Residential Tech Today March/May 2020

“Not wanting to throw in the towel completely, I next signed up for YouTube TV to see how it measured up.” I have one of those relatives who has always been an awkward hang during holiday gatherings. While there’s a bit of an unspoken agreement between us to avoid hot-button issues of the day, that doesn’t leave much else beyond sports to talk about when forced into the same room for an extended period of time. That is, until recently, when he started complaining about the rising cost of his cable bill. Finally, a topic that we could both agree on! Prior to hosting our family Christmas this past December, I decided I would really give us something to talk about by subscribing to Hulu and “cutting the cord.” That way, I…

Sam Cavitt is the founder and CEO of Paradise Theater, a company that provides comprehensive private cinema design, engineering, and project management. He focuses his efforts on maintaining the highest standard of excellence and sharing the pleasures of fine private cinema with the industry and the world. In this issue, Cavitt introduces his concept for the Cinema Sommelier to RTT readers. At St. Louis-based Integration Controls, Jamie Briesemeister leads sales and marketing and is actively involved in business development, including industry outreach and education. She speaks about the smart, connected home at several national events. This month, Briesemeister illustrates that if you search for what fuels your passion and curiosity, you and your contributions to the smart home will get better with age. Henry Clifford founded Livewire in 2001 to meet the…

Phrases such as “adjust the rabbit ears” and “flip over the cassette” are extremely rare in the 2020s. These terms were destroyed by, unsurprisingly, the rise of streaming, which has allowed users to fit generations of music and decades of video content onto a minuscule smartphone. But, while we all know that streaming media is king, some of the specifics are still a mystery to the general public. Let’s take a look at some surprising stats from the wide world of streaming. VIDEO STREAMING SERVICES WITH MOST SUBSCRIBERS STREAMING VIDEO ON DEMAND (SVOD) REVENUE U.S. MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION/STREAMING REVENUE MUSIC STREAMING SUBSCRIBER SHARE (First half of 2019) Spotify - 36%Apple Music - 18%Amazon - 13%Tencent - 10%Google - 5%Deezer - 3%Pandora - 2%MelON - 2%Others - 11% Source: www.statista.com Super Bowl LIV was the most live-streamed Super Bowl in…

When not practicing social distancing, what are your favorite demo clips to entertain potential clients and sell home theater and music systems? “Shallow” from A Star is Born shows a range of vocals, combined with visuals and the emotional experience occurring on screen. “Never Enough,” from The Greatest Showman is more upbeat, with horses stomping their feet you can hear and feel, lots of on-screen action, great vocals, and a powerful scene. For audio and video performance combined, we love to show the scene where Matt Damon’s character in Ford v. Ferrari takes Henry Ford Jr. for his first ride in a race car and the Daytona 7000 RPM scene from the same movie. – Greg Margolis, HomeTronics, Dallas, TX We don’t sell 2-channel, but I like to demo audio clips of Alison Krauss…

Racepoint Energy, the energy solutions sister brand, acquired the technology and team of NOON Home, including residential lighting control innovations developed by the NOON team based out of Campbell, CA. This acquisition, announced at the beginning of 2020, will enable Racepoint Energy and sister-company Savant to deliver more comprehensive and intuitive lighting and intelligent control solutions. NOON entered the smart lighting market in 2017 with the development of the NOON Lighting System, designed to eliminate many of the installation complexities associated with traditional lighting control solutions. NOON, with its unique lighting hardware, offers a complete lighting control platform that can be discovered, configured, and controlled with a single app experience. This acquisition will expand both Racepoint Energy and Savant’s lighting control offerings, including the addition of NOON’s unique keypad style to…

With the dramatic increase in everyday connected devices, homeowners and business owners alike have come to expect an always-on connection. That means there’s a new standard for network dependability, and that standard is only going to get higher. Today’s integrators are faced with the challenge of installing systems that are expected to work quickly and reliably 100 percent of the time. What end users don’t always realize is that there’s a strong network running behind their system for connectivity. The best networking equipment isn’t the only thing necessary to meet customers’ expectations – a reliable install can make or break a network. Meeting this demand starts with the right design that specifies the right equipment. Luxul’s Customer Assurance Program, or CAP, is a free service for Luxul dealers that helps ease this…