Do you love gaming but feel like something is missing? With these five home automation tips, you can boost the mood of your gaming session and take it to the next level.
A dark space, high definition crystal clear clarity, ear popping surround sound, and the smell of buttery popcorn. Going to the cinema holds a great appeal for many, but what with long lines, crowded malls, and exorbitant prices for tickets and concessions, that appeal can quickly wane. Luckily there’s a new frontier in cinema currently taking place which eradicates these issues. The home theater includes all of the immersive advantages of a traditional cinema but at your own convenience, control, and customization.
With a refreshed appearance to the user-interface and enhancements specifically in the comfort and security experiences—whether it's to maximize energy efficiency or to ensure that all is safe and sound—monitoring and controlling your smart home from the palm of your hand (or even on your wrist) has never been easier...
Last year, we saw a dramatic rise in smart home reports and surveys popping up everywhere. As a manufacturer with over 180,000 smart home systems in the field, we receive a ton of great information from our customers when we issue our customer surveys. Our own feedback shows that homeowners desire personalized experiences in the home with regard to entertainment, comfort, security and more. In fact, we estimate that 60 percent of them want their homes to react according to their predetermined preferences, just as they walk through the door.
For the second year in a row, the CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis determined Control4 as the brand leader for the whole-house automation and control category and was named top brand in additional categories. See more, with a link to the full CE Pro report.
The FBI reports that in 2014 we had 1,121,416 residential burglaries nationwide. Spacing those out evenly across the entire year gives us one burglary every 28 seconds. But here’s the good news: that number is down 10% from 2013. In fact, that statistic has been steadily dropping each year since 2011. Not coincidentally, by 2011, more than 75% of U.S. homes were connected to the Internet. Wireless home monitoring was the new trend...
Would you like to make your kitchen futuristic without having to break the bank or spend months waiting for your home to be renovated? That’s now very easy to achieve in the modern era of smart kitchen technology, where fridges can tell you what’s inside and for how long each item has been there, or cookers that can interact with your smartphone to tell you when your meal is ready to be served. This infographic by Pennywell (www.pennywell.ie) takes a look at the impact of smart kitchen appliances, giving you a peek into an exciting future.
Network stability is the foundation for every smart home. It’s not just a “nice to have,” it’s a requirement. Whether you spend $2000, $10,000 or $100,000 on an AV system or a smart home system, its performance is only as good as the network it runs on. Would you buy a high performance Lamborghini sports car and fill it with unleaded regular gasoline? Of course not, but that is exactly...
Working from home has its luxuries, including a flexible schedule, no dress code, and the lack of office environment stress. But that doesn’t mean it’s an all-day movie marathon pajama party. You have important tasks to accomplish that require tuning out numerous distractions, and you must tackle menial side-tasks without getting derailed. When you’re physically uncomfortable or worried about activities going on outside of your office, a whole day’s worth of productivity can fly out the window.
Smart home technology is all about the automation or management of your home and daily life. This could be anything from lights that can be controlled remotely or on a schedule, to connected home entertainment systems for streaming media to multiple screens, or added features to enhance your home security. To some, smart home technology might seem like an appealing concept for gadget-gurus. But in reality, a big selling point of smart home technology is that it can actually save money, in addition to making life more convenient...
Today we announced the acquisition of Pakedge, a leader in advanced home networking products and cloud network-management capabilities for both wireless and wired networking solutions. Pakedge brings to Control4 deep networking expertise and an industry-leading suite of networking, power management, and remote monitoring products, along with advanced software capabilities unlike any others on the market today. Their founders, senior management, and product organization are joining the Control4 team and we are enthusiastic about all we can do together for the future of the smart home.
Whether it’s watching TV or listening to music, you could say that entertainment is the heart and soul of any home. As homeowners who love to entertain—or be entertained—we want our content readily available and easily accessible. And in today’s high-tech world, it’s not unrealistic for each family member to expect a personalized experience that allows them to watch and list to whatever, whenever, and wherever in the home...
In June of last year, we launched push notifications that would allow you to receive proactive alerts about important events in your home. Today, we are incredibly excited to announce the full blending of smarts between the Control4 home and the Apple Watch. The engineers at Control4 were thoughtful in their development of this app...
We are excited about the new year, and even more excited to share some big news with you. Join us for the online event on Tuesday, January 26 at 10:00 a.m. MST, 12:00 p.m. EST to watch it live!
We are pretty excited to have been hand-picked by Houzz for an editorial ideabook feature titled, "Designing With the Stars: Aquarius." In the article, the author, Kate Macdessi, notes that people with the Aquarius sign are drawn to technology. In fact, they tend to be the most tech-savvy of the zodiac bunch. Are you an Aquarius sign? If so, do you agree that your sign is the tech-savviest of them all? We'd love to hear from you.
Home burglaries and break-ins are common, far more than you may think. Though property crime has come down in the United States in recent years, a report released by the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the FBI says that 1,121,416 residences in the country were burglarized in 2014. Fortunately, home burglaries are much easier to prevent if you follow a few simple safety rules and guidelines...
Every January marks yet another year of the biggest Consumer Electronics show in the world: CES in Las Vegas. This week, we debuted a proof-of-concept to unite smart home functionality with connected cars; a topic that is proving to be a popular one this year.
Building a new home is an exciting time for a family. Just like buying a new car, you get to be the only people who have a say in the configuration from the very beginning. You get to explicitly specify what it looks like, how many rooms it has, what those rooms do, and best of all, the optional equipment it contains! Buying a used home, again like a used car, is all about finding the best option available that suits your “wants and needs” criteria. Certainly they both can be fun processes, but when you get to build something from the ground-up, you inject your own personalized touches and characteristics that truly make it your home sweet home...
With the holiday decorating, shopping, and cooking in full swing, there has never been a better time to automate your home. Home automation can help you manage the wonderful chaos, entertaining your family when they come to visit, setting that special ambience that inspires the holiday spirit, and keeping your valuables and loved ones more secure than ever...
Every year nearly one million families have their homes ruined and their lives overturned by water damage and the subsequent repairs. These incidents are always unexpected and the cost of repairs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Even after the damage is repaired, you can still suffer from side effects—such as mold—that are invasive and hard to track down.
As an interior designer I have dedicated my life to creating optimal environments for individuals with autism. Raising an autistic child can be a challenge; I know, my son Devin was diagnosed at age three. Through my research, my writing, and my work, I recognize that design cannot cure a child, but the right designed environment can eliminate unnecessary roadblocks...
As you can clearly see, this futuristic home in South Africa is truly like none other. Between the best-of-the-best in architects, interior designers and technology experts, it features unsurpassed quality, aesthetics and performance.
Since the dawn of time—or perhaps just since man lived in caves, actually—the alpha male of the family has desired a place of his own. A room where he can get away from it all, have a sip of a little fermented-something, and entertain some fellow cave dudes...
With the use of a Control4 home automation system, you can make this Thanksgiving dinner easier and more efficient than ever. Here are five reasons why.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukah are approaching fast – it’s hard to believe 2015 is almost over. While you start thinking about your guest list for holiday celebrations and your Christmas or Hanukah shopping list, take some time to get in the holiday spirit with smart home automation. Here are our three tips for using your smart home for some holiday fun.