Smart Home IO

Control4 Operating System Software Versions (Updated October 2021) Composer 2.10.19              Resolved an issue that prevented lighting scenes from loading. Composer 2.10.18              Resolved an issue where album cover art wasn't showing.                                                   Resolved an issue where sliders in lighting would disappear on iPads. Updated Apple Watch icon.                                                       Composer 2.10.17                Resolved an issue where search was missing on device Music/Movies                                                       Resolved an issue that prevented teaching in Deezer and Tidal. Fixed a crash when attempting to set an access schedule for a user in Locks. Data picker not displaying properly. Composer 2.10.16         Fixed an issue that prevented the Album/Artist from displaying properly. Resolved an issue when viewing snapshots from SpyClops cameras. Stability improvements and bug fixes.

Lutron's Caseta wireless lighting control system can be expanded beyond lighting control and integrated to other smart home systems and smart home devices. Below you can see a complete list of the current compatible Lutron Caseta smart home devices and systems. Wireless Thermostats Wireless Window Shades Smart Home Systems and Technology

Control 4 has come out with their incremental software update from 2.9.0 to the latest release 2.9.1. The new software is a maintenance update for bug fixes, device driver updates and new driver profiles. Amazon Alexa voice control driver is enhanced and improved with the new release. See the link below for the full Control 4 release notes for Composer 2.9.1.

The Nest Cam now integrates with the Lutron Caseta Lighting control system. Once the system devices have been setup and integrated via their respective apps, the Nest Cam can trigger Caseta lighting system commands when it detects a person while you are Home or Away. The lights automatically turn on for 15 minutes to help make it appear you or someone is home.

Lutron Caseta lighting control system now works with Samsung SmartThings system. With the SmartThings lineup of products you can control your Lutron products in new ways including by motion sensing. The Caseta products can be added to your SmartThings routines to adjust lights, thermostats and other devices at a scheduled time or with the touch of a button.

Sonos and Crestron have come together with tools and a Sonos system module available to program your Sonos devices onto your Crestron system through the SIMPL programming interface. The new features allow you to share a Sonos device system wide through your Crestron music system or dedicate Sonos devices to individual rooms See the link below for viewing the full how to guide on integrating your Sonos and Creston systems. Sonos and Crestron How To Integration Guide

Control 4 and Google Home can now integrate with the help of the HouseLogix Chowmain IFTTT control driver. The new driver can now enable a homeowner to control their house with Google's Smart Home Hub or with Google's Pixel phone. The Control 4 driver that can enable Google's voice commands to come alive at your house is available at HouseLogix's website for $90 USD. Once the driver has been downloaded a configuration and install process is needed to activate the various voice control features. See the attached link below to view the configuration PDF with instructions to walk through the process. Control 4 Google Home IFTTT Control Driver Instructions PDF

Savant has now released their updated 8.2 Pro software release with many enhancements, additions and bug fixes to further the Savant experience. See the link below for the full list of what the 8.2 update has in store for us. Savant daVinci 8.2 Software Update Information PDF

Savant has just released the Pro 8.1 software update which is an incremental improvement upon the 8.0 software release. The new Savant 8.1 release enhances the customer experience and makes new deployment easier.  The Pro remote enhancements include multi-zone music distribution, power pop-up confirmation and improved connectivity. The Savant 8.1 app includes improved volume controls, zone filtering and lighting ease of use updates. Sonos is now available as a service in scene creation and many other enhancements. Please see the link below for complete details of the Savant 8.1 update. Savant 8.1 Software Update Information PDF

The Amazon Echo Dot is now available on Amazon.com . The new device from Amazon is a great inexpensive way to add voice control Alexa to many of your smart home devices you have with the list steadily growing. The Echo Dot gives you all the features of the original Amazon echo but has a smaller speaker that is not as suitable to play music through. This is a great option if you already have a music system and would just like to add the growing and improving voice control Amazon has created. The price point is $49.99 and orders are currently back ordered until mid October. Get in line today to add voice control to your smart home and click here  to see a list of all the available smart home devices the Echo Dot and Amazon Alexa work with.

Lutron's new Pico remote control is now available to seamlessly pair with your Sonos system giving you a music audio keypad for your Sonos system. The new Pico remote control gives you the quick convenient hard button control to play, pause, skip tracks and adjust the Sonos volume without having to launch the Sonos application on one of your smart devices. This new Pico remote control is available for your Lutron Homeworks, RadioRA2 and Caseta Wireless lighting system. The model number for the new Sonos Pico remote control is PJ2-3BRL-GWH-A02 and starts shipping September 15th, 2016 with a list price of $39.95.

The Nest iPhone app now integrates with the iWatch allowing you to control your thermostat and temperature from your wrist without having to use the Nest iPhone application. You are also able to switch between home and away modes  with ease from a touch of your wrist. Make sure you have the latest nest app updated on your phone and configure the Nest app to be shown on your watch which is done within the iWatch phone application. As long as your iWatch is connected to your phone that has Wi-Fi and cell service the Nest application will work seamlessly on your smartwatch.

RTI has announced they have a new driver for integrating the DoorBird intercom station. The version 1.0 driver can be downloaded below. (you will need an RTI login to access) http://www.rticorp.com/driver-store/doorbird.html The integration and driver features are as follows: Up to 12 stations can be used with the RTI driver. Events for connected, disconnected, doorbell, door open, and motion are enabled using this driver.  The RTI driver for the DoorBird  is not for use in viewing video or communicating to the DoorBird through SIP.  The video capabilities can be seen using the Generic MJPEG Video object built into integration designer programming software.

The Savant 8.0 app is a great new edition to Savant's home control lineup. With the addition of full Sonos control, Savant has made leaps and bounds from the days of old (which is probably just last year knowing how fast technology goes). A great feature on the Savant 8.0 app is that it is compatible with the Apple iWatch. Assuming you have a functioning Savant system 7.0 version or higher you are able to utilize the Savant iWatch app functionality. There are two ways to access the Savant iWatch app on your smart watch with the first being from within your iWatch apps home screen and the second being from the glances watch menu.    1.  The way to access the iWatch apps home screen is to press the digital watch crown in towards the watch which takes you in and out of the apps page. (A press and hold of the digital crown accesses Siri voice control which is not yet available to the Savant system) Once you locate the Savant app press the logo using the watch touch

Since the inception of the iPad smart tablet from Apple, the smart device has revolutionized the remote control and user interface for using it as a smart home electronic control. The conveniences of the iPad including the multi-function usability with all the tasks and apps that can be used, extended battery life and affordable price point make it a superior remote control to many of the other dedicated electronic touch panels out on the market today. With all the options, features and tasks the iPad does it can also cause problems and annoyances when trying to simply use as a smart home control. The number one issue when trying to simply control your home or television is a pop-up notification from various apps and the iOS software itself that blocks your control app which hinders controlling what you are wanting to control. Simple settings adjustments on the iPad can greatly help the notifications annoyance that many control applications face when being paired with an i

1.  The first step to reboot a Crestron processor remotely is to setup and connect to the remote network with a VPN connection where the Crestron system you are working on resides. Setting up a VPN connection is beyond the scope of this article but this connection can be done utilizing a VPN router and a dynamic DNS service. 2.  Once you have a successful VPN connection you can now open the Crestron toolbox program to initiate your connection to the processor. Within the Toolbox program open the text console and connect to the processor that you would like to reboot. Having an address entry for your processor will help streamline connecting to your processor. This can be done using the address book button located in the lower left of the text console. Once your address entry is complete you can simply select the correct entry in the drop down address box.  3.  Upon connection to the processor within the text console you will see the model number of your proces