Somfy System's Business Development Manager, Steve Iommi, talks with CE Pro's Lisa Montgomery about how Somfy motors and motorized window treatments integrate as a part of an energy management solution in a home automation system


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Home Automation Inc. (HAI) President, Jay McLellan talks with CE Pro's Lisa Montgomery about HAI's new IP enabled product introductions.


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Black & Decker's VP of business development Dave Albert explains the new Residential Access Control systems to CE Pro's Lisa Montgomery.


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New and greener shading solutions have been announced by Lutron Electronics at CEDIA Expo 2009.

The company's Sivoia QS wireless solution includes a clock that allows the programming of "scenes," much like lighting scenes that bring certain lights on at certain levels for specific tasks like art or mood lighting.

Lutron will promote energy-saving shading scenes such as winter warmth and summer cool. A "winter warmth" scene, for example, would open shades or drapes to let in light to warm a space and use less lighting. A "summer cool" scene would close the shades to keep a room cooler on hot days and conserve energy.

Motorized window treatments have long been a great way to conserve energy by warming or cooling a room and using less lighting, but until now the ecological advantages of motorized shading has gotten little traction.

"People are now realizing the benefit of solar heating in the…

Control4, perhaps best known for its iconic (static) home page, is letting dealers get a little groovy with their home automation systems.

At CEDIA Expo 2009, Control4 is showing OS 2.0, which allows integrators to design their own GUIs, at least to some extent.

"There's more flexibility and personalization around the GUI," says Control4 president Glen Mella. "We've always been the guys with one default screen. Now, if you want just TV and music in a room, then you can do that level of customization."

During a sneak preview before CEDIA, John Yoon, director of marketing demonstrated a "global" thermostat view, in which users could navigate through all of the home's thermostats.

Previously, you had to back in and out of the various rooms to get to each thermostat.

You can change icons and backgrounds, using your own, or the options that Control4 provides.

Biker chick that…

Colorado vNet, instead of having a mega-booth at CEDIA Expo 2009, has opted for a smaller presence on the showfloor. It's using the event to kick off its 60-city “Ultimate Control Tour”.

“We have to spend our marketing dollars wisely — just as any business in this economy," says Scott Stephenson, Colorado vNet director of marketing. "We questioned if it was more important to spend gobs of money to ship our 40 x 50 booth to CEDIA — or provide the support necessary for our dealers to close more business.

"We could have pulled out of the show altogether like many other companies, but we chose to both support the CEDIA organization and our dealers, whether they attend CEDIA or not.”

Colorado vNet still has a 30 x 30-foot exhibit space, booth No. 2637.

First Stop, Atlanta

The road show will journey across the United…

If a client is installing a fancy home-control system, why would they skimp on security for their swimming pool?

That’s the idea behind the SonarGuard (booth No. 5643) pool security system, “the only swimming pool security system in the world that can integrate with home automation,” according to spokesperson Corinne Zemla.

SonarGuard has three elements: a command station (with battery back-up), remote keypad that can be used to program standby time, horns and sirens, and underwater transducers.

The transducers emit sound waves, looking for a change in the density of the water. “If it encounters the air volume of one-year-old lungs (the standard in pool safety), the system will reflect that,” Zemla says.

The sensors are wired to the command station, which can integrate with third-party controllers via relay and RS-485 communications. Drivers are available today for Crestron controllers. Users can set standby times — during pool maintenance or swimming events — from any touchscreen in…

Since CE Pro broke the news on Crestron Prodigy, we've had an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the new low-cost control system from the company best known for pricey products.

During a recent tour of Crestron, led by CEO and founder George Feldstein, I got to see all of the little goodies that will comprise a Prodigy home automation system.

First of all, Crestron wants to make it perfectly clear that the company did not launch Prodigy to "go after" Control4 or any other low-cost home automation provider, according to executive VP Randy Klein.

"We developed a line that is consistent with what we've been doing," he says. "Prodigy broadens the market."

Klein acknowledges that some Crestron dealers also offer lower-cost lines. "We would love to have them use us," he says.

Klein believes Crestron can beat out other players in the world of affordable automation because of the company's heritage.

Homemanageables is joining the iPhone revolution, unveiling its first iPhone application here at CEDIA Expo 2008.

The company's application lets customers remotely control their home automation systems.

Controllable devices include: lighting, temperatures, window shades, thermostats, clock radios and more.

Users can organize settings and actions for different locations. The "My Modules" feature enables control of either devices or rooms.

"The iPhone application is an exciting new feature we've added to our mix," says Jay M. Miller, Homemanageables' VP of strategic development.

"This new iPhone application lets Homemanageables customers cut energy bills and save money while simplifying their lives."

Homemanageables' iPhone application is available for existing clients only. It's available free from Apple's App Store.

Lifeware, Crestron and Savant have also introduced iPhone apps here at CEDIA.

Schlage's new Z-Wave-enabled door lock is what this industry's been missing.

We first announced in May that Schlage was developing a wireless electronic lock that communicates with the Internet via a Z-Wave gateway.

The company demonstrated the solution for the first time here at CEDIA Expo 2008.

It's nice. It's what this industry needs – an easy way to lock and unlock the doors from a cell phone, the Internet, a key fob, or a button by your bed stand.

At only $199 retail, it's just $50 or $60 more than traditional electronic deadbolts and lever locks.

But that's not exactly what Schlage is promoting. The company has created a complete Web-enabled home-control system that enables remote access to lights, thermostats, surveillance cameras, and other automated devices including Schlage locks.

The Web service is called Schlage Link, and the company plans…