• CEPro_logo_blue-new
  • TOPICS
      • News
        • People & Places
        • Product Briefs
      • Projects
      • Events
      • Control
        • Central Vac
        • Energy/Power
        • HVAC/IAQ
        • Interfaces/Devices
        • Lighting
        • Motorized Shades
        • Whole House Systems
      • Audio/Video
        • Audio/Video
        • AV Accessories
        • AV Racks
        • Cabling
        • Displays
        • Furniture
        • Headphones
        • Home Theater
        • Media
        • Mounts/Lifts
        • Multiroom AV
        • Projectors/Screens
        • Speakers/Subwoofers
        • Wireless AV
      • Security
        • Access Control
        • Alarms/Sensors
        • Services/Platforms
        • Surveillance/Cameras
      • Business Support
        • Associations/Buying Groups
        • Cell Phone Boosters
        • Distributors/Reps
        • Operations
        • Recurring Revenue
        • Research
        • Sales/Marketing
        • Software Services
        • Tools/Testers
      • Networking
        • Cellular
        • Devices/Equipment
        • Wireless
        • Wired/Installation
      • Markets
        • Builders
        • Commercial
        • Design
        • Europe
        • Outdoors
        • Resimercial
        • Wellness
      • CE Pro Hub Pages
        • Bose
        • Savant
        • Inside Sound United
  • PRODUCTS
  • RESOURCES
    • Reports/Downloads
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Webcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Integrator Jobs
    • Digital Edition
    • CE Pro-iQ
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • CEDIA SHOW UPDATES
    • CEPRO PRINT EDITION
    • CEPRO DIGITAL EDITION
    • CEPRO NEWSLETTERS
  • DISCOVER
    • CEDIA Expo
      • September 29 – October 1
        Dallas, TX
      • VISIT SITE
    • KBIS
      • February 8 – 10
        Orlando, FL
      • VISIT SITE
    • Total Tech Summit
      • October 26 – 28
        Orlando, FL
      • VISIT SITE
    • Commercial Integrator
      • VISIT SITE
    • Security Sales
      • VISIT SITE
    • Tech Decisions
      • VISIT SITE
    • Campus Safety
      • VISIT SITE
    • Design Well
      • VISIT SITE
    • KBB Online
      • VISIT SITE
    • AV-iQ
      • VISIT SITE
    • CE Pro-iQ
      • VISIT SITE
  • Search
  • TOPICS
    • News
      • People & Places
      • Product Briefs
    • Projects
    • Events
    • Control
      • Central Vac
      • Energy/Power
      • HVAC/IAQ
      • Interfaces/Devices
      • Lighting
      • Motorized Shades
      • Whole House Systems
    • Audio/Video
      • Audio/Video
      • AV Accessories
      • AV Racks
      • Cabling
      • Displays
      • Furniture
      • Headphones
      • Home Theater
      • Media
      • Mounts/Lifts
      • Multiroom AV
      • Projectors/Screens
      • Speakers/Subwoofers
      • Wireless AV
    • Security
      • Access Control
      • Alarms/Sensors
      • Services/Platforms
      • Surveillance/Cameras
    • Business Support
      • Associations/Buying Groups
      • Cell Phone Boosters
      • Distributors/Reps
      • Operations
      • Recurring Revenue
      • Research
      • Sales/Marketing
      • Software Services
      • Tools/Testers
    • Networking
      • Cellular
      • Devices/Equipment
      • Wireless
      • Wired/Installation
    • Markets
      • Builders
      • Commercial
      • Design
      • Europe
      • Outdoors
      • Resimercial
      • Wellness
    • CE Pro Hub Pages
      • Savant
      • Bose
      • Inside Sound United
  • PRODUCTS
  • RESOURCES
    • Reports/Downloads
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Webcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Integrator Jobs
    • Digital Edition
    • CE Pro-IQ
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • CEPRO PRINT EDITION
    • CEPRO DIGITAL EDITION
    • CEPRO NEWSLETTERS
    • CEDIA SHOW UPDATES
  • DISCOVER
    • Cedia Expo
      VISIT SITE
    • Commercial Integrator
      VISIT SITE
    • Security Sales
      VISIT SITE
    • Tech Decisions
      VISIT SITE
    • Campus Safety
      VISIT SITE
    • Design Well
      VISIT SITE
    • Total Tech Summit
      VISIT SITE
    • KBB Online
      VISIT SITE
    • AV-iQ
    • CE Pro-iQ
SUBSCRIBE CEDIA EXPO
POPULAR SEARCHES
News
Projects
Control
Audio Video
Security
Business Support
Markets
Amplifiers/Receivers | Audio/Video | Builders | CEDIA Expo | CEPro 100 | Control | Devices/Equipment | Events | Interfaces/Devices | Lighting | Markets | Multiroom AV | Networking | News | Products | Wellness | Whole-House Systems | Wireless
September 17, 2020

Brilliant Smart Home System Earns Tech Bites Honors

CEDIA Expo Virtual’s Tech Bites winner Brilliant tops entries by Access Networks, Audinate, AudioControl, Dish, HDBaseT, Olibra and Savant.
Arlen Schweiger  
Brilliant Smart Home System Earns Tech Bites Honors

Brilliant CEO and co-founder Aaron Emigh (right) chats with CEDIA's Ed Wenck after winning Tech Bites on day 2 of CEDIA Expo Virtual.

Article:
Amplifiers/Receivers | Audio/Video | Builders | CEDIA Expo | CEPro 100 | Control | Devices/Equipment | Events | Interfaces/Devices | Lighting | Markets | Multiroom AV | Networking | News | Products | Wellness | Whole-House Systems | Wireless
September 17, 2020

Brilliant Smart Home System Earns Tech Bites Honors

In its short time serving the custom electronics industry, Brilliant has made a big name for itself with a Smart Home System it bills as “the only smart home control that’s suitable for every home and every apartment,” according to CEO and co-founder Aaron Emigh.

At CEDIA Expo Virtual, the company’s name and Emigh’s bold statement lived up to their billing in the eyes of CEDIA “influencer network” and media judges in this year’s Tech Bites contest, where Brilliant came away victorious against several worthy competitors.

The company garnered its award during the Tech Bites program that capped day 2 of CEDIA Expo Virtual, during which Ed Wenck, CEDIA’s content director, hosted a virtual happy hour that mixed the airing of each entrant’s video submissions followed by brief Zoom interviews with exhibitor representatives.

In what proved to be a very well-rounded group of custom industry companies, Brilliant beat out entries by: Access Networks (A750 Wi-Fi 6 certified access point), Audinate (Dante AV-over-IP), AudioControl (The Director 2.0 amplification and DSP), Dish (Gallery by Dish Scapes wellness content), HDBaseT Alliance (3.0 Spec), Olibra (Bond Bridge Pro smart appliance control) and Savant (Smart Audio products that include automation intelligence).

Brilliant System a Big Hit with Homebuilders

“It really takes high-end professional home automation capabilities and makes it available at a price point and ease of use that make it suitable for every home and every apartment – what used to be for the 1% and makes it available to everyone,” Emigh reiterated from his entry video’s message when, after being announced as the Tech Bites winner, Wenck asked him about disrupting the market.

Measuring Supply Chain Impacts on Home Entertainment

The home entertainment category is especially susceptible to the supply chain crisis because there are so many individual components required. Despite that ongoing problem, the once-forgotten “home theater” category continued its strong comeback in 2021 likely driven by the ongoing house-bound public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Download your copy today!
CEDIA Expo Virtual Tech Bites Brilliant Smart Home
Tech Bites exhibitors gather on Zoom with host Ed Wenck (top left) at CEDIA Expo Virtual.

The message is not just marketing hype either. Emigh has seen a strong embrace of Brilliant’s Smart Home System – which essentially builds in all the smarts and controls into a wall panel and app – not just by integrators but by homebuilders (not to mention previous honors from CE Pro).

“It was really driven home to us when we started working with builders,” Emigh said of how Brilliant is impacting the smart home market.

“We expected to be part of upgrade package (like high-end amenities) and instead they – pretty much all the builders we’ve worked with – put us into the base configuration of every home they were building, which gave us a clear market signal that it was what they needed and showed us the market opportunity.”

More Opportunities for Installations, MDU Market Users

The Brilliant platform makes installing, unifying and using smart home devices a snap, Emigh notes, and its low price point is attractive to a wider pool of prospective owners.

“Consumers are buying smart doorbells, smart speakers, smart locks, smart garage door openers, smart lights, smart climate control – smart everything. But while these products are selling in the hundreds of millions, traditional home automation systems aren’t, and it’s going to get worse because the market is going to inevitably be dominated by less-expensive systems,” he says in the entry video.


Related: CEDIA Expo Virtual Preview: Brilliant to Focus on At-Home, Live Demos at its Booth

He notes that custom integrators can still enjoy the fruits of the wider smart devices appeal because owners still need a solid control system to optimally operate things, and pros have expertise and installation capabilities to capitalize on their positioning.

With systems starting at $299 and switches from $69, Brilliant can tie everything together for whole-home and lighting controls from a touchscreen that installs like a standard light switch, so jobs are quick and easy. They also go smoothly when pro integrators install them, Emigh reports to Wenck.

“You can make a house completely smart for just a few thousand dollars,” he says in the video. “Why is that good for you? With traditional systems you have an opportunity to maybe get into 1% of the houses out there; with Brilliant you can get into all of them, because even inexpensive homes can include Brilliant.”

That’s clearly been appealing to the sometimes tech-stingy homebuilder sector, but Emigh adds that the MDU (multi-dwelling unit) market is also benefitting. In fact, he tells Wenck that the company caters system capabilities to both segments.

“Each market has its own special needs, so we’ve done integration of products specifically for homebuilders; then in multifamily it’s a whole new set of integrations – even a software-as-a-service offering to manage tens of thousands of units on scale,” Emigh says.

Now that’s Brilliant!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Follow
Arlen Schweiger:
Arlen Schweiger is executive editor of CE Pro and former managing editor of sister publications Commercial Integrator and Security Sales & Integration. Arlen contributes installation features, business profiles, manufacturer news and product reviews.
View Arlen Schweiger's complete profile

ARTICLE TOPICS

Amplifiers/Receivers • Audio/Video • Builders • CEDIA Expo • CEPro 100 • Control • Devices/Equipment • Events • Interfaces/Devices • Lighting • Markets • Multiroom AV • Networking • News • Products • Wellness • Whole-House Systems • Wireless

ARTICLE TAGS

Access Networks • AudioControl • Brilliant • Builders • CEDIA • Dante • Dish • HDBaseT • MDU • Savant • Smart Appliances • Smart Home

SHARE

Share On Facebook
Share On Twitter
Share On Linkedin
Share On Whatsapp
Share Via Email
Copy URL
← Previous Article Next Article →
Article Associations/Buying GroupsBusiness SupportCEDIA ExpoControlEventsLightingMarketsNewsWellness

Previewing CEDIA Education at CEDIA Expo 2022

Slate of 60 CEDIA education sessions at CEDIA Expo 2022 will focus on lighting, wellness and leadership among other key areas.
Article Business Support

Actual Steps You Can Take to Improve Your Custom Integration Company Culture

Consider your custom integration company culture: are your employees your customers too? Do you make a discipline out of recognition?
Article Associations/Buying GroupsBusiness SupportCEDIA ExpoControlEventsLightingMarketsNewsWellness

Previewing CEDIA Education at CEDIA Expo 2022

Slate of 60 CEDIA education sessions at CEDIA Expo 2022 will focus on lighting, wellness and leadership among other key areas.
Article Audio/VideoAV AccessoriesNewsProducts

Hands-On: Compact Pro-Ject CD Box S3 Provides Vibrant CD Playback

The budget-friendly Pro-Ject CD Box S3 CD player offers integrators a great option to give customers high-quality playback of their discs.

SHOW NEWSLETTER

Sign Up

CE Pro

Subscribe Sign Up

Content Types

News
Products
Projects
Companies
Downloads
Webcasts
Podcasts
Events

Specials

IntegratorJobs
CEDIA EXPO
CE Pro 100
CE Pro Summit
Awards Programs

Company Info

About
Contact Us
Customer Service
Media Solutions & Advertising

Subscribe

Magazine
Newsletters
Digital Edition

Connect

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
RSS Feed

Categories

AUDIO/VIDEO
AV Accessories
AV Racks
Amplifiers/Receivers
Cabling
Displays
Furniture
Mounts/Lifts
Multiroom AV
Projector Screens
Speakers/Subwoofers
Wireless AV
CONTROL
Central Vac
Energy/Power
Interfaces/Devices
HVAC/IAQ
Lighting
Motorized Shades
Whole-House Systems
NETWORKING
Cellular
Devices/Equipment
Wireless
Wiring/Installation
SECURITY
Access Control
Alarms/Sensors
Services/Platforms
Surveillance Cameras
BUSINESS SUPPORT
Associations/Buying Groups
Distributors/Reps
Operations
Recurring Revenue
Research
Sales/Marketing
Software/Services
Tools/Testers
MARKETS
Builders
Commercial
Design
Europe
Outdoors
Wellness
FOLLOW US ON
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

© 2021 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

  • ABOUT
  • CAREERS
  • TERMS OF USE
  • PRIVACY POLICY