Web tablets are a category that barely existed
18 months ago, and yet they have now become
an 800-pound gorilla casting their shadow over
virtually every channel and category in the CE
business. More than one industry observer has
noted that Apple sold more iPads last year than
the automation channel has sold touchpanels in its
entire history.
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McIntosh is perhaps one of the brands most synonymous with high-end audio, and it has an iPad app for music listening.
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Existing control and automation vendors find
themselves in a unique position, having to cater to
client demand for tablet control while still needing to
support and maybe rethink their own interfaces. The
opinion of RTI VP of marketing Pete Baker reflects
the consensus of automation vendors that while
tablets, especially Apple’s iPad, are in high demand,
they should be considered part of a balanced control
ecosystem rather than a category killer.
“Where the iPad and other tablets really shine as
control devices, and we believe they will continue to
do so this year, is in giving consumers convenient
remote access to their electronic environment from
virtually anywhere in the world,” Baker noted.
“This is an extremely powerful and attractive
feature, and also provides the ‘wow’ factor that
consumers crave.”
So Baker and others believe that tablets should
be thought of as an extension of automation, rather
than its replacement.
But the iPad is no longer alone. Tablets based
on Google’s Android platform also are quickly
growing in popularity, and it’s just the beginning.
The Latest Media Control Apps
Automation and security vendor HAI’s Hi-Fi 2
control app for iPhone and iPad is designed as a
standalone music gateway. It allows HAI’s iPhone
app to connect directly to the Hi-Fi 2 and Music
Gateway systems without requiring a home control
system. That means an iPhone, iPad, or iPod
Touch can be a simple interface for the audio
system. A powerful distributed audio system with
both local and remote inputs for increased ease
of installation, the
Hi-Fi 2 connects
to Music Gateway
stores with access to
thousands of songs.
Hi-Fi 2 features
include Volume Source Control (VSC), which
can display metadata such as artist name and song
title, and users also can jump through songs in
their collection using the VSC, as well as accessing
songs on the 500GB hard drive and viewing shared
network folders for song selection.
Autonomic Controls’s Mirage Media Controller
for iPad controls the Mirage Media Server (MMS-
5 and MMS-2) and Mirage Media Control System
(MCS). It allows users to browse and control media
libraries and supported streaming services from the
tablet. MMC also ports metadata
and album art, and users can access
and play multiple iTunes and
Windows Media libraries alongside
Pandora and SiriusXM, as well
as stream free radio stations from
around the globe with RadioTime.
Spotify is now available to European
customers, and Autonomic plans to
integrate Rhapsody and Last.fm by
Q2.
Michael de Nigris, CEO
and co-founder of Autonomic,
acknowledged the power that
the iPad wields in the channel.
“Mirage Media Servers are known for cloud-based
access and control of content from anywhere at any
time,” he explained. “Someone who already carries
an iPad wherever he or she goes can forgo the high
cost of dedicated touchpanels.”
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Autonomic Controls’ Mirage Media Controller for iPad connects to the Mirage Media Server
(MMS-5 and MMS-2) and Mirage Media Control System (MCS).
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Apple OS-based automation vendor Savant is
no stranger to tablet, being one of the first ones
out of the gate when the iPad debuted. Its latest
app, TrueControl for the iPad, iPod touch, and
iPhone, offers full, two-way control of audio and
video, lighting, security, climate, and every other
subsystem.
Savant Mobile, the remote access feature for
the TrueControl App, provides users with two-way
control of all the features of the system anywhere in
the world with Internet access. Homeowners can
disarm their security system, trigger gate access,
control heating and air conditioning, turn lights
on or off, and view live video feeds from security
cameras. On the programming side, TrueControl
can be completely tailored to meet the individual
control requirements of the client, including userchangeable
and defined backgrounds, icons,
control categories, and channel favorites.
Security System Access
Another appealing feature of automation systems
for iPad owners is being able to remotely interface
with their home’s security system. Honeywell’s
free Total Connect remote services app has been
updated to enable faster, higher quality streaming
video for Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
devices. With Total Connect Video Services, users
can select from up to six cameras on their system.
They can view live video, record and store video
clips, take snapshots and look in on their homes and
businesses from any remote location so long as they
have WiFi or 3G access. Beyond simple viewing,
users can control their pan-and-tilt cameras, and a
double-tap feature centers the camera on its axis,
letting the viewer get a better look at a designated
area and simplifying navigation.
Controlling Light
Light control, by which industry professionals
now mean not only electric light fixtures but
motorized window coverings as an encompassing
category, have been taking full advantage of the
control options that tablets offer users. Lutron
Electronics has released a RadioRA 2 iPad app that
is designed to control lights, shades, temperature,
and appliances, combining both convenience and
energy saving benefits.
The app allows homeowners to: monitor and
control their system while away from home,
enact a temporary, energy-saving “green” mode
that reduces light levels and turns off unneeded
appliances, and control multiple homes from one
iPad. Integrators are able to personalize their clients’
control programming with a real-time level editor.
AV System Control
RTI has developed the RTiPanel app, which allows
control of systems automated by its XP series of
remote processors from anywhere in the world on
an iPad. For programmers, the RTiPanel app offers
simple configuration and customization through
the Integration Designer software that they are
already familiar with.
Tablet control, in general, and the iPad
specifically, is central to Crestron’s new Core 3 OSpowered
PMC3 and PMC3-XP Prodigy control
systems. The PMC3 combines the processing
power of a computer operating system with the
sturdiness of a network appliance and enables realtime
multitasking to run up to 10 independent
programs simultaneously, all communicating with
each other on the same platform, controllable not
just from Crestron touchpanels, but also from the
Crestron Mobile Pro and Mobile Pro G apps for
Apple iPad and iPhone.
Audio Brands Get in on the Act
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Light control manufacturer Lutron Electronics has released a
RadioRA 2 iPad app that is designed to control lights, shades,
temperature, and appliances, combining both convenience
and energy saving benefits.
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Apps aren’t just the purview of automation.
McIntosh is perhaps one of the brands most
synonymous with high-end audio, and it has
an iPad app for music listening. Featuring
McIntosh’s signature blue LED Watt Meters as
a backdrop, the AP1 Audio Player iPhone/iPad
app provides virtually all features of the existing
iPod app, while adding a veneer of McIntosh
cool. Users can select tracks, artists, playlists, and
albums as well as control the volume of the music,
with all controls fully customized and consistent
with McIntosh styling and functionality.
Third-Party Development
With the growth of the tablet as an interface,
there’s a commensurate need for third-party
app development, as well. Guifx is an interface
design studio specializing in touchscreens for
home automation and embedded systems.
The company recently released updates to
its most popular user interfaces, called Oscar,
Deanna, and Victoria, to offer compatibility with
Crestron’s Mobile Pro G iPad app and, according
to the company, is hard at work on new Android
tablet interfaces.
Similarly, Bitwise Controls is an automation
programming company with experience in
not only commercial and residential AV, but
industrial control and monitoring equipment
manufacturing, as well. The company is working
with its partner automation vendors to develop
plug-ins and software support for tablet control
of most major brands of automation equipment.
Looking forward, it’s easy to predict that
the impact of tablets throughout the coming
year will be consistent with what we’ve already
seen. As clients continue looking to expand the
capabilities of their control systems beyond the
AV components in their home, the demand for
access to their systems from tablets will only
increase. And manufacturers and integrators are
going to continue providing functionality to meet
that demand.
Lee Distad (www.leedistad.com) is an Edmonton,
Alberta-based custom channel business