Smart home automation technology is amazing. It’s fully customizable and can do so many different things. But the big question is this: are you taking advantage of your system’s full capabilities? If you’re ready to go past simply turning off the lights using your phone, then read on. Below, we cover some fun ideas for going beyond the basics with the automation system in your Palm Harbor, FL home.
The Amazon Echo really is an amazing device—just plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, and enjoy having your own voice-controlled assistant! The smart device hit more than 10,000 unique skills in February of this year, so there certainly are plenty of things you can take advantage of.
But get this: late last year, Experian did a survey to find out exactly how people were using Amazon Alexa. The most commonly tried skills were setting a timer (84.9%), playing a song (82.4%), and reading the news (66%). Those are useful skills, but if you want to do more with your Alexa in your St. Petersburg, FL home, then it’s time to explore smart home automation. Keep reading to learn about these creative ways to put voice control to work.
Control 4 offers the ultimate in home automation navigation. With several advancements and additional products becoming available, there are countless ways you can use this technology to make your life more relaxing, organized and secure. And let’s not forget about the fun you can have with Control 4 automation. With the ability to create different “scenes” that pair together the automation of several devices at once, personalized home automation is becoming reality. Here are some of our favorite ways to indulge in one of the great luxuries of the present, and future.
Since 1995, AV Specialists has been bringing the residents of Clearwater, Florida and beyond the best smart home automation solutions and services the industry has to offer. We’ve built our business on passion for home technology and incredible customer service. Control4 is certainly our top-recommended manufacturer for smart home systems. Not only are they easy to use, but they are also leading innovators – always offering new and improved products that are relevant to today’s generation. Here are a few of their newer features that we think you’ll love.
The variety of devices that can be used through Control 4 technology is increasing exponentially. As demand grows, appliance, technology and entertainment producers are taking note. The statistics don’t lie. The average Control 4 home has 40 devices connected and some larger residences have over 250. Those that are new to home automation may not be aware of all of the devices that can be connected through Control 4. This technology is at the cutting edge of the industry and the options that consumers have will continually increase. Home entertainment, security and basic time savers are all becoming much easier with Control 4. Here are some of the features available in regards to entertainment and some new products you can purchase to take advantage of Control 4 home automation.
Music is an integral part of our lives, and there’s never been a better time to be an audio enthusiast. Whether you’re an active member of the vinyl revival or taking advantage of millions of songs on loss-less streaming services like Tidal, you have a wide variety of ways to listen to music, and technology is evolving to deliver high-fidelity audio without requiring an unwieldy array of components.
With the holidays rapidly approaching, we’ve assembled a gift guide of the hottest high-end speakers for the audiophiles in your life. Excite the college student in your house with a sound bar that will dramatically enhance the sound quality in their dorm room. Treat yourself by having Santa leave you that perfect integrated amplifier.
Keep reading to learn more about these high-end speakers, and no one will judge you if you want to get one as a gift and one for your Belleair home.
In the last five to ten years, the home theater industry got a lot right. High definition video has become readily available, and for the most part, a standard, with most mainstream channels broadcasting in HD. Surround sound has enabled new levels of realism, and the dream of a real movie theater experience at home became well within reach of millions of people. Today, the latest in home theater systems is built upon these advances to merge the home theater into the fabric of family life. The result is a more networked place where families can enjoy all types of media. Here are the four technologies that we think have changed everything.
One of the most important, but most overlooked, aspects of designing a commercial space is improving the way that the space sounds. It’s funny because at the core, we are a technology company, but one of the most effective things we can do to improve sound doesn’t involve wires, microchips or speakers. Well at least not directly. What it does involve is controlling the way that sound behaves in a fixed space with the use of acoustic sound panels.
Today we’re constantly moving and meeting goals. We live in Multi-task Nation where everything is a click or a swipe away. Our consistent need for our digital interfaces to be faster, clearer, and better practically outpaces the technology that supports us. With all that instant gratification and communication, as well as the ever-increasing demands of work and family, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget about some of the little things. Those little things that help keep you grounded, like listening to your favorite music.
We just finished a major renovation for the DoubleTree Hotel in the Westshore area of Tampa. The goal was to replace the worn out and dated room combining/sound system with something newer.
The journey to becoming an audio video systems specialist is an uncommon one. The first step is made not out of necessity but out of curiosity. The creative but disorganized young mind of the future specialist is exposed to a beautiful sound, perhaps details in a recording he’d never heard before, a simpler way to control his home system, or a unique application of technology that captures his imagination. From this moment on, the future specialist has laser focus knowing that the only satisfactory way he will ever earn a living is by designing and building these complex systems.
The home network has come a long way from it's simple beginnings. From even as recently as a year or two ago, the AV related data we move over the network has increased significantly. At first, the home network was used mostly for accessing the internet or downloading music files. Then as time moved on and technology progressed we started seeing streaming music and video services such as Pandora and Netflix.
The boardroom is usually the last room that is considered when the office is being updated, yet is most often the 'war room' or 'creative birthplace' and influences the office culture. Does your staff have a central location that is used for meetings other than the boardroom- or is it missing altogether? Companies have come to realize that boardrooms are vitally important to the productivity and profits of the organization, so much so that even airlines now offer use of boardrooms in the airport terminal!
There are as many opinions about what constitutes a good audio speaker as there are music listeners in the world. Still, some audio technology companies have significantly differentiated themselves from the rest of the industry with their dedication to providing the very best speaker lines. Here are just two of our favorite brands and a few of their products:
The medical field demands the very best technology. While this need is most pronounced in diagnostic and treatment equipment, it is also crucial in the area of communication. The right cath lab and operating room AV can provide a host of specific benefits that will help ensure that the patients receive the very best of care. Here's how:
We have done several procedure rooms also known as cath lab intercom systems in the greater Tampa Bay area. All of the systems have been similar yet slightly different. Some systems were just some simple intercoms with communication between the doctor and the lab technicians. Other systems were intercoms integrated with a very good sound system. In most all of our systems the intercom system is handled by using Tech Works line of intercom products. Tech Works has a great reputation in the industry and their products have worked out extremely well for us.
Conference room audio visual systems have finally become a viable option for business meetings. In their infancy video conferences were considered by some to be a sketchy and risky proposition. That is no longer the case. Today's state of the art video conferencing systems incorporate a variety of technological advantages to produce crystal clear audio and video suitable for any meeting or conference environment.
Remember the moment when Dorothy first saw the Land of Oz? If you've ever seen the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, it's a moment that's probably etched in your mind forever - the moment when Judy Garland looks around wide-eyed and says, "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!"
That sense of amazement and surprise is something everyone can relate to - especially those who have experienced the changes taking place in today's world of conference room technology and audio visual equipment. What kind of changes are we talking about? Well there's the...
The newest version of the Crestron iPad™ app is available from the iTunes® App Store, where it has been ranked the #1 Top Grossing Lifestyle App. This update includes landscape rotation and gestures navigation on the iPad for both Crestron and Prodigy® control systems. A beautiful graphic template with user-selectable backgrounds designed especially for the iPad is available free from the Crestron website, and there are also infinite possibilities for customization. Dealers can create their own branded designs and clients can enjoy the same look and feel on their iPad as on their Crestron touchpanels thanks to Crestron tablet integration.
If asked to name the most popular streaming service, I am sure most people would say Pandora. I would guess most people that like to listen to music have heard of Pandora, Rhapsody and maybe even Spotify. These services are great because they allow you to listen to music on the go or at home without having to have the physical media, but what if you don’t want to start collecting music from scratch? What if you want to digitize your existing music collection?
