SCI-Arc and Caltech have designed the Compact Hyper-Insulated Prototype (CHIP) Solar house in a successful bid to win the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathalon. Featuring 45 solar panels on the roof, the domicile can generate up to three times its energy requirements, enough power to charge two electric cars on top of keeping everything running. more »

Steve Jobs makes one little comment about having “finally cracked it” and the electronics world as we know it holds it breath and starts running around in circles in a tizzy. Surely, “cracking it” meant that El Jobso figured out a solution to replace the horrible, completely impossible to master, caveman-like encumbrance known as the more »

Back in September of ought-10 at the CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis, I called one product an “industry game changer.” That product was Lutron’s new automated cellular shading solution. What was game changing about this product launch was that it is able to run for up to 3-years off of batteries (AA or D-cell depending on size more »

Remember ioSafe, makers of not only some of the most rugged hard drives we’ve ever seen, but also the folks behind the “Cage of Death” — the most tantalizing (not to mention dangerous!) demo at CES? Which of course raises the question: how do you top zapping a hard drive with a million volts of more »

It sounds like the perfect marriage of Siri and Sonos: simply speak the name of an artist or song you’re in the mood to listen to, and VOCO’s V-Zone voice controlled wireless multi-room music system searches your phone and computer, as well as massive number of tunein internet radio stations, and sets the music in more »

There’s no better way to ruin an immaculately designed home theater than with a mess of cables sprouting from behind your components. Everyone wants a clean looking media room, but how many folks consider fire codes and safety when hiding those pesky cables in the wall? The folks at Sewell consider fire codes and safety, more »

Immediately after returning from CES, I figured it was a good time for a bit of speculation. And nowhere is speculation in the tech world more popular than with Apple (who doesn’t even bother attending CES by the way). Apple is notoriously one of the most tight-lipped companies around. In fact, the CIA would do more »

CES is such a monstrously huge show, you can spend eight hours a day on the floor for a solid week (and I have), and still come away feeling like you haven’t really seen anything. And in the midst of all that noise, it can be tough for any company that isn’t a household name more »

Home Automation, Inc. (HAI)  controllers can now be integrated with ZigBee and Z-Wave wireless door locks. Owners of HAI’s Omni or Lumina home control systems can now lock and unlock up to 16 doors from HAI Ethernet Touchscreens. Users will also be able to control locks through key fobs, or remotely via Apple or Android devices. HAI more »

The home automation specialists at Control4 are exhibiting at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. Folks in need of new control systems will want to take particular note of Control4′s offering this year. The company is also showing off a spiffy video intercom system complete with touchscreen controls. Control 4 is offering two new automation controllers: the more »