• Paradigm’s Reference Millenia LP Speaker is Ultra Lean

  The low-profile, on-wall speaker boasts a light construction and ease of installation.

  

  Paradigm has put some of its speakers on a diet. Despite the ultra-thin appearance of the new Reference Millenia LP, this on-wall speaker can certainly rock the room, the house, and possibly even the neighborhood.

  As part of the Paradigm Reference Series, the Millenia LP features a 1.5-inch profile, which makes it thin enough to hang with your plasma, LED or other flat-panel, as well as projector screens.

  Paradigm says that each speaker can be used for left/right or center-channel sound, meaning it can also be installed vertically or horizontally. Besides being able to flip the speakers to your liking, the Millenia LP boasts an installation that doesn’t require removing portions of the walls. Instead, only small speaker wire holes are needed to mount these units.

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• Big Basement Makeover

  He got a cool home theater. She got a nice design. The kids got a place to hang out with their friends. And the entire family felt the satisfaction of incorporating some eco-friendly and energy-efficient products into their made-over basement.

  

  The Brown family in Maryland converted a cluttered basement space into a casual-style home theater complete with an adjoining game room, kitchenette and bath—primarily so their two teens would have a place to have fun with their friends, without having to go out.

  Before taking the plunge, they checked out some systems at the showroom of custom electronics company Gramophone, and wanted to use some green products to help furnish the space. “We’ve been interested in green and conservation,” says the lady of the house. “I don’t think we go to extremes, but when we have the option to be more environmentally sensitive, we try to go for it.”

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• RTI Releases RTiPanel App for the iPhone and iPad

  The new app can provide control over XP Series processors and connected devices.

  

  RTI is the latest home control company to offer up an app. The newly announced RTiPanel is now available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

  Featuring two-way feedback and a customizable user interface, the app can provide control over any RTI control system that has an XP series control processor in the mix. Other perks include album cover art, weather graphics, dynamic image lists, and much more.

  Of course, the app can tap into your home’s Wi-Fi system for control in and around the house. However, it also offers remote access via auto-switching Wi-Fi and 3G wireless for control and monitoring from anywhere in the world.

  Other features include a customizable graphical user interface and the option for both portrait and landscape views.

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• A Tour Through a Multimedia Mansion

  Each Samsung LED TV gets it’s own Marantz Blu-ray player.

  

  All home theaters are not equal. A home theater for a studio apartment is going to be vastly different than one for a 3-bedroom home. But what kind of theater befits the style, form and function of a multi-million dollar mansion? The owner of this home is a high-level executive at a world-class electronics company, so he knows a thing or two about technology. In outfitting his large home, approached The Source Home Theater, of Staten Island, N.Y. for advice.

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• Not All HDMI Cables Are Created Equal

  Two moderately-priced 1-meter cables tested by DPL Labs had different test results.

  

  When it comes to HDMI performance, let me restate that reliability has been the major issue, and it usually surfaces with people breaking the rules.

  This is not new, we’ve been following specification rules since the invention of the wheel, so why has it now taken such a toll?

  In our experience, some manufacturers have shown a lack of competency in making HDMI products right the first time and continuing that over the products’ life span. It is absolutely false that all cables are the same, even at short lengths.

  DPL Labs is more than just a certification company. It offers additional services that manufacturers, vendors, retail operations and even distribution firms look deep into when they are either buying or building products to verify that the integrity is what they were promised.

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• IOGEAR’s USB Sharing Station Connects 4 Devices Without Wires

  The new Wireless 4-Port USB Sharing Station delivers connected USB devices to anyone on your home’s wireless network.

  

  It may look like another black box, but IOGEAR is promising some magic from its new 4-Port USB Sharing Station.

  The product, which also goes by the less catchy model number GUWIP204, can make up to four devices completely wireless and accessible to anyone on your home network. In other words, multiple users will be able to access that printer, webcam, card reader, or anything else with a USB connection, from anywhere within your home’s Wi-Fi network.

  Now you really have no reason not to back up to that external hard drive. Besides being able to share the wealth of computer accessories with everyone around the house, the GUWIP204 also makes it pretty easy to place a webcam in an area that’s difficult to install—but also desperately in need of monitoring.

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• Rocket Server Adds Movies to RVs

  Designed for RVs, long haul truckers and marine installations, the server can hold about 100 titles.

  

  A long trip requires a ton of entertainment. Unfortunately, it’s hard to pack up everything in and around your home theater. The Rocket Movie Server, however, allows you to take a little piece of AV anywhere you go.

  The Rocket can hold over 100 movies, but doesn’t require any type of network connection. Designed to withstand and operate in a harsher environment, Fusion Research says that the box is the perfect passenger for an RV, as well as in the trucking and the small marine industries. Also, at just 6-by-7-by-2 inches, the Rocket can operate on a mere 18 watts of power.

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• Sharp Elite Merges Best of Both Brands

  The reborn brand of 3Dⁱ LCD TVs will appeal to videophiles.

  

  Today Sharp pulled the sheet of the new Elite LCD TVs, a collaboration between Sharp and Pioneer’s Elite brand which mixes the best technology of both brands into the new premium TVs.

  There were bowed heads across the videophile world when Pioneer left the TV business a few years ago taking with it the Kuro plasma TVs that many viewers believed were the best flat panels on the market. Ears started twitching earlier this year when Sharp and Pioneer announced that they were going to be working together to launch a new line of Elite TVs. Well, here we are, and the mating looks pretty sweet.

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• ViewSonic Teams with NVIDIA on V3D245 3D Monitor

  The 24-inch monitor has an integrated emitter and comes bundled with active 3Dⁱ glasses.

  

  There’s been a lot of debate about the long-term potential of 3D. Consumers thinking about whether to invest in a new 3D TV or computer monitor shouldn’t worry about the impact of the technology on their traditional 2D viewing experiences, however. In most cases, manufacturers are bundling 3D into flagship products as an option that doesn’t necessarily have to be used.

  A good example of this trend is the new ViewSonic V3D245 24-inch 3D 1080p LED monitor. The manufacturer’s latest product incorporates NVIDIA’s 3D Vision wireless emitter and glasses to provide users with an active-3D option. However, it’s still a traditional monitor that provides a 1920x1080p resolution, an HDMI 1.4 input, and a contrast ratio that’s capable of reaching 20,000,000:1.

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• DIY Home Theater Includes 176-inch Seymour Screen

  Some extra space affords this theater more room to entertain.

  

  When it comes to home theater, size matters—at least to Warren English. When this do-it-yourselfer decided to build his own theater room, he wanted to go big, so he chose the basement spot under his garage.

  “I had always wanted a large theater,” he says. “This ended up being a little larger than I had originally planned. However, the extra size afforded another row of seats.”

  Having the additional row of seating certainly isn’t a problem, especially for friends of the English family. Warren and his wife Cydney entertain several times a year, so that row doesn’t go to waste.

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• Clare Controls Conjures Up Cloud-Based Home Automation

  The company’s ClareHome is said to be the first home system to be managed from the cloud and run on a Mac.

  

  We’ve seen Mac-based home control before (hello Savant!). However, Clare Controls is adding a slight twist to claim a different first in the world of home automation.

  The company just launched ClareHome, which is said to be the first home control system that is both managed from the cloud and runs on a Mac. Managed is the key word here, rather than hosted. That means if the web goes down, the system still works.

  Also, because it uses a cloud-based portal, your dealer/installer can easily configure, fix and monitor your home system, cutting out the need for pricey service calls. It also means that, yes, even you can tweak that system, to create and customize interfaces.

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• Inside Entourage Star Kevin Connolly’s Home Theater Transformation

  DIY Network helps actor turn drab bar area into an eye-popping screening room.

  

  Oh, to be rich and famous enough that TV networks make shows about fixing up my home. Entourage may be winding down as the hit HBO series recently kicked off its final season, but things are just starting to heat up, technology-wise, at the home of star Kevin Connolly.

  Hollywood Hi-Tech, a new program on the DIY Network, recently helped Connolly, better known as “E” to Entourage fans, transform his bachelor pad-style bar area into a home theater.

  Ari Gold, Drama, Turtle and Vinny Chase won’t have a problem screening a movie or two on Connolly’s 110-inch Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek Screen.

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• Panasonic PT-AE7000U 3D Projector Gets Closer

  The upcoming unit includes 3Dⁱ video reproduction, a 1080p LCD chipset, and more.

  

  When the PT-AE7000U home theater projector starts selling next month, it will have an MSRP of $3,499. Part of that price tag will include new image processing technology that’s designed to boost the projector’s LCD chipset and result in a better image.

  With the introduction the PT-AE7000U 3D projector, Panasonic is breaking new ground. Not only is the company one of the few manufacturers to be offering an LCD-based 3D projector product, but the PT-AE7000U is actually at a price point that’s approachable to consumers.

  According to Panasonic, the PT-AE7000U is the only 3D projector to use a 480Hz refresh rate to drive its LCD panels. As a result, it can produce “stunning large screen 2D images, as well as an immersive 3D viewing experience for home theater viewers.”

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• Hands On: Kaleidescape Music Server and Disc Vault

  The king of media servers continues to evolve.

  

  Since the company’s introduction, the Kaleidescape line of hard-drive-bases media servers have taken the throne as the king of all movie devices. That kind of accolade , from both Kaleidescape owners and professional installers, is due to the system’s ease of use and performance, and also to the fact that the company has consistently stood nose-to-nose with the movie industry (which doesn’t particularly like what this device does) and not flinched.

  Despite ongoing legal battles with Hollywood, the company continues to innovate new products. Wanting to demonstrate how easy its products are to set up and operate, Kaleidescape sent me its KSERVER-1500 1U rack server with 6TBs of storage, as well as its M500 player, modular Disc Vault, some support accessories, and pre-loaded Essential DVD and Best of Blu-ray collections.

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