For those of you still waking up from your Thanksgiving comas, I would like to welcome you back, once again, to the week in Playback. We’re going to tweak the script a bit, today, seeing as how holidays generally translate to a pause in business news. Rather than being a recap, we’re handing off a curated list of readings to help aid with the digestion, though, this may have done better as a Black Friday release.
Let’s be real, while this is an industry that prioritizes delivering on the lifestyle expectations of the client, we like to know what products can do that. We like to know what products we can depend on to not just perform a function that supplements a client’s living experience but can reliably do it day after week after month after year—while staying in respective budgets.
Which is why we think projects are such a vitally important part of our coverage at CE Pro. These are the case studies; a look into what integrators think will work best based on the specific needs, budget and timeline that a client provides. So it stands to reason that the Home of the Year Awards represent a pinnacle of this conceit.
As part of the application process we get to see what the clients want, what the budgets are, what the timelines are: everything that helps put into context what a product can do (when installed thoughtfully by a professional). So, we thought it would be a fun little exercise to pick through the winners and see if we could pull out any themes among the equipment being used before we start listing the projects themselves. Consider this as offering a high-level overview before we start to get granular.
If that didn’t cause you to immediately skip down to the article link, I appreciate that, and won’t hold you up any longer. The Playback must go on. We’ve got reflections of HDMI’s lost, most-promising feature. How AI is finally starting to shape home automation platforms. And a teensy bit of news from one of the pioneers in that space. Try not to think about all that work you have to get back to tomorrow, and be thankful for Sundays.
The Week in Playback
- The Brands that Helped Win the 2025 Home of the Year Awards
- Why HDMI Cable Power Remains Under-Utilized
- AI in the Smart Home: Inside the Pro Channel’s Real Evolution
- Josh.ai Expands Integrations with JVC and Airzone
The Award-Winning Brands of 2025
Every year the CE Pro Home of the Year awards showcase the pinnacle of custom installation, but while each home is unique, there’s definitely a throughline that can be seen once you dig down into it.
This year, CE Pro took a look at the equipment lists from this year’s winners to see which manufacturers are winning integrators’ stamps of approval.
Lutron topped out the charts overall, being a dominant force in lighting control with the rise of the category, but, owing to the industry’s entertainment roots, the other brands that made up the top five were largely members of the AV category.
O HDMI Cable Power, Where Art Thou?
When HDMI 2.1b was released, one of its least publicized yet potentially transformative features was the introduction of HDMI Cable Power.
The mechanism allowed source devices to deliver up to 300mA at 5V directly through the HDMI connector, yet years after its inclusion, Cable Power has seen virtually no adoption.
Despite its promise, it remains a dormant specification, quietly overshadowed by the headline features of HDMI 2.1 such as 8K and 10K resolutions.
While it will likely never see its time in the spotlight at this point, a ‘post-mortem’ of sorts showcases why it never took off.
The Real AI Revolution Happening in the Pro Channel
Artificial intelligence is finally starting to appear in home automation systems, but between the pro and direct-to-consumer channels, a difference in approach is manifesting.
Amazon and Google are pushing into LLM assistants to help consumers build automations themselves, while companies like Crestron see improving integrator workflow through its own models as more of a priority.
It’s clear that among home automation brands that AI represents extraordinary possibilities, but there’s a deliberate air to their strategies when it comes to implementing AI.
While Amazon and Google can operate on a much faster timeline, the pro channel companies are taking it slow to make sure the features are perfect so as not to heap on more bad press about the smart home being confusing and convoluted.
Josh.ai Expands Integrations with Airzone and JVC
Josh.ai announced two integrations this week, expanding the functionality of its home automation platform.
The first was an expansion of an existing partnership with Airzone that saw a new integration with the Aidoo Pro Hub, scaling up the capabilities of Josh to control multizone HVAC units without the need for additional custom coding.
The second came in the form of automatic detection for JVC projectors, as well as being able to support an “unlimited” number of JVC projectors being connected to the Josh.ai platform.
