Welcome to Tech News, our monthly review of innovations, developments, and news from the home automation industry. Here, we’ve curated the most exciting tech stories for you. Our priority-based organizing–for homeowners, interior designers, architects, and developers–ensures you read up on subjects particular to your needs.
Same-Day Streaming
You might have read (perhaps from one of our previous articles) that only a few months ago, Universal signed a deal with AMC allowing them to speed up the streaming process for movies premiering in theaters. This would have been a completely unprecedented move before COVID-19, but now that we’ve been here for a while, few are surprised by Warner Bros. taking this initiative one step further: same-day streaming through HBO Max.
All of Warner’s 17 movies on their 2021 lineup will be available the day they premiere in theaters, making it time to get even more comfortable with your binge-watching setup. The list of works debuting this year includes a colorful variety of genres perfect for family watching, a couple’s night in, or going solo with your favorite snacks. Keep an eye out for The Matrix 4, a screen adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, and Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman, to name a few.
Caséta by Lutron
Lutron has been busy: they received multiple lighting award nominations and wins in 2020, produced educational webinars, and upgraded Caséta, their smart lighting control system. Caséta is wireless, intuitive, and energy efficient. It is a system that works off of your commands and preferences, and also functions intelligently.
Caséta can be incorporated into your home in a variety of ways: through dimmers, switches, or their Pico remote. Have multiple switches or just the one, whatever works best for your home. Choose different options to manage your lighting; you can schedule your illumination, select scenes you designed yourself, and you can use Smart Away, which gives the illusion of someone being home while you’re gone.
Given their prolific innovations and active industry engagement, we’re expecting a similarly busy 2021 for Lutron.
Crestron 70R-Series
Crestron is adept at producing touchscreens that facilitate communication with home systems for both integrators and homeowners and does it all with a sleek design and easy-to-use interface. Their 70R-series is tougher (built with high-grade aluminum), has higher resolution, and no buttons–the motion sensors can detect when someone is about to interact with the screen and the absence of these elements gives it a more streamlined look.
Built for home or office use, the 70R-series accesses systems including AV, unified communications, lighting and building automation and can be supported by high-demand environments such as sports stadiums, classrooms, and command centers. These touch screens come in both tabletop and wall-mounted iterations, which give you a lot of flexibility depending on the ambience you’re curating for your spaces.
As Strata-gee, an online fintech publication, puts it: “Don’t be fooled by the pretty face, it’s a beast.”
Interior Design Magazine’s Best Of Awards
If you peruse the finalist lineup for ID’s Best Of Awards, you’ll likely be blown away by the amount of categories and research that went into sourcing the best of the best in design in 2020. Ketra’s Austin headquarters was nominated in the domestic showroom category, while Lutron’s Athena system was a winner in the technology category.
ID featured Ketra’s Austin headquarters last March, praising the combination of its lighting design and floor-to-ceiling windows, which boost innovation and encourage in-person interactions. The award-winning Athena Dynamic Lighting Control System by Lutron was created with the intention of bringing the magic of light to everyday moments. The system, accessible through an app, allows users to tailor their lighting per fixture whether they be at home or in the office, providing them with one of the most personalized lighting technologies to date.
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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