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What the iPad means for Home Automation



Despite all the bad press the iPad has received I think it has some great uses, especially in the home automation and control segment.

What it is: Currently the iPad will support the H@me app and HAI’s WL3. Both of these applications are great at giving you control of your home on your iPhone. From the tablet you can control lights, temperatures, music, and security.

What is is not: The iPad is not a replacement for a true home automation touch screen. A dedicated touch screen gives you control over your system, as well as allows you to access setup menus, change settings, and have a greater level of control of your system.

The iPad and iPhone/iTouch systems are great, but they aren’t going to replace the OmniTouch touch screens any time soon. 

That said, my order for a iPad is already in with Apple… 

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- Josh Ferguson
Posted Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 4:32 PM

Grand Concerto Keypad Video User Guide

This video user guide demonstrates how to operate the audio keypad for a Nuvo Grand Concerto multi-room audio system. The demonstration covers the different parts on the GC display and the primary features of the “Main Menu.”

Some cool features that are worth mentioning are Party-Mode (allows you to play the same music throughout all your audio zones) and Sleep-Mode (allows you to set your audio zone to gradually ramp down in volume and turn off in a specified amount of time).

The Nuvo Grand Concerto continues to be our best seller in the multi-room audio world due to its high quality and power and comparatively low cost.



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- Rob Shah
Posted Monday, April 6, 2009 at 2:56 PM

Video User Guides

Mile High Automation recently started creating videos that demonstrate the general operation of our most popular products. These video user guides are designed to educate our clients on the main features of our systems and allow them to quickly and effectively operate their new home automation system. Our videos are catered to anyone planning on using the equipment, not just the head of the household.

I’ll be updating our blog as we upload these video user guides so keep an eye out for them!

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- Rob Shah
Posted Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 11:08 AM

HAI Wins Big at EHX with 5 Mark of Excellence Awards!



The Electronic House Expo (EHX) celebrated its 10th anniversary last week and commemorates the finest achievements in home electronics products, services, and installed technology. EHX is considered one of the top industry events for installers, integrators, and designers of custom electronics and is attended by over 9,000 industry professionals and over 200 companies.

HAI walked away as the biggest winner with a total of 5 Mark of Excellence awards:
  • Omnistat2 Thermostat: "Best Green Product, Service, or Corporate Policy"
  • Omni Pro II 3.0 w/ Access Control: "Best Security Product"
  • Network Digital Video Recorder (DVR): "Best Structured Wiring Product"
  • WL3 for Windows Home Servers: "Best Software Application"
  • HAI Factory Training: "Best Training and Support Program"
This is the second year in a row HAI won the “Best Security Product” award and other past HAI awards include “Best Human Interface” for their Omnitouch Touch Screen with Video.

Mile High Automation’s second largest provider, NuVo Technologies, came in second behind HAI for "Best Green Product, Service, or Corporate Policy” and took home the “Best Wireless Product” award for their newly released Wireless Control Pad. Mile High Automation is proud of their two primary providers (HAI & NuVo) for continually leading the industry with their commitment to providing high-quality and affordable energy-efficient products and policies.

EHX was developed by CE PRO Magazine, a leading trade publication for professionals involved in the custom electronics business. This expo allows custom electronic pros to explore new products and companies, build partnerships, and get a feel for what direction the industry is heading in and how they fit into the mix.

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- Rob Shah
Posted Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 10:51 AM

Fill your Music Library - Nuvo M3 Music Server with Microsoft Zune Pass

Our builder friend and client, Steve from Texas informed me about the new Zune Pass from Microsoft and it's integration with the Nuvo M3 Music Server. I have tested it out over the past 3 weeks and would like to share my findings.

Zune Pass - What is it?

Several years ago Microsoft came out with their Zune mp3 player to compete with Apple's iPod devices. It's had moderate success.

To boost sales, Microsoft created a new subscription service called Zune Pass. For $15/mo, you have access to almost every song ever made. You can download songs, albums, and even full play lists from the Zune software with a single click.
The Zune Mp3 player is not required for the Zune Pass. You are still able to play your music on your computer.

If you ever cancel your service the Zune software will delete all the music you have downloaded.

The Nuvo M3 Music Server

The Nuvo M3 is a music server that ties into our Grand Concerto and Essentia multi-room audio systems. It stores your entire music collection and allows you to access it in any room of your home.


My Tests


I had 3 things I wanted to test after Steve let me know about the Zune Pass service:

  1. Could we store and play the music we acquired from Zune on the M3.
  2. What would happen if we canceled our Zune subscription.
  3. Syncing the M3 after canceling our Zune subsection.

Test 1 - Syncing our Zune music collection onto the Nuvo M3


This was actually incredibly easy to do. The M3 uses Windows Media Player to sync its music. Since both Zune and Windows Media Player are made by Microsoft the music I downloaded in Zune automatically appeared in WMP. It was then as simple as dragging the music onto the M3.

After the sync finished, I went to my audio keypad and pulled up the new music. I was able to access it just like any of my other music. The downloaded music sounded great on my Episode A6 in-ceiling speakers.

In total I had downloaded about 1,000 songs and created 3 playlists from those songs.


Test 2 - Canceling the Zune Subscription

I had signed up for the Zune 14 day free trial. For this test I let my trial end and then canceled my service.

When I canceled, Zune told me it would delete the music I had downloaded. It did delete the songs it had provided, but did not touch any of my other songs that I previously had acquired.

After Zune was off my computer I went back to the Nuvo system. Since I did not do a sync after canceling, the M3 did not know my subscription had expired. I still had access to all the songs I had downloaded. They all continued to play for the week of testing after I canceled my subscription (and would have continued to play if not for Test #3).

While not legal, it would be theoretically possible to download 20,000 songs during your free trial, sync them to your M3, then cancel your subscription. You would then have a huge music library at your fingertips for free.

Test 3 - Syncing the M3 after the subscription was up

As expected, WMP deleted my Zune content from my M3 on the next sync.

Closing thoughts

The integration between the Zune service and M3 is outstanding. Zune allows you to quickly and easily build your music collection, while the M3 allows you to share your collection throughout your home.

If you have an M3, I highly recommend this service!


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- Josh Ferguson
Posted Friday, December 12, 2008 at 9:31 AM

Nuvo & Intercoms - Explained

We have had a recent surge of questions regarding the Nuvo intercom and paging abilities.

Nuvo states in their manuals that their systems are compatible with paging and intercom systems. This is a half-truth...

What the system can do:
Both the Nuvo Grand Concerto and the Nuvo Essentia units have an optional interrupt module that can be added. This module is able to tell when the intercom is in use and will mute the audio playing so the message can be heard. After the page is over, music will resume.

What the system does not do:
Despite popular belief, the Nuvo system will not play the intercom message through the speakers in the room. It only mutes the speakers so the intercom (with its own speakers) can be heard.

Tying in with HAI:
With the HAI voice module, we can trigger the interrupt module, and play a basic message over the speakers throughout the house. These messages would be in the realm of "Garage Door Open", "Welcome Home", "Good Night", etc. We have a vocabulary of 1500 words that we can string together to create these messages.

This is where most of the confusion comes in. It would make sense that if we can play HAI messages over the Nuvo system, that we should be able to play intercom messages over the Nuvo system as well.

The key is that the HAI system has RCA audio outputs that we can bring to the Nuvo system. Intercom systems do not have this RCA audio output, and therefore have no way to send their message to the Nuvo system. The other consideration is that there are no microphones in the Nuvo system, so even if you could play the intercom over the speakers, you would have no way to respond.

Hopefully this clears things up a bit.

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- Josh Ferguson
Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 11:35 AM