Episode 51 - ISE 2015 Wrap-Up

We sat down to record this show on the evening of Thursday, February 12th. If you are wondering why we point this out it is because that date marks exactly the 1-year anniversary of us publishing our very first episode of HomeTech! With that in mind, and before we get into the specifics of this week's show, we wanted to reiterate our sincere appreciation for your listenership! We have had a great time getting this show off the ground over the last 12 months, and we look forward to many more years of growing the HomeTech community! Thank you for being a part of it!

In terms of topics for discussion on this milestone-episode of ours... well, the timing couldn't have worked out any better.  You see February 12th also marked the conclusion of ISE 2015 (Integrated Systems Europe for the uninitiated). ISE (a joint venture between CEDIA and INFOcomm) is a major event in the world of professional systems integration. In fact this year the show set an all time attendance record coming in at just under 60,000 attendees. That is massive!

We wanted to dedicate an entire episode to covering what we thought we were the most exciting and relevant stories to come out of the show for us as  both professional integrators and home technology enthusiasts. We hope you enjoy the show. If you do (or don't for that matter) feel free to let us know on our feedback page. We'd love to hear from you! Thanks again for listening. See you next week!

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Episode 50 - Perverted Robots

In what we suppose could be considered a miniature milestone we bring to you show number 50. Seth returns from the previous week's travels to join us for an all-news episode. As the CES hangover begins to dissipate the industry's collective gaze has begun to shift towards ISE 2015 in Amsterdam. ISE, the literal lovechild of CEDIA and INFOcomm, is a massive show that we at HomeTech hope to attend someday. For this year however we are stuck watching from afar. We look forward to sharing our thoughts on episode 51 so be sure to tune in next week to get the HomeTech take. 

For this week's show we had a lot of ground to cover. A substantial acquisition by Control4, the NEEO remote's smashing success on Kickstarter (you'll hardly believe the numbers), Radioshack (finally) filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, perverted robots, and much more. We hope you enjoy!

As always we thank you so much for listening. If you like what you hear please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. Every single review is greatly appreciated and goes a long ways towards helping more listeners discover our show.

See you next week!

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Episode 49 - Connectile Dysfunction

In our latest episode we depart from our usual format on a couple of fronts. First and foremost Seth had some unexpected travel come up. As such Jason is joined by a good friend, fellow Integrator, and industry podcaster Nate Schneider. Nate and Jason work on together a monthly podcast called AV Shop Talk that, especially for the integrators in our audience, we would encourage you to check out. 

Secondly, the show takes a break form our normal focus on home automation to take a look at a problem that affects far too many; connectile dysfunction.  A lack of reliable cell phone coverage in our homes and offices can be a real nuisance. As integrators this is a problem that we are often asked to solve. Up until recently however very few solutions existed. Products like AT&T's MicroCell are total garbage. On the other end of the spectrum are highly specialized (and rather expensive) solutions that take a lot of careful planning to deploy. Now it looks we may finally have some middle ground.

CES 2015 brought with it the release of new solutions to this challenge. On this episode we focus on new products announced from weBoost (an off-shoot of Wilson Electronics) and SureCall. Understanding these new solutions is important for integrators, who may be looking to add new product and service offerings to their lineup. End users should also be aware of these new products as they may finally put an end to the horrible scourge known as connectile dysfunction. 

As always we thank you for listening! If you are enjoying the show please take a moment to share it with your friends and / or to leave us a review on iTunes!

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Episode 48 - Now That's a Home Theater!

On this week's episode Jason shares some of his experiences managing the installation of a very high end home theater in Los Angeles. The conversation ranges from technical topics, such as the inclusion of Auro3D audio, to the logistical challenges present when building a room such as this. These high end theaters require an immense amount of planning and a high-level of execution from multiple trades. We thought it would be interesting to share a sneak peek of what this process looks like with you. 

In the news this week we discuss rumors of a pending API from Sonos (yes you read that right, Sonos!). Given his background as a developer Seth's take on this topic is particularly interesting. We talk about what this move could potentially mean not only for consumers and integrators but also for Sonos, who will have to step up their support as this API become public. We also discuss the recent move by Universal Remote (URC) to roll up their software lines into one unified product. It's a move that makes sense for the company on a number of fronts. We discuss the implications of this announcement, giving our specific take on what it means for integrators and consumers alike. 

As always we thank you so much for listening! If you are enjoying the show please take time to tell a friend or leave us a review on iTunes! Also come say hi on Twitter or shoot us some feedback. We read everything our listeners send and would love to hear from you!

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Episode 47 - Chris Pinder of HDAnywhere

Episode 47 of HomeTech brings to you a conversation with Chris Pinder of HDAnywhere, a manufacturer of unique HDMI distribution solutions. As the video landscape continues to evolve, and 4K displays and content become more ubiquitous, it's become increasingly important to have an array of video-solution options in your tool belt. To that end if you're not familiar with HDAnywhere, you should be! This company initially came to our attention via our fans in the UK (Shout out to the #LiveInstall community). Recently HDAnywhere has made inroads into the US market. Their modular distribution solutions warrant special attention. Although only half of the HomeTech team (Seth) was able to conduct the interview, we are excited to present this episode!

In the news portion of the show we give special focus to the often-overlooked battle to control the media room. Over the last year home technology fans have seen countless new entrants to the smart home market. For a variety of reasons however control of the A/V devices in your media room have warranted little attention from the startup community. This week seemed to represent a shift on this front. New entrant NEEO lighting Kickstarter on fire was probably the biggest story. iRule, Logitech, and Pronto (yes you read that right, Pronto) also had something to add to the conversation. Tune into this episode for all you need to know about this important shift in the smarthome evolution. 

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