NanoLumens Lights Up CenturyLink's New Technology Center of Excellence With a Unique NanoWrap™ Solution

Last March, CenturyLink (www.centurylink.com), a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company, cut the ribbon on its new Technology Center of Excellence. The 300,000 square-foot state-of-the-art (LEED certification pending) R&D center features of a stunning array of NanoWrap visualization solutions from NanoLumens (www.NanoLumens.com), an industry leading manufacturer and marketer of visualization solutions.

The new building’s lobby is a palace of glass that incorporates 37,000 square feet of View Dynamic Glass, making it the single largest installation of electrochromic glass in the country. View Dynamic Glass leverages nanotechnology and pre-programmed intelligence to tint automatically in response to outside conditions and user preferences, eliminating the need for blinds or shades. But, even with that technology, the lobby is still very bright. The exceptional brightness of NanoLumens’ technology, which can be adjusted as the ambient light levels change throughout the day, assures that the video on the solutions will remain clearly and crisply visible at any time, under any conditions. 

“The NanoLumens displays create a stunning effect in the lobby, and it’s fair to say that this sets the lobby apart from any other atrium like it,” said Ben Cating, Senior Consultant-VP of Idibri (www.idibri.com), the Addison, Texas-based consulting firm hired by CenturyLink. “It’s more than just a video installation — it’s a visual achievement.”

The center also includes a technology research and development lab, a network operations center, a customer experience center and a collaborative office and meeting space.  But, said Cating, the space also needed to make a definitive statement that immediately established the facility as a cutting-edge technology location. NanoLumens NanoWrap solutions helped the client make this visual statement and capture the attention of customers as they walk through the door. 

Three columns in the building’s three-story-tall atrium are wrapped with NanoLumens’ 5MM NanoWrap displays in a 42-inch-diameter circular panel that covers 12 feet of vertical surface on each column. The NanoLumens LED panels, made up of thousands of Nixels™, NanoLumens’ patented display module, turn these architectural elements into archi-technological elements. They provide a continuous stream of full-motion video that’s visible throughout the entire lobby and from any angle. Each display can show different video content or all three columns can play synchronously, with content fed over IPTV via fiber from a cloud-based Cisco-AppSpace content delivery system.

The NanoWraps are attached to the columns by a unique circular mounting system, incorporating a custom metal frame around the column in which the panels are attached. This system was carried out by AV systems integrator American AVL, based in Ruston, LA.

“CenturyLink wanted to make this lobby a unique technological experience for visitors and guests,” Cating emphasized. “We looked at a lot of possibilities, and video would keep the columns as an integral part of the aesthetic design. But attaching conventional flat displays to them would have ruined the flow they create visually. Only the flexibility of the NanoWraps, which we could literally wrap around the columns, offered us the solution that we needed. NanoWraps were the only way we could address this particular form factor. The result is striking to look at.”

“The space- and energy-efficient NanoWrap solution offers quiet, low energy consuming cylindrical visualization wherever a customer would like to place it,” emphasized NanoLumens Executive Vice President of Business Development, Karen Robinson. “Whether that’s hanging overhead, in a fixed position on its own, or around the columns of a building, NanoWrap solutions are made to equip customers like CenturyLink with the perfect visualization solution that’s just right for them– no matter what size, shape, or curvature is needed.”

To download additional hi-res images, click here. All photography is courtesy of Idibri Consulting. 

Camera Drones To Provide The Pro AV Industry With The Next Great Sales Opportunity

Dealers looking to capitalize on a $12-billion commercial sales opportunity that also promises to pull through additional sales of traditional AV and IT components should include camera drones into their 2015 product mix, according to Stampede Presentation Products, Inc. President & COO Kevin Kelly, who last week introduced the category to attendees of the 2014 Stampede Vendor Summit in Buffalo, New York.

“While drones are already a major success in markets around the world, the North American market presents the largest commercial sales opportunity in this new category. We believe that North American sales of camera drones are set to take off in 2015 as more and more vertical market end users come to realize the enormous benefits bring to their businesses,” Kelly said. “Over the next two years, as legislation is enacted to provide clarity to the marketplace, more companies in virtually every vertical market will utilize the exciting and convenient tools that camera drones have to offer.  Make no mistake about it.  Camera drones are no pie in the sky.  They represent a huge new opportunity for both our dealers and our manufacturer partners.  Camera drones can be sold to existing end user commercial customers and they will most definitely bring in new customers to the ProAV industry and that will benefit everyone.”

According to Kelly, camera drones are a strategic and cost-effective way to capture aerial photography in the form of digital video. The agricultural industry, for example, is an early adopter of drones to assist in their daily life. Camera drones offer farmers valuable data to determine irrigation needs and help plan harvesting. Covering expansive distances, camera drones enable the private use of technology on their own land. Collecting data via remote control saves the farmer time, as it essentially replaces the action of getting into a pick-up truck and traversing the land.

“The use of camera drones also proves to be more cost-effective overall, as farmers can more accurately determine the required levels and fertilizer use, eliminating waste,” Kelly added.

Beyond agricultural use, Kelly emphasized, first responders are also adopting drones as a means to monitor dangerous situations in real time. Law enforcement, local police, and firefighters will likely use aerial photography and cinematography to monitor potentially life-threatening situations like fires, floods, or traffic accidents. In case of a natural disaster, law enforcers may deploy multiple drones at once to assist in search-and-rescue initiatives. “This is a more effective way to search for missing people, or to warn others to stay away from dangerous areas,” Kelly said. “Drones promote immediate and ongoing awareness, so that first responders can safely and effectively monitor a situation.”

Educators are also adopting drones to enhance security efforts, Kelly asserts. For example, higher education facilities such as universities are purchasing multiple drones to act as an extension of their campus security systems. “Drones provide more accurate and widespread coverage, and will help security offers to keep University students safe,” Kelly said. “K-12 environments are bound to follow, maximizing the security in schools across the country.”

According to Kelly, once an end-user decides to purchase a camera drone, dealers have an opportunity to work with them on developing their content transmission and storage, along with the various monitors, drone pilot controls required to pilot the drone.

“It all adds up to selling a small, or large, command and control solution with every drone as well as video content editing and storage equipment,” Kelly emphasized. “With numerous camera, content transmission, and command and control options, dealers will have the opportunity to specify unique solutions that provide meaningful solutions to end-users and profits to the dealership.”

WHOOSH!® Screen Shine Now Available at Apple.com and Apple® Stores Across North America!

The dirty little secret about mobile devices is that the more you use and touch your phone, tablet or computer, the dirtier they get. Keeping all your devices and screens clean, polished and protected is now more convenient than ever with the announcement today that WHOOSH!® Screen Shine, the first and only non-toxic, fingerprint-resistant cleaning solution that is safe for all screens, is now available at Apple.com as well as  in all Apple® retail stores throughout North America. WHOOSH! is exhibiting the non-toxic, fingerprint-resistant cleaning solution at CTIA 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Booth #1729. 

“We are proud that our product is now available so quickly and easily to Apple consumers,” said WHOOSH! CEO Jason Greenspan.

Leveraging the latest advancements in formula development, WHOOSH! Screen Shine was specifically developed to be a safe yet powerful cleaning solution that eliminates fingerprints, smudges, dirt, grime and makeup from any electronic device screen — leaving a clear, streak-free finish that makes the screen shine like new.

WHOOSH! Screen Shine is made with biodegradable surfactants and its proprietary formula provides a nano-thin invisible coating that also provides resistance to fingerprints and dirt buildup. Plus, WHOOSH! Screen Shine is safe and non-toxic. There’s no harmful residue left behind or transferred on to your fingers to worry about.

According to Greenspan, “Keeping our devices and screens clean in a safe, non-toxic way is a requirement of living in a mobile society,” Greenspan emphasized.  “More people touch more devices than ever before and this reality requires all of us to extend personal hygiene to tech hygiene.  In the same way that we are encouraged to regularly wash our hands to fight the spread of germs, we must now regularly clean our devices and screens as well. WHOOSH! Screen Shine is the only cleaning solution that has been proven to do this in a safe, non-toxic way.” 

WHOOSH! Screen Shine Duo+ (one 3.4 fluid ounces and one .3 fluid ounces) is now available at Apple.com and in Apple stores throughout North America for a suggested retail price of $19.95.  WHOOSH! Screen Shine is also available at www.whooshscreenshine.com in two other sizes: Pocket (.3 fluid ounces) for $4.99 and On-the-Go (1 fluid ounce) for $9.99. All sizes come with a 6”x6” W! micro-fiber cloth. WHOOSH is also available for the commercial, industrial, and education markets. 

WHOOSH! products do not contain alcohol, acids, ammonia, chlorine, solvents, petroleum distillates, phosphates, or VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds). WHOOSH! Screen Shine is odorless, streak free, haze-free & anti-static.

Sunfire Resets the Standard for Subwoofers With the XTEQ

Leading home automation, entertainment and control technology manufacturer, Core Brands, LLC (a Nortek company) announced today the latest subwoofer line from its Sunfire luxury subwoofer and home theater audio brand. The new XTEQ Subwoofers leverage new technologies to deliver the most powerful, clearest bass from the smallest enclosures in the industry. The new subwoofers will be showcased at CEDIA Expo 2014 in Core Brands booth #350 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

Responding to consumer trends toward smaller, more powerful home theater subwoofers, the new XTEQ series offers integrators and consumers an unprecedented combination of incredible sound quality and small form factors that are ideal for any home theater or media room. The line includes three models that produce up to 3000W of crystal clear bass from 16-100Hz using diametrically opposing drivers, one active and one passive radiator. The 8-inch XTEQ8, 10-inch XTEQ10 and 12-inch XTEQ12 are housed in enclosures barely bigger than the size of the woofer diameter, with the XTEQ12 measuring just 13.5”(W)x 13.5”(H) x 13.5”(D).

According to Core Brands Audio Marketing Manager Matt Dever, “Sunfire’s heritage is all about creating the foundation for an amazing home theater experience. The XTEQ series builds upon the advances pioneered with the Sunfire Atmos and TSEQ series subs. We pack more power and punch into a smaller subwoofer than any other manufacturer, and combine it with the innovation and superior performance that today’s luxury consumers demand.”

The Sunfire XTEQ8, XTEQ10 and XTEQ12 subwoofers will retail for $1,500, $1,750 and $2,000, respectively. Each model leverages Sunfire’s exclusive Tracking Downconverter™ amplifier design. The drivers all feature the latest improvements of Sunfire’s renowned High Back-emf design, and to best accommodate the longer ‘throw’ of the XTEQ woofers, all feature Sunfire’s unique Asymmetrical Cardioid Surround design. The subs also leverage the latest in Sunfire’s auto equalization technology to tailor the subwoofer output to compensate for any room’s acoustic anomalies. Each model is built to be used in both 110-volt and 230-volt installations.  

Premium audiophile features include multiple turn-on options (auto audio sensing and 12 volt trigger activation), plus soft-clipping amplification, anti-walking treads, variable crossover and phase control. The XTEQ subwoofers include RCA line in/line out and slave connections making it easy to pair two subwoofers, with XLR connectors for pro applications. Integrators can perfect and dial in the sound for any room through continuously variable frequency and phase adjustments for both the low pass and high pass crossovers.

The new XTEQ line will ship in Fall 2014.