Interactive Whiteboards – Communicate Effectively

An interactive whiteboard is an effective tool for communicating information to any group. This twenty-first century technology can be of assistance to a teacher who is delivering an exciting lesson to a classroom of children. Also, just as easily, an interactive whiteboard can be used to explain data and statistics at a business meeting.   The interactive whiteboard serves its purpose of displaying all sorts of information in an interesting format.

 

Through the years the technology used to convey ideas in the classroom and in the business world has moved from a static visual aid to a presentation that comes to life with colorful images. The forerunners of the interactive whiteboard include the chalkboard, the paper flip chart, and the traditional whiteboard. The presenters using these methods were limited in color choice, image dimensions, and the amount of space available for explanation. The electronic element of the interactive whiteboard allows the presenter to arrange and highlight information in a creative, attention-grabbing fashion.

One of the benefits of using this type of whiteboard is the ability to manipulate the information that is being shown.  It allows its user to apply markings to the text, drawing, chart, or other piece of information that is being projected. The information can then be printed or emailed from the whiteboard, making for a very user friendly experience.

 

These whiteboards can be a valuable tool in the business world. Graphs, charts of statistics, sales numbers, or any other significant information that needs to be delivered during a meeting will be communicated effectively via an interactive whiteboard. Plus, the critical material being displayed can be printed and passed out to the group members for later study. An interactive whiteboard allows all of the attendees in a large conference room to easily see the information being explained. Likewise, the individuals in a small group are able to share their thoughts on the material using the whiteboard to illustrate important points. In order to ensure that your next meeting is an effective one, an interactive whiteboard is the way to go.

The sound bar – When you can’t do surround sound…

There is no doubting the fact that the built-in speakers in today’s TVs are not on-par with the picture they put out.  If you’re going to have a high-definition picture, you need high-definition sound.  A full surround system is preferred, but if you can’t accommodate such a system in your home, a sound bar is definitely the best alternative.  Sound bars are very sleek, complimenting today’s flat panel televisions beautifully.  Sound bars incorporate multiple speakers and new technologies to give a great virtual surround experience, without all the clutter and wiring.  Sound bars are not big enough to output deep bass frequencies, so you will need a subwoofer to get the best experience.  Fortunately, many sound bars come with a wireless subwoofer which you can tuck away.  Some great and affordable sound bar systems are the Episode 3-channel sound bar series, and the Polk IHT SurroundBar series.

The Episode series of sound bars give flat panel TVs a reason to celebrate, with an incredible sound system that doesn’t clutter the surrounding wall with a bunch of speakers.  At only 2.75” deep, this sound bar not only looks great, but sounds amazing too.  This single sound bar is actually three independent speakers in one – consisting of left, center, and right channels.  It’s perfect for living room and bedroom applications with TVs smaller than 46”.

The Polk SurroundBar Instant Home Theater is a self-contained powered SurroundBar loudspeaker and companion wireless powered subwoofer. It is designed so anyone can hook it up and be enjoying it’s sound in under ten minutes.  And it’s priced so it won’t add to the national debt.  It’s the most economical way to upgrade your flat panel’s built-in speakers to a much, much higher level of performance and enjoy all the benefits of a three-dimensional sound stage.

Home Automation with your iPad

Remote Technologies Incorporated (RTI) recently released the company’s highly anticipated RTiPanel app for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.  Boasting unique features such as two-way feedback, a customizable user interface, and highly optimized connection speeds, the app provides complete control over any RTI control system with an XP series control processor, all from the convenience of your favorite Apple device.

Raising the bar for control apps, the RTiPanel stands out from the pack with unique features such as full two-way feedback including cover art, weather graphics, dynamic image lists, and much more for an unprecedented control experience. The app supports connection locally via Wi-Fi and offers remote access via auto-switching Wi-Fi and 3G wireless, allowing for control and monitoring from virtually anywhere in the world.

The RTiPanel app offers a completely customizable graphical user interface, allowing integrators to provide consumers with a consistent user experience across all RTI controllers in their systems, including their Apple devices.  The app also offers a unique interface designed to make each user’s devices unique. For simple interface updating either locally or remotely, all graphics are conveniently stored on the XP series processor and the Apple device. And better yet, the app is programmed using the same Integration Designer software that is used to program all RTI products.  Redefining ease of use, the app displays in both portrait and landscape views by simply rotating the Apple device. The programming process for supporting both orientations has been carefully designed to minimize the extra effort required.

“The RTiPanel app is one of our most anticipated product releases ever, and we are very excited to say that it is now available. We are tremendously proud of the hard work and innovation that have gone into this app, and to bring our dealers a solution that is superior to anything else on the market,” said Pete Baker, vice president of sales and marketing for RTI. “From full two-way control to a completely customizable user interface, every detail of the RTiPanel has been designed to complement our control systems perfectly, allowing our dealers to provide an unprecedented control experience for their customers, at home or away.”

Sharp’s Giant 80″ HDTV

Sharp has unveiled a very impressive new AQUOS LCD TV, which launched earlier this month. It is the LC-80LE632U, boasting a mammoth 80-inch screen. It’s definitely not lacking in the features department either, it’s loaded with full 1080p resolution, the UltraBrilliant LED backlighting system, and built-in WiFi. Not only does the WiFi enable streaming from services such as Netflix and CinemaNow, but it also allows Sharp to assist with tech support if needed.

The 80-inch display on this unit gives you more than double the screen area of a 55-inch TV. The LED backlighting means it will slurp less power than CCFL sets, and it has a very nice contrast ratio of 6M:1 dynamic. The set also features a 120Hz Fine Motion Enhanced refresh rate for a clear image and the TV is under 4-inches deep, making it much thinner than projection TVs.

The TV minimizes light leakage using a 10-bit processing panel. This huge TV features dual USB ports, for the viewing of high-resolution video, music, and photos. It also uses a special Vyper Drive engine, which reduces lag when gaming on this monster TV. The 80-inch TV is retailing for $4,999.99, which is definitely one of the best values per inch in today’s market.

We currently have a promotion going on this TV for $4399, give us a call at (858) 999-2031 for more information.

Home Automation: What It Can Do for You

This is a fascinating area that is, for some, a reality, but for many, something that borders on science fiction.

Automation, in all areas of life, usually does one of two things for you: save you time you can use productively, or provide you with convenience. There are all sorts of products out there to help you automate elements of your home, ranging from those that the average can afford and implement to those that cost as much as the house itself.

This article will help you to find out why home automation is worth bothering with or not, (depending on the conclusions you draw for yourself in this case).

1. Lighting

Lighting automation allow you to rig up your home to control your lights from a remote control panel inside the home, when you get to work only to realize you left everything on, or remotely for when you hop into bed and you remember that a light has been left on. And of course you can just as easily turn them all back on once you get home or before a bunch of guests arrive.

These are some reasons of why lighting has, by far, been the most popular and common use of home automation since it was a technically and financially viable option.

You can also have a preset for every mood. Most lighting automation systems give you control over light dimming. This is no breakthrough in itself, as dimming is a pretty commonplace thing, but combines that fact with the ability to create intricate profiles with different lights set at different levels through the house.

Of course, lighting control can’t stop at bulbs. There’s natural light to consider as well, and there are products available to help you control curtains, blinds and shades.

2. Home Theater

You may have taken part in a small part of home automation, if you’ve ever bought one of those programmable, all-in-one remotes. A lot of home automation hobbyists will have the most intricate remote programmings you’ve seen. But there’s also multi-zone audio to consider – the ability to select various speakers around the house through which to play audio from any given source, or even the ability to play from them all at once (or any combination thereof). If you’ve used AirTunes at home, you’re familiar with multi-zone audio, which provides one of the smoothest integration and operation experiences.

3. Security and Surveillance

An automated security system in your home provides a far more protective and much safer experience than traditional methods. You can have a motion sensor that sends you a text message if it notices movement when nobody is meant to be home, or if sensors on your windows sense the glass breaking. With cameras you can view over the Internet, you can ensure nobody is taking off with your HDTV.(or even keep an eye on the kids).

If your system includes intercom, you can have alarms played through all those speakers around the house, ensuring that everyone in the house is aware of danger. And as we said about lighting automation, you could have all the bulbs in your house switch off when you leave home; advanced systems even allow you to lock up all the doors and windows as you’re leaving at the same time.

If you’re going on holidays, you can use the old simulation of presence trick; getting your system to randomly play with your blinds, playing music and flicking lights on or off. You can sleep a little sounder knowing that your home is a little less likely to be broken into.

4. Air

You’re sitting at work in the air conditioning and you know it’s going to be a hot drive home. The last thing you want to do is get out of the hot car and into a hot house. With home automation you can get your air conditioner and a couple of fans going just as you take off for the day. Of course, the same thing applies to heating and ventilation, too.

Air conditioners are expensive beasts. If you’ve routinely caught someone in your home forgetting to turn the thing off and running up the electricity bill, use an automation system to shut your air conditioner off after a half hour’s use.

5. Communication

Intercom technology often falls into the home automation field. Intercom systems can assist in transmitting alarms right throughout the house; if you have trouble hearing the smoke alarm from your bedroom, this may just be what you need to keep alive for the rest of the year.

Hobbyists often like to have an intercom system right through the house, in every room. Intercom system also can be made accessible to your PDA or smartphone via wifi, and practically any device via the Internet.

Our productivity types like to have one source to go for everything – take the old one inbox rule, for instance. If you’re like that, you can have your intercom system routed into your phone so that you only have to speak into the one mouthpiece, avoiding the germs of other persons. I imagine this works best when there’s an intercom at the front gate; there’s not much use for intercom over the phone when it comes to in-house intercom.

What else in Home automation?

There’s still much more to home automation. There are systems for getting your pets fed on time, in case you’ve killed a rat or two due to negligence, and irrigation automation, in case you’re guilty of the same when it comes to plants. You can even have your percolator or espresso machine brewing fifteen minutes before your alarm goes off.

It is true that we can all live without this stuff. We have been for thousands of years. But these things can make life easier and more enjoyable, so they’re certainly worth considering if you’ve got the interest and the budget.

Digital Signage

Digital Signage is the way of the future and can help grow your business.

Digital signs can inform, educate,  and entertain. Have you ever entered a store or a restaurant, and had your attention automatically go to the running TV?

Well, digital signage provides an even better, more tailored source of information and entertainment to the shopper or guest! Also, a digital sign can increase efficiency, productivity and enhance the enjoyment of your customer or guest’s overall experience.

Think of this: Moving images and music can be soothing and put people at ease. A digital sign will accomplish this for you.

Now, it can be a challenging task to setup digital signage for your business by yourself. Most people have limited or no experience in setting up a digital signage system. What kind of cables do I use? Plasma or LCD display? Will a regular monitor work well or do I need a professional model display?

That’s where we come in.

GotUWired is an expert in San Diego digital signage and we can get you a tailored setup that meets the needs of your business. After all, you only have a short amount of time to capture your customer’s attention!

Product Review: Panasonic Panaboards

The most effective tool to improve your next meeting, training, and presentation.

The latest development in presentation and interactive learning is the Panaboard (the whiteboard), also commonly known as the interactive whiteboard. They may look a little similar to the standard whiteboard; but they provide a huge number of services.

Panasonic whiteboards allow the user to function a computer right from its’ very own surface. They have a touch sensitive screen which projects the computer image on it. The user controls what is on the screen with a finger, marker, or pen, in this way, the user can change pages as required. The user can also access, print and email documents through this technology without having to go to a computer, and also access directly to the internet during a presentation. Notes can be taken on top of the projected images. These notes can be saved directly into files from the Panaboard to the computer. Afterwards, if need be; they can be edited and retouched as desired. The saved notes can be mailed to whoever needs them.

With all these benefits that the Panasonic Panaboards offer, have rapidly reached a big popularity, such that has been replacing regular chalkboards in the classrooms, meeting rooms, etc.

Panaboards have become immensely beneficial tools for many businesses. They are being installed in the boardrooms and meeting rooms and adding excitement to conventional meetings and presentations. They have helped in overcoming the hindrance of lack of communication with the remote employees and satellite offices. Now employees can work in partnership from anywhere in the world where this service is available. It has completely cut down on the wastage of time due to manually entering data into a computer, printing and distributing it. Now, all of these processes can be done directly on the Panaboard. High quality digital Panaboards also have an in-built printer. Users can print handouts directly from the Panaboard. Thus, Panaboards have not only saved time and money, but also energy.

Similarly, this outstanding teaching technique has allowed that lessons that are generally hard to deliver in the classrooms can be conveyed in a thrilling and motivating manner. This is because of the increased interaction the panaboard can create for the students not only with the teacher but also amongst each other.

In such an environment, students are highly inclined towards being attentive in the class. This teaching tool allows the teachers to create interactive lessons, and thus increasing student productivity through participation. Such subjects that require more diagrams, illustrations, note-taking (Math, Science, English, etc.) have been perked up through the use of Panaboards.

Panaboards are revolutionary whiteboards that improve the efficiency of all types of meetings, both daily discussions and major presentations, and also allows information to be effectively shared between presenters and participants, and even with people who cannot attend.

Panasonic offers not only an extensive but the best range of market leading Panaboards or electronic whiteboards. Panasonic Panaboards come in interactive and networkable models. They consist of all those preferred features that you need to fulfill your requirements.

AppleTV (2nd Generation) Review

The AppleTV is one of Apple’s most popular creations and can help bring music, TV, movies and pictures into your living room or workspace. While the first Apple TV was built with an aluminum frame and grey finish on the top panel, the second generation adopts a polished black housing. The device now looks more like a typical A/V component.

The new device easily connects with Wi-Fi networks, including faster 802.11n routers, and 10/100 Ethernet for wired homes. It includes access for for iTunes, Netflix, Flickr, MobileMe, YouTube, Internet radio or other services. Enabling Home Sharing allows the Apple TV to connect with videos, music, and pictures from iTunes libraries. Users can easily access content from multiple computers on a home network.

One of the highlighted new features is AirPlay, Apple’s wireless standard that will allow Apple TV users to access content stored on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The feature should be a popular option for people who start to watch something on their i-device and want to finish watching it upon arrival at home. Pushing an AirPlay button will automatically switch the presentation from the handheld to the TV.

Content

Apple has worked to expand the range of content accessible through Apple TV. The company changed its business model regarding videos, which are now distributed as rentals rather than outright downloads. The shift is appropriate for the new Apple TV, as it eliminates the need to store anything on a local HDD.

Renting iTunes content allows users to rent HD or SD TV shows for $0.99 each, which provides 48 hours to finish an episode after playback has been started. For movies, the pricing jumps to $5 for HD new releases or $4 for library titles. A dollar is slashed from each price if the movie is streamed in SD quality, while all movies have a 24-hour limit to complete watching.

Netflix subscribers have access to a wider range of content, with TV shows and movies from NBC Universal, CBS, Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, ABC, Disney, Warner Brothers, Lions Gate, and New Line Cinema. Using the Apple TV UI, users can access their queue or search for content.

Conclusion

People don’t want to rent discs anymore and streaming content is the way to go. The second-generation Apple TV has succeeded in making a simple experience even simpler. It is a perfect device for the masses, especially those already renting content from Apple’s own iTunes portals.

Sonos Controller for iPad

Sonos Wireless System & iPad Controller app.

Sonos, makers of the World’s #1 multi-room music system, released their free controller for the iPad and we are not only going to review that app right here for you, but we are also going to show you how you can create one of the most amazing home music systems you have yet to experience. Surely this is something you don’t want to miss.

Who Is Sonos?

In order to appreciate what we are about to review, you will want to know who Sonos is.  Sonos is a company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California that was created by music lovers, for music lovers.  Their philosophy is to create products that are well designed, of the highest quality and express their passion for music.

Sonos takes a new approach to consumer electronics.  They make it super easy to enjoy the best music all around your house.  And now, they have taken a significant leap forward in the world of music systems with the launch of the iPad Controller app. Essentially, Sonos has created a way to experience music that we all thought would be possible one day.   And now it is.

What Is A Multi-Room System?

The Sonos multi-room music system is a way to have multiple wireless speakers located around the home that can all be controlled using a single controller.  But these speakers wouldn’t be much without great music right?  As it turns out, the Sonos system also has access to your own home music library, thousands of internet radio stations, and several great online music systems such as:

• iTunes
• Last.fm
• Pandora
• Rhapsody
• Audible
• iheartradio
• SIRIUS
• Wolfgang’s Vault
• Zune Marketplace

All of these music choices are sent out to each of your wireless speakers separately or in unison.  Now, in order to connect all these wireless speakers together, Sonos has created a great little accessory called the Zone Bridge.  It is a small white box that plugs right into your wireless network and allows all of the speakers and your controller to talk – instantaneously.

The Components

So, what do you need to set up your own multi-room music system?  Here is an example of simple entry level system:

• ZonePlayer S5 (two)
• Controller
• ZoneBridge

Sonos does make other products that you can use, but these 3 things are sufficient for the most basic set up.  If you want to use your own speakers or have in-ceiling ones, it’s no problem.  Sonos has different wireless receivers based on your desires.

Music throughout your home does not get much better than this.  If you are looking for a home music system that not only takes advantage of the latest technology but one you can use with your iPad, then here it is.

The layout is extremely well designed and easy to use.  On the left, you have your “Zones” which are the ZonePlayers. In the middle of the app you have the current music being played and on the far right are your music choices.

All of the music services work great, including Pandora.  The great thing here is that you could sign into Pandora and it loads up all your stations.  If you have network attached storage or your computer is turned on and sharing, then it will locate your home music library. If you use the Mac iTunes library, it will find it and list all your music just as you would see it in iTunes.

Other features we love from the Sonos iPad Controller app are the timers and alarms.  You can easily tap on “timers” and it will let you set a sleep timer up to 2 hours as well as set an alarm.  So it’s like having a wireless alarm clock as well.

If you have one iPad or two or more, each one can control the ZonePlayers.  This is nice because you might want to have Internet radio playing in the Living Room but Rhapsody playing in the Master Bedroom.

This is the perfect example of taking an amazing multi-room wireless music system and pairing it with an app that actually makes sense.  It brings together two amazingly innovative systems: the iPad and the Sonos.  The app does not crash. It is intuitive and it works so well you really won’t want to part with it.

Conclusion

From the minute the Sonos arrived to the time we loaded the new iPad controller app, we have not only been impressed but amazed.  Sure, it’s a speaker system.  But it’s more than that.   It’s a well thought out speaker system that changes how you listen to music completely.  It’s a system that just about anyone can use.  And most importantly, it shows off the value of the iPad and makes it that much more useful in your everyday life.

The 3D Phenomenon

If there is one thing that was made abundantly clear at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last year, it was that the entire consumer electronics industry was strongly pushing for a switch to 3D. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Vizio, Sharp and a number of other manufacturers have all announced new 3D capable models that they will be releasing over the course of this year (2011). Never before have we seen such widespread industry support for 3D, and this will certainly go a long way in helping bring 3D to the masses.

Riding on the enormous success of James Cameron’s latest movie, Avatar, many of the big name electronics manufacturers are making a strong case for bringing an authentic 3D experience to the consumer’s living room. This time around the timing seems perfect. Over 60% of Avatar’s ticket sales were for 3D viewings of the movie, a startling statistic given that the number of 3D capable screens around the world is far outnumbered by their regular 2D counterparts.

New 3D technology overcomes previous limitations

Old 3D technology from many years ago never really caught on, but new 3D technology overcomes its previous limitations.

1. Unrealistic to Realistic 3D – An unrealistic effect was caused due to the images for the left and right eye being unnaturally spaced causing eye strain. However, current 3D video capture technology coupled with the projection of both left and right eye images by the same device ensures that such effects are mitigated in new 3D displays.
2. Goodbye to Nausea and Headaches – These side effects were predominantly due to the analog nature of 3D films many years ago when the films for the left and right eye view were projected simultaneously but were hard to keep in sync with one another. This resulted in an uncomfortable viewing experience, confusing the viewer’s brain due to the unrealistic and unnatural visual stimulation.  Current 3D displays however, are digitally synced so no such issues exist and these “3D Symptoms” are thankfully a thing of the past.
3. Poor to Great color fidelity – Using Anaglyph technology, images were split into chromatically opposite colors so that by using tinted glasses the viewer was able to view a unique image for each eye thus providing a 3D effect. However, the use of these tinted glasses drastically changed the appearance of colors and in general resulted in a poor 3D experience. With the use of new Polarized or Active Shutter technology, this has been done away with as the image displayed on the screen represents the true color and each eye piece does not distort the image color in any way (apart from lowering the incoming brightness of the image by a small amount).

3D Content

Many people seem to whine about the lack of 3D content and that this lack of 3D content guarantees the failure of this industry push towards 3D. After all, content is king right? There are some issues with this criticism however.

1. ESPN, DirectTV, Discovery Channel and UK’s Sky have pledged support for delivering 3D content as early as 2010. ESPN has already procured the necessary equipment for shooting live events in 3D and plan to air football and NBA in 3D in the near future. A number of other content providers are also joining ranks and pledging support for delivering more 3D content. While 3D content is still at a nascent stage, we have to keep in mind that these are still early days. However, with all the industry support so far, the signs seem very positive.

2.      Hollywood is also backing this push to 3D with over 20 3D movies released on 2010. Keep in mind also that every 3D animated film will likely be available in 3D as this medium enables an effortless transition for producing movies in 3D. These numbers will only increase, especially if there is widespread interest in 3D content as witnessed by the success of Avatar in 3D.

3D TVs are Backward Compatible with Regular 2D

This is one of the main reasons why 3D will eventually succeed over time. Pretty much all the proposed 3D technologies that are being developed by various electronics manufacturers are compatible with regular 2D content. This of course is for a good reason as it would be suicidal on the part of device manufacturers to make their 3D sets not compatible with conventional 2D content given that there is a long transition period ahead as we make the switch from 2D to 3D (and perhaps it will never be a complete 100% switch).

Displays requiring active shutter glasses are pretty much your regular high performance LCD or Plasma TV with a high refresh rate (120-240 Hz) and the ability to sync with your active shutter glasses. However, they are perfectly capable displays for 2D content as well and there shouldn’t be any real decrease in performance or image quality. Additionally, the high refresh rates of newer 3D TVs will actually be a bonus for regular 2D content as this refresh rate boost will help smooth the display of fast paced 2D scenes and sporting events. Finally, the prices of the TVs themselves aren’t going to be all that much more than regular TVs.  If you don’t want 3D at all, you could still buy a 3D capable set for roughly the same price as regular TVs and just skip buying 3D glasses and any other accessories that you might need for viewing 3D content on your new TV. All in all, it’s a win-win situation either way and this is one of the main reasons why the long run adoption of 3D TVs will hence in general a will win situation.

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