ELAN Home Systems' HR2 Awarded 2011 Resi Award for Best Remote Control

ELAN Home Systems last week was awarded the 2011 Resi Award by Residential Systems magazine in the category of Remote Control for the ELAN HR2 Remote. The award was presented to ELAN at the 2011 Resi Awards CEDIA Expo Reception in Indianapolis, Indiana.

"With ELAN g! we set out to create the best whole house system, making sure that the whole family could enjoy it," said Paul Starkey, president of ELAN Home Systems. "The HR2 is the most logical extension of that system because everyone has and uses a remote control. We aimed to break the mold of whole house control - and together, the ELAN g! Series and the HR2 remote do just that.”

Each year, Residential Systems magazine presents the prestigious Resi Awards to honor the best products exhibited at CEDIA EXPO, based on their industrial design.

“This year’s Resi Awards finalists demonstrate, once again, that innovation and elegant design need not be sacrificed during challenging economic times,” stated Residential Systems editorial director Jeremy Glowacki.

The sleek ELAN HR2, the company’s first ever remote, features the ELAN "g!" engine and hybrid use of backlit buttons with a 2.4" OLED touch display. This provides all the function of hard buttons and a touch screen packaged in a stylish remote that weighs a mere 8 ounces. Nearly a year of development went into the remote's shape and button layout, and that plays out in a very pleasing and easy-to-use button configuration, with a crisp clear touch display of the g! icon controls. This delivers quick-touch access to media, climate, lighting and security subsystems. Its ergonomic design is easy on the hands and eyes, and is ready on pickup thanks to a noiseless accelerometer and instant-on electronics. Integrated Wi-Fi and IR ensure rich metadata content as well as speedy local control of sources and TVs.

Beyond function, a major part of the remote's appeal is the gentle and artistic sculpting of the bottom and back so that depth quickly goes from one inch in the palm to a half inch midway up for an easy and balanced grip. Its Lithium Polymer battery provides superior battery life with the display on or on standby. A stylish charging base is included and keeps the HR2 in a handy upright position - ready to grab-and-go with a minimal footprint.

The industry's most intuitive new control solution - "g!" - is what powers the HR2, and it is a welcome advance over the complexity of its predecessors. "g!" features uniform, icon-based control from favorite devices including TVs, touch screens, touchpads - even PCs and iPhones. The standardized GUI interface works across more than 11 platforms, so that the trendy g!Mobile app users love on the iPhone appears and works similarly on ELAN's HR2 and all other g! touch controllers as well as users' televisions and mobile devices. Individual "apps" for each subsystem allow the user to control security, climate, lighting, media, irrigation, pool/spa, messaging, video and photos with the flick of a finger. Access through the system's IP backbone is fast and secure through any ELAN home interface or globally with mobile Internet enabled devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Netbooks and PC Tablets.

ELAN HR2 Handheld Remote Control:

• 
  
• All the speed, response & graphics of a touch screen
• All the ease-of-use, simplicity-of-programming & affordability of a remote control
• 43 backlit Hard buttons 3 additional programmable buttons
• 2.4" OLED display
• Noiseless accelerometer for activating LCD and backlight
• 802.11g communication provides robust metadata feedback
• IR blaster for line-of-sight control
• Quick & easy programming using the ELAN Configurator
• Compatible with all g! System Controllers
• Ships standard with battery and charging base
• Controls all AV sources with metadata feedback for supported devices
• Controls security, lighting, and climate with metadata feedback
• Supports all drivers that run on other g! interfaces

Sunfire Introduces A Universal Wireless Subwoofer Kit

Sunfire®, a specialist in the design, manufacture and marketing of luxury home theater products for the worldwide custom specialist and retail markets, today introduced its Sunfire Universal Wireless Subwoofer Kit. Comprised of a receiver and transmitter, the Kit is compatible with any third-party manufacturer’s powered subwoofer and eliminates new wires — making the placement of a subwoofer anywhere in a room easier than ever before.

“The key to bass performance is the same as the key to real estate – location, location, location,” said Mark Weisenberg, General Manager of Sunfire. “Having a hard-wired subwoofer limits where it can be placed, and improper placement can decrease the quality of the bass. With our new universal wireless subwoofer kit, homeowners can now place their sub wherever it sounds best, not just where it is convenient.”

Available immediately for a suggested retail price of $80 each, the SDSWITX Wireless Transmitter and SDSWIRX Wireless Receiver allows consumers to place a subwoofer near any electrical outlet, up to 25 feet from the audio source, enabling them to find the optimal placement in most rooms. For even more bass punch and fidelity, one transmitter can support two receivers for two separate subwoofers. And with digital signal transmission, the audio signal is reproduced with 100 percent accuracy.

Sunfire® Debuts Its Smallest, Most Powerful Subwoofer

Sunfire®, a specialist in the design, manufacture and marketing of luxury home theater products for the worldwide custom specialist and retail markets, today debuted its Atmos™ subwoofer, the smallest, most powerful subwoofer in its class.

The Atmos features a custom designed 6.5” woofer paired with a unique new asymmetrical cardiod surround, allowing over 1.5” of excursion. Resembling the variable thickness of the human heart, the surround provides superior control of the 6.5” driver, reducing distortion and increasing fidelity and reliability. The Atmos outperforms many 10” and 12” models.

Quietly containing the monstrous, cool running 1400W amplifier using Sunfire’s exclusive Tracking Downconverter technology required space-age engineering, which is why Sunfire used FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to design the Atmos, including the aluminum cabinet and the drivers as well as redesigning the Tracking Downconverter amplifier. This patient attention to detail gave the Atmos unequalled fidelity and high output, all out of an impossibly small aluminum extruded cabinet.

“The Atmos sets a new bar for small, powerful, accurate subwoofers. It is relevant for today’s consumers who demand high performance and reliability out of a small cabinet,” said Sunfire General Manager Mark Weisenberg. “Our engineers started from scratch and developed a incredibly tough aluminum enclosure that accommodates the tremendous air pressure generated by the woofer.”

Sunfire knows that every room is different, which is why the Atmos features an auto-room equalizer circuit that automatically adjusts the sub’s response to best suit the room acoustics for maximum bass quality and performance.

Thanks to the Atmos’ newly designed foot, which was inspired by the tire industry, the subwoofer will remain in place even at mind-numbing volumes. And measuring just 8.5” x 8.9” x 10.1”, the Atmos fits anywhere. For those thrill-seekers requiring even more bass, two Atmos subwoofers can be paired with just one wire through its conveniently located master/slave connectors.

The Atmos will begin shipping in Q2 2011 on a limited availability basis.

ATON Launches Industry's First Out-Of-The-Box Solution For Multi-Zone Music With In-Wall OLED Interfaces

ATON™, a premier manufacturer of affordable, high performance speakers and digital audio and Hi Def video distribution systems, today introduced the industry’s first pre-programmed Whole House “Music & More” System, the ATON AH66T Kit.

The new kit features the AH66T Multi-Source Multi-Zone Controller plus six (6) OLED2 touchpads that offer full-color graphic control and feedback. With built-in programming to run market leading sources like the iPort® and Lutron™ RadioRA®2, the affordable multi-room audio solution allows dealers to rapidly deploy a first-time or add-on audio system with iPod® & lighting control capability ready to go.

The AH66T is a multi-zone music solution with a built-in, RDS-enabled AM/FM tuner plus six additional sources, rated at 60 watts of power per zone with a line level pre-output for subzones. The controller includes a dedicated IR input for every zone with a full, discrete IR code set for integration. It comes with a full 2-way RS232 code set for control via 3rd party devices where a separate multi-room solution is required. The kit comes with six OLED2 in-wall capacitive touch touchpads featuring full-color OLED displays. OLED, or Organic LED displays, are perfect for displaying the system's metadata text, graphics, channel icons and more. Pair this with interchangeable faceplates in white, ivory and almond and you now have the perfect control solution that matches any décor. The kit also comes with 2 built-in RS232 ports ready for an iPort iPod dock (or two) Metadata ready, or Lutron RadioRA2 Lighting control with codes preloaded. The controller is “stackable” to two chassis for a 12-zone system with tuner pre-outputs to share the AM/FM selections between chassis.

The new ATON OLED2 touchpads tie the system together with the speed, graphics, and response of an LCD touch panel, with the ease-of-use and affordability of a traditional keypad. A radical departure from hard button keypads, this controller offers a 2.1” display and user-friendly 15-function hard button layout under a film overlay for the largest all-touch surface in a double-gang, in-wall product. The large display, with its six lines of metadata from 2-way sources, provides a detailed view of “Now Playing” information from the tuner and source components such as iPod and optional Sirius Satellite Radio. Each OLED2 comes pre-programmed to control the AH66T, the tuner, and iPort dock for iPods, plus advanced customization is a few clicks away with the new ATON SystemWorx software for Dealers.

“The AH66T KT offers an unsurpassed out-of-box experience that delivers beyond expectations,” said Paul Starkey, President of ATON Home Systems. “ATON is all about bending traditional categories and this is no exception. Why have just music when you can get so much more? Plus you can complete the system with our musician-voiced Storm Series speakers.”

The AH66T-KT Multi-Source/Zone Controller Kit will be featured at The AVC Group ISE 2011 Stand 1L90. The AH66TKT Kit is available for immediate delivery at a US MSRP of $3599. The AH66T Controller and OLED2 Touchpad are available separately at US MSRPs of $1599 and $610. The complete AH66TKT kit ships with the AH66T Multi-Source / Multi-Zone Controller, 6 OLED2 Touchpads, 4 IR Emitters and Talkback Emitters, AM and FM Antennas, 2 DB-9 Male to RJ45 Adapters, a DB-9 Female to Null RJ45 Adapter, 2 RJ45 568A CAT Cables, a Detachable Line Cord, 6 4-Pin Connectors and a 3-Pin Connector. Go to http://www.atonhome.com for more information and dealer locations.

AH66T Multi-Source Multi-Zone Controller:
• 6-zone multi-room controller, “Stackable” to two chassis for a 12 zone system
• Integrated AM/FM tuner with RDS metadata plus 6 additional audio sources
• AM / FM tuner pre-outputs to share tuners between chassis when “Stacked”
• 60 Watts of audio power per zone
• Dedicated 3.5mm IR inputs – for every zone with discrete IR code set available
• 2 built-In RS232 ports for iPod metadata and lighting control
• Out-of-box support for iPort iPod Dock and Lutron™ Radio Ra2® lighting system
• Variable or fixed pre-amp outputs for every zone
• Optional Sirius satellite radio support
• Compatible with the ATON HRR44 video switcher
• Accommodates up to two touchpads per zone
• System and zone trigger outputs
• Rack mountable using the RMK3 3U Rack Mount Kit sold separately

OLED2 Touchpad:
• Breakthrough interface that marries the magic and beauty of touchscreen technology, with the simplicity of a keypad
• Capable of controlling 13 devices including sources, lighting and shades
• Pre-programmed for independent zone functions, AM/FM tuner, iPort dock and Lutron RadioRA2
• Fully customizable using ATON SystemWorx software
• 3 interchangeable films and faceplates including White, Ivory and Almond with each touchpad