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As Summer Comes to an End, Control4 Can Help You Start Fall on the Right Foot

The summer is coming to an end, which means vacation is over and routines are changing. Maybe your kids are preparing for school, or perhaps you’re transitioning to a more rigorous work schedule. Whatever the changes, starting new routines can often be difficult. Smart home automation can help ease the transition to new schedules and make a hectic day a little more fun for you and the family.

As a certified Control4 dealer, AV Specialists can help you take advantage of smart home automation to make new routines a breeze in Belleair, FL. Learn how below!

Of all the music services I have Songza is favorite.  They have in my opinion the best selection and most tailored genre playlists.  Every time I go to listen to music they have the ability to get me more closely to what I am looking for than the other lists.  For example, the other I was looking for something lively as we were headed to the Eric Church concert here in Tampa.  So I went to Songza, Genre, Country and here's a sampling of what was available:

I've heard a lot of people say or imply that Steve Jobs and Apple have ruined music. One of the more famous people being none other than Jon Bon Jovi himself, who is attributed to this quote, "Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business." - Bon Jovi.

Back in the Stone Age – and by that, we mean the 1970s – the idea of speaking to another person with a real-time image was just a dream for the average business person. Sure, there were some huge corporations that could accomplish this by having TV cameras set up, but the reality was, most well-heeled business organizations could not really afford to have real-time video conferencing. Still, as technology progressed, modern video conferencing systems became an affordable, real-time way to communicate with employees and clients. And today, the newest technology surpasses expectations by turning any video conference into an online video collaboration.

For many businesses that rely on the distribution of HD or "High Definition" video content, there is some potential bad news coming. That "bad news" in my opinion will affect Sports Bars and Restaurants more so than any other industry.

At the risk of oversimplifying this, I will attempt to breakdown what this means to our customers over the next few paragraphs. 

A Professional Installation Always Beats the DIY Route

Big-box retailers have begun selling out-of-the-box surveillance cameras on their shelves but offer no support in the installation or service of the cameras themselves. DIY seems like an inexpensive solution, but inexpensive doesn’t always mean painless.

When you work with a security and automation professional like AV Specialists, you can rest assured that someone with years of technical experience will expertly design and service your surveillance camera installation for years to come. Plus, we can integrate your cameras with your smart alarm and home automation systems.

Keep reading this blog to learn three things you should consider before choosing DIY over a professional installation for your St. Petersburg, FL surveillance camera installation.

With all the new TV technology trends out there, it's easy to get caught up in the hype. When you're looking to get the most out of your home entertainment system, having the ability to stream content can be convenient, but there are several options from which to choose.

With the birth of some exciting new TV technology trends and the likely death of others, 2014 is set to be a year of great flux for home entertainment. The AV industry is shaking off dead weight technologies, such as 3D televisions, that didn't end up being as revolutionary as some manufacturers expected, and replacing them with some truly innovative technology.

Upgrade Your Belleair Home Entertainment with Control4

How does your family like to enjoy its entertainment? Do you nest in the living room for hours, binge-watching the latest Netflix shows? Do you invite people over for big movie nights that turn into late-night gatherings? Do you have gamers in your house that blow through an afternoon competing online with their friends while their siblings watch?

There are a lot of different ways to engage with media, which is why you want a multi-purpose home media room that is optimized for top-quality audio and video performance while still functioning as a relaxed, flexible gathering space. A smart home control system like Control4 can significantly enhance how you engage with your media room, bringing all of your smart devices and A/V technology together in a streamlined interface customized for your household’s needs.

Read on to learn how Control4 upgrades the entertainment value and functionality of your Belleair home’s media room.

Last week Apple released the latest update of the operating system iOS 8. With that update as well as other updates in the past, there may be potential issues for your AV system. More and more it seems AV technology depends on network connectivity for both delivering music and video content as well as for control of the entire AV system. Each update or even the neglect of doing updates has the possibility to affect your experience. 

Keep reading to see which would better suit your home and what equipment you need for each. 

When you’re planning your home’s entertainment, you have so many options – should you go for single-room or whole-house audio? Do you want screens everywhere or just in one or two specialized entertainment spaces? If you want to dedicate a room to your favorite entertainment, we can’t recommend a more enjoyable solution than a home media room or a theater.

But which one should you choose? If you want the short answer, it depends. Home theaters have long served families who want that movie theater experience at home, where the lights dim, the screen appears and the sound immerses them as soon as the movie begins. Media rooms take a more family-centered approach and use various modes of entertainment.

With 2014 upon us and a whole host of new conference toom technology continuously being released, we thought it would be a good idea to look at some of things you should be thinking about for your business conference rooms.

Church Sound Systems, Amplify the Message

The Bells and Whistles

Even if they relied on acoustics alone, century-old places of worship have some kind of sound system to engage the participants and lead them through the service. But since audio products don’t age quite as gracefully as the stone and marble of ancient cathedrals, what was once considered state-of-the-art no longer meets the needs of today’s congregations. Of all the church sound systems we’ve done, we’ve found two extremes. Either the system is completely outdated and prone to failure, or we uncover a collection of obsolete components cobbled together with electrical tape and a prayer until something better can one day be implemented.

In life we sometimes get caught up in the everyday happenings and forget to enjoy things along the way. This is probably even more true at work. Being in the AV business, I sometimes get so caught up in things like client scheduling, finding the right dimensions to fit our recommended equipment and various other minutia that I forget why I got into this business to begin with, that being the enjoyment of music. I have been after better sound since when I was a young kid. Today I was reminded of this and thought I'd share my experience with you.

When you want to use your brand new home theater system at its fullest potential, finding some good movies to take advantage of your surround sound is a great place to start. With a professional quality receiver from Marantz paired up with some Totem speakers, the only way to totally experience the system is to find a movie that was designed for thrills in the theater.

When purchasing a TV, you want to educate yourself on the latest TV technology trends, so you can invest in the features that will get the most use in your household, and will be compatible with your favorite content, programming subscription(s), and devices. In our last blog post, TV Technology Trends: The Death of the 3D TV, we discussed a TV trend that we believe is on its way out. Now, let's talk about two trends that we expect to gain popularity in 2014.

So you've got your home theater set up perfectly; impeccable surround sound speakers, first-rate audio receiver and amp, and integration with all of your input sources. But with every high quality component that you've purchased comes a remote. It's not uncommon to have more than five electronic components that are remote controlled, so if you're using five different remote control devices, you’re likely feeling frustrated and annoyed.

One of the great joys of the holiday season every year is all the sights and sounds associated with it. To the casual observer, this situation is just part of the festive atmosphere but to the business owner, the state of his digital signs, speakers and other AV equipment is of utmost importance as it helps to bring customers into the store and, once inside, to drive sales. In fact, it is a prudent idea for business owners to consider upgrading their location's signs and speakers every year or two to fully capitalize on the holiday rush. 

Video conferencing is used for everything from providing guided tours of remote manufacturing facilities, to conducting legal depositions, to interviewing job candidates across the globe. Due to its cost effectiveness, video has another purposeful use that businesses leverage on a daily basis.

A video conferencing system is a major investment for any business, but if it's done correctly, it will result in considerable ROI for years to come. If your company relies on live meetings and conference calls to sell your product, engage with customers, or manage remote employees, a video conferencing system can save you thousands of dollars in travel expense while also improving the ways that you communicate.