Current Technology

Rendering of the Ryman Lofts

We would like to congratulate our good friends at Smith Gee Studio after last week’s groundbreaking for the Ryman Lofts.  The 60-unit complex was designed by Smith Gee specifically to provide affordable urban housing for local artists.  It will be located in the Rolling Mill Hill area between Hermitage Avenue and the Cumberland River.  It is the first project of its kind in Nashville and is a very welcome development in a city with such a rich tradition of creative activity.

The idea for the project came from the Music City Music Council and was supported by Mayor Karl Dean.  Smith Gee sought input from a focus group of local artists including musicians, dancers, and visual artists to design a space that meets their diverse demands.  The spaces will include one and three bedroom dwellings, an abundance of natural light, interesting floor plans, industrial grade fixtures, and flexible meeting areas for the artists.

The project is expected to be completed in 2012.  We are very excited to see Nashville continue to grow and expand its creative community and again offer a hearty congratulations to our friends at Smith Gee for the integral role they’ve played in developing this project.  Bravo!

Today is officially the first day of summer, and what better to celebrate than to treat yourself to some outdoor fun (at a great price)?  At Current Technology, we have a wide array of outdoor products that allow you to experience all of your indoor luxuries while enjoying warm summer days and breezy summer nights.  Perhaps you’re interested in watching the big game or your favorite movie on a dedicated outdoor theater.  Maybe you’d just like a simple weatherproof television on your patio.  Or, perhaps, you’d just like to have some nice music playing for those outdoor cookouts and dinner parties.  No matter your outdoor interests, we’ve got you covered.  Even better, we have huge discounts on select outdoor speakers.

We are currently offering select Speakercraft outdoor speaker models at a buy one, get one free discount!  Speakercraft has long had an excellent reputation for providing excellent, innovative products that look great, sound great, and are built to last.  Several of their most popular outdoor models are part of this limited time offer.  Please note, this sale lasts through the end of July or while supplies last, whichever comes first.

Please give us a call to take advantage of this temporary promotion or ask us about other great deals on outdoor entertainment.  Click here to contact us.

The following is excerpted from an article at eHow Money.

Video conferencing as a strategic enabling tool has enhanced the dynamics of real time communication and collaboration for enterprises and businesses. It is used by a varied number of businesses and organizations to better engage with employees in locations and business units or manufacturing facilities other than main offices, organize training sessions, pare HR and travel budgets, and improve organizational productivity.

Conduct Meetings in Real Time

Video conferencing enables employees in different offices to engage in discussions and collaborative sessions in real time. Strategic discussions and business meetings can be easily conducted among departmental and divisional heads, and even top management and managers in different locations, and across time zones and international boundaries. Due to easily operable nature of new-age video-conferencing facilities, ad-hoc meetings and short-notice strategy sessions can be arranged fairly quickly.

Enhanced Productivity

Regular travel and work hours saved from flying or driving to different cities by top executives, sales and marketing and other frequent travelers in an organization, can be used for organizational activities and other critical purposes. Employees in dispersed locations can converse with HR personnel and top management in headquarters or main offices to air grievances and/or discuss other HR-related issues. Improved employee engagement, judicious use of working hours, and regular communication afforded by real time videoconferencing sessions can lead to enhanced organizational activity.

To read the rest of this article and learn of several other advantages to video conferencing, including dramatic cost savings, click here.

Lutron’s Venetian Blinds with Intelligent Tilt Alignment recently received a well-deserved award.  Below is the official press release.  If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out these motorized, programmable blinds, you should.  They are fully customizable and come in numerous colors and wood stains. [Read more →]

The ADMS Intermedia Delivery System™ from Crestron® dramatically evolves and simplifies the way home entertainment is acquired and managed, by removing the boundaries between movies, music, TV, photos and the Internet.

For the first time, a whole world of digital media can be captured and transformed for easy-access, high-definition enjoyment. With its exclusive, revolutionary WorldSearch® feature, the ADMS doesn’t just serve the audio and video content you own — it locates and delivers anything you desire!

As an exciting new centerpiece in a Crestron home theater or multiroom audio system, the ADMS provides a powerful way to enjoy every type of content from a full array of sources:

Movies & Video

• Online movies, TV, & videos through Netflix®, Hulu™, Metacafe®, Vimeo™, YouTube™, ESPN, CNN, ABC News, Comedy Central and many other online sources
• Blu-ray Disc™ and DVDs
• Home movies & video files in Windows Media®, MPEG4, MPEG2, MPEG, M2TS, MTS, MOV, DV, and AVI formats

Music

• Imported CDs with high-quality AAC, WAV, WMA, or WMA Lossless encoding
• iTunes Plus® libraries
• Personal audio files including MP3, WMA, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless, M4A, AAC, AIFF, WAV, and FLAC

Photos

• Family Photos — JPEG, GIF, BMP, and PNG

World Wide Web

• Secure Internet Browsing with Adobe® Flash® and Microsoft® Silverlight™ support
• Online streaming multimedia
• Web-based e-mail

For more information, click here.

This article was originally published by Electronic House magazine and written by Steven Castle.  Below is an excerpt.  Go here for the original article.

1. People want energy efficiency.
Pike Research and the Shelton Group have both found strong consumer interest for energy efficiency. Pike’s “Smart Grid Consumer Survey” of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 47 percent favor home energy management, and 44 percent smart appliances, outpacing demand response and smart meters. The Shelton group’s Green Living Pulse 2010 report found that 84 percent of Americans seek green products, and that men were somewhat more interested than women in buying or renting an energy-efficient home (67 percent vs. 61 percent).

2. More home control and energy monitoring will work together.
Software startup Eragy already has an application that works with Control4 home control systems, and plans to add high-voltage relays to shut off appliances automatically to save energy. We are bound to see more home control systems hooking up with energy monitors to automatically turn appliances and devices off for energy savings. Will we see this in other energy management systems soon?

3. Big service providers will roll out basic energy management solutions.
In case you haven’t heard, big service providers like ADT, Comcast and Verizon are rolling out inexpensive “connectivity” solutions for the mass-market, including some energy management applications. This will no doubt serve to introduce many people to the benefits of energy management in the home. But can the big boys do these systems well? That remains to be seen.

4. Smart grid rollouts will continue.
Control4 recently announced a partnership with SilverSprings Network to make its EMS 100 system available for some demand response programs, and the company is also partnering with AEP Ohio to pilot customer experiences in home energy management. GE is looking at a number of pilot programs for its connected home solutions. And that’s just scratching the surface. We will see a lot more smart grid rollouts that include some home energy management solutions.

5. More smart and connected appliances will become available.
There were quite a few appliances on display at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. LG showed smart appliance solutions, as did GE, while kitchen appliance brands Sub-Zero and Wolf showed connected home network solutions with Control4. The Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances are reportedly available, but we’ll have to wait for smart appliances connected to a smart grid from companies like GE and LG.

6. Architects, green builders and designers are starting to address plug load.
A funny thing happens when you reduce the energy used by lighting and HVAC systems. Electric plug load becomes a bigger piece of the energy-consumption pie. Green builders and architects for about the first time were exposed to addressing plug load demand at the recent Greenbuild show in Chicago. About time, we say.

7. Commercial building automation is gaining momentum.
With commercial green building and LEED certifications, commercial building owners and managers are starting to look for comprehensive solutions that can save energy and money. Sensor devices are also now less expensive and of better quality. All this points toward more building automation. “Attitudinal barriers falling away. We’re increasingly able to articulate to our customers the benefits [of energy management,]” says Steven E. Kuehn at building control giant Siemens. More building automation in the commercial sector will trickle down into more home energy management.

8. Home and TV energy ratings will take effect.
Staring in May we’ll see EnergyGuide labels on TVs to give consumers an idea on the energy usage of the TVs they buy. This will raise awareness of energy efficiency in anyone looking at a new TV. That’s got to be a good thing. And by late in the year, homes could have energy ratings as well, thanks to a Home Energy Score program being rolled out by the Department of Education. This could open the market for more home energy retrofits.

9. EPA battle will put energy in the spotlight.
Some Republicans, whose party has assumed power in U.S. House of Representatives, vow to battle the Environmental Protection Agency on curbing greenhouse gas emissions. This could be a very public fight—and while it might energize those who don’t believe in climate change or don’t want to address the issue, a public forum on the issue can only be a good thing for energy management. More and more people over time see the need for energy efficiency, if not to benefit the environment then to save money.

10. Here come the EVs!
There’s the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle, Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, and more plug-ins and hybrid cars expected in this year or next. And that means charging stations in the home, which means some sort of control system for smart charging to time-of-use electricity rates and your own preferences. And, if and when V2G (vehicle to grid) two-way power becomes available, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to use some of your car’s juice to power something else in the house, if needed? Sure, some of this is still a couple of years or more away, but it’s coming.

11. Gas and fuel prices are predicted to rise.
Five dollars a gallon for gasoline? Some say yes, some say no way. But most everyone agrees that energy prices will likely rise. And that definitely includes electricity rates. That only underscores the need for energy efficiency. It’s here. People want it. And do you know what? We have the technologies to be energy efficient, while enhancing our comfort and convenience. As more people become aware of this, the market for home energy management can only take off.

Integra has introduced two mid-priced, 7.2-channel, THX Select 2 Plus certified, network audio-video receivers, the DTR-50.2 and DTR-40.2. As the premier manufacturer of a/v receivers for custom installers and systems integrators, Integra has designed each of these to function as the control center and audio powerhouse of a sophisticated home theater and home audio entertainment system.

The Integra DTR-50.2 and DTR-40.2 each have seven 3D-Ready HDMI 1.4a inputs and dual simultaneously active outputs. They can support a wide range of AV sources and delivering those signals to state of the art video displays, including 3D systems. HDMI 1.4a also supports the ultimate in lossless digital audio via Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, plus Audio Return Channel and HDMI Thru.

These receivers are well equipped with the latest audio processing from Audyssey, Dolby, DTS, and THX. Both receivers also support the added height dimension of Dolby Pro Logic IIz and height or width expansion provided by Audyssey DSX. They provide automated room-set-up using Audyssey MultEQ advanced room equalizer, and for those who sometimes play their systems low volume levels, there is Audyssey Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ.

The Integra DTR-50.2 and DTR-40.2 support legacy audio and video technologies with a wide array of digital audio, analog component video, analog audio, and even phonograph inputs. The two receivers both upscale HDMI sources to 1080p using Faroudja DCDi Cinema processing. The DTR-50.2 also has ISFccc Certified Calibration Controls to support individual color calibration for all video inputs.

These receivers include extensive audio networking and Internet radio capabilities using built-in Ethernet and USB interfaces. These connections are also used for firmware updates, and the USB interface ensures these models are ‘Made for iPod/iPhone.’ Both systems are certified for Windows 7 and DLNA Version 1.5. Internet Radio connectivity is configured for the popular commercial portals, Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius Internet Radio, Napster, Mediafly, Slacker, and vTuner.

Like all Integra products, these include extensive custom integration features, with bi-directional Ethernet and RS232 interfaces, powered Zone 2, Zone 2/3 preouts for the DTR-50.2 and Zone 2 lineout on the DTR-40.2. Both receivers have three programmable triggers, two IR inputs and one output, and lockable dealer settings. Both systems are Sirius Satellite and HD Radio Ready, and have 40 AM/FM/Sirius radio presets.

Integra designs and manufactures premium Home Theater receivers, processors, amplifiers, and DVD players that are specifically designed to meet the needs of custom audio/video systems installers. Systems integration and convergence technology protocols include RS-232, IR and on-board Ethernet for network connectivity and TCP/IP control. Integra has access to vast technical resources and bears a proud heritage of over 60 years of audio engineering excellence. For more information about Integra and its many fine products, call us at 615-251-1160.

Digital Projection International (DPI) an Emmy® Award-winning manufacturer of high performance projection systems, announced late last year the release of their new LED-based “Lifetime Illumination” dVision 30-1080p LED projector. DPI’s new dVision 30-1080p LED delivers an incredibly quiet and efficient residential projector with unmatched color saturation and color depth. As DPI’s LED-based displays do not contain traditional lamps, the dVision 30-1080p LED delivers unprecedented long-term cost of ownership benefits including lower overall maintenance and over 100,000 hours of LED illumination life. Combined with the M-Vision Cine LED displays, which DPI launched and commenced shipping in 2009, DPI now offers the most extensive and capable DLP-based LED product line available today.

Through a combination of stable, long-term light output and a supremely low-maintenance illumination system, the new dVision LED symbolizes DPI’s commitment to delivering the industry’s most efficient projectors in every price and performance category. Additionally, as display performance is paramount, the 30-1080p LED utilizes Texas Instruments’ DarkChip DLP technology, ensuring unmatched black levels and dynamic range. Equally important, the RGB-based LED illumination system eliminates the need for a color wheel to produce primary colors. Instead, red, green and blue LED diodes produce primary color illumination, rendering color gamut and color saturation similar to that of a 3-chip DLP projector. Removing the internal spinning color wheel has a further benefit, as color wheel artifacts are eliminated and fast-moving images appear remarkably sharp and free of motion smear. These benefits are especially important for content with fast moving imagery, such as sporting events and gaming.

The new dVision 30-1080p LED projector inherits the field-proven reliability and exceptional optical qualities of DPI’s long-respected dVision series. Suitable for home entertainment venues with controlled ambient light, the dVision LED is quiet, elegantly designed and offers a diversity of system capabilities. Installation flexibility is assured through an extensive array of ultra-accurate optics, which provide throw ratios as short as .75:1 and as long as 6.5:1. Furthermore, the dVision’s quick-change motorized lens mount provides a broad range of horizontal and vertical lens shift, allowing the projectors to be placed in a wide variety of locations in relation to the screen. Intuitive user controls and comprehensive source compatibility assure all dVision displays are simple to integrate, control and operate.

George Walter, VP of Home Cinema for DPI, remarked, “As LED technology continues to expand within the residential market, the dVision signifies a true LED-driven precision projector for upscale home cinemas. The combination of the Lifetime Illumination light source and the proven stability of the dVision chassis ensure the dVision LED will bring home entertainment enthusiasts many years of dazzling imagery.”

Kaleidescape, Inc., creator of the movie server product category, today announced shipment of the industry’s first Blu-ray movie server. The Kaleidescape System stores exact copies of your Blu-ray Discs on its hard drives, and transforms your collection of movies into a magical experience. Kaleidescape’s simple and elegant user interface makes choosing something to watch part of the fun.

“Blu-ray offers the highest fidelity for my discerning clients, but if you thought watching a DVD was frustrating, just try a Blu-ray Disc,” said Jeff Cherun, owner of Teatro Custom Installation, Inc. in Los Angeles, California. “With the Kaleidescape System you’re enjoying any of your Blu-ray movies in seconds instead of minutes. My customers will never go back to an ordinary Blu-ray player.”

The Kaleidescape Movie Guide enables an unparalleled movie-watching experience. High resolution cover art combined with a brief synopsis of each film and many other details make it entertaining to explore your collection of movies. Video bookmarks and triggers enable the system to start a movie instantly and automatically adjust lighting, curtains and screen masking during playback. With over 145,000 titles, Kaleidescape’s exclusive Movie Guide is the largest database of its kind.

“The simplicity and elegance that we have achieved for watching Blu-ray movies required significant hardware and software innovation, legal analysis and user interface design,” said Michael Malcolm, Kaleidescape’s founder, chairman and CEO. “My family and I enjoy the freedom to jump to a favorite scene in a movie or to any song in a concert. For the first time, all of our Blu-ray movies are literally at our fingertips, at any screen in our home.”

The new Kaleidescape Modular Disc Vault completes the Kaleidescape Blu-ray movie server. Paired with a Kaleidescape M-Class player, the disc vault imports, houses, and organizes your Blu-ray Discs. The copies stored on the server are then ready for instant playback. With a capacity of 100 discs, the Modular Disc Vault simplifies ownership by automating the import process. Any number of Modular Disc Vaults may be added to a system, but each must be connected to its own M-Class player.

The Modular Disc Vault is available now. The M500 Player and M300 Player have been shipping since May 2010. Any Kaleidescape System can be upgraded to be a Blu-ray movie server with the addition of an M-Class player and a Modular Disc Vault.
About Kaleidescape
Kaleidescape designs and manufactures the world’s leading DVD and Blu-ray movie servers, bringing lifestyle convenience to families with young children and movie enthusiasts. The Kaleidescape System, renowned for its intuitive user interface, presents your entire collection of movies on any TV in your home, and provides a rich, cinematic experience for the entire family. Kaleidescape’s innovative products and services are protected by over 50 patents issued and pending. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Kaleidescape sells its movie servers through custom installation dealers and distributors throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.kaleidescape.com.