Just when Apple fans thought it couldn’t get any better, the iPad has become one of the most useful home management tools on the planet.

Imagine going on the road for a number of days and being able to control important home devices/appliances (from the air conditioner, to house lights, to door locks); waking early in the morning to a chilly home and turning the furnace on before hopping out of bed; and cutting down on energy costs by monitoring each of your major appliances for efficiency -- all from your trusty iPad.


A growing number of home owners are discovering the power of “home automation” or the use of digital technologies to streamline their household. Technology providers such as Smart Home Control by Control4, Sonos, Lutron Home Control +, IP Cam Viewer Pro, Eragy, and Powerhouse Dynamics technologies are forever changing the way people interact with their homes. Each technology works seamlessly with the iPad, making the device THE remote for the entire household.

All of the above technologies work seamlessly with the iPad via an app or downloadable console and can play a role in lowering energy consumption, increasing home security, and/or enhancing personal comfort.

How the iPad and Digital Technologies Can Make a Difference:

• Home Theater Controls & Flexibility. The iPad works seamlessly with the Control4 home automation system, which can make all home entertainment technologies work together including flat screen monitors/TVs, DVD players, stereos and. wireless speakers. It even has the power to lower window shades and lower the lights when the beginning movie credits begin to roll.

• Child Proofs the TV. With the help of Control4, if a child is watching the TV instead of completing their homework, parents or a babysitter can simply click a button on their iPad to instantly turn it off.

• Lighting, Window Covering Controls, & Thermostat control. There are number of amazing products that can be used separately or in conjunction with one another to save a tremendous amount of energy and make temperature regulation possible. Lutron Home Control +, Eragy, Control4, and Powerhouse Dynamics solutions all work seamlessly with the iPad.

• Door Lock & Garage Monitoring. Control4 keeps track of all door locks and garage doors and can be set to alert homeowners if either a door is ajar or the garage door open. In the case that a door needs to be locked or garage door shut, homeowners can use their iPad to make needed changes…no matter if they are at home, at the office, or across the world.

• Music Control. For music lovers that want more control over the various speakers their homes, Sonos provides you the ability to control every speaker in the house individually. It is even possible to turn on a different song in each room to keep everyone happy!

• Video Monitoring & Recording. Utilizing the $3.99 IP Cam Viewer Pro app, you can control & view IP cameras from anywhere in the word. This is perfect for checking in on teenagers or security surveillance. The app can be easily accessed from and used on the iPad.

Really, the opportunities for home automation and iPad utilization are endless! The only limitation is a homeowner’s creativity and/or knowledge of cutting-edge technologies. The secret to discovering the right combination is to inventory all appliances/devices within the home and then reach out to a leading home automation specialist.

As the release of the iPad 3 approaches, who knows what’s next for homeowners. Without a doubt, its application within the home is becoming more valuable each and every day!

The beauty of the Control4 system lays in the fact that it is fully customizable and scalable to fit the unique needs of individual homeowners. The secret to discovering the right combination of technologies to install within your home is to reach out to a leading lifestyle technology specialist. A leading force in Vancouver BC is Digital Smart Homes, whose team will personally sit down and brainstorm with you on creative ways to streamline and bind together the technologies in your home.

For more information on how custom technologies can enhance your home and make your iPad even more valuable, visit www.DigitalSmartHome.com or call 800-375-3474.

Tags: iPad

The Strong™ SM-PAD-ART1 gives maximum flexibility for wall mounting an iPad or iPad2. Place it in a corner. Under cabinetry. Or both! Whether you're using it as a whole-home controller, multimedia station or commercial kiosk - the articulating mechanism lets you get creative to deliver the best looking solution, with the capability to position the screen at nearly any angle.
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Tags: iPad, Mounts

We have something new for both Apple and Android-loving music fans. Sonos’s latest software update makes it easy for Sonos to play Apple AirPlay music sources and stream even more music to every room. And with the official launch of the Sonos Controller for Android, even more music lovers can get started with Sonos by turning their favourite smartphone into a free Sonos Controller.
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Tags: Wireless Music, Sonos, Android, Airplay

Bit for Bit pure digital data recovery! The iD100 delivers the most sensational performance and results ever from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod for the most realistic and dynamic delivery imaginable. Taking a digital feed allows extraction of every last drop of performance possible from the worlds favourite portable music player. The pure digital data is then fed to an external DAC or AV Receiver using its digital input for best possible digital to analogue conversion.

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Tags: Apple, Cambridge Audio, HiFi

Key features of the Sonos Wireless Dock

Works with iPod and iPhone
Simply dock any supported iPod or iPhone (see below) and enjoy your tunes all over the house on your Sonos system.

Wireless music playback on Sonos
Wirelessly play what's stored or playing on an iPod or iPhone, including many streaming music apps, on any or all the Sonos ZonePlayers at home. Play the same song from a docked iPod or iPhone in every room – perfectly synchronized.


Flexible music control
Browse and select the music from either your docked iPod or any Sonos Controller.


Best-in-class wireless technology
SonosNet 2.0 wireless mesh network functionality allows you to dock your iPod or iPhone wherever you want and play back the music on any or all the Sonos ZonePlayers in the house.


High-fidelity digital sound
The Sonos Wireless Dock sends your digital music files wirelessly to ZonePlayers throughout your home—without ever converting to analog like most conventional docks. This preserves the sound quality from the iPod to the speaker, ensuring you get the highest fidelity sound.


Quick charging dock
The Sonos Wireless Dock supports Apple's 1Amp charging specification so your iPod or iPhone are ready to go when you are. Read More...

Tags: Sonos, Wireless Music, Music Server

Available later this month at Digital Smart Homes, RedEye by ThinkFlood is a universal remote for an iPhone or iTouch. There are 3 products in the line up that start at $50 to a rack mountable pro unit that is $600. The App, now available on iTunes is free and can be downloaded here. Read More...

Tags: Remote Control, ThinkFlood, RedEye, Apple

The Control Mount Series by iPort lets your iTouch or ipad become in-wall touchscreen. It can be mounted either horizontally or vertically. Read More...

Tags: Control4, iPad, iTouch, Apple

Apple's new MacBook Pro and new Mac mini now come standard with APT-X and by the autumn of 2010 all new Apple products and all Apple o/s upgrades will include APT-X. This means that now everyone will be able to wirelessly transmit high quality uncompressed music files from any iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac Book Pro or Mac mini.

Tags: Apple, Blutooth

Although Sonos launched an iPad interface for their wireless whole-house music system earlier this week, it won’t be available until August. However, it is a very sleek use of the iPad technology integrated into a HomeAV application. If you want to see the demo, go here: Sonos iPad App

Tags: Sonos, iPad

What is Viper SmartStart?
Are you tired of carrying around another clunky remote control on your keyring, or finding yourself out of range when you really need to warm up or cool down your car before getting in? Now you can remote start or lock and unlock your car just by pushing a button on your iPhone or iPod Touch; using the exciting new Viper SmartStart app

The simple graphical interface gives you control over the following features of your installed Viper remote start or security/remote start system:

• Lock/arm
• Unlock/disarm
• Remote car starter
• Trunk release
• Panic or car finder
• 2-Way confirmation of commands received at vehicle
• Error messages if command not received successfully
• Vehicle personalization
• App pass code protection
• Password management utilities
• Button confirmation sounds

You can also control multiple vehicles – great for families! – and assign more than one user to control a vehicle.

Tags: Car Alarm, iPhone Apps

From The New York Times
Thanks to the iPod and all of its progeny -- as well as other non-Apple mobile music players -- it's now possible to put your entire music collection in your pocket and go anywhere. But for some audiophiles, all that mobility and its attendant digital-compression technology have led to a loss in pristine sound quality. Read More: New York Times

Tags: HiFi, Audiophiles, iPod

The updated specs on the New MacBook Pro mini DisplayPort is capable of sending both HDMI and digital audio over one cable giving it multi streaming capabilities and eliminating the need to have two separate cables. This greatly enhances the new MBP’s Front Row application as a media computer that could be incorporated into a Home Theater system. Technically labeled as DisplayPort 1.2, it has double the data rate, now at 21.6 Gps and can handle 3D, colour depths higher than 24-bit and faster frame rates.

Tags: Apple, MacBook Pro, Frontrow

Introducing the all new iPort FS-23 free-standing iPod/iPhone dock. This dock transforms your iPod or iPhone into a Digital Media System with On-Screen Navigation. Besides standing out as dock that connects to your TV with a full GUI (Graphical User Interface), the dock connects to your local network! This virtually allows you to sync you iPod or iPhone over your network without having to dock it directly to your computer. The advantages of a network connection can be quickly realized. You basically have a very inexpensive Media Server and fully unlocks your media even if they are DRM protected. It also has a remote zone IR control input so that the FS-23 Dock can be controlled from any room with several different control devices including Control4 or a Harmony Remote. Connects to your TV via component cables to give you the most optimized video playback of your Movies, TV Shows or Photos. Audio can be connected to your Hi-Fi system or directly to the TV for rich sound.

Other features include:
• View and navigate content from the iPod/iPod touch directly on your TV
• Charge the iPod/iPod touch while docked
• Select music, video, song, artist, album, and playlist
• View an elegant Now Playing screen that indicates title, artist, and album with cover art provided by the iPod/ iPod touch.
• iPort standard IR remote
• Control iPod/iPod touch settings such as equalizer,
• repeat, and shuffle
• Built-in pre-amplifier for variable volume control
• Stop-motion screen saver with time adjustment

For More info contact me or download the Product Sheet here

Tags: iPod, iPhone, Music Server, Video Server

Cambridge Audio’s “ONE” micro system has all the features a music lover would want wrapped in to a smart package. This fully integrated system comes with a built in CD Player that also plays WMA and MP3 CD’s. It also has a built in SD and USB reader that is accessible from the front, dedicated MP3 player input via a 3mm front jack, DAB/FM RDS radio tuner and a full function iPod Dock that can be all operated by a sleek remote control.

Along with all the multitude of mediums the ONE is able to play, the unit also come with an alarm clock, 2 additional inputs and a subwoofer output for those that want extra bass and want 2.1 performance. The built in Alarm will wake up to either the DAB or FM radio. The alarm feature would have been better if it was able to wake up to any source, like a playlist on your iPod. The chassis of the “ONE” is a full 215mm metal body and available in either black or silver. It has plenty of punch with a 60 watt amplifier and even had a headphone jacket to personal listening. The front LED display has a two line text feed back and can be dimmed for bedside placement. The “ONE” truly achieves so much from just one stylish neat box.

Tags: iPod, HiFi, Stereo System

The introduction of Apple’s iPad has made it much more affordable to add a touch screen panel to your home automation system. A touch screen from a Home Automation vendor can be as much 10 times higher than an iPad loaded with Home Automation software. When the iPad is released in late March, the cost of owning a touch screen panel to operate a Control4 Automation system will become under $900. Not only will the iPad give you “Door to your Drape” control, but with additional apps from iTunes you will be able to start you car, stream media and much more all from one powerful interface. The iPad will also act as a mobile controller out side of your “Home Zone” whereas proprietary controllers only work within the homes wireless coverage.

So if you can imagine.., your on the couch reading an eBook on your iPad and listening to music, the door bell rings and the music automatically pauses. You simply switch to your Control4 app to see who’s at the front door before you unlock the door...all from your iPad anywhere in your home or anywhere in the world. The iPad will not only bring new and exciting innovations but will effect electronics that already exist in your car, at businesses, in schools and at home today.

Tags: iPad, Control4, Touchscreen, Automation