If you don't offer biometric access as part of your control package, you should. This sexy technology has a natural place within the luxury residential and commercial realms. Facial-, fingerprint- and retina scan-access never cease to fascinate. You're already including touchpanel control of pedestrian and driveway gates via electric door strikes. Biometric access is also a great complement to CCTV surveillance camera systems; typical systems are easily administered via a computer.

The CEA's TechHome Rating System is a powerful, nationally recognized system to measure a home's technology infrastructure. The system identifies the home's technology infrastructure and its potential for technology. Tech-rating an existing home or using the rating system to help plan a new home allows integrators to bring their expertise and depth of knowledge to the table - giving them credibility in the eyes of builders, architects, designers and clients. The system's three tiers - bronze, gold and platinum -help integrators determine the home's technological capabilities, as well as the complete integration throughout the home for multi-room audio and video, control, security and communications. A TechHome rating can also be a valuable tool when a home goes on the market. To download a TechHome brochure for your next new client intro packet, go to

Dying to get your hands on the newest whiz-bang? If this takes off, we're going to need to fit yet another piece of hardware into our component stacks. If you're wondering which version of Jeff Mills' latest "pressing" to buy-CD or vinyl-fret not. "The Occurrence" is a 5-inch disc that's pressed with digital pits on one side and groovy grooves on the other. It's the latest in his Sleeper Wakes series from Axis Records. To find out more about Mills' project and to hear samples, click here:

The new fourth-generation wireless technology, better known as 4G, debuted this month. Forrester Research's Charles Golvin gives us the nuts & bolts. While 3G download speed is limited to 1 megabit per second, 4G has the potential to deliver 6 or 7 times that - with an eventual speed that's 10 times faster. This is good news for HD video streaming services like Hulu. Better yet: To keep your installation trucks rolling on time, navigation systems will be updated with real-time traffic information.

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How has technology changed the way we listen to music? New Yorker Sasha Frere-Jones discusses the impact of having more control over the music experience than the original artists in "You, the DJ." Despite the advancements of the audio world, we still derive immense, spontaneous pleasure from hearing a favorite song pop up, courtesy of our server's "random play" feature - just like we do with radio. Says Frere-Jones, "Sometimes we will be the djs and sometimes the machines will be and we may be surprised by which we prefer."

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Skype founders have opened Rdio (pronounced "AR-dee-oh"), a new digital music service, selling access to over 5 million songs for $4.99 to $9.99 a month. Rather than taking up valuable gig space on consumers' local media servers, they are banking on the convenience factor by providing collections that reside on Rdio's remote servers. "The whole download model is going away", says Janus Friis, Skype's co-founder. To differentiate in an already crowded field, Rdio offers social features: consumers can read each other's reviews, browse other people's collections and tap into their favorite bands' listening habits. Will media servers and cloud services coexist? What challenges do these digital services present to your custom installation business?

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Have you ever been ready for a brisk workout only to discover your iPod is out of juice? What about that battery-operated dry-wall saw hanging from your tool belt? How would you like to jump into jogging togs that are literally wired to provide power to your electronic toys and tools? Forgot your phone charger? No problem...just pop it in your pocket. Los Angeles Times reporter Tiffany Hsu covers an exciting development in nanofibre technology that may soon give new meaning to the term "powersuit".

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If you're a smart businessperson, you're always on the lookout for new ways to make a buck. All you have to do is wait until it's dark, go outside and look up. There are a plethora of LED / fibre-optic ‘star ceilings' that you can add to virtually any environment, not just home theaters. The better systems include Northern Lights, shooting stars, constellations with astrological overlays and the Milky Way. It's the perfect add-on to new residential or commercial projects. And the pricing is typically not out of the stratosphere so it's a sellable add-on. Just Google "Star Ceiling" and you'll find several manufacturers. Your clients can have their own observatory. Look out Hubble... 

 for a sample manufacturer click here