Osterville, Mass.
– Savant Systems plans a CEDIA Expo launch of multiple products, including
in-wall docking stations that turn iPod Touches into touchscreen controllers
for its home-automation and -entertainment systems when loaded with a Savant
app.
The company will
also launch two new flat-screen TVs that provide touchscreen control of
multizone audio and video, lighting, climate, security systems and the like. Compared
with their predecessors, the new models add capacitive touch interface to
provide iPhone-like GestureTouch navigation, and they’re thinner and faster, a
spokesman said.
Savant also plans
to launch a step-up controller that delivers 24 by 24 1080p 60Hz HDMI video
switching or up to 48 by 48 switching of stereo sources in a 6U chassis. And in
another development, Savant will add control of Logitech’s networked Squeezebox
music streamer to its systems. The Squeezebox streams music from the Internet
and songs stored on a networked PC.
The new Touch
docking stations will be available in a wired and wireless version, joining a
wired and wireless dock designed for use with iPads. The wireless In-Wall
Charging and Control Dock for the Touch will retail for a suggested $300 when
it ships in October. Pricing and ship dates of the wired version weren’t
released.
Like the wired and wireless iPad docks, the
wired and wireless Wi-Fi version of the Touch docks power their respective
Apple devices and lock them permanently into place. Each dock also enables the
iPad or Touch to be mounted in portrait or landscape mode. The docks combine an
in-wall docking cradle with a low-profile magnetically attached faceplate.
For Savant-system
control through touchscreens larger than an iPad or Touch display, Savant will
launch the 18.5-inch and 24-inch Touch TVs. They’re equipped with
high-resolution widescreen TFT LCD displays with capacitive touch interface
providing iPhone-like GestureTouch navigation.
The $8,500-suggested
18.5-inch TTV-2018 and $10,000 TTV-2024 Touch TV models are designed for
on-wall application and are VESA- mountable with integrated rear-panel mounting
holes. The 18.5-inch model is also available with an optional stand for
tabletop or desktop installations. Both will be available in October, replacing
17-, 24- and 40-inch models.
With the touchscreen TVs, consumers control home
systems without interrupting playback of HD video content.
The new controller,
also due October, is the MCS-24SE, which will drive up to 12 of Savant’s touchscreen
controllers or Touch TVs. It offers six universal input/output slots to accommodate
any audio or video source, and its modular design enables the addition of such
functions as surround-sound processing and balanced and unbalanced stereo inputs
and outputs.
The suggested
retail starts at a suggested $9,000 and rises with the addition of more
modules.
The MSC-24SE drives
up to 48 stereo audio zones. The digital preamp stage features 16 independent
channels, eight of which provide 7.1-channel surround sound in one zone while
the other eight feed four stereo zones.
The controller also uses a new chassis
configuration that includes front-panel LED indicators and removable faceplates
for easy access to optional hot-swappable redundant (dual) power supplies and
field-replaceable fans. An optional master host controller provides iTunes
digital media server capabilities when paired with the MSC-24SE.
On the video side, the controller supports
low-latency 24×24 HDMI 1.3a video switching with HDCP copy protection,
multizone distribution, and broadcast-quality video processing and scaling.
