CEDIA Day 4 - UK Misses Out For Now
I’ve set myself a challenge during this years CEDIA Show in San Diego. I’ve got to get a blog out every day of the show.
The CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association) industry has taken it’s annual EXPO to San Diego this year and has literally taken over the Gaslamp and Convention Centre areas of this coastal gem in California. CEDIA 2017 is a 100% dedicated to Home Technology show running between 5th and 9th of September. Over 500 exhibitors and 150 training courses are available to visitors to the show.
Saturday was billed as the quiet day of the show, lots of visitors will be going back home for the weekend and it’s the day which exhibitors use to see the show after the rush of the previous days. For me Saturday was the day I got to spend the most time with exhibitors. I also revisited some of the booths from my first day at the show.
Portal had a great destination booth to visit at the show. Great visual aids to convey the service and really helpful staff. Portal is an aggregator of all your suppliers in one platform. You can build your quotations and proposals within Portal and once accepted can start the order process from the same platform. Portal will separately raise the purchase orders from your preferred suppliers. Although heavily focused on the US market, the staff at Portal seemed undeterred about working with myself and UK suppliers to get this working for Customised and others on the other side of the pond. Watch this space.
Wi-Fi is the invisible infrastructure that ties a lot of our home technology together in our projects and there was a strong presence from several manufacturers of wireless networking equipment. I spent time quizzing Ubiquiti about new products launching and can confirm a higher capacity Network Video Recorder is coming to the UK very soon. Eero are not a brand we can get hold of in the UK but it was neat to see their mesh system no with the launch of POE, a global standard for powering devices using network cable, compatible devices then it won’t be long before we see this featuring in UK installations. TP-Link, Hewlett Packard and Netgear all showed off mesh wi-fi systems at the show.
As I headed for the exit doors at the show, I spied a tiny Logitech Harmony display on a booth by ADI. I had no idea who ADI were prior to the show as they are not in the UK but I had to take a quick look at the Harmony Pro remote control and hub, currently not available in the UK. The Hub benefits from an improved IR distribution kit and better remote access features for Harmony professional dealers. Logitech Harmony have launched a new Pro portal on their website packed with support, e-learning and marketing assets. UK Installers can sign up for the Pro service but will have to wait for the Harmony Pro remote. Be patient, it’s coming.
My trip to CEDIA 2017 will be a significant milestone in the Customised journey and I’ve gathered so much experience and knowledge from the trip. It was so good to meet with old friends and make some long lasting new ones. I’ll be back next year to create another milestone.
Look out for the effects it’s going to have on services and communication from Customised by finding us and following us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Also, let me know if you want any particular topics tackled in our blogs.
See you next year San Diego.