Framingham, MA – March 23, 2006 – Next week marks the opening of the seventh annual Electronic House Expo (EHX) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The conference and trade show will run from Tuesday, March 28 – Saturday, April 1 (expo dates are March 30 – April 1), attracting over 10,000 custom electronics integrators and retailers – all interested in deploying new products and technologies to provide consumers fantastic home entertainment experiences, awesome communications and productivity capabilities and the ultimate in comfort, convenience and control.
Important trends include:
The arrival of new digital media server products that enable consumers to centralize storage and management of content like movies, music, family photos and slide shows and distribute it in a convenient, high quality way to multiple rooms throughout their homes. Based on open standards and technology platforms that promise ever-increasing value as volume expands, these products provide whole-home, on-demand music, movies and memories for a wide variety of home markets – from luxury single-family homes to moderately priced multi-family units. Exhibiting companies showcasing this trend include:
o Ace Digital Home / Booth 1634
o Axonix Corporation / Booth 1152
o D&H Distributing / Booth 132
o Flipr Networks / Booth 746
o Fusion Research / Booth 1210
o Hewlett-Packard / Booth 900
o Imerge / Booth 1150
o iMuse Electronics, Inc. / Booth 1646
o Intel / Booth 726, Demo Alley 203B
o Niveus Media / Booth 726, Demo Alley 203A
o Russound / Booth 300
o Video Without Boundaries, Inc. / Booth 144
o Xperinet / Booth 1839
The resurgence of home automation and automated lighting control. Automation is no longer taking a back seat to home theater, multi-room audio and home networking. With a number of new low-cost, high-quality technologies for wireless and no-new-wires control communications and interoperation, automation and lighting control are moving back to the forefront as convenient and cool products. Both automation and lighting control are benefiting from the boom in home theater and multi-room audio. Home theaters often require lighting and window covering control in the viewing area. This opens consumers to the concept of lighting control on a whole-house basis. In addition, the powerful remote control aspects of home theaters and multi-room audio systems turn consumers onto the idea of remote control of more parts of the home – a perfect set-up for their adoption of home automation systems that extend control to lighting, climate control and security systems. Exhibiting companies showcasing this trend include:
o CentraLite Systems, Inc. / Booth 834
o Colorado vNet / Booth 926
o Convergent Living, Inc. / Booth 441
o Crestron Electronics / Booth 600
o Destiny Networks / Booth 113
o HAI / Booth 645
o Intermatic, Inc. / Booth 320 E&F
o Leviton Manufacturing / Booth 818, 320-A
o LiteTouch, Inc. / Booth 1451
o Lutron / Booth 1420
o On-Q/Legrand / Booth 1300
o Powerline Control Systems, Inc. / Booth 1054
o Simply Automated, Inc. / Booth 447
o Smart Products / Booth 1840
o SmartLabs, Inc / Booth 1228
o Somfy Systems, Inc. / Booth 1528
o Vantage Controls / Booth 1018
o Watt Stopper/ Legrand / Booth 1449
o Web Mountain Technologies / Booth 344
o Worthington Distribution / Booth 618
o Zensys / Booth 320H
A new focus on quality in audio. The high definition video craze is generating strong consumer interest in a better breed of audio equipment. Captivated by the sensory wow of HD television, more and more consumers are seeking high resolution in the audio equipment they team with new televisions to create a home theater. The custom integrators and retailers that attend EHX are adept at presenting consumers step-up choices in audio equipment and demonstrating the differences in sound resolution that go with varying levels of investment. In addition to high performance home theater sound, more and more consumers are seeking high performance for listen-only applications. The digital, personal music phenomenon is driving strong interest in pure music listening, and consumers are looking for high-quality headphone-free listening experience in their homes, whether that’s from in-wall or in-ceiling speakers that are part of a multi-room system or a surround system in the media room. Exhibiting companies showcasing this trend include:
o AudioControl / Demo Alley 203C
o Bang & Olufsen America, Inc. / Booth 752
o Denon Electronics / Booth 1210
o Energy/Mirage / Booth 518
o James Loudspeaker / Demo Alley 204A
o JBL/Audio Access / Demo Alley 202B
o McIntosh Laboratory / Demo Alley 202A
o Meridian America Inc. / Demo Alley 204B
o Parasound Products / Demo Alley 204C
o Polk Audio/Booth 1126
o RBH Sound, Inc. / Booth 1350
o Richard Gray’s Power Co. / Demo Alley 202A
o Sherbourn Technologies / Booth 1351
o Snell Acoustics / Booth 510
o Solus/Clements Loudspeakers / Booth 1554
o Sunfire / Booth 918
o Thiel Audio / Demo Alley 202A
o Totem Acoustic / Booth 840
o Triad / Demo Alley 203C
o Velodyne Acoustics, Inc. / Booth 1837
“Now in its seventh year, EHX is really hitting its stride as an event that breaks news and previews cutting edge trends for consumers and trade,” stated John Galante, vice president of EH Events & Education. “This is the custom electronics show with the digital edge. The event that’s helping integrators and retailers identify the compelling new applications in home entertainment, networking, control and security.”
Other highlights of next week’s event include:
* Opening Keynote by Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA – Thursday, March 30, 9:00am, the presentation will provide a road map for integrators to help leverage the marketplace success and also take a look at new technologies, products and strategies for HD media storage, management and multi-room distribution
* Exhibit Floor – 320 companies displaying the latest products for the electronic home, from media center PC’s, plasma displays, and in-wall speakers to calibration equipment, testers and accessories to support the high performance equipment – Thursday, March 30 – Saturday, April 1
* Wake-Up Call Breakfast – Announcing the results of a recent CEA/NAHB research study on the home building industry’s role in providing home electronics
* Demo Alley – Twenty-four of the nation’s leading high end A/V product manufacturers will participate in this special area of the show floor – Thursday, March 30 – Saturday, April 1
* Home Health Technology Pavilion – First ever showcase of emerging installed home technologies that assist in providing health care and monitoring medical conditions.
* CEA Mark of Excellence Awards Banquet Recognizing innovation and achievement in home technology products, system installation and company operations – Friday, March 31, 6:00 pm.
* EHX After Hours – A rocking good time and a chance for press to mingle with industry representatives in a casual social setting – Thursday, March 30, 6:30 pm.
To register as media, visit http://www.ehxweb.com/media/reg.html or call 800.315.1581.
About EHX
Electronic House Expo, a Tradeshow Week magazine Fastest 50 event for three years running, is the fastest growing trade event of the $13 billion custom electronics industry. Held twice annually and sponsored by CEA’s TechHome Division, the EHX trade show floor and conference program provide an invaluable forum for information exchange, education and new product demonstrations from leading manufacturers and service providers across the entire custom electronics spectrum of home networking, automation, entertainment, and security.
About EH Events & Education
EH Events & Education, a division of EH Publishing, Inc.(www.ehpub.com), develops and produces world-class expositions and conferences for the technology and construction industries. The EH Events & Education portfolio includes: Electronic House Expos (EHX) Spring & Fall, the TecHome Builder Conference and Expo (TBX), and Worship Facilities Conference & Expo (WFX). EHX Fall was named the fastest growing show in America by Tradeshow Week magazine in 2003, and both EHX Spring and Fall were named among the fastest 50 growing tradeshows by Tradeshow Week magazine in 2004 and 2005.
About CEA
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry through technology policy, events, research, promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA represents more than 2,000 corporate members involved in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and integration of audio, video, mobile electronics, wireless and landline communications, information technology, home networking, multimedia and accessory products, as well as related services that are sold through consumer channels. Combined, CEA’s members account for more than $122 billion in annual sales. CEA’s resources are available online at www.CE.org, the definitive source for information about the consumer electronics industry. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Defining Tomorrow’s Technology. All profits from CES are reinvested into industry services, including technical training and education, industry promotion, engineering standards development, market research and legislative advocacy.
