iMAGsystems and Global Caché Partner

Global Caché, a manufacturer of IP, Wi-Fi and HTTP enabling connectivity products for control and automation and iMAGsystems, providers of Lightning, a video over IP product have formed an alliance providing built in integration for Global Caché hardware and Control Tower, Global Caché’s IR database in the cloud, with iMAGsystem’s Lightning. The alliance provides a […]

iMAGsystems and Global Caché Partner

Barco Debuts New Overture AV Control System Aimed at Meeting Rooms at InfoComm

Barco will provide an opportunity for visitors at InfoComm to test drive the new Overture solution. The new version of Overture will be available to ship by Aug. 31, 2017. This new system is an attempt for Barco to take a position in the control system market — competing with Crestron, Extron, AMX, Utelogy, etc. Overture is an enterprise-wide AV control software solution. It controls […]

Barco Debuts New Overture AV Control System Aimed at Meeting Rooms at InfoComm

Crestron Adds Amazon Alexa Integration to Commercial AV Control Systems

Crestron announced today an expanded partnership with Amazon that brings the power of Alexa to the meeting space. The integration allows employees to start a meeting – from dialing in to the voice or video call to pulling up presentation materials on-screen – with one command. Meeting attendees can also ask Alexa to adjust the […]

Crestron Adds Amazon Alexa Integration to Commercial AV Control Systems

Aveo Systems Launches Mira Connect for Room Management and Control

Aveo Systems has released a tabletop control appliance, Mira Connect, and a cloud management platform, Mira Portal. Mira Connect’s touch screen interface is designed as a UC (unified collaboration) interface for in-room VC and control including features like dialing calls, adjust audio settings, manage projectors and displays and control the room, without the cost and complexity of custom […]

Aveo Systems Launches Mira Connect for Room Management and Control

ZeeVee Adds DTVGameControl to its Lineup

ZeeVee today announced a partnership with DTVGameControl, a floorplan-based AV control system. ZeeVee’s IP and RF based products can now be integrated with the DTVGameControl app allowing customers to easily control ZeeVee products and DirecTV receivers on an IP network. Suitable for sports bars and restaurants, ZeeVee’s products integrated with the DTVGameControl app create a channel/program guide to enable venue staff […]

ZeeVee Adds DTVGameControl to its Lineup

ClearOne Launches Mobile Dialer Apps for CONVERGE Pro 2 DSP Platform

ClearOne is releasing mobile applications to dial and control its CONVERGE Pro 2 line of DSP mixers. Compatible with both Android and iOS mobile phones and tablets, the Apps come on the heels of the already-released software Dialer-Controller applications for Windows and MAC OS platforms. These new mobile applications extend choices of devices and interfaces for users, while also providing the […]

ClearOne Launches Mobile Dialer Apps for CONVERGE Pro 2 DSP Platform

The Quest for the Holy UX

I’ve been around AV for the last 15 years and have worked for residential and commercial integrators as well as AV manufacturers. There has been a lot of change in that time, and most agree that the days of selling little black mystery boxes for 60 points margin are all but gone. In fact, many […]

The Quest for the Holy UX

Churches, IoT and Fully Integrated AVL

In sales, your best client is likely the one who buys repeatedly and recommends you consistently. For a long time, I had two of my best clients fit this description while I was in sales; one was a large airline, the other was a large church. What these two organizations had in common was a […]

Churches, IoT and Fully Integrated AVL

RTI Ships New Z-Wave Control and Lighting Solutions

RTI today announced the company is now shipping its all-new Z-Wave solutions. The ZW-9 Z-Wave interface is aimed at cost-effective monitoring and control of Z-Wave-enabled systems and devices via an RTI control system. The ZW-9 Z-Wave interface utilizes the Z-Wave wireless protocol to provide the communication link between RTI systems and lighting, door locks, thermostats […]

RTI Ships New Z-Wave Control and Lighting Solutions

SurgeX Axess Elite System Now Compatible with Compass Control

Compass Control module enables integration of Axess Elite in the Compass Control environment reducing the installation time for integrators. The module provides system users outlet-level control, monitoring and management of a system’s energy and power usage with additional temperature, voltage, and current draw measurements, while having access to a fully integrated control system with additional […]

SurgeX Axess Elite System Now Compatible with Compass Control

Atlona Adds Backlit Keypad

Atlona just introduced an eight-button network keypad, Model AT-ANC-108D, for Atlona IP-controlled AV switchers equipped for single channel output, including single channel mirrored output components. Designed for remote configuration, the keypad uses Power over Ethernet technology a single CATx cable handles both signal and power. Combined with Atlona IP-controllable switching products for huddle spaces, classrooms […]

Atlona Adds Backlit Keypad

AMX Lowers Price of the Enova DGX 100 But, Instead of Writing that Story, I Wrote This One: Where in the Heck is AMX?

Since the acquisition of AMX by HARMAN, many of us in the HomeAV and ProAV markets have been wondering what happened to AMX. And, it’s not just that they’ve shrunk their once giant booths to tent-sized displays housed inside the larger HARMAN family. In fact, during that same period of time, Extron stopped exhibiting at […]

AMX Lowers Price of the Enova DGX 100 But, Instead of Writing that Story, I Wrote This One: Where in the Heck is AMX?

URC Introduces the TKP-5500 Five-Inch, In-Wall Touchscreen for the Home

New TKP-5500 in-wall touchscreen for URC Total Control smart home automation works with all URC TC Advanced Network Controller (MRX-8/10/20). It features a high resolution, 5-inch color touchscreen and can be mounted portrait or landscape in a standard single-gang wall box. It provides full utilization of all Total Control features such as IP Cameras, third-party […]

URC Introduces the TKP-5500 Five-Inch, In-Wall Touchscreen for the Home

Kramer Launches Kramer@Work at ISE

Kramer is introducing something called Kramer@Work at ISE 2016. Kramer@Work consists of packaged solutions from Kramer for any size meeting room from huddle spaces to large boardrooms but it’s all network-based. With Kramer@Work users connect either wired or wireless using any laptop or mobile device and it’s designed to allow for document editing as well […]

Kramer Launches Kramer@Work at ISE

URC Introduces New MX-990 IR/RF Remote

URC introduced the MX-990 remote that allows programmers flexibility in graphic design and layout. Graphics are stored on remote and archived in PC. The MX-990 uses popular, bulletproof Narrow-Band RF and is fully file compatible with URC’s MX-980 remote control. Additional stats: Fully customizable color 2.4″ LCD screen Graphics are stored on remote, so when uploaded from remote to […]

URC Introduces New MX-990 IR/RF Remote

Aurora Ships QXT Touch Panel

Aurora claims its QXT-700 is the world’s first platform “agnostic” Quad Core IP HD 7″ Touch Panel (QXT-700TS) / Control System (QXT-2). Designed for conference rooms, educational facilities and control over digital signage systems, it mounts into a standard two-gang box, and uses a 7-inch 1280×800 touch screen with 170 degree viewing angles. It also includes […]

Aurora Ships QXT Touch Panel

AMX Updates Massio Firmware to Add Switching

HARMAN’s AMX Massio ControlPads now have new NetLinx programming capability that include the ability to integrate any controllable switching product. Combining a wall- or lectern-mounted keypad, with the device and room control capabilities of a central controller, Massio is a control interface for meeting room and classrooms that’s available in six-button and eight-button configurations and Massio ControlPads each […]

AMX Updates Massio Firmware to Add Switching

AV Programming Sucks

By Alan Vezina Jydo In my previous post, The AV Industry Needs to Open Up, I talked about two reasons why it is difficult to become an AV programmer — proprietary hardware and certifications. Today, I am going to talk about the biggest reason there is a shortage of quality AV programmers: sub-par tools. For […]

AV Programming Sucks

Change. Cost. Control. Commitment.

Every local church should be making a difference — a notable impact — on and in their local communities. Technology is a force multiplier and can be a helpful part of churches making an impression and fostering an environment for attendees. There are four aspects to helping facilitate this kind of impact that technology providers […]

Change. Cost. Control. Commitment.

On Why We Don’t Have the Shiniest Toys Anymore

AV people used to have the coolest toys. Look back not that many years to the first AV touchpanels you saw; people oohed a bit, they ah-ed a bit and — if the installer soldered the nine-pin D-sub correctly — were impressed when the touch of one (soft) button not only turned on a room’s […]

On Why We Don’t Have the Shiniest Toys Anymore

A Story About Breadmakers — and Lutron’s Joel Spira

LUTRON is the defacto-standard lighting control company in the AV market. Think lighting control, you think LUTRON. LUTRON lost its leader of 54 years when Joel Spira passed away on April 8, 2015. I had the pleasure of consulting for LUTRON and not only meeting Joel, but also working with him (indirectly, I will admit). […]

A Story About Breadmakers — and Lutron’s Joel Spira

RTI’s KX3 In-Wall Controller Ships

Remote Technologies Incorporated (RTI) is shipping the KX3 3.5-inch in-wall touch panel keypad. Designed for residential and commercial AV applications, it includes a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, a proximity sensor to wake up the unit as a user approaches, and room status LEDs to indicate a room’s availability for a meeting. Increased installation flexibility comes from a number of features […]

RTI’s KX3 In-Wall Controller Ships

Orvito Ships World’s First Wi-Fi Enabled Touch Smart Switch Panel

Orvito is shipping its first Wi-Fi-enabled Smart Switch Panel. The Orvito Smart Switch Panel allows control of all electrical home appliances from anywhere. And, like any control system, it allows for triggering presets, sensing motion and optimizing energy consumption. The Orvito Smart Switch Panel uses Wi-Fi and is retrofittable into existing electrical switch outlets. Orbit says its products require no additional […]

Orvito Ships World’s First Wi-Fi Enabled Touch Smart Switch Panel

Simple Control Announces New iOS App, Website

Simple Control has announced that its popular Roomie app for control of AV gear and smart home devices has been upgraded to include new technology and repackaged as Simple Control. Simple Control is an app-based system for control of home theater and home automation devices. This iOS app uses Wi-Fi to control devices such as TVs, cable/satellite boxes, receivers, […]

Simple Control Announces New iOS App, Website

Apple TV Gaming and Integration

This month Apple lifted the curtain on its new Apple TV, dubbed, oddly enough, The New Apple TV. Since then, many of us in the AV business and media have spent time parsing the specifications, guessing at the hints Apple has dropped about its capabilities, and pondering the implications it’s going to have on living […]

Apple TV Gaming and Integration

The Problem (Still) With Whole Home Integration

We are better — thanks to companies like Sonos and Apple, to be frank — but not there, yet. Hey, at least one of those companies does exhibit at CEDIA Expo. Let’s be honest, the custom home integration market is still, way, way too complicated. But, is it a people problem or a product problem. […]

The Problem (Still) With Whole Home Integration

Symetrix Adds Trio of New Control Options for SymNet DSPs

Following the launch of SymNet Composer 4.1, Symetrix has added to its control and command offering for SymNet open architecture Dante-scalable DSPs with the addition of three new control options. The first of these options, the ARC-3 wall panel remote, was introduced to the systems integrator community at ISE 2015. Arriving in a single SKU […]

Symetrix Adds Trio of New Control Options for SymNet DSPs

Kramer Intros Cloud-Based Control Solution

Kramer released K-Touch 3.1 that’s capable of controlling lights, screens, sound, any AV equipment, HVAC, thermostats and more. Kramer says the K-Touch 3.1 is easier to use and reduces configuration time (compared to the previous version) with features such as sliders and new drag-and-drop programming modules for Apple TV, cameras, Vera Smarter Home Control products, […]

Kramer Intros Cloud-Based Control Solution

Extron Debuts Industry’s First Conferencing, Collaboration and Control Interface

Extron’s new CCI Pro 700 is marketed as the industry’s first control system user interface optimized for conferencing, collaboration and AV control. Right off the bat, when you look at the CCI Pro 700, you see it’s different than any other control system on the market. In fact, it reminds us of a speakerphone — […]

Extron Debuts Industry’s First Conferencing, Collaboration and Control Interface

The Video “Easy Button”

Several years ago, Staples developed the marketing campaign of the Easy Button. The concept was that going to Staples was as easy as pressing a single button and getting what you needed. I always thought that this should be the concept for touchpanels and control systems in our classrooms. Yet, there always seems to be […]

The Video “Easy Button”

AV Control, Automation, and Expectations in a Consumer-Driven World

Control and automation can be the most fun part of AV design — from the blank canvas of a user interface, one can create anything. Preview windows? Live tiles? A photo of the room which reacts as conditions change? Imagination is the limit, but there are many pitfalls. Today we’ll talk about why some users […]

AV Control, Automation, and Expectations in a Consumer-Driven World

Kramer Announces K-Touch 3.0, Will Be Shown at InfoComm

Kramer has made a big announcement ahead of InfoComm 2015 with the introduction of its K-Touch version 3.0, a cloud-based software platform for designing room control and automation BYOD systems. The new software will allow integrators to design systems that control lighting, HVAC, thermostats, as well as new and existing AV systems via a simple […]

Kramer Announces K-Touch 3.0, Will Be Shown at InfoComm