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custom install posts

VUDU's custom installer network balloons to 1,000

by Darren Murph posted Oct 20th 2008 at 2:47PM


The rumor mill was really churning back in August about VUDU's potential demise, but the company has really been firing on all cylinders ever since. First came the introduction of the Blu-ray-rivaling HDX format, and now comes word that the company has 1,000 custom installers in its ever expanding network of allies. In just seven months of shipping the VUDU XL, over 1,000 professional home installation companies have signed on to distribute the movie set-top-box, though it didn't bother sharing how many units those very vendors had sold. At any rate, it ought to be pretty easy to find someone locally to get one of these in your home, but there's always the DIY option if you're skilled with tools and gifted with time.

FUZE Media Systems software goes OEM

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 24th 2008 at 9:46AM


Don't call it a comeback Media Center -- no seriously, don't call it a Media Center, they don't like that, call it "the system that delivers on the promises of Media Center" -- soon you'll be able to get FUZE's media system software via other manufacturers. According to CEPro, they're negotiating with "a number of other companies" to put FUZE software on multimedia devices to work with web based audio control, v2 Media Center Extenders and more. Until now the only way to get the company's software into your house is through a custom installer, and it's not giving up that market, but expect a new, broader opportunity to get FUZE Media Systems once the agreements are done later this year.

"Custom" installs becoming less so

by Steven Kim posted Feb 24th 2008 at 6:58PM

Parks Associates chart
According to research firm Parks Associates, revenues from home theater and distributed audio systems will almost double over the next five years and reach $11-billion. If the current housing slump has you thinking that you'll be in your current abode forever and miss out on your share of that whole-home pie, take heart -- the firm expects to see growth in the retrofit market as well. As wireless networking equipment makes it cheaper and easier to saturate your home with entertainment bits, getting a whole-home system won't require new construction or major renovation. Receivers with multiple zone support are common these days, but EHD readers know that all the necessary pieces for whole-home entertainment (audio and video, please) are showing up in the market; what's really needed is some integration and streamlining. So bring it on, manufacturers; pulling cables through walls is no fun!


[Image courtesy CEPro]




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