European Custom Installer

Global smart speaker shipments total 19.7 million units in Q3 2018, Canalys reports-- a 137% Y-o-Y increase over Q3 2017 shipments of 8.3m, and well in line with the Canalys forecast of 75m for the whole of 2018.

Following the initial wave of smart speaker adoption, vendors are rapidly changing marketing strategies to target different user groups. For instance, college and university students are key music streaming service consumers, making easy targets for Amazon and Google through back-to-school deals. Vendors are also building on the theme of home automation and IoT by positioning smart speakers as central hubs, but they still face a key issue in lowering the technical barriers to adoption.

Smart home security vendor Abode launches the Iota-- an all-in-one security device bringing together a 1080p security camera, motion sensor and home security gateway in a single devices.

First seen back at CES 2018, the Iota is designed to enable more flexibility in security system design. It works as either a standalone device or as part of a wider Adobe security system, with support for Z-Wave, ZigBee and RF connectivity support allowing it to pair with compatible devices, as well as products from the likes of Nest, Ecobee, Philips Hue and LifX, among others.

The Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) Association  announces its latest 3 members-- Foxconn, Innovo Audio Designs and System Audio, bringing the number of companies making part of the orginisation to over 40.

“Our newest members bring meaningful experience, versatility and scalability to our member roster,” the association says. “Given our explosive member growth this year, we have gained critical mass and are eager to assist our members in launching a broad range of innovative products that support a global movement in support of wireless audio. The recent momentum is also a testament to the success of our WiSA Ready certification.”

The compact Vivitek HK2288 promises both big screen detail and contrast as well as low-latency processing for customers wanting to both watch movies and play games, all with 4K resolution and HDR support.

The projector features a Texas Instruments 0.66-inch 4K DLP DMD chip able to generate 8.3 million individual pixels. Also included are DLP DarkChip3 and BrilliantColor refinements for deep black levels and vibrant cinematic images. To resolve a 4K 1-pixel line pattern, the HK2288 uses eXpanded Pixel Resolution (XPR) technology employing 4.15 million (2716 x 1528) mirrors capable of switching over 9000 times per second to deliver two discrete pixels for each mirror per frame.

Savant launches an array of architectural lighting strips compatible with the TrueImage-- the image-based lighting technology from the company providing customers with intuitive lighting control.

TrueImage users get a WRGB colour wheel and precise tunable temperature selection, all from the Savant Pro app for iOS or Android devices, as well as a on/off/dim control of a fixture in any room. The Savant LED light strip lineup includes a number of indirect lighting options installers can use in cove lighting, behind flat panel TVs, inside cabinets and more. A tunable white LED strip allows for colour temperature adjustments, changing automatically in concert with circadian rhythm throughout the day or manually as the customer needs.