Under the new moniker of Home Technology Event, CEDIA Region 1 once more gathered together impassioned custom installers across UK and their CEDIA membership region.
More than 150 brands were represented, more than 120 hours of education, a 3D showroom and Show Floor Theatres were some of the highlights stressed in this London event at an opening press conference by Rufus Greenway from Sound Environment London and a CEDIA volunteer.
The powerful component of this CEDIA event is the dedication of the industry volunteers. These volunteers are residential systems installers who step up to run CEDIA’s various committees. They contribute their time and dedication—and their enthusiasm sets the pace for their annual event.
It’s not the world’s largest event, nor the AV industry’s largest event: but in its niche, the Home Technology Event is a well thought-out, well-organized event with happy exhibitors and satisfied attendees.
The Show Floor Seminar Theatre, host to some of the industry experts talking about the future of residential custom installation, caught our attention.
There Michael Heiss and Steve Moore presented a fast-paced Post Game Show retrospective analysis of the trends and technologies. Obviously there are not many new product launches that weren’t at February’s ISE (part owned by CEDIA) or at InfoComm (in Las Vegas just the week before this London event).
But Heiss and Moore suggested the products at the Home Technology Show confirmed many of the trends. Trends like HDMI 1.4, more Blu-ray, VoIP intercom and others.
They crowned this year’s Home Technology Show as the king of in-wall speakers, “more than any other show we’ve seen.”
And they especially noted Ebode, a Klipsch-invented product that’s displayed and distributed in Europe by BMB.
It’s an LED light and a high-quality loudspeaker that installs like a light bulb.
They are designed to fit into most 5? and 6? (R30 or R40) recessed lighting fixtures, or with an accessory, the LightHarp, you can use them in common lamps.
The new MAC mini wasn’t at the show but Moore wondered if residential folks will soon be “greenboxing” these for their installs.
And the number one missing product at Home Technology Show? Heisse noted the absence of web content applications in boxes like Boxee Box, Roku, Hulu, DiVX and others. Those boxes would normally feature in a US-based CEDIA event.
What Home Technology Event may have missed in hardware, it more than made up for in spirit. This year’s event had a spark that doesn’t come in a box and is hard to extinguish. And that alone should earn them the attention of more exhibitors next year.
