December 18, 2009 | by Lisa Montgomery

2009 is coming to a close, so I thought it would be appropriate to look back at the homes I’ve featured during the year.

Surprisingly, I remembered at least one interesting tidbit about each and every one, and we’re talking dozens of homes—including many winners and finalists from our annual Home of the Year Awards program.

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Authorized Savant dealers will be able to resell iPads.

Update (April 1, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.): The ROSIE iPad App is now available in the App Store. Check out the image below for the description.

Update 2: (April 2, 4:30 p.m.) Savant has released an image of its iPad App, which it called the ROSIE 4i iPad App.

Savant already told us Apple’s iPad will redefine home automation.

Soon, we’ll know how.

The home automation manufacturer plans to go public with its ROSIE iPad app on April 5. The ROSIE iPad app will cost $9.99 at the App Store.

President Jim Carroll previously told CE Pro that Savant was designing a version of its ROSIE iPhone app specifically for the iPad. “We’re going to do some pretty cool things and take advantage of the additional [9.7-inch screen] real estate,” he said.

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December 18, 2009 | by Steven Castle

February 03, 2010 | by Lisa Montgomery

Not everyone has the luxury of dedicating a room solely for big-screen movie viewing. More often, that space is shared with a family room, a den or a guest bedroom.

And that’s OK. Your family room is already finished and furnished. Plus, it probably already has a good-size TV and modest surround-sound system.

If your family room is like most, it may not look or feel much like a theater. What it’s likely lacking is ambiance - something in the arrangement and design of the room that gives off a theater vibe.

You can go as simple or as complicated as you want to produce the desired cinematic effect. Here are 10 ideas to consider.

1. Re-paint: Dark, rich colors like burgundy and navy blue scream theater. Plus, because light doesn’t reflect off dark colors like it does off light colors, the video on your TV will look better.

2. Rearrange the Furniture: The screen at your local cinema sits directly in front of the seats; your TV should, too, which may require a slight adjustment of your family room furniture.

3. Add Architectural Details: Decorative moldings, pillars and other theater-inspired details are widely available at home improvement stores.

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by Julie Jacobson

It may not seem hip today, but 15 years ago, this media room was the biggity bomb.

Desser Media Room

Commissioned by Ed Desser, then the president of NBA Television, the entertainment center features 18 tube TVs and a 108-inch projection screen.

“I bought a bunch of 19-inch TVs and stacked them on top of each other and thought it would be really interesting to see what — at the time — was on all three networks,” says Desser. “I liked it enough so I added some more. And I thought, if having six monitors on is good, well then, 19 has to be better.”

So Desser enlisted Electronics Design Group of Piscataway, N.J. EDG founder and president Bob Gullo recalls, “We worked with a cabinet maker, drawing sketches with pencils.” Today, EDG’s “sketches” are lifelike renderings.
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by Lisa Montgomery Electronic House

Home control is all about simplicity. You press a button and a million things happen. If you can’t find that button, though, it’s pointless to even have a system in your house. That’s why it’s so important to make sure the interface (i.e. remote control, touchpanel or keypad) you use to command the lights, thermostats, A/V gear and other devices is well designed by your custom electronics professional.

It’s a difficult endeavor, both for manufacturers who build the interfaces and for the pros who design them. There are a lot of elements to consider: the layout of the buttons; the size, shape and color of those buttons; and the sequence of actions required to launch commands to electronic devices around the house. It would be easy if everyone marched to the same drum, and in many ways, we do. There are certain human factors that apply to everyone: we read from left to right, view lists from top to bottom and associate danger with the color red, for example.

Beyond these reference points, however, there’s little commonality between users, and this is where the design of a user interface gets tricky. Should your collection of music titles be listed on the right side of the screen or the left?  Would you like all of your home control commands presented on a floorplan rather than on separate “room” pages? Would you like access to your entire channel guide or just your favorite stations?

User preferences are bound to be all over the board. What you like will undoubtedly be different than your custom electronics (CE) pro’s previous customers. In fact, your preferences may be drastically different even from those of your spouse and kids.
Obviously, the more your CE pro knows about you and your family, the better prepared he’ll be to design an interface that’s intuitive and suits the needs of everyone who uses it. Think beyond those who live at your house, like the babysitter, your mother and guests who stay at your house occasionally. They’ll need to know how to work the remote, touchpanel or keypad, too.

Here are a few key factors that can help your CE pro determine the best design for your home control interface.

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