By Guest
There are a lot of things I love about my Control4 system. The whole-house audio system which pipes rock in the backyard while I’m barbecuing, watching multiple basketball games on the TVs in my den like I’m in my very own sports bar, using one button to turn off all the lights my kids seem physically incapable of shutting off when the leave the house, and so on. But last night, I had one more reason to love my smart home...
By
...So how did Control4 save the day? With Bond like reflexes, I reached into my dress jacket pocket, pulled out my Android device and fired up the MyHome mobile app. Within seconds, I was automatically connected to my home over 4G service. I handed the phone to my wife, and with a quick tap of her finger, she locked the front door. The door lock icon on my screen confirmed it was locked and we received another confirmation when the sitter called , a bit startled that the door had just locked itself...
By Guest
...This trend has shifted, as home automation becomes more desirable to families rather than an expensive luxury. Interior designers and builders are increasingly turning to professional smart home integrators to help them design and build smart home technology solutions for their customers. According to a recent Better Homes & Gardens real estate survey, “When it comes to the next generation of homeowners, more than half (56%) of Millennials believe home technology capabilities are more important than ‘curb appeal’.”
By Lisa Harmer
We celebrate a few non-traditional holidays in our house like they are Christmas. The Superbowl and the Oscars. As a diehard Broncos fan, the Superbowl this year was devastating, and embarrassing, and something I’d like to forget. We can only hope that the 86th Annual Academy Awards this Sunday turns out better. We have a group of equally nerdy, movie-buff friends who gather for Oscar night every year. We crowd around our 70” Sony TV—usually reserved for Sunday football and weeknight basketball games—to watch from the first red carpet interview to the final sign-off from Ellen.
By Lisa Harmer
It’s starting to feel a little spring-like in Utah, and unlike much of the country where major snow and ice storms in December and January have stunted winter home-building efforts, we’re starting to see a lot of new construction. The big building season is starting to heat up, much like the weather, and according to Forbes, “homebuilders should be optimistic” about the overall demand for new homes in 2014 and 2015.
By Tyler Reed
Home automation is fun! It really is. It’s exciting to be able to control all of your devices from one interface and be able to program “scenes” that allow you to turn on your TV, lights, and adjust the temperature, all from the push of a single button. But in order to really understand just how cool home automation is, you really must experience it, not just read about it...
By Crystal Watts
Valentine’s Day is all about showering your special loved one with candy, chocolate and the like. But what would be the real icing on the cake? Taking her to pick her own goodies in a fully automated sweet shop.
By Tyler Reed
The Winter Olympics are upon us. I love the Olympics and I’ve discovered there is just no point in watching the Olympics casually. Sure I could watch NBC’s nightly recaps, even though Twitter has already announced all the winners and there seems to be more commercials than actual competition. But there are only a few sporting events per year that give us the chance to truly take advantage of a full video wall, allowing you to watch every event as they happen...
By Crystal Watts
As ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) comes to an end, we want to congratulate our incredible dealers who were selected as winners for our 2013 EMEA Dealer-Distributor Awards. With a grand total of 27 awards presented within 9 distinct categories, this year hit a record number of submissions—which reinforces the growth of our EMEA custom installation channel.
By Guest
My clientele is increasingly becoming more and more tech dependent. The younger customers have grown up with technology and they expect it to be part of their lives no matter where they are. And, of course, the popularity of mobile devices that can control virtually everything has led them to the question, “Why shouldn’t I be able to control everything in my home too?” The ability to connect to and control the devices in a home has become an essential feature, for homes today and homes of the future, in order to maximize efficiency and entertainment.
By Crystal Watts
Our dealers work on a lot of cool projects, and these particular ones certainly don't disappoint. In fact, they have been coined our top five automated Super Bowl pads. Be sure to check out all the extended details here. But here are some of the highlights:
By Crystal Watts
We asked two of our dealers—one from Seattle and one from Denver—to give us their thoughts on an ultimate man cave proposal for the Super Bowl. What would they do to completely outfit a Seahawk or Bronco customer’s fan cave? We think they did a pretty good job. But YOU get to decide who will get the win.
By Guest
We’d start with an HC800 to power the Fan Cave and the rest of the house. We’d have a Control4 video switch powering the 16 video zones in the home, including 3 outdoor TVs since the Colorado weather is so much better than Seattle. A Control4 audio matrix switch would power the 24 audio zones so that the game can be on everywhere in the house.
By Guest
My ideal "Fan Cave" would have a Control4 8x8 HDMI Matrix Switch to control the eight displays in the room. For control it would have a 7" portable touch screen remote, with a HC-800 doing the paddling. It would include an in-wall Control4 Keypad, with blue and bright green back-lit LED buttons—since blue and green is a much more desirable combination than blue and orange.
By Crystal Watts
...I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily an audiophile. Although whole house audio was the first thing we added when we had our Control4 system installed. And whenever we have friends over, it’s all about passing around the Control4 Portable Touch Screen, as we each take turns controlling the speakers to blast our newest flavor-of-the-week.
By Crystal Watts
If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out our President and CEO, Martin Plaehn on Bloomberg's "Money Moves" segment, discussing the state of home automation, Control4's integration with over 7000 3rd party devices, and delivering on a promise to provide the best solutions for the connected consumer.
By Tyler Reed
...The rapid expansion of these connected devices, or “Internet of Things” technology as it is often called, is very exciting. By connecting these devices, we are gaining more control than we have ever had before. We can adjust the thermostat from the office, check the security cameras from the movie theater, or turn the lights off or close the garage door from just about anywhere—whether you’re next door or across the world.
By Tyler Reed
This year’s CES showcased a lot of new and enticing technology products. I had the opportunity to spend some time walking the show floor and here are the top five products that caught my eye. 1. Panasonic AX800 4K LCD TV Panasonic has always had a reputation for producing some of the best plasma TVs on the market. However, just a couple of months ago they announced the discontinuation of their plasma product line due to declining profits, leaving TV picture quality enthusiasts (myself included) to wonder how they could ever replace those amazing black levels and smooth motion with an LCD display. Enter the AX800 4K LCD TV.
By Crystal Watts
As mentioned in yesterday's blog post: "What it Means to have a 'Truly' Connected Home," we talk about how home automation is not one app to turn off one light, a different app to set the thermostat and another app to arm your security system. Home automation is hitting an “Away” button on a Control4 Keypad as you leave the house and your garage door closes, the exterior doors lock, the security system arms, the lights turn off and the thermostat lowers the heat into energy savings mode. It’s programming all aspects of your home to act in a way that matches your lifestyle and your family’s needs. It’s a personalized system that’s customized for YOU. That’s what makes a truly smart and connected home. We have created an infographic to help demonstrate just what it means when it all works together. It's simplicity at its best: One smart home app to run your entire smart home. Enjoy!
By Susan Cashen
This year at CES, there’s a lot of buzz around the “Internet of Things” and the “Connected Home.” The big guys are dropping announcements that detail how they’re playing in this hot space and some new start-up point solutions are jumping into the fray, using the show to broaden visibility. It’s exciting to see so much attention paid to what we at Control4 have known all along—the home automation space and the connected home are not a fluffy futuristic promise, but a grounded reality that consumers are embracing and investing in today.
By Tyler Reed
The 2014 International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) is upon us. Leading up to this year’s show I’ve been paying close attention to the rumors about new products and technology, and here is what I’m expecting we’ll see or hear buzz about at 2014 CES...
By Crystal Watts
As 2013 comes to an end, we wanted to take a look back at some of our favorite video projects from the past year. We have had the joy of experiencing some pretty amazing places with some incredible Control4 customers. Their stories have been interesting, heartfelt, or just plain kooky—but all of them have been theirs—simply one-of-a-kind—and their home automation systems have been built to complement their individual lifestyles. Feel free to travel with us down memory lane...
By Tyler Reed
Unlike most parents who hope to just sleep in as long as possible on Christmas morning until their kids come to wake them up to open presents, we have the opposite problem. Our 2 and a half-year-old son loves to sleep late and we actually have to wake him up on Christmas morning so that we have enough time to open presents before we head out to an annual family Christmas breakfast that starts at 9am. Way too early, in my opinion, but that’s our family tradition. In my opinion we should have moved on to family brunch some time ago, but I’ve been outvoted so we start our mornings earlier than most. Luckily, our Control4 automation system has allowed us to have a little bit of fun while waking up and helps us all remember that this day is a little more special than every other day of the year.
By Crystal Watts
Thanks to Control4 home automation, Santa gets a little treat this holiday season—and it's not just milk and cookies this time around...
By Guest
In a previous article, Jim Arnold referenced smart lighting in the home with Control4, and it got me thinking about other smart home devices that would make unique Christmas presents. Here are some fun, and practical, smart home gadgets that a tech-savvy person would love. But before you add more smart devices to your home, make sure you have the Internet bandwidth to support them. With so many devices vying for an Internet connection, your other web-enabled devices might suffer from latency.
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