Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, things were looking up. Attendance was up, tablets were up, and 3D TV hype was up. 3D TV sales continue to struggle as consumers are confused with the technology, content is limited, and wearing glasses has some people waiting for glasses-les options. First of all, there are more movies coming out on Blu-ray but still a limited number. DirecTV has three 3D channels, but mostly there are running the same 3 or 4 shows over and over. The Toshiba booth had a VERY controlled demo of their new glasses-less technology and a long line to view it. If it was so cool, why would they do that? I must admit that I was not willing to stand in line to watch it. But the press has validated my assumptions. The Toshiba glasses-les TVs are not great and get worse as you go away from the dead center of the TV. So we are still stuck with glasses for now.

On the tablet front, there were over 80 new devices. There were Chinese companies showing direct rip-offs of the iPad, and most others showing tablets running the Android operating system. No one beat the iPad in my opinion..

I received my new iPhone on Verizon last week and I am enjoying it immensely! I had an old Blackberry and was waiting for Verizon to get the iPhone. So far it is working perfectly, no dropped calls like people on AT&T were seeing. And my favorite app is the Control4 application that allows me to control my whole home (Audio, Lighting, Thermostats, Cameras, etc.) from the iPhone.

Control4 is now shipping a new version of its iPad/iPhone/iTouch whole-house control application. There is also a version that runs on Windows machines. This new application is called MyHome and is updated with the new look of their 2.0 operating system. In my testing, it is also faster than the old version. It allows you to control your whole home (thermostats, lighting, shades, alarm, view cameras, TV/Theater control, and whole house music, iPod, etc.). The application is free and downloadable in the App Store, but using it with the control4 system requires a license.

I have seen ads on TV lately from Comcast and ADT showing their "new" Home Automation services. Verizon and others are also talking about doing it. They tout being able to view cameras in your home remotely, arm/disarm your security system and control lights. We have been doing these "new" services for well over 5 years. And you can use your iPhone/iPad or iPod to control everything. So the question is, do you trust these companies and their sub-contractors to this job? Please let me know what you think..

With HP's announcement that they are exiting the tablet market due to very poor sales, that brings the question "Why does the iPad rule the tablet market"? There are many theories here but it is really quite simple. It's all about the Apps and accessories. So even though the iPad doesn't support flash... And even though I hate iTunes... There just isn't anything out there that has the massive support from developers and accessory manufacturers... And my favorite App is still the Control4 App that allows me to control my whole home from my iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch.. Comments?

ADI is proud to announce that we are now a certified reseller for Eragy Energy Management Solutions. This product can be used to monitor your electricity usage so that you can learn to make lifestyle changes in order to save up to 20% on your Electric bill. It can be used stand-alone using the Internet to track usage or integrated in to your Control4 automation system. After living with the solution for about 3 weeks, I am very impressed with this product. I have learned that my swimming pool uses the most electricity with A/C second and the Hot Tub third. I always thought that A/C would be number 1 in the summer time, but apparently not. I also learned that my Home Theater is using over 500 watts when it is on and many times it is only on as background noise.. So by changing habits and adjusting things like only running the pool for 4 hours a day instead of 5, I should be able to easily save 20% or more on my electric bill. See here for more info and screen shots of the solution.

I saw an ADT commercial the other day about their "new" automation service called Pulse. It allows you to control your lights, Thermostats, arm/disarm your security system, lock/unlock doors and view cameras all from your smart phone! Here at ADI, we have been doing this for almost 10 years! Who would you trust to do this for you? A mega corporation that has just started this service or a small family owned company that has been doing it for 10 years? By the way, there are no hidden costs with us, you own the equipment and there are no monthly fees like there is with ADT... Call us today for a free estimate of the costs to setup a system for you!