Residential Tech Today Summer 2021

To fulfill my goal to use the XGIMI Halo on my back deck, I would need a new projection surface to match up with the projector. The first two things that jumped out at me when I saw a photo of the XGIMI Halo projector were its relatively compact size and unique industrial design. The XGIMI Halo looked to me more like a family member of a Sonos speaker, with its wraparound silver metal grille “skin,” vertical orientation, and it seemed like it could provide a hassle-free way to watch sporting events and movies under the stars on the back deck of my house. The XGIMI Halo measures about seven inches high by four and half inches wide by five and a half inches deep. Without more than a cursory look over…

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. Cavitt is spearheading Cinema Connoisseur, an initiative to create a community of enthusiasts, cinema connoisseurs, both professional and public, to embrace and enhance the world of private cinema and film. Heather Sidorowicz is a freelance writer, CEDIA volunteer, and president/owner at Southtown Audio Video, in Hamburg, NY. SAV specializes in solutions – in both the commercial and residential markets – making meetings more productive in hybrid conference rooms and expanding your Wi-Fi throughout the home. In this issue, Sidorowicz ventures a bit outside the…

“Where are you seeing the most opportunity right now to cross over from home installs into light commercial or vice versa?” The network is finally a leading conversation. IT in the office has always had a department, a proposal or at least a line item on every proposal. In residential, many builders and even homeowners have almost always assumed that their local ISP provider would be able to offer them the solutions they need. During the pandemic and people’s time at home, they are learning that is not the case, so we are getting more calls for enterprise-grade networks. – Amanda Wildman, TruMedia, Ada, MI Executives working from home are requesting better tech, and we find ourselves installing enterprise-grade networks in homes. Another technology that we use from the commercial jobs is 70v audio…

Buzr, a New York City-based consumer electronics startup, has launched Buzr Pro, a smart home device that integrates into buildings’ existing intercom systems and connects to users’ phones. Once installed and connected to Buzr’s app, a resident will be immediately notified when a package arrives or when someone is at their door. Buzr Pro was designed to replace outdated apartment access systems (buzzers/intercoms) by only requiring the user to install the Buzr Pro smart device hardware into the individual apartment or condo wall unit. Buzr Pro Replaces Legacy Intercoms It is estimated that more than 2.5 million apartments in New York City – and 250 million apartments globally – have building entry intercom systems that were built on 1800s technology. These legacy intercom systems are largely why one in three packages in NYC…

For those who are Apple TV device fans, the long wait for a great new model is finally over. In the 2021 release of Apple TV, the current Apple TV’s A10X Fusion processor will be replaced with the A12 Bionic for significant improvement in video processing to enable 4K HDR, including Dolby Vision with 60fps/High Frame Rate (HFR) playback. Apple is working with streaming service providers across the globe to release content with HDR/HFR, and iPhone 12 owners will be able to use AirPlay to stream content that they have shot with Dolby Vision at 60fps. For those displaying new flat panel TVs at retail or in showrooms, this gives you an added tool for showing your own custom demo material. Elsewhere on the “inside,” there are two very important upgrades that…

The acronym “vMPVD” is a bit unwieldy, but what it means – virtual multichannel video programming distributor – is another element of the rapidly changing face of content delivery to the masses. These streaming services and “skinny bundles” are aimed directly at serving the growing number of cord-cutters. As Elizabeth Parks of Parks Associates notes: “We’re watching the great unbundling and re-bundling of content channels.” Paul Erickson, a senior analyst at Parks, noted in a recent online presentation titled, “Evolution of vMVPDs: Finding Success” that, “Subscribers of these services are growing, and by 2023, they’ll be second only to cable. Price is the biggest driver for adoption, but content is the other one: ‘Does this service have what I want to watch?’” Shane Cannon, president of Vidgo, noted that his service (which…