Connected Design

Airtame, creator of the hardware-enabled SaaS platform that enables seamless collaboration in businesses and schools, announced the appointments of Susanne Lund to CEO and Céline Fosse to Chief Marketing Officer. Both hires will accelerate Airtame’s global expansion and support its mission to create a streamlined collaboration experience for offices and educational institutions.  “I am thrilled to help scale the business globally and expand upon Airtame’s unique solutions for screens,” said Susanne Lund, Airtame CEO. “Airtame helps create a simpler, smarter, and more engaging shared screen experience that’s increasingly necessary in today’s hybrid environment. We’re set to revolutionize how everyone collaborates, video conferences and screen shares by making it more seamless and intuitive than ever before.”  Susanne Lund has 30 years of experience from the technology industry, with 17 of those years spent leading various teams at Microsoft. Lund has also held positions such as...

2nd annual Lightapalooza Event to Highlight the Lighting Category Exclusively for the Custom Integration Industry in a Three-Day Event. ProSource, the largest specialty and consumer-electronics merchandising group in the United States, has announced that they will be joining the 2nd annual lighting conference exclusively for the Custom Integration industry.  The event will be held at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona, February 20 – 23, 2023. The three-day event will feature lighting education, expert panel discussions, manufacturer trainings and an exhibitor show floor.  ProSource will be hosting an ProSource member exclusive presentation and cocktail reception on Monday, February 20 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM in the Solana Grand Ballroom A/B followed by an industry reception. The ProSource presentation will discuss where the lighting category is heading and how ProSource, in partnership with Light Can Help You, will help its members pave the way. H...

RTI’s Integration Designer® 11 and KX4 4-Inch In-Wall Touchpanel earn honors from CE Pro, Commercial Integrator, Residential Systems, and SVC   Leading control and automation manufacturer RTI today announced that its Integration Designer 11 control application programming software and KX4 4-Inch In-Wall Touchpanel won several awards at ISE 2023 in Barcelona. Integration Designer 11 and the Coral user interface were honored with the Whole House Control 2023 Top New Technology (TNT) Award from CE Pro, as well as two Best of Show at ISE 2023 Awards from Residential Systems and Sound & Video Contractor (SVC). In addition, the KX4 earned a TNT Award from Commercial Integrator in the touchscreen category.  “ISE was a show that wasn’t to be missed! There was so much energy, and we appreciated the many great conversations we had with integrators that stopped by our stand,” said Bill Hensley, RTI Head of Global Marketing. “The best thing about shows is the direct feedback we get fr...

Retailers Report Uptick In Consumer Complaints About Smart Phone Pinky Syndrome and Muscle Fatigue Allen Hirsch, CEO of HANDL New York, says, “Retailers are finally admitting that a growing number of their smart phone customers are having trouble holding their cell phones. They are suffering from deformed pinkies (known colloquially as “smartphone pinky”) and muscle pain between the index and middle finger. That’s what I have been warning the industry about for years.” Hirsch is a fine art painter who recognized the grip problem years ago. “After you have been holding a paint brush for as long as I have, you realize that cell phone users need a grip that holds them, not the other way around. I have personally designed all HANDL grips to have a very comfortable relationship with the user. That’s why I got into the business.” Ira Feigelman, HANDL’s Vice President of Sales said, “Retailers confided in us that some of the most popular phone grip brands are just not comfortable. HANDL is no...

Launch of the Calveri Italian-inspired ‘anti-home theater’ recliner, a bi-monthly newsletter aimed at helping dealers enhance their profitability, and more sales reps all fuel the effort While dealers are rightly concerned about a soft economy affecting business, forecasts for the home entertainment segment of furniture continue to offer double-digit growth and RowOne’s 2023 initiatives will directly help dealers to capitalize on these sales opportunities. “Get a jump on your profitability now, don’t wait until the second half of the year,” advises RowOne CEO Todd Girdis, based on the latest 2023 economic forecasting. Introducing the Calveri™ Power Recliner with Power Headrest With its contemporary Italian design, low profile, innovative technology and fabric options, the Calveri™ is designed to help dealers win over family rooms, great rooms, bonus rooms, media rooms and more. It is also the first style from RowOne to offer a swivel-base option (SKU) that Girdis claims in conjunction ...

Studio Décor Design Center, based in Huntington Harbor, is the pristine location and home to many of the brands represented by Studio Décor. Newly added to the main entertainment area of the design center is the Mantel Mount MM860 Motorized Drop Down & Swivel TV Mount. This motorized mount is perfect for high-on-the-wall installations such as over a fireplace and provides comfortable, eye-level viewing. The mount supports an 85-in. Sony XBR85X950G TV, adding one more element of automation to the Control4 system in the space. This intelligent mount works over IP with most popular home automation systems and includes a number of luxury features. One of the things that really stood out is the noise-free movement when the mount is in motion, thanks to two custom electronic actuators that allow for smooth, barely audible movement. The manufacturer says it has an improved, quieter operation, and they nailed it. Prior to installation, the homeowner hired an electrical contractor to move t...

  Clerestory, the first kitchen and bath design software to generate proposals in hours instead of days, today announced the public launch of its technology that will allow designers to seamlessly adjust prices, track revisions, and perfect the proposal from submission through final approval. The software categorizes more than 200,000 of the latest kitchen and bath products ensuring designers have access to the right pieces for the right client at the right price. Clerestory ’s unlimited storage allows designers to store all of their clients, proposals, and projects in one place so they can maintain an accurate history and focus on profitability. “It was a fall night in 2019 around midnight. I was knee-deep in a proposal for a client with multiple spaces. Thirty hours spent pricing materials and setting up proposals — copying, pasting, and trying not to forget a part of the shower system that would bite us down the line. I thought to myself, ‘there has to be a bet...

  New models featuring advanced acoustic technologies and  smart installer  features, segmented into a simple, innovative tiered approach to range classification that offers high-performance sound for customers and flexible system creation for installers. Monitor Audio  is proud to announce the launch of the new  Creator Series . This fresh approach to the  custom  installation market delivers  high-quality sound and clarity , with a comprehensive, clearly defined range of high-performance in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeakers. The Creator Series redefines British high-fidelity architectural sound. The new  Creator Series  features nineteen models, fourteen in-ceiling and five in-wall, arranged in three clearly defined tiers. Each of which offers enhanced performance levels and additional functionality over the preceding tier, because Monitor Audio understands that it is easier to  design  a fantastic-sounding installation with p...

The New Home Theater Receiver Delivers Blockbuster Power to Redefine At-Home Entertainment McIntosh is proud to announce the launch of its new MHT300 Home Theater Receiver, an uncompromising 7.2 channel home theater powerhouse, set to transform home theater dreams into reality. The MHT300 is an unmatched receiver that offers 120 – 150 Watts of legendary McIntosh power to every speaker with all seven channels being driven. For every explosion, car chase, high-speed fighter jet flyby, to the roar of the crowd after a game winning score, the MHT300 will faithfully reproduce the action with full power on every speaker. It also supports breathtaking 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz video on all 4 of its HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output so the image will feel as realistic as the sound.  With consumer experience at the forefront of the brand’s values, the MHT300 was created to not only provide unparalleled sound, but to be customizable and expandable. Its individual amplifier modules can be configured i...

Niagara®, the leader in high-performance, high-technology, water-saving toilets, introduced its new Phantom One Piece toilet today at the 2023 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS). The new Phantom is a fresh blend of design and award-winning technology, offering industry leading performance and water efficiency that will help customers reduce water consumption and alleviate high utility bills. KBIS attendees can see the new Phantom and other award-winning products at Niagara’s booth #N571. The new Phantom One Piece toilet includes Niagara’s patented Stealth Technology®, which has won more than 15 industry and EPA WaterSense® awards for re-engineering the flush into a high-power, low-maintenance, virtually clog-free, water-efficient solution that has saved billions of gallons of the world’s water. This innovative technology has a vacuum-assist pull and a noise-cancelling tank for a whisper-quiet flush. At an efficient 0.8 GPF, the new Phantom One Piece is powerful enough to flush 1,000...