Welcome to February’s Tech News, where we’re bringing you a thoughtfully curated roundup on the latest in home automation, audio and visual innovations, and notable recognitions within the industry. We experienced a busy month—seeing some of our favorites win awards and make strides toward even more bespoke technology—and we can’t wait to read what you think.
Sonos Arc: World-Class Audio and Entertainment at Home
Get ready for a true surround sound immersion in the comfort of your smart home. The new Sonos Arc is equipped with Dolby Atmos support, is self-adjusting, and integrates flawlessly with your smartphone and other Sonos speakers.
Imagine your alarm goes off, and before your feet even hit the ground, you’ve used voice commands to tell Alexa to start “My Morning Playlist.” With its four far-field microphones, the Sonos Arc voice control technology can hear you clearly over any other competing sounds. Movie lovers will love the cinematic thrill that the Arc delivers, with eleven multidirectional drivers creating a surround sound effect that rivals a traditional theater experience.
Sonos offers optional subwoofers that are seamlessly compatible with the soundbar; however, they are so powerful that they are not necessary for a small residential space.
Meridian and Sonos
Sonos has been making headlines this year—with the launch of Sonos Radio and Sonos Arc, it’s hard to imagine the bespoke audio company has even more rollouts in store for its users. Meridian products have officially been given the “Work with Sonos” badge, a lucrative certification that makes combining the best audio products available into one system a smoother process for integrators and a really exciting one for audio fans. Using the same interface, one can listen to Sonos Radio through Meridian speakers for a fantastic culmination of sound and entertainment.
As stated on the Sonos website, they are incredibly particular about who gets this title, giving it only to those who “meet Sonos’ exacting standards for design and sound.” An honor for Meridian, a great partnership for Sonos, and a beneficial announcement for fans of both.
IoT Breakthrough Awards
The IoT Breakthrough Awards recognizes innovations in all things home automation, smart cities, connected cars, IoT (internet of things), and beyond. This is their 5th annual Breakthrough Awards, and we are proud to report that a few of our favorites have been nominated and, furthermore, declared winners in the Connected Home category.
For Connected Home Speaker Company of the Year—given their many exclusive and elite auditory offerings—it comes as no surprise that Sonos took the win. Nest Thermostat, known for its many features including intuitive temperature regulating, won for Home Security Company of the Year, and Crestron, the design-forward integration platform, won for Home Automation System of the Year. These and many more won in their respective categories, making this a very entertaining awards season in the tech field.
These HQ’s are A1
People from all fields and professional backgrounds know of Ketra for their own reasons—integrators who are fond of their easy-access controls, architects obsessed with the many mood setting options available through their platform, and interior designers who, in particular, might be drawn to their headquarters in Austin, TX. Aside from encouraging productivity, Ketra’s HQ uses its space to boast all the many workings of their innovations in lighting. With bright pink hallways, conference rooms next to one another displaying differing settings, and large open-concept work spaces with equally as large windows for natural illumination, Ketra manages to display their portfolio and results right in their offices.
An interesting lighting and HQ collaboration is that of USAI Lighting and JetBlue. While architects borrowed from classic airplane motifs and design concepts, USAI Lighting chose to illuminate the headquarters with blue and productive hues. The end result is both futuristic and familiar, very on-theme for JetBlue and USAI.
Responsive Living, the term coined by Acoustic Architects founders, Aaron Flint and Spencer Hauldren, is the concept of seamlessly enhancing the client’s unique lifestyle using smart home technology. Responsive Living allows you to interact with your space via touch input, voice command, and predictive automation, placing you in full control of your home.
If you would like to learn more about integrating new systems into your smart home system, feel free to connect with us. We will be happy to schedule a demo with you.
For more information, visit acousticarchitects.net.
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