The Ultimate Media Center Installation Revealed: Imperium Smart Systems

Herriman, Utah-based Imperium Smart Systems LLC has won Microsoft's Ultimate Media Center Installation contest, revealed Wednesday at EHX Fall in Long Beach, Calif.

The installation, in Orem, Utah, features 12 distributed audio zones, a media center "extender" server, 4 Xbox 360s, a UMPC touchpanel, a 12" LifePoint panel, Insteon lighting control, Aprilaire thermostats, DSC security integration and Exceptional Innovation's Lifeware automation software.

"We are honored to be named the winner in this contest," says Tyler Jennings, president of Imperium Smart Systems.

"The homeowners love the technology and love how easy it is to use. The husband has always loved technology, but this is the first time the wife actually feels confident in controlling the technology in her home -- thanks to Media Center."

The homeowner, a professional golfer, uses the system to perform swing analysis, watching back high-definition recordings of his stroke from connected devices.

"This is definitely somebody taking advantage of the technology in his house," says Jennings.

One of the homeowners' biggest concerns was the compatibility with their Apple systems and iTunes, in order to share and display photos and music, all of which were successfully integrated.

"Media Center and extenders are the key delivery mechanism for user experiences for both control and media consumption throughout the house," says Scott Evans, group manager in the Entertainment and Devices eHome Division at Microsoft.

"The installer tackled the challenging task of setting up a Media Center topology to makes this PC-based solution adoptable, and loved, by both technology and non-technology users in the home."

For winning the contest, Jennings will head to Microsoft Studios and spend the weekend vacationing around Seattle.

"Imperium Smart Systems' incredible result serves as a great example of how the creativity and integration capability of professional installers combines with the platform power of Windows Media Center to create the ultimate connected home experience," says Evans.

The contest, announced at CEDIA Expo, was designed to find the custom installation that best utilized Windows Media Center Edition.

Click here to see photos from the winning installation.

This story was updated at 2:18 PST on Wednesday, November 7.