Smart Home

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It’s no secret that the electronic security industry is heading down some new roads. The weakened economy since August 2008 has affected sales, and forced installing and service companies to ask some deeper questions regarding how to provide value.

Inside and around homes, in homeowner vehicles and through diverse mobile devices, everything, if not everyone, is starting to talk among themselves.

There is no sure-bet way concerning wiring, protocols, proprietary and open standards when it comes to home networking. Most often a number of wired and wireless methods coexist or run separately. 

An extensive portfolio of “connected home” solutions and technologies focuses on a refresh of Honeywell’s Total Connect Web interface. The advances center on remote services, support for Z-Wave-enabled thermostat and lighting controls, and integration with Control4 home automation systems.

New data from The Nielsen Company, State of the Media 2010, estimates the average United States household has 2.5 television (TV) sets, with 1.9 standard definition TVs and 0.6 high-definition (HD)TVs.

HAI, a manufacturer of integrated automation and security products since 1985, announced the winners of its Five-Star Dealer program for 2011 on March 17 at its annual Dealer Appreciation Party.

Apple’s iPad commanded 85 percent of the market for media tablets in 2010, according to full-year figures reported by ABI Research. The tablet market surged in the second half of the year, but it wasn’t just tablets: device categories including netbooks and mobile broadband-enabled eBook Readers showed gains in year-over-year shipment numbers in 2010.

The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) released its fourth document in a series of white papers on the topic of HDMI. The latest document, titled Understanding EDID, covers extended display information data, the data contained on each DVI display or HDMI sink.

Mirroring the growth of home energy monitoring, the smart grid and “in the cloud” services, AT&T and E3 Greentech will jointly provide wireless access to a central unit, the E3 Intelligent Bridge, to help homeowners and property managers optimize their energy use by automatically reducing energy waste.