BodySound Home Theater Furniture Makes Surround Sound Personal

A unique concept combining furniture design and high quality audio, BodySound creates a truly individual listening experience.

Eden Prairie, MN – November 2009 – BodySound Technologies, Inc introduces a line of specialty furniture with personal surround sound, eliminating the need for in-room loudspeakers. Experiential seating^TM with BodySound technology is the fusion of ultra-comfortable home entertainment seating with innovative audio technology.  BodySound furniture is both wireless and compact, providing full impact, large scale sound in smaller and more challenging spaces.

 

With a 7-speaker personalized surround sound system, each seat drives its own audio, giving every user the ability to fine tune the sound characteristics to match their preference. BodySound technology will then automatically adjust the volume to match the users’ settings, providing a sound that is both crisp and clear, preserving every detail of audio information.  The built-in speaker system coupled to the steel framing construction produces pleasant, full-spectrum vibrations throughout the user’s seating area. Users can customize how much or how little they wish to feel.

“BodySound enhances the listening experience even more than HDTV adds to the viewing experience,” says Dan Cohen, CEO and Founder of BodySound Technologies. With BodySound’s Experiential seating, every user can experience movies, TV, gaming, and music in a way that more fully engages their senses.

BodySound is the culmination of 12 years of research and development including medical research on the relaxation effects produced by sound and vibration.  Refinements in the seating construction and sound system were developed to enhance the relaxation effects.  During this process, the developers of BodySound technology recognized how much fun and enjoyment they derived from watching TV and movies as well as listening to music in their relaxation chairs. As a result, they enhanced the furniture even further to produce the most innovative home entertainment seating available today.  Each seat powers its own 7-speaker system with a built-in multi-processor and 650 watt amplifier.  With easy wireless setup, BodySound seating becomes an ideal solution for a theater experience in any room.

 

BodySound technology is seamlessly embedded within custom luxury furniture, covered in fine leather. Seating can be ordered as recliners, connected rows or curves of seats, love seats, couches, or custom configured.  BodySound furniture starts at $5,995 MSRP and can also be custom designed based on customer preferences.

For more information on BodySound Technologies, please visit www.bodysoundtheater.com

About BodySound

Based in Minneapolis, MN, BodySound Technologies, Inc. is the leading developer of home entertainment furniture with personal surround sound technology built in. Experiential™ seating with BodySound technology is the fusion of fine furniture and innovative sound technology. Sound and seating become one and the same, delivering a personal audio experience in both luxury and comfort.

From Video to Mounts, from Speakers to Control…Caster Clients totalled more than 500 stories off CEDIA

Coming off CEDIA is always a busy time at Caster. With ten clients on the floor, prepping for the show is hard enough, but coming back everyone wants their show reports. The line up of press stories they had is what keeps our clients smiling and keep us slammed through Columbus Day. If you estimate seven clients with two news releases each multiplied times 50 top tier news outlets covering the show, we captured over 500 news articles.

These are some of my favorites this year:

1. Paradigm: CEPro’s Julie Jacobson’s recap of her Toronto trip and blind listening of the new SE speakers attained a lot of buzz. Steven Kim at Engadget sure appreciated the story and supplied his take, the comments are especially titillating

2. Control4: With back to back shows, news from Control4 spanned the energy and utility space and its core business in home automation. Smart Grid News offered this take Texas Utility Choses Control4 for HAN Control and Energy Management while Stewart Wolpin wrote this on the new EMS 100 system for DVICE. Janet Pinkerton’s take on how the Smart Grid is going to impact CE retail and custom installers was a hit over at Dealerscope.

3. NuVo had a tremendous show nabbing  2009 CEDIA Manufacturers’ Excellence Award, Best New Product: Renovia and the press agreed with stories like HomeTheater.com – NuVo Renovia May Be Harbinger of Future and Twice’s  Retrofit, Remodeling Get CEDIA Expo Focus.

4. OmniMount had a powerhouse of a show as furniture and  TV Mounting Options Continue To Expand and with lots of sightings of their OmniLite Series, New Classic Series and Modena Series, and a huge volume of hourly giveaways posted through their Twitter site.

5. MartinLogan impressed the audio crowd at this year’s  Expo.  HomeTheaterForum.com offers this CEDIA 2009 Martin Logan Booth Tour and BigPictureBigSound.com highlights MartinLogan Shows Wireless Subwoofers: Dynamo 700 and 1000.

6. Anthem ran a great demo showing of their Statement D2V, fans flocked and the booth was slammed throughout the show. Home Theater Review posted their thoughts on the Anthem Statement D2v with Anthem Room Correction Reviewed.

7. Runco rounded out our clients at CEDIA with one of the most applauded video demos at the show, from their new entry level LightSyle to the debut of their Quantum LED line, the pools of drool were deep and accolades many as attested by Projector Central’s  Runco Takes Xtreme DLP Projection to the Next Level…  and engadgetHD.com with their Price check – Runco’s LS-3 projector within reach of mere mortals.

All in all, I’d say a very good show!

Posted by KDL | follow me on Twitter : newscaster

Control4 Showcases Energy Management System at Autovation

Control4 demoed the Control4 Energy Management System (EMS) 100 at Autovation 2009. The EMS 100 combines the functionality of a home area network controller with demand response support, with a wireless thermostat and energy management software to provide utilities a cost effective, flexible, home area network solution for their smart grid deployments.   Leveraging award winning Control4® Home Automation product technology, the EMS 100 is the only home energy management solution that delivers customer usage data via the smart meter and a standard’s based, secure platform that can control virtually every device in the home.

“Our products support today’s regulatory requirements to proactively engage the residential consumer by delivering data via the smart grid to facilitate energy efficiency.  But the ability to control devices in the home, particularly during peak load and demand response events, is the key component to energy management that only Control4 provides, ” said Will West, Control4’s CEO. “By providing an easy-to-use, engaging consumer experience that’s coupled with automated device control, utilities can help their customers play a far more active role in managing energy use, which will contribute to generation and distribution efficiencies.”

The system aggregates energy usage data from various loads and presents the information in an intuitive display so that customers can make changes in their home to reduce energy usage or set up their in-home device to automatically do it for them. The EMS 100 serves as a valuable communications tool, providing utilities an efficient means to alert customers of demand response events and send signals directly to devices in the home during peak times.

The EMS 100 solution features the following:

• The Control4® Energy Controller EC-100 5-inch color touch screen display - The EC-100 delivers usage data and energy costs for the home and the ability for the customer to take such actions as powering down lights or adjusting shades to reduce energy use.
• The WT-100 Thermostat - A simple, elegant, ZigBee-based programmable wireless thermostat that connects directly to the EC-100 for total control of heating and cooling throughout the home.  Programming the WT-100 thermostat is managed through the EC-100 display.
• Control4® Network Management Software - Control4® Network Management Software enables the monitoring, optimization and reporting of all deployed energy controllers.  The network management tools provide cost effective Tier 1 technical support and remote diagnostic capabilities.
• Control4® ECO Software - Control4® Energy Consumption Optimizer (ECO) Software collects, analyzes and compresses energy use and behavior data on the EC-100, then communicates with the utility’s load management software to treat demand response events as a dispatchable resource.  
• Control4® platform – The standards-based, secure Control4® software platform is based on industry standards of embedded Linux and Adobe Flash Lite.  The platform is secured through ZigBee SE, SSL, and OpenSSH technology.  The platform is extensible, allowing third parties to develop new applications, providing enhanced functionality to the system over time. For example, utilities can develop their own applications such as the monitoring of gas and water or a home’s carbon dioxide output.
• Control4 Automation & Control — Using ZigBee, Wi-Fi and Ethernet standards, Control4’s solutions give homeowners the ability to control and automate their thermostats, lights, spa or pool, sprinklers and more, to manage power usage with one easy to use interface.

Paradigm Introduces Special Edition Collection

Paradigm Electronics Inc., an international leader in speaker design and manufacturing, announces the Special Edition (SE) Series, a limited and unique addition to the Paradigm^® collection. Combining elements from the affordable audiophile-quality Paradigm line and higher-end Paradigm Reference line, the SE series speakers brings a new generation of affordable elegance to the company’s vast offerings.  The SE series features the SE1, a bookshelf speaker, the SE3, a floorstanding model and the SE Center and SE Subwoofer, all outfitted with stylish real wood veneer cabinets. Paradigm Special Edition (SE) speakers, with soft edges, clean lines, state-of-the-art technology, compact dimensions and real wood veneer cabinets are a stepping stone to the world of high-end audio for budget conscious consumers.

Like the award-winning and ever popular Monitor Series, the SE line will boast Paradigm’s SuperDrive^™ technology, which combines very high efficiency with very high output and ultra-low distortion. This results in top-level performance from the Special Edition line regardless of amplification.  The drivers represent a best of breed hybrid mix that includes high frequency drivers from the Paradigm Monitor Series and mineral-filled polypropylene bass/midrange drivers handed down right from the Paradigm Reference Studio Series.  Both the SE 1 bookshelf and SE 3 floorstanding boast the benefits of an aluminum midrange including remarkable clarity, superb extended bass response and elimination of unwanted resonance and distortion.

Aesthetically speaking, the Paradigm SE series presents a system with clean lines, soft edges and general design characteristics seamlessly integrated into the home décor.  With a reasonable footprint, this collection provides real wood veneer finishes for customers seeking sophisticated appearance at a competitive price.

SPECIFICATIONS

SE 1 Bookshelf

• Two-driver 2-way bookshelf/stand-mounted:
• 5-1/2˝ M-ICP^™ mid/bass, 1˝ H-PTD^™ dome
• Estimated $299 MSRP

SE 3 Floorstanding

• Four-driver 2-1/2-way floorstanding:
• Two 5-1/2˝ carbon-infused polypropylene bass,
• 5-1/2˝ M-ICP^™ mid/bass,1˝ H-PTD^™ dome

• Estimated  $699 MSRP

SE Center

• Four-driver 3-way center channel
• Two 5-1/2˝ carbon-infused polypropylene bass,
• 3-1/2˝ M-ICP^™ midrange, 1˝ H-PTD^™ dome
• Estimated $499 MSRP

SE Subwoofer

• Bass Reflex Single Driver Design
  • 10 Driver with CAP™ Carbon / Aramid Fiber Polypropylene Cone
• 900 watts Dynamic Peak / 300 watts RMS Sustained
• Paradigm’s Proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP)  Design
• Comprehensive Range of Input and Control Facilities
• USB Port for use with the critically acclaimed Paradigm Perfect Bass Kit (PBK™) Room Correction System
• Estimated $699 MSRP

The SE Series will be available and shipping at the end of September 2009.  Paradigm’s Perfect Bass Kit (PBK) is available as an upgrade and sold separately.

The SE Series will be showcased in the Paradigm booth (3325) in Hall C at CEDIA EXPO 2009 in Atlanta.  Come by and check them out!

Posted by: Ashley / follow me on Twitter

Consumer Electronics Industry Set for Bounce-Back

A new survey by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), reported by TWICE,  shows that sales in the consumer electronics industry should be on the upswing by 2010. Although sales will be down 0.5% this year, CEA is projecting a 1% growth in the third quarter and 1.5% growth in the fourth. They anticipate a 2.9% growth in 2010. The CEA is estimating that sales will bottom out during this quarter and then start their upswing.

In its Mid-Year CE Market Update, CEA focused on the flat panel TV business. They reported that individual manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been keeping lean inventories, but that overall shipments are up. Consumers also seem to be “trading down” in flat panel size, opting for the more affordable sub-40 inch models.

Several categories that seem to be on the rise are e-readers, netbooks and mini notebooks. CEA is estimating that 1.127 million e-reader will be shipped this year and by 2012 6.46 million will be sold that that $99 prices for e-books is possible by then. Screens that are larger, in color and have touch capabilities will become more popular and may also feature video and animation.

As a company that has numerous clients in this space, we are hoping that the CEA reports are accurate.

Any manufacturers, retailers or dealers out there seeing this growth take place, or projecting it to take place in their businesses?

Posted by: Lauren