Finding new, profitable products is challenging. Enter the multi-panel video display. Video walls, which started in commercial sector, have found their way into residential club rooms, bars and media rooms, fulfilling the dreams of affluent, sports-minded clients who want their own ESPN Zone.

Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. is looking for the industry’s best Lutron lighting and shade control projects around the world. The company is currently accepting entries for its 2010 Excellence Awards.

The winners will receive a recognition award, as well as a listing on
the Lutron website with the winning company logo.

Winners will be announced at the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) Expo this year in Atlanta, Georgia. A total of ten awards will be presented at a special ceremony on September 23rd:

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

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.

What kind of CE gear do you find in a 300-million dollar yacht?

The Wall Street Journal gave everyone the first look inside, Russian billionaire, Andrey Milnichenko’s yacht called, A. At 394’ long, the yacht features 60” retractable screens in the master bedroom, as well as a ton of other fully customized amenities.

This yacht is every A/V dealer’s dream project. We were so impressed (and jealous), we thought we’d share the video, which is provided by the Wall Street Journal.

ADVANTAGE is new software that Control4 has released for their Energy Management System 100 (EMS 100). The software is programmed to analyze residential usage to assist with optimizing utility load management.  According to Richard Walker, President of Control4 Energy Systems, the ADVANTAGE will give the EMS 100 a “turbo charge.”

The company has also developed a flash-based software development kit (SDK), which will allow utilities to fully customize the EMS 100 experience for their customers. More notably, it will also give developers the opportunity to come up with new applications for green-minded customers.

Scott Heston, of Heston Technical, took on a project that is located off the Seattle shore, which he claims is, “not the everyday sort of thing that we do.”  The project involved a 1,500 square foot houseboat that was custom built from the floats up by owners, Mike and Kristy Villiott. They wanted to have a fully integrated entertainment system installed, which would allow them to have clear, consistent sound throughout their home—whether it meant they were watching movies on the main floor, or listening to music while practicing on the rooftop putting green.

This year, the Winter Olympics is recording, distributing, and displaying all of the 2010 Vancouver games and events, in full digital HD, using Crestron DigitalMedia (DM). 

All of the events, such as the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as all of the athletic competitions, are being monitored and controlled from a central command center. Crestron is providing their DM and RoomView remote management software. This technology ensures safety, security, and entertainment for all athletes, media, and spectators.