Do not mistake Savant’s new iPad docks for a mere in-home charging station.  The company has introduced two new iPad dock models: The Desktop Dock and the In-Wall Dock. Now shipping, both docks enable users to take full advantage of Savant’s extensive experience in writing Apple software applications for the home automation market place.

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We found this tidbit on Money.CNN.com's "The Next Little Thing". MIT physics professor, Marin Soljačić discovered that if you could get two magnetic fields to resonate -- to sing the same note, in effect -- they could transfer an electric current. MIT quickly patented the technology and encouraged Soljačić to start a company: WiTricity, whose employees are hard at work proving that his magnetic coils can power almost any electrical device. At the Nikkei electronics conference in Tokyo, Soljačić was able to power a 1,000-watt klieg light from across the room -- a far cry from that 60-watt lightbulb in Soljačić's first experiment.

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How to create an acoustic “slice of paradise” on the high seas.

Noise is a subjective experience: It has distinctive effects on individuals based on their sensitivities to sound. The physiological effects of noise vary from person to person.  For example, a hearing-impaired person may be susceptible to further harm when exposed to excessive noise levels. 

Recently, a SoundSense client with a hearing problem asked if the noise from his yacht could potentially harm his hearing.  After a quick reading with a spectrum analyzer and an interview, we realized that the noise levels were, indeed, hazardous to his existing condition.

4Store is a new online marketplace created by Control4, where users can access applications that give homeowners customization options, as well as maximize home efficiency.

No specific date has been announced yet, as to when the store will be available online. The only thing that has been confirmed is that it will be up by the first half of 2010. In the meantime, dealers are creating applications for 4Store using a software developers kit that was released in late 2009.

Few things were more a-buzz than some of the 3D demonstrations being conducted at CEDIA. Panasonic, Mitsubishi, JVC, Digital Projection Inc. (DPI), and others were all touting their flavors of three-dimensional viewing for the home. Many of these demos have been seen before, but this year there is actually promise of delivery, some as early as this fall. Now the trick will be selling it to the consumer.

Home theater companies looking to expand their profit centers were running into a problem when it came to star ceilings. Such products can be fantastic, but the installation time required installing a star ceiling cost valuable man-hours and left companies with a small profit.

Sometimes the dealer knows best. Being in the field means you know the challenges and solutions needed better than anyone else. To get what they need a dealers must either pressure vendors for better solutions or come up with their own. Invostar, a systems integrator based in West Palm Beach, Florida, did the latter, but in a move not often seen, is offering one of these solutions to other dealers as well.