can be tailored by a custom electronics professional to provide all the benefits you desire, but there are some key features that will make his job easier and your interaction with your system more enjoyable.

In no order of importance, here’s our top 10 key features:-

1. Interoperability
The beauty of an automation system is its ability to tie diverse electronic devices together so they can perform as one unified system. Getting these devices to work cohesively can be simple or complex, depending on the “openness” of the automation system. The more open a system is, the easier it will be for the lights, thermostats, audio/video equipment, security devices, motorized shades and other electronics to communicate with each other. A good example of interoperability is having the lights turn off, the thermostats set back when you press a “goodbye” button on a keypad or when a motion sensor notices that you have exited a room.

To support interoperability between multiple electronic devices, manufacturers of home automation systems often form connectivity partnerships with other manufacturers. Automation products should be able to communicate seamlessly with a wide variety of other systems—from architectural lighting and irrigation, to multiroom audio.

Another way automation manufacturers are fostering interoperability is through adherence to technology standards. For example embedded Zigbee wireless control technology into automation products so those products can network easily with other Zigbee-enabled products.

The more connectivity of different devices that occurs between different partners and manufacturer components linking different communication standards has to be adopted, with more choices that need to be made.  “It allows designers/installers to select the best suite products for their clients.”

2. Remote Access
Automation is all about being able to control things in your home, and part of that is being able to change the settings quickly and easily if your plans change. More often than not, plans change when you’re not at home, so being able to communicate those changes with your home automation system remotely is one of the most revered features of an automation system. Remote access capabilities allow you to monitor your home’s environment and alter the settings of the lights, thermostats and other gear if necessary all from your laptop, mobile phone or iTouch. David Slade of Davmark believes that remote monitoring facility should be incorporated as part of the core offering and be provide free of charge from any service caharge. “Why should you pay to access your automation system when you’re already paying for broadband access?” Proive a gateway to link uo to the outside world!

Remote access also allows your installer to tweak your system without having to make a house call, which is always cheaper and more convenient.

3. Expandability
The way you live in your home five years from now will probably be much different than the way you live in your home today. Moreover, technology will continue to evolve, introducing a completely new generation of products to the marketplace. In the future, you may also want to add new rooms—like a recently finished basement or an addition off the back—to your automation network. Or, you may simply want to start out with just a few features when you first put in your system then add new capabilities later as you have the money. For these reasons, it’s important that a home automation system can be easily expanded both vertically to incorporate additional products and horizontally to support additional rooms.

Manufacturers can support vertical and horizontal expandability by designing their systems to speak a common network language, like IP (Internet Protocol), and by offering wireless retrofittable products that can communicate with a home’s existing network of wired products.

4. Upgradeability
Those touchscreens and black boxes may look impressive, but it’s what you don’t see that holds the true power of an automation system. Software is the driving force of an automation system. The more sophisticated that software is, the more the system can do. As technology changes, so must the software. Before you buy any system, be sure the manufacturer (or your installer) will be able to unlock and download software updates automatically.

5. Variety of Interfaces
There are a number of different ways you can control the electronic systems in your home: by pressing the buttons of a handheld remote or wall-mounted keypad, by touching colorful icons on a portable touchpanel or by sliding your finger across your iTouch. Depending on your family dynamic, budget and preferences, you might like to utilize a variety of different controllers (most people do, says David Slade), so make sure the automation manufacturer offers a wide selection of interfaces.

6. Time-Tested
No one, except for serious early-adopters, likes to be the guinea pig, so choose an automation system with a proven track record. Same goes for the person who installs the system into your home. Look for an installer who’s been installing the same systems for a number of years,” suggests David Slade. You should be able to gather some historical background about manufacturers and installers from their company websites.

7. Strong Dealer Network
“You can have great equipment, but you’ll need a highly trained and certified installer in order to get your money’s worth. It’s a no brainier real” says David Slade. Good home automation manufacturers go above and beyond to create a strong brand and support network, by offering continual education and training and by supporting multiple dealers in a single geographic area. For consumers, having more than one dealer to choose from is important. When more than one dealer carries a particular product in your area, pricing is more competitive and should one dealer go out of business, there’s someone else you can call to pick up the pieces.

8. Commitment to Energy-Savings
One of the hottest topics in the consumer media is energy conservation. Automation systems can help save energy by turning off electronics devices automatically, and some do this better than others. Be sure to check out the energy-saving features of a system before you buy.

9. Layer of Protection
Everyone always wonders what happens to an automated house when the power goes out. Does the system forget how to operate the lights when power is restored? If an automation system has the appropriate back-up protection, you won’t have to worry about that.

10. Can-do Attitude
This goes both for the designer, installer and the manufacturer. Automation is only beneficial and practical if it fits your lifestyle. Since everyone’s lifestyle is different, the manufacturer should provide its installers with the tools to customize the system to your specific needs. If there’s something that you want your system to do and your installer says it’s impossible, either he or the manufacturer has failed you. Keep looking.

Posted in ZigBee, Home Automation, Home automation network (HAN), Integration, Davmark, Housing | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

The UK experienced its first growth in industrial output for more than a year in April, according to official figures released by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

The economy grew by 0.1% in May and 0.2% in April after contracting 0.5% in March. The NIESR also reported that the output of the UK economy has fallen by 5% between the beginning of the recession in May 2008 and March this year.

Martin Weale, director of NIESR said that the recession had ended “as far as I can tell.” He added, “There has been much less downward momentum than we expected.”

Posted in Construction workload | Print | No Comments »

11/06/2009 by David Slade.

When claims of a revolutionary 110”, highly flexible display, set to emerge from Georgia, USA, reached our ears at Davmark. We caught up with the creator, Nanolumens. The company claims its giant portable display will be less than one millimetre thick and weigh no more than 45kg. A video provides a demonstration of the new technology.

John Wilson, president of the company said: “Nanolumens has a core technology that permits it to bring the best of display technology to a flexible format. We have a fairly extensive patent portfolio, almost 50 patents issued and filed that cover a very innovative set of technologies that allow us to bring flexibility to display technologies,” he continued to explain.

The company has already built a number of prototypes based on the technology but the big news is it plans to market a very large display in about one year’s time. “It will be very lightweight and large for markets primarily in out-of-home advertising, digital signage, control room and large format business-to-business applications,” Wilson confirmed.

Wilson and the team at Nanolumens seem to have done their homework. “Our view is that much of the industry, particularly in the out-of-home advertising industry, is shifting to digital and there’s a great deal of that market that would be perfectly fine for a 42” or a 50” LCD display that is rigid and just put up on the wall,” he asserts. “But, there are an incredible number of applications where either a curved wall or a bend around a column or a very large space that is high up and needs a hanging screen. That is the market we are planning to pursue.

“The fact the technology is flexible is an achievement in its own right. The fact that it continues to operate and run as it’s transported from place to place because it’s actually a portable device is also significant so we’ve been able to share it with both customers and strategic partners.”

The company was created specifically to get into the business of making flexible displays for these markets. “We have a distinguished group of display veterans associated with the company who either advise us or provide engineering services or guidance in terms of business. Our technology allows us to bring the attributes of rigid devices into a flexible format that works – we think that’s critical for a robust device that will survive the challenges of the marketplace.”

Wilson and CEO of Nanolumens, Richard Cope, have an impressive background between them, having run numerous research and development enterprises. “[Cope] was a programme manager for the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency which is one of the premier research agencies in the world,” adds Wilson.

“We view the flexible display world as the start of a new emerging industry.” Wilson concludes. “There are a lot of companies working on the challenges of flexible imaging systems. Some working on small wearable devices or small clothing integrated devices. We chose the large format professional market as we felt was represented higher value and was immediately accessible”

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