Smart Home IO

When planning for wall mounted TV's at your residence do not rely on the Cable Company or Satellite provider to leave you with a clean tidy wiring job after their installation. If you have not properly planned for the design of your TV system you can easily end up with a sloppy installation that usually only a certified electronics contractor can help you with. Your local electrician can sometimes help with these issues but depending on their experience they can get your TV hung on the wall but the necessary details and proper wiring requirements are often over looked.

CES 2017 brought many updates and new products into the consumer electronics sphere for this coming year and Sony announced a few notable and key products to be aware of. Sony AE1 4K TV Model Series This line of TV is Sony's entry into the 4K OLED TV market. Sony X930E TV Model Series This TV has the flagship X1 extreme TV processor which was previously only available to the top end Z series TV line. Sony UBP-X800 4K UHD Blu-ray player The new player allows HDR to SDR conversion and also supports the largest variety of audio and video content Sony VPL-VZ1000ES 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector The new projector is designed to be installed in a furniture cabinet to blend into any living room with motorized lens shift and easily-adjustable feet for maximum flexibility. See the below link to view a PDF of all the new features and specs for the above 2017 CES Sony new product announcements. Sony CES 2017 Key Custom Integration Announcements

Sonos 7.0 software and app update is now available for your Sonos system which will enable new services and features to your music system. The new software features the ability to now control your Sonos system with the Spotify app sending music to any Sonos speaker within your system. A Sonos account is required to pair and linked your Sonos and Spotify services together but once completed you will enable the new Sonos Spotify software integration.  The Sonos 7.0 update will also now allow you to calibrate and tune your Sonos Playbar, Sub and Surround Speakers with the Tuneplay app software feature. The Tuneplay service will allow the user to balance and EQ the full Sonos 5.1 surround sound music system previously only available for the Play 1, Play 3 and Play 5 stand alone speakers.

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

1.  Download the Alexa App. You can also go to  www.amazon.com/echodotsetup   which can help in getting the best app experience to enrich your Echo Dot.   2. Open the Alexa app and once open you will be guided through the setup and Wi-Fi connection process.   3. Setup your others connected devices within the settings of the Alexa app such as Lutron Caseta or Google Nest. A list of connected devices or "skills" as Amazon terms can be seen here Smart Home Skills 4. Talk to Echo Dot by using the word "Alexa" as your voice trigger command. When the trigger voice command is activated you can visually see the Echo light up blue around the top ring and the device is ready for a voice command. After a recognizable voice command is issued to the Echo Dot the unit will give you an audible "OK" acknowledgement. The voice trigger word can also be changed in the app settings menu to "Amazon" or "Echo" depending

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

Below is the current list of Amazon Alexa Smart Home Skills integratable with your Amazon Echo as of June 16th, 2020 in order by current release date. TP-Link Router by TP-Link Sleepace Nox by SLEEPACE LLC Blackstone by eWeLink support Mighty Mule by GTO Access Systems LITEdge - from Torchstar by Torchstar Corp 1B Vent Hood by First Build Chuango by Chuango Security Technology Corporation tiktecklab wifi socket by rex Stellar Wi-Fi by Sansitech CasaTunes by CasaTunes Smanos by smanos inc. Smart Oil Gauge by Connected Consumer Fuel B One VoiceAct by Blaze Automation Inc Viotek SmartHome by eWeLink support AeraForHome by Prolitec Arrayent by Arrayent Sparkplug By CreateAbility Adobe Smart Home by adobe systems, inc. Rainrobot by Unknown Eneco Chatbot by Qdraw TXU iThermostat Skill for Amazon Alexa by TXU Energy Logic Machine by Embedded Systems SIA Aquarium Light by EvilHogg Jenn-Air Connected Ovens by Whirlpool Corporation spott by GTO Access S

The Ring Video Doorbell is advancing forward with the new software updates and features now available that help make it more reliable and less of an annoyance with false motion alerts. See below to help in setting up your Ring device. 1.  Open the Ring app and press the gear icon settings button located in the top right hand corner of the application. 2.  Press the Motion settings button as seen above to access the Ring's motion settings. 3.  You can now adjust how sensitive your motion sensor is when you have the motion alerts enabled on your Ring device. The middle default option may be just right for you but you may want to dial the sensitivity up to catch all activity or down for sensing people only. Important note that you can also adjust the area which the motion sensor tracks within the Motion Zones option. A larger zone or coverage will also make the sensitivity go up so a balance of the two settings is suggested to dial in yo