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Control4 adds apps

The affordable home automation firm Control4 has gone several years with a very basic graphic user interface (GUI) offering simple control to everyone. Earlier this year they unveiled a new GUI based on Adobe Flash which offers much more customization abilities.

One new feature is the ability to download and install applications (apps) on the home automation system which can then be accessed from anywhere in the home where a Control4 interface is installed, even from wireless touch panels. These apps add control features, such as power monitoring, but also entertainment and communications apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, and more.

Some apps are free, and others cost a few dollars.

From the looks of it, Control4 has found a great way to perhaps deliver online video throughout a home in a very simple way – or even out on the patio with a wireless touch panel.

Check out this video provided by CEPro.

The iPad is a Crestron touchpanel

When Apple introduced the new iPad, I wrote it would make a cheap touchpanel. Today, I received the following announcement from Crestron:

The hot new Apple iPad is a full 2-way Crestron touchpanel – available the same day it ships from Apple. Immediately take advantage of the free Crestron Mobile app (currently available from iTunes) to transform your iPad into a complete home automation touchpanel, or use the Crestron Mobile Pro app to turn the iPad into a entirely customized user interface while enjoying the sleek, stylish Apple look, right from day one.

Use existing Crestron software tools to create GUI designs and seamlessly integrate with any Crestron control system, including Prodigy. Use the vast library of free Crestron graphics or produce custom images desired. Browse, select and play songs and movies; control lights and adjust temperature, all from the iPad.

The iPad connects to the Crestron controller via WiFi or 3G network the same way the iPhone or iPod touch does today. Simply add complete Crestron control to any room in the home, or take advantage of the 3G iPad for control anywhere, whether in the car, on vacation or at the office.

Crestron is committed to offering great solutions for integrating Apple products into the home. Create touchpanel interfaces with XPanel for Mac to take full Crestron control from any iMac or MacBook. Convert your iPod into a Crestron controlled media server using the Crestron Interface for Apple iPod (CEN-IDOCV), Crestron iServer (CEN-ISERVER) or the Prodigy Interface for Apple iPod (P-IDOCV). Crestron Mobile lets you use the iPad, as well as iPhone and iPod touch, to take complete control of any system, anywhere.

Check out the complete Crestron line for Integration with Apple Products at www.crestron.com/apple.

Panasonic Blu-ray/VHS combo baffles

Question: What do Demi Moore, Fred Thompson, and Panasonic’s newest Blu-ray Disc player have in common? Answer: They’ve all played a VHS tape.

The Panasonic DMP-BD70V Blu-ray Disc player also plays VHS cassette tapes. This makes as much sense as recording cable shows on a VCR (as one recent client asked to do). No, it makes less sense because this VHS player won’t even record – it only plays!

As mind-blowing as this product’s mere existence is, what’s more discombobulating is the fact that Amazon is selling it for $139 with free shipping. Pretend the VHS player isn’t attached and it’s one of the best deals I’ve ever seen on a BD player … ever.


Included on the player is an SD memory card slot; USB port; upconversion to 1080p for DVD and VHS; 7.1 channel audio decoding with bitstream output over HDMI (including DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD); and, internet video streaming from Amazon, YouTube, and more. Quite a fully-featured player, with VHS to boot.

Maybe my mother-in-law can use this…

Vizio bowl ad featuring Beyonce

The official TV of the NFL might be Samsung, but the biggest game of the year was sponsored by Vizio. Their big ad ran in the fourth quarter was directed by cinematographer Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight) and featured superstar Beyoncé.

The commercial spot ran for over a full minute and spotlighted the Vizio Interactive Apps (VIA), which is a toolbar for internet content. Featured apps included Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Vudu, Yahoo!, and Flickr. YouTUbe was not mentioned by name, but popular YouTube memes such as Chocolate Rain, Numa, Numa, and Dramatic Hamster.

Other features in the spot included built-in Wi-Fi, and LED back-lighting.

The video itself sort of made Vizio televisions seem menacing.

What does the iPad mean for internet video?

By now you’ve heard about Apple’s newest product, the iPad. Steve Jobs calls it “magical” and “revolutionary.” Apple stocks fell dramatically upon its announcement. It is sexy. It is familiar. It will be popular, if for no other reason than the media will convince everyone it is (kind of like Twitter).

Whatever you think about this new iPod Touch XL, it has people talking. It seems some people pay no attention to any technology unless Steve Jobs shows it at Macworld. I heard someone on the radio express how wonderful Apple’s idea was to make a device that allows you to carry lots of books around with you; it was as if the last two years, the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Sony e-Reader never existed. And that’s how powerful Apple has become. The innovation of an entire global industry is ignored, but when Apple introduces their version the whole American media world acts like Steve Jobs descended from Mount Sinai.



All this as an introduction simply to suggest the iPad will undoubtedly create another cottage industry dedicated to iPad apps. Apple locks everything down so much it’s unlikely they will allow much competition with their own iTunes store (prediction: antitrust lawsuit in Europe), but many people will find new ways to use the portable video screen to access their entertainment.

Even though the claim by Apple about the iPad is “The best way to experience the web,” the lack of support for Adobe Flash and Microsoft SIlverlight does cripple the browser from accessing several sources of video, it’s more than likely apps will be made for specific services. iTunes is a direct competitor with Amazon Video On Demand and Vudu, but Netflix’s subscription service may make the cut. Maybe one of these days Apple will allow a Pandora app.

But apps aside (it is all speculation after all), how will this device be used to enjoy TV shows and movies? The iTunes store will of course allow rentals and purchases, but will people take a 10-inch tablet with them on the Subway to watch last night’s Colbert Report, or will they stick with the iPhone? The dock for the iPad is on the bottom edge, meaning docking the screen leaves it in portrait mode, so how will one watch wide-screen TV? The screen’s aspect is somewhere between 4:3 and 16:10 when in landscape mode, but there is no kickstand or dock (yet) for hand’s free use. Are we expected to always hold this device? Like the iPod, the iPad is a breeding ground for accessories.

Finally, most home automation and entertainment control companies offer iPhone/iPod Touch apps to allow control of your home system on your portable device; Control4, Crestron, AMX, Speakercraft, Savant, and more all offer apps in the iTunes store. These apps should work immediately on the iPad without changing a thing. New apps will undoubtedly be created to utilize the larger display. This is probably the most exciting use for the iPad that I can think of, though a $499 10-inch touch panel seems unfair when a Control4 7-inch panel is $2,499. It’s nothing like Samsung’s prototype panel, but the multiple uses the iPad has can certain advantages.

(Imagine that: A whole article and not one mention of Google.)

New HDMI logos and naming

Over the past several months, HDMI 1.4 has been talked about. There has been a lot of confusion about what exactly the new version will offer. With a huge boost in available bandwidth, support for higher resolutions, 3D video, and even Ethernet. There is even a new mini connector.

While there are still a lot of questions, HDMI LLC, the governing body for the HDMI interface, there is information out about the future labeling scheme. HDMI is attempting to quash product confusion while cracking down on false advertisement and non-certified cables. Below are listed some of the new guidelines.

“The names for cable types shall be used exactly as specified and shall not be modified…in any way.”

This means there can be no descriptor added to the names of the cables. The only cable types allowed by HDMI LLC are the following:

Effective as of January 1, 2012, all non-cable products cannot make any reference to HDMI version numbers. Until that time Adopters can use HDMI version numbers only when the feature or features associated with that HDMI version number is clearly specified. For instance, a manufacturer can describe a product as featuring “HDMI® v.1.4 with Audio Return Channel and HDMI Ethernet Channel,” but may not describe a product as being “HDMI® v.1.4 compliant.”

Hopefully this doesn’t mean we’ll have more labeling issues on the next version.

This is all interesting because when you visit the official HDMI website they have the 1.4 designation all over the place.

Sony’s new Blu-ray player line

Blu-ray Disc (BD) is commonly referred to as a “Sony” format, yet they have trailed behind other manufacturers in providing cutting-edge features. This is partly because Sony in so inwardly focused they rename universal features for their products. But 2010 bodes well for the Sony BD players.

Three new players will be coming starting in March to replace the three existing models. The basic model is the $199 BDP-S370 and features a new quicker start-up, all high-definition audio codecs, DVD upscaling, SACD for the first time in a Sony BD standalone player, DLNA, Gracenote, BRAVIA internet video streaming, and is WiFi ready (requires USB device).

The next level is the $249 BDP-S570 which adds on-board WiFi, and IP video scaling.



The flagship model comes in at $299 and is the BDP-S770. This is player supports 3D content, and receives a backlit remote.

An interesting feature the new models receive is an iPhone/iPod Touch app which enables control of the player from the hand held device. This app also features the disc’s cover art and other information, plus the ability to search for internet videos.

The BRAVIA Internet Video connects to Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Slacker Internet Radio, Pandora, NPR, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and Sony’s own online store.

Update: Here’s a video from Sony demonstrating the new BDP-S570: