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System Integration for the Connected Home

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RIP Lutron Founder Joel Spira

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Lighting control and home automation pioneer, Lutron Electronics founder Joel Spira, died Wednesday 8 April of natural causes at his home in Springfield Township, Pa., aged 88.

Joel SpiraSpira created the first solid-state dimmer in 1959, which he launched through Lutron following his founding of the company in 1961 together with his wife Ruth. Their work in lighting control was honoured by the Smithsonian Institute in 2010, where the solid state dimmer is found next to artifacts from Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.

He was honored with a CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

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Wireless Communication Standards for the IoT

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by Cees Links, CEO, GreenPeak Technologies

Cees Link

GreenPeak Technologies CEO, Cees Links, writes this white paper providing an overview of the most important contenders around the IoT Wireless Communication Standards. We are looking at wireless networking technologies.

Overview of the different IoT wireless communication standards (mapped on the ISO layering model)

For the sake of argument and to keep it simple, I have left out the cellular standards, although we do recognize that they do play an important role in the IoT (and the so-called M2M business).

I also left out RFID, which can be quite useful for the IoT for security purposes, but is less contentious as it is more an electronic bar code replacement instead of doing real (two-way) communication as such.

Also for simplicity we have left out the proprietary pseudo standards like ANT+, Z-Wave and EnOcean, for the simple reason that, like other “non-standard” proprietary standards, in the long run, they will not be able to survive against industry accepted international standards.

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The ECI Top News for 2014

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2014As this year comes to a close, we get around to decide which CI industry stories were the most important. Was Apple buying Beats, or was it Jeremy Burckhart's return to the industry? Take a moment to gather your Top 10 before comparing it with ours below!

Big names take on automation: Home automation was the new hotness of 2014. How hot? Google coughed up no less than $3.2 billion to buy smart thermostat maker Nest Labs, Samsung revealed the Smart Home platform at CES 2014 and Apple integrated the HomeKit device control platform in iOS 8. Expect the smart home opportunity to grow even bigger come next year.

Jeremy Burkhardt is back: the man behind SpeakerCraft made his return this year with Origin Acoustics. The comeback was not without its controversies, as it followed the failed acquisition of outdoor audio maker SoundCast, not to mention non-compete lawsuits from former employers Nortek.

Pioneer drops home electronics: Pioneer had enough in 2014, seeing how it sold 51% of Pioneer Home Electronics to private equity company Baring as part of a new operation joined by Onkyo. Why did it sell out? The company clearly sees no future in CE, and instead wants to focus on the more lucrative auto electronics market.

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The Appliances of IFA 2014

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Home appliances, once the dumb mainstays of customers', are becoming smarter, more effective and (dare we say it?) more elegant, and as such will make a showing at IFA 2014, organiser gfu says.

IFA The appliances on show should come in all shapes and sizes, from staples such as refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers and washing machines to smaller devices such as coffee makers, kettles, toasters, and equipment for the care of hair, body, clothes, home and floors. All should combine quality materials and easy-to-use controls, while smart applications and networking capabilities are to play an "increasingly important" role.

Apps will provide customers with a variety of features, from product operation and status information to basic tips, reassurance and efficiency, all from smartphones and tablets.

Mobile devices can even serve as a central control panel for appliances able to communicate with each other.

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AVB Demystified #2: How AVB Works & Key Features

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Read Wineland

by Read Wineland, CTS

Regional Director, Eastern No. America, Biamp Systems

The Editors: As this week's Feature, we've chosen to include Read Wineland's blog, AVB Demystified #2: How AVB Works & 10 Key Features of It. The second in a series of five from the Biamp Systems executive, this blog explains how AVB works and the AVB features that will mean the most to pro AV integrators. You can find the rest of the blogs at the link below his article.

AVB is a collection of IEEE 802.1 standards that ensure a single network can transmit audio, video, and other forms of data via "smart" switches -- without compromising network integrity.

How AVB Works

The commonly referenced network clock in every AVB-enabled device on a network ensures that every device will have a very close representation of what the precise time is in any given instance. After the devices communicate with each other, one AVB device is selected as the best master clock and communications proceed from talker endpoint to listener endpoint.

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Sony's Virtual Reality Goggles

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Project Morpheus

Facebook just bought Oculus Rift for USD $2 billion. Mark Zuckerberg promises the new technology would help “change the way we work, play and communicate,” and critics hail the acquisition as a huge win for Facebook.

The Rift has been pitched as a video gaming device, but Facebook plans to use its technology for communications, media and other forms of entertainment. Zuckerberg says virtual reality may be the next great computing evolution, after the current transition from desktop computers to mobile devices. That makes it sounds like the future could be Facebook goggles versus Google glasses…

And $2 billion was for what? Oculus Rift (after launching “Rift” goggles two years ago) has not yet released a version of its headset for sale to the general public.

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2013: The Highlights According to ECI

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One can apply the cliche for just about every year, but 2013 was quite something, wasn't it? While arguably less eventful than previous years, it was still full of exciting headlines , and that's before taking our industry into account! So join our retrospective into what we we think were the major happenings of, well, 2013!

20131. TVs get curvy: CES 2013 marked out THE winning trend for a TV market in decline-- curved TVs, with "world firsts" produced by (who else?) Samsung and LG. Okay, we kid, but analysts point out 4K/UHD has the potential to become the next big TV thing thanks to declining prices, OTT services, various broadcasts (the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Sochi Winter Olympics will get UHD treatment) and improved upscaling technology.

2. Audio, wire-free: According to audio technology from the past year wires are doomed to be a thing of the past, since seemingly everyone has a wireless audio offering or three. Bluetooth and wifi are the main technologies of choice, but WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Sound) revealed an alternative platform at CEDIA 2013. The first products carrying the technology come from Bang & Olufsen, but WiSA-certified speakers from other vendors should appear come 2014.

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