Music in eight rooms and looks to match the iPod.

The iPod has had the same transformative effect on multiroom audio that the Mac had on computers: Both changed an unfriendly, daunting entity into something the average person could relate to. While many manufacturers have brought the iPod’s basic functionality to their remotes and keypads, few have captured the look and feel.

Count NuVo Technologies among the few who have escaped the black hole of generic white faceplates.

The Dude Abides

“If you will it, Dude, it is no dream.”

Those are the words that pop into my brain the first time I fire up Universal Remote Control’s MX-6000 to test out the better part of a week’s worth of tinkering and programming. And it’s not just because The Big Lebowski happens to be in my DVD player at the time. (It is. It always is.) I hear those words in my head because I realize that, for the first time, I’m not making excuses for a remote control.

Smart lighting control can lead to real energy savings.

Lighting control can be as addictive as a DVR. Once you’ve experienced the convenience of a well-implemented lighting control system in your home, there’s no going back. I know my enjoyment of my home theater went up dramatically just by installing a simple wireless dimmer, controlled by my universal remote.

If you feel like a lighting control system is more luxury than necessity, know that light management can lead to energy and potentially money savings as well.

Your iPhone now controls everything those big home automation touchscreens can — from anywhere in the world.

A recent innovation is going to make your life a whole lot better — or a whole lot worse.

It all depends on how you feel about the iPhone.

The Fine Art of Concealing a Home Theater

It's no secret that flat-screen televisions are flying off retailer's shelves and finding their way into living rooms, family rooms and media rooms across the country. But even before they're installed, many homeowners are looking for ways to hide them from view when not in use.

After all, a large slab of black glass mounted on the wall doesn't complement the décor of most rooms. And let's not overlook the Spouse Acceptance Factor that often dashes the hopes of many home theater enthusiasts.

Enter VisionArt Galleries.

Lutron’s AuroRa system drops the price on automated lighting control—so you can stay in bed where you belong.

Why are we all working so hard? We quit getting up to change the TV channel back in the 1980s. We stopped running to grab a call on our wired phones around then, too. But we still lift ourselves off the couch to turn down the lights. We still walk around the house turning all the lights on when we get home. And we still go room to room before bedtime to make sure all the lights are out.

Lutron seeks to solve this conundrum with AuroRa, a basic lighting control system that lists for $725.

The Crestron Experience Center in Las Vegas is one of the few places in the world delivering hands-on demos of the wonders of home automation.

With its new Las Vegas Experience Center, Crestron—which in home automation is perhaps even more pervasive than Microsoft is in the computer business—seeks to make its creations more accessible to dealers and customers. The Experience Center is one of only a few places in the world where one can witness home automation at work.

Invisible Touch

Or: How RTI’s T4 Universal Controller taught me to stop worrying and love my custom installer.

The other day I asked my 9-year-old nephew what he wants for his birthday. He responded with the usual list of toys and games, but when I asked his mother the same question, she summarized her desires with one phrase: “I wish life could be more convenient.”

What she needs is a lighting control system.

Monster Cable’s EP 2450 power conditioner makes it easy to hide your components away.