Darryl Wilkinson

NextGen’s Bluetooth-IR Extender was already a pretty cool device. It’s a small cone-like device that translates AV system commands from Android-based smartphones and tablets into IR using Bluetooth communication between the Extender and the Android device. After the IR Extender receives a command, it translates it into IR before blasting it out to your components from the base unit or via IR flashers. Neat idea, right?

Although their demos and announcements at CEDIA were aimed at dealers and installers rather than to consumers directly, Energy Squad’s “LED Diet” program is designed to assist designers and salespeople with introducing a variety of LED lighting products. Energy Squad is a “full service national distributor of environmentally-friendly residential and commercial electronics and technologies” that focuses on providing LED lighting, energy storage, and automation products.

Revolv’s Smart Home Solution is designed to easily bring together a variety of off-the-shelf devices such as the Sonos music system, Philips Hue wireless lighting, Yale automated locks, and thermostats into an automation system that’s extremely easy to set up and control with a single one simple smart device app.

GOBUDi brought the company’s “Out of Sight Bracket” to CEDIA for the first time. At a tiny corner booth that I almost missed, I found this clever little bracket that makes it extremely easy to mount an Apple TV or Apple AirPort Express in a hidden location without resorting to using awkward straps or double-stick tape on the back of the Apple device. The $19.99 bracket includes two strips of industrial strength adhesive tape on the back that securely hold the bracket in place on the back of a flat-panel or other conveniently out-of-the-way spot. The AirPort Express or Apple TV simply snaps in place in the bracket. All you need to do to remove the Apple box is gently unsnap it from the bracket. The Out of Sight Bracket is available now in black or white versions.